Showing posts with label Adobe Photo Shop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adobe Photo Shop. Show all posts

Pull Images from any Web Page and Turn Them Into a Nice Photo Collage Online

What you see on the right is a butterfly-shaped photo collage made with photographs of Obama (see large version) and it took me less than 15 seconds to create one. Wondering how?

obama - google images obama

That was simple. I did a simple search for "obama" on Google Images and then copied the search URL into shapecollage.com. Within seconds, the tool pulled all the photographs of Obama found on Google Images and turned them into a nice photo collage.

This collage is interactive because if you click any of the thumbnails in this pile of photographs, it will open the full resolution picture on original website so you don’t miss the context. Internally, Shape Collage uses an HTML image map to maintain this image-to-source mapping.

And here’s another photo collage created using book covers of New York Times Bestsellers as found on Amazon.com. Click on any cover to view the corresponding product page.

amazon best sellers

You can also create collages by merging photos from multiple sites into one – like a single collage for your Flickr and Picasa albums.

The Shape Collage Online web application is a complement to the Shape Collage desktop software, which includes additional features including the ability to generate high resolution collages.

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on Saturday, December 12, 2009
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An Image Editor and Screen Capturing Tool for your USB Drive

screen capture with paint

PicPick is an useful Windows utility that includes a decent screen capture program, a Paint like image editing software and a whiteboard tool to help you draw freehand on the desktop using your mouse (handy when you are giving presentations).

During screen capture, you can select the "Capture Window Control" mode and capture objects that extend multiple screens (like a long Word document or a lengthy web page). And like SnagIt, PicPick can send screenshot images directly to another programs after capture or it can automatically upload them to an FTP server.

Portable Image Editor

portable image editing program

The image editor included with PicPick sports an Office 2007/2010 like ribbon interface and supports tabs so you can edit multiple screenshot images / photographs from the same window.

If you are a web designer, you can use the built-in crosshair tool to determine the coordinates of any point on the desktop screen or for capturing the exact dimensions of an object (in pixels).

And since the software doesn’t require installation, you can put it on a USB drive and use it on any computer.

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on Tuesday, December 8, 2009
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Write Your Own eBooks in the Browser with Acrobat.com

If you looking for an online service that will let you write and publish your own ebook in a format that is compatible with most ebook readers (including Sony Reader, Nook and Amazon’s Kindle), check out Adobe Buzzword at the new Acrobat.com.

online ebook writer - acrobat.com

Adobe Buzzword, if you are new, is an online word processor (like Google Docs but "more beautiful") that you may use to create and edit documents in any web browser. The service supports collaborative editing so multiple authors can work simultaneously on the same document from their respective location.

Now if you are looking to write an ebook in the browser, Buzzword can be a great choice as the service can export documents directly as EPUB files, a format that is supported by all popular ebook readers including apps like Stanza that let you read ebook on a mobile. Simply compose a document inside Buzzword, export it as an ePUB file and then import it in your ebook reader.

Other than creating new ebooks from scratch, you may also use the Buzzword application to convert your existing Word (.doc and .doc), or Open Office (.odt) documents into the ePUB format without requiring any desktop applications.

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on Monday, December 7, 2009
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Creating Interactive Handouts with Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Extended


Earlier this week I spoke about how you could easily create printed handouts from your Captivate 4 projects. While this is certainly an added benefit and a good approach when you are doing workshops-wouldn't it be even better if you could show your participants how to accomplish the skill in an interactive handout. Why not take the printed handout an add a video demonstration to it to make it even more engaging for your learners. If you have Adobe Acrobat Pro9 Extended it is easy to add a video to your Microsoft Word document and then convert it to a PDF file and distribute it electronically.

In this example I created my video demonstration using Captivate 4 and embedded the SWF file directly into Microsoft Word handout from the Adobe Acrobat Tab within Microsoft Word. Once I have slected the SWF file I can set the Poster view for the video that the user will see when they open up the handout. Because I am creating a PDF file I can be confident that the end user will be able to view the contents of the PDF with nothing else but the free version of Adobe Reader 9.1. Using this technique is a great way to explain and demonstrate to your participants how to accomplish a task on the computer. You now have the best of both worlds- you can print out your handouts or electronically distribute them with embedded videos. Either way I'm sure your workshop participants will appreciate your efforts, having the various level of supports available to them during and after your workshop. If you need a place to host your PDF you should take a look at Acrobat.com a free way to upload your PDF and share them.

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on Tuesday, November 17, 2009
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Apple TV 3.0, iTunes 9.0.2 Released "Yes, It Breaks Pre Sync"

Apple has released a new version of iTunes, 9.0.2. While admittedly the release has higher aspirations than messing with the Palm Pre, such as adding support for Apple TV 3.0, a new dark background option for Grid View, and additional accessibility support, it does indeed break the Pre's iTunes sync capability, as well.

Apple TV 3.0, released earlier, adds new UI and as well as support for the iTunes Extras (movies) and iTunes LP (music) formats. From the press release:
Apple® today introduced new Apple TV® 3.0 software featuring a redesigned main menu that makes navigating your favorite content simpler and faster, and makes enjoying the largest selection of on-demand HD movie rentals and purchases, HD TV shows, music and podcasts from the iTunes® Store even better on your TV. You can now enjoy iTunes Extras and iTunes LP in stunning fullscreen with your Apple TV, as well as listen to Genius Mixes and Internet radio through your home theater system. The new Apple TV software is available immediately free of charge to existing Apple TV owners, and Apple TV with 160GB capacity is available for just $229.

The redesigned main menu on Apple TV gives you instant access to your favorite content. Recently rented or purchased movies, as well as other content including TV shows, music, podcasts, photos and YouTube, are accessible directly from the new main menu. The new software also allows Apple TV users to enjoy stunning fullscreen iTunes Extras and iTunes LP, including great new movie titles such as “Star Trek” or classics like “The Wizard of Oz” and albums such as Taylor Swift’s “Fearless (Platinum Edition)” and Jack Johnson’s “En Concert.” iTunes Extras gives movie fans great additional content such as deleted scenes, interviews and interactive galleries. iTunes LP is the next evolution of the music album, delivering a rich, immersive experience for select albums on the iTunes Store by combining beautiful design with expanded visual features like live performance videos, lyrics, artwork, liner notes, interviews, photos, album credits and more.

Now Apple TV users can enjoy Genius Mixes through their home theater system and listen to up to 12 endless mixes of songs that go great together, automatically generated from their iTunes library. Customers can also enjoy Internet radio, allowing them to browse and listen to thousands of Internet radio stations, as well as tag favorite stations to listen to later. Apple TV’s support of HD photos is enhanced with iPhoto Events, which simplifies finding your favorite photos on Apple TV, as well as iPhoto® Faces, which gives access to photos organized by people identified in iPhoto.

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on Wednesday, November 4, 2009
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