imaging

Great photo effects, but substandard workflow

FX Photo Studio (iPhone | iPad) lets you edit images on your iPhone, add multiple effects, then add stylized text for a unique look. The app includes all the basic image-editing controls such as brightness, contrast, and color balance, along with cropping and rotation tools.

But where FX Photo Studio shines is in the amount you can do with your photos by selecting from an enormous number of effects. As of this writing, FX Photo Studio includes 190 high-quality effects you can add to your images. You can also combine effects for virtually limitless combinations. But while the app features a … Read more

Alexander Graham Bell's voice captured from old recordings

Alexander Graham Bell is known for inventing the telephone; but for someone so associated with sound, it's curious that no one living has actually ever heard the tenor of his voice.

However, as of Wednesday, anyone can hear what he sounded like. New technology has brought a 128-year-old recording made by Bell back to life, according to Smithsonian magazine.

The artifact, a wax and cardboard disc, has most likely been unplayable for at least a century. According to Smithsonian, Bell worked on several different ways to record sound, including using foil, wax, glass, paper, plaster, metal, and cardboard. Not … Read more

The Yahoo app delivers your news visually

The Yahoo app is focused on the latest headlines, bringing more personalization to your news feed, quick summaries for easy reading, and good-looking article pages with photo backdrops.

This is not the app you're going to use to check your e-mail or access most of the other services that Yahoo provides, but what the app does well is bring you the latest news in an intuitive layout.

You have the option to view headlines in a clean list if that is your preference, but the app also features a visual view of the news. The clean list is great … Read more

Text to Image 1.0 Review

Text to Image is a simple piece of freeware that does one thing, but it does it quicker and easier than just about any other tool. What it does is create image files out of text: You type it, choose the look, and press a button, and Text to Image does the rest. What use are the images? How about a custom title bar for your Web site? Or a restaurant menu? Or an invitation? For any kind of text that needs to be presented as an image file, Text to Image is a great first choice. Danaav's Text … Read more

Easy Image Modifier 4.72 Review

Sure, Photoshop and its many clones do it all, but most of the time we just want a fast, easy-to-use tool for resizing or renaming a batch of images, or converting formats. Kevin Schneider's Easy Image Modifier fits that bill. It does those basic tasks and also modifies image borders, flips and rotates images, adds watermarks, and more. Easy Image Modifier is compact, portable, and (best of all) free. Recent updates include support for IFF images.

Easy Image Modifier opened with a Help-Get Started dialog describing the program's four steps: 1) Load images; 2) Configure Settings; 3) Begin … Read more

Image Uploader 1.2 Review

Image Uploader is designed to streamline the process of moving images from your iPhone to a server or Web site. It does this by providing you with the tools to connect and interact with a host of your choosing. However, the actual act of connecting and uploading images can be frustrating if you are not familiar with the technologies being used to do it, making this a very limiting app for most users.

When you first open Image Uploader, you can choose to take a photo or connect to your photo library and access existing images. The app doesn't … Read more

Adobe Photoshop CS6 Review

Adobe Photoshop CS6 only strengthens the benchmark software's existing position as the unrivaled production suite and an indispensable tool for old and new generation creative minds: graphic designers, web developers, video editors, you name it.

Let's start with the interface: dark is good. Photoshop CS6 brings a darker, more focused default work environment, with menus and toolbars painted in dark grays and blacks. Of course, if you're itching for a brighter look, CS6 gives users lighter-colored interfaces, reminiscent of previous versions. Tools are more streamlined thanks to Adobe's continuing move towards collapsible menus, while leaving the … Read more

Digital comic not banned over gay sex images, says iOS app publisher

Note: This story was originally published at 8:57 a.m. PT under the headline "Apple bans digital comic over gay sex images, say its creators." It was republished at 11:55 a.m. PT with new information from Comixology about the root cause of the holdup in the comic's availability and a new headline to reflect that change in the story.

The ban on the latest issue of the digital comic "Saga" was apparently due to confusion over Apple's policies and not its images portraying gay sex. At least, that's the word … Read more

Split up an image with artistic results

Split Pic Pro is a fun photo-editing app that lets you clone yourself (in a manner of speaking), create collage-like projects, add effects, then share your work with your friends.

To get started, you need to select one of the 12 different layouts. You have the option to move each of the bars that separates your layout for a little customization, but it really seems like it needs more default layouts. Fortunately, even with the small assortment, you'll be able to make some really cool projects.

The next step is to fill each of the panes with an image … Read more