ImageWell calls itself the "the free and lean image editor" and it is, indeed, both free and lean. It's one of those apps that "just works" and doesn't try to do more than it should. We're fans of ImageWell here at TUAW. It makes our jobs easier. Recently I noticed that the ImageWell 3 beta was available for download and I jumped on it like a rabid dog. Guess what? It "just works" even better.ImageWell rocks for quick and easy edits to images. Just drag an image onto the well, make your adjustments (like cropping, rotating, watermarking and/or resizing) and send the file to the local folder, FTP server or iDisk of your choice. It supports .Mac, WebDAV, FTP and SFTP for uploads. A few simple clicks is all it takes and you'll generally be done with what you needed to do in about the same amount of time it would take for Photoshop to even launch. You can even add text, shapes, thought clouds and balloons with ease without having to launch another app to dress up your pic.
Although the basic application is free, ImageWell now also offers a registered version that includes some additional bells and whistles, like more shapes, styles, gradients, and batch resizing. You can upgrade to the registered version for $9.95 during the v3 beta, but the regular price will be $14.95.
The interface on ImageWell 3 is a bit different than version 2.x. (no more drawers!) and I was a tad confused by that when I launched it - I'm quite the creature of habit. But once I figured out where things had moved to I felt at ease again. The online help and documentation is very good. though, so if you're confused too, just fire up the help pages and you'll be all set.
ImageWell 3 requires OS X 10.3.9 or greater, and is a Universal Binary. If you're looking for a lean and mean image editor, give it a try.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-06-2006 @ 11:50PM
maique said...
version 2.1.1 makes adding a border to images an easy job.
is this missing from v3 build 242 or am I missing something ?
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11-06-2006 @ 11:58PM
Cygnus said...
None of these convenient, "free and lean" image editing programs ever seem to be convenient enough to have add border options...
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11-07-2006 @ 4:23AM
frank said...
What type of border options would you like? I'm confused where this would be beneficial.... :)
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11-07-2006 @ 5:20AM
Extensor said...
I was able to do borders with v3. Choose edit, then select the shape button (between the A and the arrow buttons) Draw out the square and make the fill transparent. You can also change the border weight etc after you draw out the shape.
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11-07-2006 @ 5:27AM
Marcos said...
One of the most useful features was the borders in version 2.1.1.
I like the new features but without the borders I went back to the old version.
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11-07-2006 @ 7:27AM
David said...
Is there anything like imagewell for pc-users?
/David
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11-07-2006 @ 2:19PM
Hagen Kaye said...
Hi All,
We put out a quiet beta, but I guess it's no longer quiet now that it's on tuaw :)
We've had some great feedback during the last couple of days on the new IW 3 and we are just fine tuning some of the new features to make the transition from 2.1 to 3 easier (specifically the crop feature is getting tune up before release).
The shapes tab feature in 2.1 has been moved to the edit window. Click on the image and then click the shape (the square is the default) button at the bottom to change the shape of the image to a circle, rounded rectangle, etc.
Stay tuned for the final release, we still have a couple of nice surprises in ImageWell 3 that haven't been activated in the betas.
Regards,
Hagen Kaye
XtraLean Software
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11-07-2006 @ 3:08PM
alpi said...
cropping specific areas of an image is much more complicated now :(
@David: IrfanView is a must have tool on Windows
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