Adobe’s Kuler Color Picker
I’ve blogged before about inspiration and colors when I talked about Colour Lovers. Web Savvy Mama LOVES colors! I’m back to talk about another online gem I found that my fellow color loving mamas will love!
Adobe has an online color picker called Kuler. When I first saw it I though, “Oh, another color picker. What’s the bog deal?” Then I started playing around with it! The color picker part is like most you find online, the feature I liked the most was the “create from image” option. I popped a picture of my daughter in and ta-da! Color palette! It lets you select a mood which will change the colors it grabs from the picture. How cool is that?!
As someone who takes inspiration for web design from every day objects I can see this handy little site getting a lot of use. Have a favorite printed skirt? Snap a picture and ta-da, instant color palette! Go play and let me know what you think!
Intuos4 Wacom tablet, the designer’s BFF
I had tried tablets before, even Wacom tablets. Having a digital drawing tablets were a requirement when I went to college for web design. Unfortunately I had never felt the tablet love before now. Previous tablets I tried felt awkward, were not accurate and had few options to really make me want to use them. Sensitivity had been lacking and static cling on the drawing surface made the last one wig out on me. I knew there were good tablets, but I didn’t want to spend $2000 on one! I wrote tablets off and learned to perfect my craft via mouse.
That is, until I saw the Intuos4 at the store. I sat there staring at it, pondering whether it would really be worth the $350 price tag. A sales lady approached me and we had a nice long chat about the features and previous issues I’ve had with tablets. I was sold. I then turned to the lady and said “Hey, that man over there in cameras is my husband. He’s looking for a new SLR. Do what you do best and get him excited about his camera purchase, then he’ll happily agree to buying me this cool new tablet.” Yes, wives are evil sometimes. Hey, it worked and us girls have got to work together. He did get a chuckle out of the scheming.
So I get the tablet home and giddily rip it out of the box. First, I have to comment on the size. I purchased the medium one and the drawing space is perfect! I was afraid that it would be too small to get a good feel for it or to feel natural, but its definitely adequate. By the way, the Wacom Intuos4 comes in several sizes ranging from small to extra large, so there is a size (and price) for everyone. Next I notice the pen holder, when you open it up it has 11 extra tips for the pen. I haven’t had a chance to play with those but I presume they give a different feel when drawing. The tablet itself has programmable hot keys that you can set in accordance with your drawing program. I use Photoshop and Pixelmator and found that these come in handy. Not only are there buttons but also a LED display right next to them to tell you what they do! You can also set your hot key buttons based on program, so if you use specific shortcuts in one program and not another it will recognize that.
Actual use of the tablet is awesome! It feels like you are writing on paper, just the right amount of feedback and grip along with a smooth (static-free) surface. The sensitivity is nice as well and allows you to press harder for a thicker line as if you were really painting or drawing. I have to say, that after only 2 months of use I really am enjoying this tablet and it has made my drawing time significantly shorter.
All in all, this is a quality tablet and if, like me, you were afraid to try them again (or for the first time) I think this would be a good no-regrets digital tablet.
Pixelmator Review
I’ve long been a fan of Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro (the old non-screwed up version, lol) on my PC computers. Two years ago I found the Mac love and made the switch. Unfortunately my PC software was not compatible and I began a search for software that was tailored to the Mac work environment. Of course Photoshop is Mac friendly, but I wanted to see what else was available. This led me to Pixelmator.
Pixelmator is a layer based graphic editor for Macs. I was skeptical at first and I downloaded the demo on 2 different occasions to see how I’d like it and instead left it untouched each time. I was intimidated by the prospect of learning a new setup. Recently I made the leap and purchased the program, knowing that if I just did it I’d be forced to play with it more. Boy am I glad I did! The layout is very similar to Photoshop, so if you can use Photoshop you can use Pixelmator… but I must say I find Pixelmator’s interface more eye appealing.
| First off, being made for a Mac instead of being just Mac friendly, Pixelmator’s interface is pretty slick. I like being able to drag the windows anywhere on my screen without being restricted in any way. The basic brushes and filters that come with are a great start right out of the box, I haven’t had to go search for more yet as the ones that come with have accomplished all my tasks so far. There are just a ton of them! This program is also fast! I found Photoshop a bit slow, but Pixelmator just loads, no waiting!
Pixelmator does have a learning curve and if you are not used to Photoshop or working with a graphics program then I highly recommend trying out a few of the tutorials! I tried these tutorials myself and had a lot of fun creating some desktop wallpapers. Pixelmator has a whole learning section right on the website to help walk you through and get you used to working in this environment. |
Format: Download Developer: Pixelmator System Requirements: Intel or PowerPC, Mac OS X 10.5.7 or later, Core Image supported graphics card Processor Compatibility: Intel or Power PC Price: $59.00 single user |
I’m making these wallpapers available for download, I created these in Pixelmator using the provided tutorials. Try one for yourself! To download Desktop Wallpapers click on the image to open large image and then right click image and select save from the menu.
Web Review: Cultures For Health
Cultures for Health: Where Healthy Food Starts We offer a wide selection of starter cultures for yogurt, sourdough, kombucha, kefir, etc. as well as a range of products to support a whole foods lifestyle. Widest selection available online. One stop shopping for your culturing and fermentation needs!
Julie contacted me requesting a web review of her site. This website owner told me she also has plans to do some work on her site coming up and would love the feedback.
How this works: I will review this website on both technical and artistic properties and give each a “pear rating”. I will also include why the site got the grade it did and what things could be done to improve the site.
See how her site did after the jump Read More…
Web Review: Not your Mama’s Cloth Diapers
Not Your Mama’s Cloth Diapers is a retailer of Cloth diapers, diapering accessories and a wide range of natural products. Our goal is to get as many families in cloth diapers as possible. In order to support these goals, we offer diapering solutions for almost every budget. We can get you cloth diapering for less than $70 to $500. We also offer consulting on finding the right solutions for your specific situation. We carry, as a compliment, a range of natural and organic products to help save your family’s health, money and the environment.
Sasha has requested that Web Savvy Mama do a web review of her web site so she could see where your site needed work and where it was done right!
How this works: I will review this website on both technical and artistic properties and give each a “pear rating”. I will also include why the site got the grade it did and what things could be done to improve the site.
See how her site did after the jump Read More…
Can WSM Review Your Website?
I’m always looking for new ways to get my readers involved and I received a suggestion to do reviews. I think this is a great idea! Most blogs do product reviews, but since my readers are looking for web site tips I thought I’d do web reviews instead!
So how does this work?
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Do I need to link back to WSM?
No, but a link back is always appreciated if you wish to show your thanks!
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