Handpicked Software » Author_Tools

QuickNailer – Publish your images on the internet

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:32:48 +0000

If you have more images than you can
comfortably manage, or if you just need an easy
and flexible way to make image tables or image
indexes for your Web pages, check out
QuickNailer. This application combines a
convenient “thumbnailer” and contact sheet
maker with a flexible tool for producing HTML
image tables and image indexes. QuickNailer’s
interface facilitates importation of a few (or a
few thousand) digital media files, including
those in JPEG, GIF, QuickTime, and
Photoshop formats via drag and drop. It also
offers media previewing, searching, ranking of
keyword relevancy, comments, tiled images,
slide shows, and cell animation. In addition,
QuickNailer can generate fully functional Web
sites or HTML image tables.

Developer’s website: Softwhir

Adobe Photoshop File Browser – For Photoshop 7 users in Mac OS X 10.2

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:32:48 +0000

The File Browser Update plug-in increases the stability of the File Browser in Adobe� Photoshop� 7 running on Mac OS X version 10.2. This plug-in addresses a specific issue that could occur when browsing a large number of files in a single folder.

Developer’s website: Adobe Systems, Inc.

Aquatint X – Easily create your own Aqua interface designs

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:32:48 +0000

Aquatint gives you the ability to make glossy, “liquid” icons, buttons and logos more easily than you ever imagined possible. Just make a black and white silhouette, or “stencil”, of your desired image, and Aquatint will do the rest! No artistic ability required! Aquatint can also make a wide variety of other looks, all based on the same simple stencil.

What’s New:
Version 1.1:

Vastly simplified stencil creation
Added numeric fields for sliders, to allow input of exact values
Added (optional) online version check code
Added Preferences panel
Added lots of configurable display parameters for easier workflow
Added ability to save the final image on a black or white background
Streamlined UI for more trouble-free operation
Fixed issue with high-DPI stencil images

Developer’s website: Stick Software

Toucan – Quick drag n drop slideshow app

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:32:48 +0000

Toucan is a slideshow designed for showing your digital images quickly. Just drag them on the Toucan icon and go! (Beautiful icon, isn’t it?)

Features:

Toucan shows your digital images quickly and fullscreen.
Drag images and folders with images on Toucan.
Full keyboard control.
Point at your images with a BIG pointer.
Choose the display to use, great for presentations on a beamer.
Toucan makes thumbnail icons for your images.
Open your image in your favourite image editor.
NEW: View EXIF information from your digial camera JPEG files.

Unregistered copies are fully functional, but display a small reminder to register.

What’s New:
Version 1.41:

Auto Update Folder option in preferences. When starting the next loop of the slideshow, the current folder is scanned again.
New midsize pointer.
When you select to show images on a second monitor, that is now remembered.
Updated EXIF parsing + bugfix.

Developer’s website: Boudewijn Pelt

Digital Design Buddy – Design and production tools

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:32:48 +0000

Digital Design Buddy is a collection of 15 essential graphic design and production utilities packaged in a single, easy to use application.

Character set charts
WYSIWYG Font List
Type Sampler Slide Show
Font menu-styling equates finder
Type specimen sheets
ASCII chart
Task timer
Standard ad units (SAU) finder
Barcode generator
Proportio/resize calculator
Pre-press checklist
Folding/imposition charts
Xpress tags chart
Decimal equivalents chart
Standard print sizes chart

What’s New:
Version 3.1 of the demo offers random access to all the features of Digital Design Buddy.

Developer’s website: Lake Group Software

Kartolina Photo – Add text and style to photos

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:32:48 +0000

Kartolina Photo provides immediate access to iPhoto Albums or any folder of images, enabling users to create cards, invitations, or business advertising material effortlessly. Text, photo placement and scaling, and color backgrounds can be applied to an image with Kartolina’s simple, intuitive interface. Access to images saved in iPhoto is almost immediate, enabling you to choose, create, print or send email images for personal or business use in seconds.

What’s New:
Version 2.3 adds the folllowing:

Added button and menu option to load images/photos
from the Home > Pictures folder into the Image Viewer
When passing cursor over empty image player it now
displays nothing instead of having "0" as a file name

Developer’s website: EZPZapps.com

j2k – JPEG 2000 Photoshop compatible plug-in

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:32:48 +0000

j2k is a free plug-in for reading and writing the JPEG 2000 file format, the successor to JPEG.

Also known as JP2, JPEG 2000 uses wavelet compression as opposed to the DCT compression used in standard JPEG. The end result is better image quality in a smaller file. JP2 also includes mandatory metadata such as information about an image’s color space.

The After Effects version has the ability to Auto Proxy, meaning that when working at half or quarter resolution, j2k will only need to read in a fraction of the file, resulting in dramatic speedups.

What’s New:
Version 2.01: Bug when reading 16-bit fixed. Mac compiled with Altivec/SSE2 extensions.

Developer’s website: fnordware

iWriter – Take full advantage of the iPod Notes feature

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:32:48 +0000

iWriter allows teachers and students to create study tools for the iPod in minutes, then share those tools with (other) students, colleagues and friends – instantly.

What’s New:
release notes not available

Developer’s website: Talking Panda

Graphic Inspector – Provides extensive info about bitmap and vector graphic files

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:32:48 +0000

Graphic Inspector provides extensive info about both bitmap and vector graphic files and helps locate potential problems according to user-defined settings.

The program will go through folders of files and display info about the following attributes:

kind
size
color mode
resolution
color profile
dimensions
spot colors
fonts in vector files
spot colors in bitmap and vector files
EXIF data
file type and creator

The highly customizable Checkup Presets will let you quickly spot files with unwanted attributes saving you hours of checking your documents manually and dealing with consequences of costly mistakes. For example, you can make Graphic Inspector warn you about all files whose color mode is RGB, format – JPEG, resolution is below 200 dpi, ICC profile doesn’t contain “USWebCoated” etc.

Beta-testers who provided feedback can receive a free copy of Graphic Inspector (see the beta Read Me file for details).

What’s New:
Version 1.1:

Photoshop DCS files saved as CMYK+Spot channels are now properly recognized and the spot channels are listed.
Fonts and spot colors in Adobe Illustrator CS3 files are now listed.

Developer’s website: Zevrix Solutions

CD-ROM XViewer – Navigate Director files created for Windows only

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:32:48 +0000

CD-ROM XViewer is a small "engine", which allows Mac users to navigate most of the Windows-only CDROMs, as long as they are created with Director (you can recognize them as they have the "Made with Macromedia" logo somewhere, usually in the booklet).

Developer’s website: Eventi Progetti Speciali

Media Browser – Browse all your media files, drag ‘n drop into apps

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:32:48 +0000

Media Browser displays all your photos, images, movies and music on your Macintosh. It can also be configured to search for media in other folders.

The media files can be drag and dropped into any application that supports the given file type. This makes it ideal for use in applications that do not have their own support for browsing the media on your Macintosh.

The Media Browser is a floating window which means that it is always visible until you close it. This makes it much easier to use for adding files into your documents.

Download and try the Media Browser FREE for a five day trial.

Developer’s website: Kudlian Soft

Perspective – Dimensional drawing tool for Illustrator

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:32:48 +0000

Perspective helps make realistic compositions inside Adobe Illustrator CS or CS2 with perspective lines, planes, cubes and cylinders. Create high-impact presentations with adjustable background grids and projection tools. The Perspective plug-in offers three new methods of control within Illustrator:

Fully adjustable background grids
Vector drawing tools that create lines, shapes, and objects automatically in perspective
Projection tools to instantly convert flat Illustrator artwork to horizontal or vertical planes in perspective

X-Builder – Multimedia authoring tool

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:32:48 +0000

X-Builder is an authoring tool specially designed for creating multimedia
projects and applications for Apple Macintosh computers running OS X.
X-Builder combines a powerful, intuitive multimedia authoring environment
with the ability to save projects as standalone applications. These are
royalty-free, so you can give them to friends and colleagues, or sell them
as shareware or as commercial applications.

What’s New:
Version 1.0.3 fixes the following:

Hypertext links to application programs were not working. Fixed.
Button links to application programs were not working when the program was a "package". Fixed.
Hypertext links were not working when the option "user can copy & drag text" was used in text objects. Fixed.
In the object script editing window, the "??" button at the top left was opening the slide script instead of the guide. Button removed, separate Guide button available at the bottom of the window.
A script with an error condition (for example undefined variable) caused the program to hang if a report was being generated when the error condition occurred. Fixed.
Added facility for printing slides stretched to the size of the print paper. – when printing manually, hold the option key down when pressing the print button in the print dialog. – when printing via a script, add the "stretching parameter, eg: print window 1 with one copy and stretching
Slide show not working, caused program to crash. Fixed.
The text displayed in button objects couldn’t be accessed via scripts. Now accessible via the "text displayed" property of a button object (read & write).
The text displayed in button, checkbox and radiobutton objects couldn’t be changed via scripts. Fixed.

Developer’s website: Acrux Software

iModeller 3D Pro – Intuitive 3D modeller

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:32:48 +0000

Create 3D objects from images taken with any digital camera. No modelling knowledge required. No tripod or extra hardware needed.

This easy to use, state of the art application takes 3D modelling to the next logical step. iModeller 3D provides an intuitive user interface, seamless integration to third party 3D software and great documentation. iModeller3D Professional Edition allows the user to create 3D models and textures at any resolution, great for rendering, animation and Web 3D purposes.

3D Export Formats: The 3D models created with iModeller3D Professional Edition can be exported to UZR, 3DS, C4D, VRML, STL, OBJ and DXF. Thus, a perfect integration in your 3D developing environments is provided.

What’s New:
Version 2.6:

Magnifier:
You can now place calibration markers in a more convenient way by using the magnifier window. It
automatically zooms into the part of the image you are working on.
Improved texture atlas generation.
The quality of the automatic texture atlas generation has been improved.
You now get less single triangles not connected to any other part of the texture.
Improved marker point handling. The error messages in the Marker-based calibration will now show you the
problematic image groups.
Improved image list display. The image list display now shows the appropriate calibration information and image numbering.
Improved history window display. All actions in the history window now show their corresponding icons.
Improved display on OS X 10.4 “Tiger”.
iModeller 3D showed display deficiencies on Apple’s latest release of Mac OS X. This has been fixed.

Developer’s website: UZR GmbH & Co KG

iColors – Convert colors to/from hexadecimal

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:32:48 +0000

iColors is a simple application for Mac OS X to convert colors to and from the hexadecimal standard. It allows the user to find a color for his or her web page without using a typical color chart (most of which don’t have a full range of colors). It also allow the user to save colors for future use.

What’s New:
Version 2.0: Complete rewrite.

Developer’s website: Whitney B. Young

Capture One LE – RAW file converter

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:32:48 +0000

Capture One LE handles RAW files from DSLR/P&S cameras. RAW is the ‘native’ file format of the camera. The main reason for working with RAW files as opposed to JPEG is to preserve image quality. Capture One allows the photographer to adjust the exposure, white point, color balance etc. of the image prior to processing it into a readable TIFF or JPEG file. The software is fast, easy to use and it improves the quality of the images. The software also offers IPTC and EXIF support. Capture One has clearly set standard for RAW conversion software. Capture One supports Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Olympus, Pentax and Konika-Minolta cameras. The software is available for Mac OS X 2.8 or later.

What’s New:
Version 3.7.7 release notes available here.

Developer’s website: Phase One

Concepts Unlimited – 3D conceptual & preliminary modelling tool

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:32:48 +0000

Concepts Unlimited is the industry’s first 3D modeling product totally focused on conceptual and preliminary design for those requiring precision models. Concepts is uniquely positioned to provide solutions that address versatile 2D, 3D, curve, suface, solid modeling practices, photo realistic rendering and animation, and 2D drawing composition capabilities all in one seamlessly integrated package.

What’s New:
Version 4.0b2 includes corrections for supporting MicroScribe and 3Dconnnexion devices on Mac Intel machines, saving and restoring view extents, more DWG corrections, and several other issues reported with beta 1.

Developer’s website: CADDSoft Solutions, Inc.

Day for Night – Add night effects to your video footage

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:32:48 +0000

[ Via Apple.com ] We’ve all seen it: footage shot in bright sunshine, but underexposed and filtered to look like moonlight. Now you can get the same effect, only better, with more control.

By changing the lightness/darkness of the filter color you change the brightness of the scene. Select a darker color and the scene is darker. Select a more saturated color and your moonlight color is more saturated. Human vision at night is desaturated depending on the amount of visible light, so you may want to desaturate the original scene before adding the moonlight color. Adjusting the saturation slider removes the original colors in the scene for a more natural look.

Night Vision mode uses the red channel to create a B/W image and applies a green filter to simulate night vision scopes.

Infra-Red mode uses the red channel to produce a B/W image. Because the image is made from light in the red spectrum, it is similar to infra-red photography. Of course your video camera likely does not record true infra-red energy, so this is only a simulation. Use Infra-Red mode in combination with Chromatic Glow for greater effect.

Features:

Control the color of the moonlight.
Control desaturation.
Choose “Night Vision” to simulate a night vision scope.
Choose “Infra-Red” to simulate using infra-red B/W film.

Developer’s website: River Rock Studios

Lynkeos – Process astronomical images taken by webcam via telescope

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:32:48 +0000

Lynkeos is a Cocoa application dedicated to the processing of astronomical (mainly planetary) images taken with a webcam through a telescope.

Read the introduction it is a good starting point to know what Lynkeos does, why and how.

Please visit this small gallery of images made with Lynkeos.

What’s New:
Version 1.4 adds a plugin for reading AVI and MPEG files ; it also, hopefully, fixes the last issues related to being “Universal”.

Developer’s website: Jean-Etienne Lamiaud

Colormanager3 – Warcraft3 color codes tool

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:32:48 +0000

Colorcode tool to generate colors codes in HEX.
Colormanager have optimisation for: HTML, BB-Code and the Warcraft III world Editor. It also includes Fading effects. You can also save and load colors and custom preferences.

What’s New:
Version 3.0:

Totally new look!
Removed lots of windows and replaced them with a tabpanel.
Lots and lots of bug fixes!
Added quit button (again…)
Removed some unnessesary buttons.
Updated the randomize window (which is now in a tab slot).
Added a new color field for the current color.
And some more stuff that you will notice or not.

Developer’s website: Andreas Bernerus

BitrateCalc – Calculate audio/video bitrates

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:32:48 +0000

BitrateCalc is a little utility that gives you the optimum bitrate for encoding video and audio for making DVD and DivX video discs. Simply enter the length of the video in hours, minutes and seconds, choose your media type, select your audio bitrate, and click the Calculate button. That�s it!

BitrateCalc then shows you the maximum video bitrate possible for the media type, as well as the size of authoring overhead and audio bitrate. With this information, you can accurately enter the best possible bitrate into your encoding application of choice.

What’s New:
Version 2.0: Now Universal Binary.

Developer’s website: RAILhead Design

Auto-Cover – Create barcode covers for books

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:32:48 +0000

Given a text title of a book, Auto-Cover generates a unique “barcode”-style bitfield that can be stretched to fit the cover of the book.

Simply type a title into the text field provided. A preview of the bitfield graphic will be shown. The text you type determines not only the bitfield information, but also the hues and tints to use in your design. When you’re happy, choose Save As… in the File menu, and save the file somewhere so that you can import it into your design application. Auto-Cover generates 32-bit RGB format PICT files, which are a lossless format so the quality should be perfect and the colours should reproduce exactly. However, we recommend you use your design application to convert the image to CMYK (or even better, find and specify a Pantone reference for the colour and use Spot colours for your design).

Developer’s website: Signwave UK

Mail Factory Home Edition – Design and print mailing envelopes

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:32:48 +0000

Mail Factory Home Edition is Macintosh app that has all necessary tools to fulfill any domestic mailing needs. With a minimum of effort you can send unique envelopes, postcards and packages to your friends.

Home Edition brings you joy of creating good-looking mailing pieces and decorating them with graphics or your own iPhoto pictures. It is great for small quantities of letters.

What’s New:
Version 2.4:

Support for paper layouts with vertical labels improved (such as Avery L7169, Avery 5168).
Object alignment was added (Align and Distribute in Format menu).
Pasting objects from other BeLight Software applications added.
Choice of recent documents becomes available in Assistant.
Postcards search in Assistant tuned up.
Bug with disabled FIM code fixed.
Birthday field from Address Book was added into Address Field list.
Problem with disappearing URL field on import from Address Book solved.
Printing Counter field on label rolls fixed (Dymo, Seiko, etc.)
Print dialog preview works faster.
Other minor bug fixes.

Developer’s website: BeLight Software, Ltd.

quadrium – Create an infinite variety of artistic images

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:32:48 +0000

quadrium is an application that combines mathematics, data flow models, and genetic programming techniques, wrapped into a standard Macintosh user interface that allows you to create an infinite variety of artistic images, textures, and backgrounds.

quadrium allows you to easily create a wide variety of different
images, from fractals to M.C. Escher, it does it all. It also
takes advantage of the powers and features of OS X, including:

Supports multiple CPUs to
increase the speed of rendering
Supports Altivec to further
increase the speed of rendering
Share your images with
others locally using Bonjour (Rendezvous)
Share your images world wide
using your .Mac account
Can automatically create an
iPhoto gallery of your work
Renders/Prints high
resolution images in the background, allowing you to continue to create
Unlimited undo

What’s New:
Version 2.2:

Nesting nodes, allowing a wide range of effects previously not feasible (such as layering)
Can�t find a node that does what you want? Write your own using quadriumScript, which will be compiled to native code for speed
UI enhancements, including toolbars
And of course, bug fixes, new nodes (30+)

Developer’s website: Gandreas

PDFClerk – Manipulate PDF files in various ways

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:32:48 +0000

PDFClerk is your personal assistant for PDF Documents. It allows you, among other things, to join multiple PDF documents together, rearrange the page order, delete individual pages, impose multiple pages onto a sheet of paper and rotate pages on imposed sheets, making it easy to create your own books, booklets and magazines. You can print out your manuals, reports, essays, articles, etc., in a convenient and economic way. You can create books for languages that read from right to left like Arabic, Chinese and Hebrew. Extended page and imposition control, and the ability to overlay graphics and text objects and print crop, bleed and registration marks as well as color/grayscale bars and print pages in mirror image. Explode documents into smaller single or multiple page documents. Split documents into even and odd pages. Define or resize existing PDF display boxes (crop, bleed, trim, art). Create and edit hyperlinks, mark-up pages with rectangles, ovals, polygons, lines and freehand drawings. Create step and repeat layouts, watermarks, headers and footers etc.

What’s New:
Version 2.8.2:

Fixed: Implemented workaround for a rendering problem with PDF pages whose media boxes have origins greater than (0, 0).
Fixed: Corrected a bug could that result in the wrong sheet orientation when calculating step and repeat layouts with orientation set to automatic.
Fixed: Implemented a workaround for a rounding error that could cause problems in some cases when rendering trim/bleed marks.

Developer’s website: SintraWorks