Cozy Software
Lesson #03 
Image Editing / Authoring
Written By Titmowse
Online porn is a mostly visual medium. We’re in the picture business and we display those images on sites decorated with buttons and lines and banners and bars. We don’t expect you to become a web Picasso and with some of the software we’re going to mention is this lesson, you won’t have to.
Even if you can afford a kick-ass designer, that doesn’t mean you’re going to escape the artsy end of this business. Odds are you won’t be hiring a web designer and it’s you who will make most of your graphics. You’re the one that will have to make sure your site looks good and loads fast. You’re going to resizing and retouching photos. You’re going to be creating your logo and design elements.
You’re going to need some software.
Like the HTML Editors mentioned in Lesson #02, there are two basic types of software: Authoring Programs and Image Editors.
An Authoring Program is a drawing program. You use this software when you need to create graphics from scratch. This is the type of software you’ll need for producing the decorative elements of your webpage. Authoring programs come with different brushes and pre-set shape tools. These programs let you apply text to existing images or onto new graphics. You’ll probably create your logo with Authoring software.
An Image Editor does what its name suggests. These programs edit existing images. As an adult webmaster, you will most likely have to resize and retouch a lot of your photo content. Image Editors perform those functions as well as others such as red-eye removal, brightness/contrast controls and smudging tools. From thumbnailing to embossing filters, the Image Editor is your friend.
It’s important to know the difference between these two types of graphics software because you’re going to need both. Some of the programs we’re about to list below are all-in-one or bundled. When you install one, you’ll have both and Image Editor and Authoring Software. Others are what are known as stand-alone programs. The software will be either Authoring or Editing, but not both.
Adobe PhotoShop costs about $650.00 brand new. There’s a reason for that. It does everything and more. Draw, edit, animate (Adobe ImageReady), you name it. If you’ve ever seen text that looks like it was made of metal, chances are the graphic was constructed in PhotoShop. PhotoShop is so ingrained in web culture the name has become a verb. To PhotoShop. We also have a classroom on Cozy Academy dedicated to this program. This is the all-in-one we wish we could afford but buyers beware. This is complicated software.
Highly affordable, this all-in-one is referred to as the poor man’s PhotoShop. PSP has pretty much the same bells and whistles as PhotoShop but PSP costs a little over a hundred bucks. Apply filters, work in layers, animate, make thumbnails and draw.
The name saws Draw but this is really an all-in-one suite of applications. Create vector-based graphics, retouch photos and even build web animations. The newest version is even compatible with MS Word.
Ulead makes some nifty little programs and this photo editor is but just one. You can take that ragged old whore and turn her into a glossy young babe with this powerhouse of a stand-alone Image Editor. Less than a hundreds bucks.
You love Flash. Who doesn’t? One of the coolest things about Macromedia Fireworks is that with it, you can take any image or animation and convert it into Flash format. Not to mention that it’s a killer stand-alone Image Editor.
Granted, some of these software programs cost as much as a down payment on a car. We don’t expect you to buy without trying. All the programs above are available in a downloadable demo. You can test the ones you’re interested in before you pay.
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