Tools Archives - Page 21 of 30

Welcome Sandy Renshaw!

December 17, 2006 by Liz

Sandy Said Yes!

Today, I am delighted to announce that Sandy Renshaw of Purple Wren Communications takes on a role as a contributing editor.

Sandy’s main role will be a column we’re calling Sandy’s Great Graphic Find. She’ll be finding and sharing graphics tools, short how-tos, and ideas — stuff that nongraphical folks, folks who look like Chris and me, can use to tweak blog designs and make presentations cool. The tools Sandy finds will be ones that are free or under $200, ones that most bloggers might use at home or in their small business. The how-tos and ideas will be ones that we can use immediately.

Sandy is also going to be building the Tuesday Open Comment Announcement Posts to help keep Successful-Blog moving smoothily and efficiently every week!

Perfect Timing!

While Sandy and I were discussing how her arrival, Chris — without knowing that Sandy had said, “Yes,” — left a question in the comment box of yesterday’s Great Find post I wrote about Photoshop Tutorials. At the very moment when Chris’s question came, Sandy and I were talking about how her column would work. Answering questions like the one asked was just what we had been talking about . . . blogger synchronicity!!!

Chris’s question became Sandy’s first Successful Blog Post.

Welcome Sandy! Thanks for coming!

–ME “Liz”Strauss

Sandy’s Great Graphic Find: Photoshop Elements

December 17, 2006 by Liz

Want a light version of Photoshop?

Great Find: Adobe Photoshop Elements

Permalink: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopelwin/

Target Audience: Computer users who edit photos

Content: The latest Great Find postabout Photoshop tutorials sparked discussion about photo editing tools. While Photoshop is the industry standard for image editing, and an excellent professional tool, the full version is expensive at around $600, and it’s complicated to learn for the average computer user.

Chris inquired whether there was a stripped down, less expensive version.

Yes, there is! The light version is called Photoshop Elements. At around $100 for the Windows version and $80 for Mac, it’s an affordable alternative that’s powerful. Click the screen shot to take you there.

Here are three features I like:

Quick Fix mode: rotate and crop, size, sharpen, fix red eye, adjust color and contrast
Enhance photos: convert color to B&W or sepia, apply special effects and filters
Create composites: combine photos, erase backgrounds

Take advantage of the 30-day trial. Let me know what you think!

Next time I’ll write about another alternative. Wait until you see itl!

–Sandy, Purple Wren Communications

Great Find: Eyes on Design Photoshop Tutorials

December 16, 2006 by Liz

Expert or Beginner?

I know I need some of these.

Great Find: Eyes on Design Photoshop Tutorials

Permalink: http://www.eyesondesign.net/pshop/tuts.htm

Target Audience: Photoshop users

Content: I need them. If you don’t, you’re probably not reading this. If the ones at the top sound too hard for you, look at the ones at the bottom. Click on the screen shot below to go there.

I hope you have time to try some. I hope that I have time to.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

FreeMind: Mindmapping for Notes and Blog Post Ideas

December 14, 2006 by Guest Author

Guest Writer Grigor Ćorić of Behind the Glasses

If you are looking for mind mapping software it is a chance that you’ve already stumbled upon FreeMind, GPL-licensed software, a collaborate project on SourceForge. I did it more than 6 months ago.

FreeMind is written in Java and therefore is cross-platform. Once installed, it runs smoothly and without any hiccups. Although the low version number (0.8) would suggest that this is an incomplete product, it is not. It has everything someone would expect from a serious mind mapping application.

FreeMind is best used in applications where you draw maps quickly and for limited purposes, such as brainstorming, keeping meeting notes or jotting ideas for an article. Not that it is completely impossible to add more attractive visual elements, but the visual elements are limited to basics, such as inserted pictures.

This is a screenshot of a mind map that I drew to organize ideas for a post on my blog:

FreeMind

As you can see in the picture, you can

use different styling elements (typeface, font size and color),
group nodes into so called clouds, to emphasize their relations,
add basic visual elements such as icons,
even link nodes in distant branches.

Basic functions are performed quickly and easily. You can use both keyboard and a mouse. Keys are assigned to functions in a sensible way, so the most used keys are those that insert, enter, or delete a subtopic (child node). There is one small annoyance to get use to: a topic (or node) is not selected by a mouse click but when the mouse pointer is placed over it. Therefore nodes can become selected inadvertently. Be careful!

After a period of extensive usage, I can highly recommend FreeMind as a great alternative to more highly priced software. A hard-core mindmapper might miss some features, but then again, there is always a sheet of paper and a couple of pens.

Kind regards,

Grigor Ćorić

Thanks, Grigor, for offering this alternative for folks who want something smaller to try their mindmapping skills.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Compendium from OpenLearn: FREE Mindmapping Software

December 7, 2006 by Liz

What’s on Your Mind Now?

Mindmapping, visually presenting the association of concepts and ideas, is a great way to get those racing thoughts from your head out where you can see them, organize them, and begin to work with them. It’s easy enough to do with a pencil and paper, but pencils and paper can be limiting. They require that you have an eraser and paper strong enough to stand up to changes you might make.

Mindmaps also have more formal uses. They make great visuals for explaining concepts. Within the structure of a single mindmap, such as this one (click to enlarge) —

— you can lay out a complex concept for a business presentation.

Until now, the problem has been that to use mindmapping in that fashion required expensive software.

Thanks to OpenLearn that’s changed! Turn the page to learn about Compendium — It’s FREE!
[Read more…]

Why Am I Giving You Directions to the Bar at the Top of the Hancock at 7 a.m.?

December 4, 2006 by Liz

All You Have to Do Is Ask

I’m a believer in Permission Marketing. I’m with Seth — it’s not hard to ask. As a customer, I find it easier on everyone when I ask my question. As a service provider, I like asking what people think and how they do things. As a teacher and a person, I get jazzed when people ask me to help.

One thing I don’t ask for is directions online — I’ve had MapQuest take me to the wrong side of too many towns too many times.

Yahoo Maps, well, Yahoo! invaded my computer by loading their toolbar on my machine without including me in that decision.Sorry, I like to think for myself. I didn’t include them in my decision to delete it.

I get my directions from websites or people who know the way.

Until today . . . when I read the TechCrunch review of AskCity, and played, yeah played, with their maps.

It’s so cool!
[Read more…]