Filed under: Software, Beta Beat
Poladroid beta is seriously awesome
Geezers like me probably remember Polaroid cameras. Before the instant gratification of digital, we stood in the back yard shaking a slowly-developing print of Aunt Shirley sitting with her sheet cake. The result was a square, over-saturated print that would be passed around with calls of "Don't get frosting all over that!"While the Polaroid corporation stopped production of the bulky cameras in February of 2008, you can still find a few in stores. Or just try Poladroid.
Poladroid creates Polaroid-style images from your photos. The UI is a lot of fun. Drop your photos onto the Poladroid "camera," and after a few seconds, it spits out your unprocessed print. Watch it slowly "develop," or speed up the process by -- you guessed it -- shaking vigorously.
You can create an image at any stage in your print's development by double-clicking and selecting "Take a sample." When your print is fully ready, a red "x" appears on the bottom.
This application, while in beta, is a whole lot of fun. I dropped a dozen pictures onto it in the first five minutes and the results are just great.
I'm really looking forward to the progress of this little app.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Alex said 7:16AM on 10-24-2008
to me, just a waste of time. And I DID use Polaroid back then.
How about a simple Polaroid-like picture frame with matching picture settings?
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brinsmaid said 7:38AM on 10-24-2008
Looks more like a Holga picture to me, alot like lomography.
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SDurnin said 7:57AM on 10-24-2008
A version for iPhone would be nice - you could shake it to speed up the processing!
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JKT said 11:06PM on 10-24-2008
Indeed. In fact I did think it was for iPhone when I read the shaking part of the review. If ported to iPhone, this would sell many copies.
valthewu said 7:59AM on 10-24-2008
Actually, a good idea, but even in beta this seems of no ureal use.
scales down the photo to a resolution below the original file, not to compare it to a real scanned polaroid picture. the process is too slow, even with shaking and the program is not localized correctly at all.
but, it is beta and i would loike to give it another try when it is ready for use.
i would also change the icon, there were a lot of well designed polaroid cameras around. this one is for kids.
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Valdor said 8:06AM on 10-24-2008
Sheesh....there's just no pleasing some people.....even with a toy!
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Norman said 8:07AM on 10-24-2008
Yeah, the page said something about big pictures, they are all so small, or is there a way to make them bigger? Clicking doesn't help.
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Norman said 8:07AM on 10-24-2008
I don't get it, where are the pics saved? ;D
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Meatleg said 8:09AM on 10-24-2008
Actually, while shaking the picture seemed natural, it was actually bad for the photos and would often cause flaws along the edges.
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Salsa Shark said 10:07AM on 10-24-2008
Thank Outkast for perpetuating that myth...hey ya!
Tony Bowman said 10:56AM on 10-24-2008
for me, the reason Polaroid images are so charming is those very same user-induced flaws. :)
Tom said 8:20AM on 10-24-2008
What a cute idea! Must give it a try later...
I remember hearing that shaking a Polaroid actually made no difference in drying times though - facts aside though everyone still shook them!
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psxp said 8:43AM on 10-24-2008
I though you were NOT supposed to shake polaroids?
see:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/02/17/polaroid.warns.reut/index.html
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Corey said 8:43AM on 10-24-2008
This application has the potential to be so awesome. I instantly had the idea to make a calendar with a whole bunch of polaroids out of my pics, laid out like Apple's screensaver of the dropped photos. But this is made for the novelty of watching it develop. That's only fun once. I hope they fix this, change the interface, and they can sell this app! I would buy it.
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Tomahawk said 12:06PM on 10-24-2008
That's a great idea, I think I might use this to make a 2009 calendar
matthew said 8:53AM on 10-24-2008
1) As other posters have said, you actually aren't supposed to shake Polaroids. Polaroid got press coverage about it when the Outkast song "Hey Ya!" came out with the lyric "shake it like a polaroid picture". However, this seemed like such an iPhone idea that I actually had to read the post twice before I realized it's not an iPhone app. Sounds like it should be.
2) "Poladroid?" So, we're what, then...5 days from a cease and desist for use of the name? Or will Polaroid be particularly picky and claim copyright of the development process/experience and send a cease and desist for the program completely? Or perhaps they'll be particularly nonchalant and ignore it completely?
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James T said 9:07AM on 10-24-2008
I implemented a similar technology into my blog, it generates the polaroid effect dynamically ..... it fits great my nostalgia site.... http://www.glasgowmods.co.uk/photos-mods/reunion-polaroids/
it can take a few minutes to load but if your patient it is worth it as it is totally interactive...http://www.glasgowmods.co.uk/photos-mods/reunion-polaroids/
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Mathias said 9:23AM on 10-24-2008
As someone who's still shooting Polaroids I can only shake my head in wonder about apps like this. The colors and the vignette look more like a cross-processed Holga shot than a Polaroid.
Either you shoot Polaroid, or you don't.
And people, there is no shaking required for a Polaroid. Just keep it warm, that'll make for a good and quick development.
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Geb Buxton said 10:23AM on 10-24-2008
Pics are saved in your Home\Pictures Directory. I really think this is a fun software toy!
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Tomahawk said 12:08PM on 10-24-2008
Thank you I too was looking for them and found nothing in the menu/preferences that allowed me to control the output directory and/or filename.