Filed under: Software
Flying Meat releases Acorn image editor
Okay I admit it; I was fooled. Last week Gus Mueller posted an "interview" on his blog with a "fellow Pacific Northwest developer" about an exciting new app to be released today. While I had figured out it was probably an image editor, I did not figure out that Gus was talking to himself! In any case, Flying Meat software (of VoodooPad and FlySketch fame) today announced Acorn, an image editor "built for the 21st century." Much like Pixelmator (with which I expect Acorn to be compared once Pixelmator finally ships), Acorn takes advantage of your GPU to speed up its operation. It has the normal assortment of editing tools, including layers (with filters), vector tools, as well as a built-in Python and Objective-C plugin system. The latter is particularly exciting as it will allow third-party developers to extend Acorn in potentially interesting ways.I've long thought that there was an obvious hole in the market for a reasonably priced image editor that was powerful enough for most user but much cheaper than Photoshop. Since Adobe is taking its sweet time releasing a Universal version of Photoshop Elements, it's good to see smaller developers like Gus Mueller and the guys behind Pixelmator stepping up to the plate. It'll be interesting to see how each of them make out in the long run.
Acorn is $39.95 (intro price) and a demo is available.
Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
tripdragon said 9:41AM on 9-10-2007
Sooooooooooooooooo lame. Most all of the filters suck from core image. NO one has made them do anything more than just look hokey. No matter how many you put on, they dont make art.
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Liquidmark said 9:59AM on 9-10-2007
The filters are fine. What I have a problem with is the interface an selection tools. plus layer behavior is limited.
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ryaninc said 11:08AM on 9-10-2007
I'm not really interested in an expensive image editor. What I've been looking for for quite some time now is a free image editor for Macs. Something akin to Paint.net for the PC world. I would LOVE a free, easy to use, but powerful image editor for Macs. Anyone know of anything?
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David Chartier said 11:24AM on 9-10-2007
@ryaninc: You can find some basic editors like ImageWell that can crop and scale images. They also offer basic drawing tools and shapes. But you aren't going to find something as powerful as Acorn or even Skitch for free. Sooner or later you have to spend some cash on quality; you get what you pay for.
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Mike Shaffer said 11:29AM on 9-10-2007
For a free image editor, try Seashore http://seashore.sourceforge.net/ . I started using it while waiting for Adobe to UB Photoshop and I've found that my meager needs were more than satisfied. It's not Photoshop...but it works well for light duty stuff. Give it a look. I've added it to all of our lab computers (I'm a High School teacher on the side) and we won't be renewing our Adobe licenses (too 'spensive)...
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andrew said 11:39AM on 9-10-2007
this app is a joke. why spend 40 bucks on that crap? get graphicconverter and you get a fully equipped image editor for only $35, that in many way is better than photoshop.
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Christina Warren said 12:00PM on 9-10-2007
I can't say I was overly blown away with the demo. There certainly is a market for a lower-cost image editing program, a la Paint Shop Pro or something for Mac -- but at this stage, Acorn isn't it.
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tripdragon said 12:29PM on 9-10-2007
chocoflop.com Free beta but free
But what the hell is "powerful" anyway ? Photoshop is powerful but worth the money. You want that for free ?
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Catt said 2:50PM on 9-10-2007
No thanks...I'll hold out until Pixelmator is released. The Acorn interface could use some more work big time its just plain ugly and non-interesting. Seems like they rush this out, this is more like a beta I wouldn't not plop down $10 for this let alone $40
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Anthony said 3:19PM on 9-10-2007
I did some stuff on it last night and while it is a little lite, i'm sure that it will only get better. What I miss off the bat is a smudge brush and a darken/lighten brush. If this app can get me away from Photoshop then I am all for it. ^_^
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gash said 3:29PM on 9-19-2007
There may be a lack of cocoa native image editors you can get for free, but the Gimp is plenty powerful, free, and runs just fine on a Mac (with X11). If you want a power PS type menu layout, try Gimpshop. Also free.
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