Pixlr – Online Image Editing and Designing Tool
For those of you who are professional photo editors, here’s something that might catch your fancy; for all those who want to try their hands on editing images online but have never got the chance to; here’s just the tool for you.
Hosted by Netfirms, and developed by Ola Sevandersson, Pixlr is the new generation photo editing tool that has taken the online image editing world by a storm and is giving all amateur photo editors an opportunity to learn more about photo editing. This easy to use Flash-based online tool is loaded with features to make low-to moderate-level photo editing easy and fun. You can create a new image, upload an image, or grab one directly from a URL location.
Pixlr has been designed specifically keeping in mind non-professional users to help them edit images online without much hassle. The application is surprisingly fast and it normally takes less than two seconds to upload a new screen.
Even for someone like me who doesn’t have much experience with photo editing, the tool was quite easy to use and understand; user friendly and self explanatory when it came to understanding the functionality of each tool. For those of you who are already familiar with using photo editing tools, you will find Pixlr familiar both in layout and in how it works.
The tool comes across as an effective application for editing images if one needs to use them in their blogs, image galleries, social networking sites etc. It also offers its users with a good collection of filters and adjustment options enabling them to create attractive effects with much effort.
To make use of this photo editing service all you need to do is click on the “Jump In” button. The best part of the service is that you don’t even have to register yourself to use it. Once you logon to the website, it will automatically open up a photo-editor tool kit on the screen. You can easily create and position individual layers as per your convenience. The main appeal of Pixlr however, is its simplicity and even a novice user can figure out most of its options.
The sleek and semi transparent palettes and tools of this editing kit have been arranged intelligently. The tool is distinctly unique from its competitors due to its fast uploading and layer palettes. Its exclusive and effective palettes are hard to find in any other photo-editing website of its class.
The application sports a neat look and depicts a gray background in the centre which contrasts well with the black back-drop of the toolbar. Though it is not flashy or stylish by any means, it still has a decent visual appeal. That apart, the website is free from any advertisement content amd does not even charge its users for using its services and benefits. How cool is that?
Its basic features include: uploading time is less than two seconds, incorporates sleek and semi transparent color palettes, includes flexibility to perform adjustments, provides an API for developers to include the application on different platforms and includes options for applying filters or visual effects to images.
Some of its outstanding features include: a fully customizable user interface with movable and scalable windows, navigation-free drop-down menus featuring all filters, adjustment and layering options, intuitive design and paint features with a dedicated history window for reference, quick undo and redo options and a “Photo Express” portal to make quick, simple changes to images and photographs.
The Editing features of the tool include: paint programs with high-quality features that have become ever-present in image editing programs. It also provides it users with basic layer canvas tools that allow free-hand crop, move, super-impose and interpolate images and rotate and remove entire canvases-all important tools for true image editing.
When it comes to Import and Export: Pixlr has limited upload capabilities making its users save images on their hard drives before uploading them. In case of exporting images only edited versions of the image can be saved to the hard drive.
The image editing and design process on the other hand is pretty straightforward and does not require users to navigate between tabs and wait for new toolsets to load. All effects, filters, layer tools etc., are a drop-down scroll away from being accessed and can be viewed or removed easily using the movable History bar.
In addition, the tool provides its users with a Help and Support option incase of technical issues. It offers a fairly-detailed, topically-organized FAQ section, a blog for program updates and announcements and an email account to contact Pixlr incase of feedbacks.
Finally, some of its added features and perks include: “Grabber for Firefox,” a free download that enables users click on any image on a web page and directly load it up on Pixlr for editing. This Firefox add-on also allows its users capture whole or parts of the browser content. In addition, the application also provides its users with a “Grabber” version for Windows.
Currently in the beta stage, the website was advertised and presented as something quite similar to the Photoshop Express. However, within a short span of time, the site has been able to draw significant volumes of traffic and users and is now looking forward to attracting more users.
In my opinion; I would highly recommended Pixlr for most internet users who need to upload images on their profiles, blogs or want to create photo galleries. In case you are looking for an application that can be easily used and your image editing needs are not extensive then, this application is just the one for you and will surely come in handy.
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