May 18, 2004
ImageWell version 2
Xtralean Software released version 2 of ImageWell, a new release of its Mac image manipulation tool. I raved about IW before and would like to give you a brief overview of the improvements coming with release 2.
At the time of this review I'm running version 2 Build 214. I should mention straight away that the current version can't be run as a toolbar app - I have been assured however that a toolbar variety of it will soon be available.
So what's new in v2 ? Well Xtralean must have listened to its users and crammed the following improvements into the next release:
- IW is now Apple-scriptable
- Drop shadow effect for your images
- Watermark feature
- Multiple server locations can be added and stored to your locations list.
- URL History means you can paste multiple images/links all at once.
- Image Preview
- Image Rotation
- Check for Overwrite on server
- Improved Graphic User Interface
- Plus over 20 reported bugs in Version 1, now fixed
The most useful feature for me by far are the multiple server locations. I regularly post images to different FTP locations and always was a little bit annoyed when I had to change the FTP parameters for each location. Another appreciated newbie is the drop shadow functionality and the watermarks.
When using the "More" menu, you're now greeted with some new, helpful additions such as image rotation and a launch button of Apple's Grab tool. The only disadvantage is that Grab only allows you to perform full screen shots when launched from IW. I do prefer to use the Capture variant of Grab - which still forces me to launch the app the old fashioned way.
Xtralean must have heard my demands for a JPG image quality manipulation. Version 2 now contains a little slidebar in the "More" section to change this. Wunderbar !
Altogether, I must say that Xtralean managed to produce an even better version of an already well-appreciated tool. Of course you can argue that all this functionality is available in other packages. What makes IW different though is that it is a "lightweight" app - extremely important if the job at hand doesn't require the usage of the heavy artillery of Photoshop and the likes.
I can only highly recommend ImageWell - My current version runs problem-free under Panther - I just signed up for a beta test version of the menu-bar app version of it (simply email Xtralean directly). You can also download the normal version here.