ColorStrokes
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The AppsGoneMad bundle offers 6 solid Mac apps for under 10 dollars
I usually avoid app bundles because there is often one thing I really want, but the rest of the bundle is forgettable. This latest bundle from AppsGoneMad, which can be purchased between now and November 24, actually has several apps for Mac OS X that I think will have wide appeal. At retail, the apps would total US$220, but the whole bundle is only $9.99. Here's what is available: FX Photo Studio Pro -- ($29.99) A solid image processor with a lot of excellent pre-sets and image editing tools Tembo -- (15.00) An excellent replacement for Spotlight which is just as fast but is, in my view, easier to use MacCleanse -- ($29.99) A file utility that, like others of its type, deletes unneeded logs and caches to recover significant space on your hard drive 1000 OpenType fonts -- ($99.00) A nice collection to add sparkle to your text ColorStrokes - ($4.99) An image editor that allows you to selectively add or remove color from an image TubeConverter ($ 29.99) - Give it a YouTube or other online video URL and it downloads the video to a file format of your choice I thought TubeConverter was the most useful and unique. It works with YouTube, Break, DailyMotion, Blip, Veoh, Metacafe, Bing, Vimeo and more. Provide a URL and the video is quickly downloaded. You can convert the video to MP4 (H.264, MPEG-4), MPEG-2, VOB, Super VideoCD MPEG2 PS(MPG), MPEG-1, QuickTime Video(MOV), iTunes Video(M4V), ASF, AVI, DivX, Xvid, WMV, FLV, SWF, RM, Matroska Video(MKV), 3GP, 3G2, DV, WebM, TS or HD formats like HD MP4( H.264, MPEG-4), HD MOV, HD MKV, HD MPEG2, HD ASF, HD AVI, HD WMV, HD FLV, and HD TS. Audio formats include AAC, M4A, AC3, MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, AIFF, FLAC, AMR, MKA, MP2, and AU. There are presets for all Apple iOS devices to get the best fit. I didn't try every permutation, but it worked great for grabbing some YouTube content and watching it later without an internet connection. I really liked Tembo and actually preferred it to Spotlight. It's easier to use, and I like the way files are grouped. In a side by side test, it didn't miss anything, and like Spotlight, it offered previews of media files and documents. It only tripped up once, and that was with an old 1996 Word Perfect document that Spotlight was able to search. FX PhotoStudio Pro is also first rate. It's not Photoshop, of course, but it contains hundreds of filters, masking and framing tools. MacCleanse has a lot of competition on the market, but it does the many of the same things. It cleans up unneeded caches and logs, out of date software, and broken preferences and plug-ins. It worked rapidly, and found about a gigabyte on garbage on my Mac that didn't need to be there. ColorStrokes does some things you can do in other apps too, and it excels at removing or adding color from parts of an image. It has capable zoom tools and undo features that you'll probably use a lot as you perfect your image. The 1000 fonts are, well... 1000 fonts. Some you will like, most you won't. It's still a worthy collection. Although I thought the TubeConverter app was well worth the $10.00 collection asking price or more, I also was pleased with Tembo, ColorStrokes and MacCleanse. I already had FX PhotoStudio Pro so that was a wash. This is a nice bundle. As with any bundle, do the math and see if it pays off for you.
ColorStrokes for iPhone updated for iPhone 5 and speed
ColorStrokes is a cool little US$0.99 app for the iPhone that lets you selectively add or subtract color from an image. Like most image editors and filters, ColorStorkes can tempt you to go too far and overuse the effect. But in the right hands, an image can become striking and artistic. It's not the software alone, it's the user that makes the image a memorable one. ColorStrokes gives you a very nice set of tools for manipulating an image. Because the editing is done with your finger, and because your finger would cover the area where you are trying to do delicate work, the app helpfully provides a new window that lets you see what your brush is doing. It works really well, and along with a zoom and pan tool, you can really work in very small areas. %Gallery-169417% In addition to the color addition and subtraction, the app gives you control of gamma, contrast, hue and exposure, so you can pretty much modify your image completely in ColorStrokes. There is even a minimal cropping tool, but it only allows you to square off a wide aspect ratio image. I'd prefer more cropping control, but, of course, when you finish an image you can open it in the native iOS image editor and crop there. The app lets you save your image to your camera roll, and you can export to Instagram and other social networks. You can print directly from the app, as well as email the image. There is also an option to have the photo printed on postcard stock and sent anywhere in the world. Obviously, that is not a free service. This latest version of ColorStrokes, released a couple of days ago, fully supports the iPhone 5 and iOS 6, and performance has been increased. The authors are quite active in soliciting user opinions for new features, and I expect the app will continue to grow and improve. The app requires iOS 4.3 or later, and is not universal. I think ColorStrokes is something I'll want in my collection of photo editors. You'll probably like it too. I've included a sample image in the gallery from a recent trip to Death Valley. There are many ways to use the app, so consider this just one possible application.
