free java photo editing apps image
Heather
I recently purchased Adobe's Creative Cloud with the intent of learning some new design software. I have access to several Adobe apps (Muse, Flashbuilder, Flashprofessional, Fireworks, Dreamweaver, Edge) and I don't know which one I should spend my time learning. I currently maintain three websites (that I built by coding in a text-editor). I am interested in making these websites mobile-device friendly, adding slideshows, etc. I don't know if one Adobe app can do it all or if I need to use several.
Answer
Creative Cloud is pretty cool - I hesitated at first, but in the end, even subscribing for a year is cheaper than upgrading my CS5.5 Master Collection, and there's the other programs you don't get with the MC that are in the CC.
Dreamweaver is going to be your tool of choice for more interactive, larger sites for design/coding and maintenance. It's gotten a lot more powerful since it was first released about 14 years ago.
Dreamweaver CS6's biggest improvement is that they've added a feature called Fluid Grid layouts. The biggest problem today (as it always has been) is designing for multiple platforms/screens, and you've indicated that's a major focus for you, as it is for all of us. DW CS6 accomplishes that with Fluid Grid - it lets you design on a layout that will automatically resize itself based on the user's device. Dreamweaver has also moved heavily to HTML 5 and CSS3, to allow designs across all browsers without those annoying code problems we've always had before.
Something they added in DW CS5 was BrowserLab - rather than having multiple browsers on your system to test, you can go to Adobe and see how your site is going to look in multiple browsers instead.
Edge - Adobe's new Edge program (in Preview right now (free download), full version in the fall) is Adobe's push to move into HTML5/CSS3/Java based animations that run on all platforms and devices, which Flash doesn't (e.g., Apple devices). If you're going to try the Preview, it ends on July 31, so download and use it. The full release will be this fall or winter.
Muse - Muse is Adobe's new Visual Site Design program. If you've ever used InDesign for print publication, you can literally design sites visually with Muse. If you want to, you can export the code for use in Dreamweaver (e.g., slideshow), but the code isn't as clean yet. Still, Muse lets you design pretty quickly.
For slideshows though, it'd be easier to use Lightbox, unless you're looking to do an animated slideshow. You could do that in Edge or Muse, then export it for use in Dreamweaver.
Fireworks - Fireworks was initially released by Macromedia specifically as a program for designing interactive web graphics (e.g., Javascript rollovers). PNG is the native format - years ago when it was released, PNG wasn't really used that much. Today, you'd be hard pressed to find a platform or browser that doesn't recognize it. It was intended as a replacement for Compuserve's GIF format, and it's a hell of a lot better.
Photoshop - Photoshop is the one program you didn't mention, and it's one of the most important for overall site design. While you can do a lot in Fireworks, FW was meant for original artwork/vector graphics like Illustrator creates. Photoshop is, and should be used for raster graphics (photos, composite images, original digital graphics, etc.). While it takes time to learn to get a lot out of it, it's worth it to learn the basics of compositing. Also, Photoshop does 3D and has animation support if you're into that.
Photoshop CS6 has to be used and seen to be truly appreciated. Photoshop's Content Aware Tools (Move, Patch, Fill) make work a lot easier. You can literally move objects in an image, or off the image completely - Photoshop will fill in the background based on background pixel interpolation, and it's damned good at it too. If you've ever seen Alien Skin's Smart Fill, it's similar, but more powerful.
Watch the video on Photoshop CS6 I've linked below - it'll blow your mind what you can do in Photoshop these days.
Of course you can always outsource your imaging, and there are plenty of people like me willing to take your money, but it's easier and cost effective if you can learn it yourself. Besides, if design work gets slow, you can always switch to photo editing/retouching to earn some $$.
You should also look at Lightroom - it was designed/developed literally as a digital darkroom/photo processor for professional photographers. It has many Photoshop features for basic image enhancement. If you're working with a lot of images for your sites, Lightroom and Bridge (installed with Photoshop) are programs worth using.
Flash Pro - Flash is great if you're going to be adding animations/movies to your site, but in general, stick with DW and FW first.
Watch this video at Adobe TV on the latest improvements in all of the CS6 programs:
http://tv.adobe.com/channel/whats-new-inâ¦
If you want professional tutorials, you can't beat Lynda.com - the subscription rates vary, but many Adobe video tutorials are actually Lynda.com course excerpts.
Creative Cloud is pretty cool - I hesitated at first, but in the end, even subscribing for a year is cheaper than upgrading my CS5.5 Master Collection, and there's the other programs you don't get with the MC that are in the CC.
Dreamweaver is going to be your tool of choice for more interactive, larger sites for design/coding and maintenance. It's gotten a lot more powerful since it was first released about 14 years ago.
Dreamweaver CS6's biggest improvement is that they've added a feature called Fluid Grid layouts. The biggest problem today (as it always has been) is designing for multiple platforms/screens, and you've indicated that's a major focus for you, as it is for all of us. DW CS6 accomplishes that with Fluid Grid - it lets you design on a layout that will automatically resize itself based on the user's device. Dreamweaver has also moved heavily to HTML 5 and CSS3, to allow designs across all browsers without those annoying code problems we've always had before.
Something they added in DW CS5 was BrowserLab - rather than having multiple browsers on your system to test, you can go to Adobe and see how your site is going to look in multiple browsers instead.
Edge - Adobe's new Edge program (in Preview right now (free download), full version in the fall) is Adobe's push to move into HTML5/CSS3/Java based animations that run on all platforms and devices, which Flash doesn't (e.g., Apple devices). If you're going to try the Preview, it ends on July 31, so download and use it. The full release will be this fall or winter.
Muse - Muse is Adobe's new Visual Site Design program. If you've ever used InDesign for print publication, you can literally design sites visually with Muse. If you want to, you can export the code for use in Dreamweaver (e.g., slideshow), but the code isn't as clean yet. Still, Muse lets you design pretty quickly.
For slideshows though, it'd be easier to use Lightbox, unless you're looking to do an animated slideshow. You could do that in Edge or Muse, then export it for use in Dreamweaver.
Fireworks - Fireworks was initially released by Macromedia specifically as a program for designing interactive web graphics (e.g., Javascript rollovers). PNG is the native format - years ago when it was released, PNG wasn't really used that much. Today, you'd be hard pressed to find a platform or browser that doesn't recognize it. It was intended as a replacement for Compuserve's GIF format, and it's a hell of a lot better.
Photoshop - Photoshop is the one program you didn't mention, and it's one of the most important for overall site design. While you can do a lot in Fireworks, FW was meant for original artwork/vector graphics like Illustrator creates. Photoshop is, and should be used for raster graphics (photos, composite images, original digital graphics, etc.). While it takes time to learn to get a lot out of it, it's worth it to learn the basics of compositing. Also, Photoshop does 3D and has animation support if you're into that.
Photoshop CS6 has to be used and seen to be truly appreciated. Photoshop's Content Aware Tools (Move, Patch, Fill) make work a lot easier. You can literally move objects in an image, or off the image completely - Photoshop will fill in the background based on background pixel interpolation, and it's damned good at it too. If you've ever seen Alien Skin's Smart Fill, it's similar, but more powerful.
Watch the video on Photoshop CS6 I've linked below - it'll blow your mind what you can do in Photoshop these days.
Of course you can always outsource your imaging, and there are plenty of people like me willing to take your money, but it's easier and cost effective if you can learn it yourself. Besides, if design work gets slow, you can always switch to photo editing/retouching to earn some $$.
You should also look at Lightroom - it was designed/developed literally as a digital darkroom/photo processor for professional photographers. It has many Photoshop features for basic image enhancement. If you're working with a lot of images for your sites, Lightroom and Bridge (installed with Photoshop) are programs worth using.
Flash Pro - Flash is great if you're going to be adding animations/movies to your site, but in general, stick with DW and FW first.
Watch this video at Adobe TV on the latest improvements in all of the CS6 programs:
http://tv.adobe.com/channel/whats-new-inâ¦
If you want professional tutorials, you can't beat Lynda.com - the subscription rates vary, but many Adobe video tutorials are actually Lynda.com course excerpts.
Programming games for mobile devices?
SequinShin
I study computer science in college, I'm just beginning and am focusing on programming. I want to start programming for Android. I know Java and C++, bought and read a few How-To books for mobile development. I'm looking to make some cash for programming mobile apps, doesn't matter how much. I think of it as a stepping stone to get started in programming. Some questions still linger though...
Should I program a game for Java first then convert it to Android, or straight to the Android format?
What's a good program to create 2D PNG graphics?
For a high quality 2D game, do I need to program the mainframe with C++ and wrap Java around it, or will Java do the job?
Should I learn Lua? (Theres many Lua files in Angry Birds code which confuses me.)
Currently I use Eclipse but am buying Corona SDK. But I have free access to Visual Studios, Basic. Is there anyway I can benefit from these programs besides developing applications for Windows?
Finally, any advice would be nice, or useful resources. Thanks!
Answer
Q1: "Should I program a game for Java first then convert it to Android, or straight to the Android format?"
A1: Not every program made in java can be converted to android, yes you can use your game logic code, but to do that you need deep knowledge of java and reusable coding. But there are some library which give you an option to build your games in PC first and then port you game to android by adding a few lines of code. So you are able to make your game for PC( windows, Linux, Mac) and Android with same coding. One of them is libgdx. You can get it from here
http://libgdx.badlogicgames.com/
It is an awesome game development library. This will met your all need. It uses box2D for physics and collision detection, Angrybird
Q1: "Should I program a game for Java first then convert it to Android, or straight to the Android format?"
A1: Not every program made in java can be converted to android, yes you can use your game logic code, but to do that you need deep knowledge of java and reusable coding. But there are some library which give you an option to build your games in PC first and then port you game to android by adding a few lines of code. So you are able to make your game for PC( windows, Linux, Mac) and Android with same coding. One of them is libgdx. You can get it from here
http://libgdx.badlogicgames.com/
It is an awesome game development library. This will met your all need. It uses box2D for physics and collision detection, Angrybird
Title Post: Which Adobe app should I use to update and create websites?
Rating: 96% based on 982 ratings. 5 user reviews.
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Rating: 96% based on 982 ratings. 5 user reviews.
Author: Unknown
Thanks For Coming To My Blog
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