Have you ever been using Safari on your iPhone or iPod touch and wanted to save an image? Well, the 2.0 firmware makes this easy!
Just tap and hold on any picture in Safari. When you do, a menu will pop up allowing you to save the image to your camera roll or follow the image link. Apple even places a subtle outline around the selected image (nice touch, Apple).
The great thing about this tip: it also works in Mail. Now you'll never be without your images. Now for that copy/paste (ahem, looking at you, Apple).
Most desktop messaging clients (Apple's Mail.app and Microsoft's Entourage among them) give users the option to skip loading images when reading rich-formatting emails, which both speeds up the loading/reading process and limits exposure to spammer scavenging, which can leverage embedded images to verify that the evil emails were received by a valid address. The iPhone's version of Mail, however, doesn't give users the option to turn images off, as pointed out by Stefan Seiz. This has been the case all along and hasn't been corrected in 2.0, unfortunately.
While this exposure is less of a problem if you've got good spam filtering in place, it does raise an interesting question: wouldn't an optional images-off mode be ideal if you wanted to speed up your iPhone's mail performance, or (perish the thought!) limit your data usage on a less-than-ideal service plan. Unfortunately I don't think adding features and options to Mail is within the official capacity of third-party devs, so we're going to have to wait for Apple to address this directly.
Sometimes I see the name of a new piece of software that someone tips us off to, and the name conjures up something completely different from what the reality is.
PhotoTiles, for instance, brought to mind the ability to create those cool pictures that are made up of all of your other photos. You know, like having a TUAW Logo that is made up of 2,500 thumbnail pictures that are chosen for their hue and intensity, then placed in the proper location.
Well, PhotoTile doesn't exactly do that, but this small program from Limit Point Software is a handy utility. Instead of doing what I imagined, it basically takes a folder of image and turns that into one grid-like "über-image."
For example, I took my Photo Booth folder, added a TUAW logo to round up to an even number of pictures, and dragged it onto PhotoTile. In a few seconds, it created the image that you see at right.
This is great for creating contact sheets of photos. PhotoTiles is donation-ware. If you use it, make a donation and you'll get an unlock code that unlocks all utilities from Limit Point Software including PhotoTiles.
Late last night, several rumor websites, including CrunchGear, reported that they had received copies of "leaked" iPhone advertisements. These ads depict matte black and Product (Red) iPhones. Most of the sites that were sent these images are calling them fakes, including our own Engadget.
There are two major flaws that stick out in these images, the first of which is the lack of a sleep/wake button on the red iPhone in the image above. The second of which: where the iChat details are shown, the requirements state "Windows Xp." However, Apple always states "XP" as just that; not upper case, then lower case letters.
We do have to agree with Engadget when it comes to the video chat images. Ryan Block states, "No Apple design would be laid out the way this guy's got his page laid out here." We have to agree -- Apple designs are normally clean and minimalist; not jumbled as these images are.
Considering the graphical nature of the web, I'm surprised more features and plug-ins haven't appeared to solve the problem of downloading images from sites as well as iPlace does. Operating as a SIMBL plug-in for Safari (including the 3.0 beta), iPlace allows you to specify multiple locations on your Mac for downloading images, but that's not all. It then gives you a contextual menu item when right-clicking an image or a web page that will allow you to instantly download any image to one of your specified locations, or - and here's the kicker - bring up an image downloading window that shows you each image on the page, along with your download locations provided as drag and drop wells in a sidebar on the left. Opening this window on I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER, for example, brings up the long list of images you see above, all ripe for efficiently dragging and dropping wherever I want.
In a word: iPlace is awesome. There are of course enhancements I would like to see, such as the ability to scale these images up and down to make it easier to view more from the page at once, but for a spankin' new product straight out the gate, this is a really handy plug-in.
The day is finally here. After an introductory video back in May and a more in-depth teaser earlier this month, the Pixelmator crew have begun sending out the private beta downloads and I just took it for a spin, creating the image in this post. It is indeed a sexy app - the UI is a gorgeous translucent black, and it really does offer a lot of functionality and innovation aimed squarely at Adobe Photoshop or, perhaps more appropriately, Photoshop Elements. While Pixelmator is still very much a beta and too buggy for shop or casual work, I am able to play with most of the promised features, including snapping pics from an iSight, the iPhoto browser and all the powerful color and manipulation tools.
Thankfully, Saulius and the Pixelmator crew gave me permission to write up some initial thoughts with screenshots, so check out a preliminary Pixelmator gallery I've put together of some handy features and clever details, and read on for more of my first impressions of this highly anticipated image editor.
The new .Mac Web Galleries sure are pretty slick, but their dependency on iPhoto '08 can have some unfortunate side effects. When I first installed iLife '08, I moved my original iPhoto library so I could tinker around with the new version using a few pics I had lying around on my Mac. I then created a Web Gallery with these images just to see how things looked. After deeming it safe to proceed, I replaced my original library to actually begin using the new iPhoto features - the only problem is that, somehow, the .Mac Web Galleries you create seem to be library-specific. In other words: when I created a gallery with my test library and then swapped it out for my true library, the .Mac Web Gallery listing in iPhoto's sidebar was no longer there. I couldn't find any kind of web admin panel at the .Mac site for managing these galleries either, so I quickly found myself in a predicament.
Fortunately, I'm not alone here, and I found this thread in the Apple Discussions forums that describes a method for deleting a gallery manually if it no longer appears in iPhoto's sidebar. The solution basically involves logging into your iDisk from the web (http://idisk.mac.com/UserName) and browsing to the directory that houses your galleries, then manually deleting it from there. For some odd reason, this folder doesn't appear in your iDisk on your Desktop like your other .Mac website files, even with hidden files turned on (I used the Show-Hide widget to quickly toggle hidden files. As far as I can tell, Apple simply doesn't sync this folder down to your Mac or give you access to it with the iDisk). The only problem I had with the solution as it is described in that forum thread is that I didn't find the _gallery folder where the forum poster said I should; instead, it's in iDisk > Web > Sites. Each gallery you have created is stored in its own directory under that folder, so you should be able to delete just the ones you want without affecting the others.
[Update 2:Matt Ronge, developer of upcoming Mac OS X email client Kiwi, enlightened me in the comments with an even easier solution to this problem: simply go to iPhoto's Web Gallery pane in preferences, and simply click Check Now to cause iPhoto to check your .Mac account for any new photos. This should also cause it to catch any galleries not already listed in iPhoto's sidebar, ultimately allowing you to manage and delete them from the comforts of iPhoto.]
[Update: Some commenters are reporting that the _gallery folder in question does actually appear in their iDisk when viewed in the Finder. I don't know why only some of us see it, but you could be one of the lucky few.]
Considering that your Sites (for the old homepage.mac.com pages) and Web folders are synchronized and fully available in your iDisk, I hope that this strange gallery behavior is simply the result of an oversight. While I understand Apple's desire to use software to manage this stuff instead of forcing users to dig around in folders, having manual access to this directory will be useful in a pinch, especially for users who, for example, buy a new Mac or need to have a sick Mac restored.
The old adage that 'a picture is worth 1000 words' is still going nice and strong. Considering the sheer number of pictures that Flickr is hosting these days, that could be a lot of stories to sift through - why not try out a desktop app to help with all the work?
1001 is a unique Flickr client from Adriaan Tijsseling, developer of the Mac version of blogging app ecto (the one with a slick new alpha version) and RSS newsreader endo. In addition to letting you upload your own photos to Flickr, I think 1001's primary appeal lies in its downloading and viewing abilities. It provides rich features for watching the stream of photos from your friends and groups, filtering the public photo stream with tags, blogging (of course) photos you like, displaying a Growl-like popup with certain photos you want to see and even using photo as your desktop wallpaper or screensaver. It's a really interesting way to interact with Flickr, and the only downside is a somewhat unique UI that might make it a little confusing to navigate 1001 your first time through. For a quick primer: 1001 allows you to pull down these photos by setting up one or more 'streams' that specify exactly what photos you want to see. You can create one stream for, say, just your friends (or even specific friends), and another for Flickr's popular Interestingness page. You can then toggle the different streams on and off depending on your mood, allowing you keep the streams from becoming a flood. Be sure to use the Streams button in 1001's toolbar, or check out the Streams menu to get started.
All things considered, this really is a great app for Flickr enthusiasts or even newbies starting out. Once you get over the very brief learning curve, 1001 is a powerful app that lets you view just the Flickr photos you want and use them in other places on your Mac. But what does all this Flickr wonderfulness (hey, if Flickr can use pseudo-words, so can I) cost, you ask? Surprisingly, it's donationware, and I encourage you to show Tijsseling some appreciation if you enjoy 1001 and would like to see ist development continue.
Back in May we scored a short intro screencast of Pixelmator, an upcoming image editor that looks to give Photoshop a run for its money. Incorporating open source software and some of the great image tools that Apple provides to developers in Mac OS X, Pixelmator looks like it could very well bridge that massive gap between powerful editors like Photoshop that operate in their own realm and all the handy toys in your Mac, like the iPhoto media browser and iSight camera.
Unfortunately, Pixelmator got delayed a bit (hey, it's software, it happens), and according to the development blog, a private beta is scheduled to begin August 16th. Since we all have to wait a bit longer to see more of Pixelmator, we figured it was about time to score another exclusive video of Pixelmator in action - and score we have! Embedded in this post is a three minute Pixelmator demo screencast that covers a lot more features in action than we've ever seen before. Selection tools, a unique gradient tool, text, transformation, adding layers and moving images from one document to another, the photo browser that allows access to your iPhoto library, snapping a pic from iSight, color correction and some wild, wild filters and effects - all in this video that even WWDC attendees didn't see! If you've been waiting to see some more meat of what Pixelmator will be capable of, you owe it to yourself to press play above.
Needless to say, I'm pretty darn excited for Pixelmator, especially since it'll only cost $59 once released, and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy for review as soon as the team is ready.
Graphic Converter from Lemkesoft is an arguably under-appreciated photo editor and basic organizer for Mac OS X. Provided free on some (maybe all?) Macs that Apple ships, it is a quietly powerful app for performing a good number of photo editing and basic retouching, and it even includes a basic photo organizer á la iPhoto, Lightroom or Aperture. For even more features, Lemkesoft just released a new v6 of Graphic Converter, bringing a long list of new and updated features, including:
My download is still working its way to 100%, so check out the new features for yourself or download a demo. If you were a customer of this month's MacHeist / MacUpdate promo in which you scored a license for Graphic Converter 5.x, you'll be happy to know you should be receiving an email (if you haven't already) with your new license for v6. Otherwise, Graphic Converter costs just 29.95 Euros / 34.95 USD.
While the iPhone's sleek, imageless design helps to keep things simple for everyone, I can understand some people's desire to customize their surroundings. While Apple isn't making this easy on anyone, keeping the iPhone locked up for themselves and all, that doesn't mean determined hackers aren't trying to pick the locks. For anyone interested in changing their iPhone's background from (arguably) boring black to something of their choosing, ModMyiPhone has just the how-to for you. Adventurer be warned, however: this is not for the light-hearted. This is a 15-step tutorial involving some ugly hacking with the Terminal app and digging around in your iPhone's guts. On the upside though, if something goes wrong I imagine you can easily get your iPhone back to square one with iTunes' Restore button, but I obviously am in no position to make any guarantees, so proceed with caution.
That said, it sure would be nice to see Apple officially open up the iPhone to this kind of customization with a future software update. It totally makes sense that they themselves are using caution with their first foray into mobile phones though, so I wouldn't hold my breath for a feature update like this anytime soon.
The wait has been a long one, but Flickr superpowers have finally arrived for Photoshop in the form of FlickrShop. As you can see, most of the basics are all available, such as tagging, adding to existing photosets or creating new ones, setting privacy and even specifying dimensions so you don't have to do any of that heavy lifting with the Photoshop file itself. The plug-in seems to work pretty well, though you can only upload one image at a time due to Photoshop's single document UI.
Still, FlickrShop is a free plug-in from PixelNovel so it gets a thumbs up from me. Two versions are available - one for Photoshop CS2 and another for CS3.
[Update 2: The invite window is now closed! Thanks for participating everyone, invites should be sent out soon!
[Update: The plasq folks have informed us that the response to this invite offer has been absolutely amazing; well over 1000 requests. The good news? They have agreed to send invites out to every genuine request they have received so far. Cut off point is 12pm PST today. Your invite should be on its way later today or early tomorrow!]
We've been talking up Skitch - a fantastic and powerful screenshot snapping and sharing app from plasq - for quite some time here on TUAW (if you want to take a peek, watch this video tour of Skitch in action). The only problem is: since its introduction at Macworld '07, it's either been in a private beta or, more recently, a tight invite-only public beta, making it hard to get your hands on a copy. Fortunately, all that finally changes today for 1000 of you - because we have a big ol' batch of invites to give away! Amidst all the time they're spending on polishing Skitch, their MySkitch picture sharing service (for the record: Skitch works with Flickr and even .Mac as well), and a new m.myskitch.com site they launched just in time for the iPhone, the kind crew at plasq were awesome enough to give us 1000 invites to give to you, our dear TUAW readers! As icing on the cake, they made the process about as easy as it can get by putting together an automated invite system: simply email [sorry, invites are now closed] from the address you want tied to your Skitch account, and you're done! Wait a little while for your sweet, sweet Skitch beta invite to arrive, and soon you can be Skitchin' and sharin' with the rest of us.
Please help us make this a great experience for everyone. Companies run beta invites like this not only to help generate buzz for the product, but to ensure that they can sustain their services and provide a solid software experience for everyone. Don't send multiple emails from different addresses or re-send your request. We've never done a beta invite this way before, but the plasq crew know what they're doing and you'll receive your invite soon enough. With that said - go get Skitchin'!
One of the things I mentioned in my Aperture podcast that I love so much about this app is its plethora of features designed especially to increase efficiency for power users and pro photographers. This tip centers around Aperture's keyboard shortcuts that allow for some very useful navigation and scrolling of the library browser, which is the pane that displays thumbnails of all the images in the currently selected album, project or folder. Instead of just explaining the shortcuts or giving you a screenshot, however, I thought I would go one step further and put together a short demo video of the shortcuts and the browser in action, additionally pointing out the small shuttle control on the right that helps detail just how quickly you're scrolling. It isn't anything fancy, but it should give you an idea of just how cool and actually useful this feature is.
For those who want the actual keyboard shortcuts, they are: J, K and L to scroll up, stop and scroll down, respectively.
Since I committed to stepping up to Aperture from iPhoto, I've been slowly learning that Aperture really isn't left out in the cold in terms of integrating with other applications or syncing photos to devices like the iPod and Apple TV. If you don't have Aperture installed, you simply won't see it as an option in things like Apple's system-wide Media Browser or iTunes for photo synching; that's what caught me, since I've been running my entire iTunes library on an older iMac downstairs, and Aperture on my MacBook Pro. Today I decided to tinker with a few things by plugging an iPod into my MacBook Pro, and suddenly I caught this option in iTunes for Aperture. This setting also appears in the sync options for the Apple TV as well, and works just as you expect; you can chose to sync your entire photo library, or you can pick and chose albums (or Projects, as they're called in Aperture), complete with image counts for every album in the list.
This should be great news for anyone who, like me, previously thought Aperture couldn't play with all the system-wide integration that iPhoto enjoys.
Have you ever been using Safari on your iPhone or iPod touch and wanted to save an image? Well, the 2.0 firmware makes this easy!
Most desktop messaging clients (Apple's Mail.app and Microsoft's Entourage among them) give users the option to skip loading images when reading rich-formatting emails, which both speeds up the loading/reading process and limits exposure to spammer scavenging, which can leverage embedded images to verify that the evil emails were received by a valid address. The iPhone's version of Mail, however, doesn't give users the option to turn images off, as 
Sometimes I see the name of a new piece of software that someone tips us off to, and the name conjures up something completely different from what the reality is. 
The new .Mac Web Galleries sure are pretty slick, but their dependency on iPhoto '08 can have some unfortunate side effects. When I first installed iLife '08, I moved my original iPhoto library so I could tinker around with the new version using a few pics I had lying around on my Mac. I then created a Web Gallery with these images just to see how things looked. After deeming it safe to proceed, I replaced my original library to actually begin using the new iPhoto features - the only problem is that, somehow, the .Mac Web Galleries you create seem to be library-specific. In other words: when I created a gallery with my test library and then swapped it out for my true library, the .Mac Web Gallery listing in iPhoto's sidebar was no longer there. I couldn't find any kind of web admin panel at the .Mac site for managing these galleries either, so I quickly found myself in a predicament.
While the iPhone's sleek, imageless design helps to keep things simple for everyone, I can understand some people's desire to customize their surroundings. While Apple isn't making this easy on anyone, keeping the iPhone locked up for themselves and all, that doesn't mean determined hackers aren't trying to pick the locks. For anyone interested in changing their iPhone's background from (arguably) boring black to something of their choosing, 
