creatistic

I’m perpetually amazed at how I’m always late and a day behind regarding stuff like music and Web 2.0.  Case in point: I’ve just noticed the additions to the image editing site BeFunky.  As if the functionality wasn’t groovy enough,  they’ve compiled even more options for optimizing the gonzofication of your photos.  Use the cartoonizer, warholizer, scribbler, inkifier, charcola, etc to add varying degrees of wowza to your pics.  It’s a perfect tool to use for editing when using comic life.  Not to mention seamless integration into your networking sites has been taken care of.

I almost feel badly that the site is free and I have little creatistic ability to begin with.

digibrarian

Of the several projects I’ve been a part of over the summer, the ones involving digitization have been the most satisfying. Working with image editing tools, CONTENTdm, even taking images…that’s pretty fun stuff. So, for the sake of pure promotion, with a lack of subtlety, here I’ll post the link to a collection I’m particularly proud of. The Art of Marian College is a collection of items that the college houses in one building or another; the items themselves are either associated with the college or unaffiliated yet acquired by our art department. So far we have two major sub-collections housed within…a collection of Indiana landscape artists (known as the Richmond Group) and some cool lithographs by the Mexican artist David Siqueiros. I’ll probably outline the digitization process in another post, yet as I mentioned this is purely, promotionally cathartic. Now if only we can acquire some collections of Ralph Steadman.

image editing on the fly: Picnik or FotoFlexer?

dispatch from the compound, fellow gonzofreaks. My spirits are soaring, for I have come across a perfect pair of doodads to electrify one’s virtual space with flashy graphics and buzz-pics, all at the cost of zero moolah.

For those like myself who are impatient enough to read through a Photoshop manual or video tutorial, I’m pleased to find both Picnik and FotoFlexer freely available (with paid upgrades, of course) on the InfoWebbosphere. The plethora of options contained within each are just too good to pass up an afternoon otherwise scheduled for catalog maintenance and Web design. Originally, I started using Picnik, but after a steamy soiree with FotoFlexer, I became torn, figuratively speaking. Which to court as my editor of choice?

Quick rundown:

Picnik has a user-friendly and streamlined design, fun effects and advanced tools to make either quick editions on the fly, or even more complicated images of the more mundane snapshot. I especially like the “Gooify” option under the effects tab (as you may have noticed in my header and avatar pics) and numerous fonts for adding text.

FotoFlexer, on the other hand, has pretty much everything Picnik does, plus a little more. The ability to insert multiple images into one workspace, use layers, cut images, add simple animations and even morph images makes FotoFlexer very impressive indeed. Where it falters, though, is the interface. Not as streamlined or user-friendly as Picnik, FotoFlexer’s workspace is a bit bland; lot of white space, a little clunky when uploading images, and confusing when creating an account.

cutting to the chase, fellow infomaniacs, Picnik or FotoFlexer? Both, I say! I think creating some sort of master image in Picnik will be a good starting point, and then making more complicated alterations in FotoFlexer when needed is not a bad way to go. Surely, there are probably tons more editors out there equally as good, but these two are boss for now.