Mac

Windows

Running Windows 3.x? Some applications may require the win32s 32-bit extensions in order to run in Windows 3.x. If you haven't already got win32s installed, click here to set it up. Or wait, and if you have problems with a Win 3.x application, install win32s then.

This colour correction program is pitched at those who work with scanned and digital camera images. Color Pilot uses a patented technology to transform dull or 'flat' photographs into more natural and vibrant looking images. A photograph can easily be improved by simply selecting a colour to be changed and selecting a reference colour from the same or a different image to correct it. There's no messing with complex colour channels here – the software works intuitively and produces amazing results.

Web link: www.glasnet.ru/~rais

This is a serious piece of kit for shrinking your Web graphics to speed up access to your Web pages.

See the magazine feature for more details.

Web link: www.xat.com

The core component of the Studio is the NetGraphics Optimizer, which speaks for itself. there are no editing facilities – it just takes images and optimises them for the Web. the process is wizard based and you can preview how an image is likely to look and perform when being downloaded on a range of different speed connections.

See the magazine feature for more details.

Web link: www.Hemera.com

JASC's Paint Shop Pro is becoming more and more a serious contender in the graphics software market. It comes as close as you could expect to doing the magic of Adobe Photoshop and is indeed compatible with most Photoshop plugins and has some additional tricks up its sleeve. Have a go with this Version 5 evaluation and look out for an evaluation copy of the final version of PSP6 (still in beta testing as we go to press) with the next issue of Internet Magazine.

Web link: www.jasc.com

Sophisticated JPEG image compression software that gives you great control over your images, including the ability to selectively compress areas of an image.

Web link: www.cyberviewcd.com

Smart Pix is built on a relational database that stores a reference to all the images in your collection and allows you to assign multiple keywords or descriptions to them for quick and easy retrieval.

Supports all common image file formats and offers many viewing options including slideshow and HTML page thumbnail indexes.

Web link: www.xequte.com

Lens Pro is a Photoshop (and compatible application) plugin that gives you great lens warping effects. Have a trial look.

Web link: www.panopticum.com

New version

IrfanView is an excellent streamlined image file viewer that also allows basic image editing. It supports about every graphic file format you can find plus sound and video. It's small and very quick with slideshow facilities.

Web link: http://stud1.tuwien.ac.at/~e9227474

Protect your graphic efforts from thieves and file grabbing software with Artistscope, a useful tool that encrypts your GIFs and JPEGs so they can only be seen on your own Web site. Once encrypted and uploaded to the server, graphics cannot be viewed outside the Artistscope Java applet viewer.

Web link: http://203.147.229.129/artistscopehelp/

ProJPEG is an easy to use, high performance tool for preparing optimised JPEG images for the Web. It is a file format plug-in for Adobe Photoshop 3.0 and greater or compatible graphics programs. ProJPEG provides many unique abilities to aid you in the creation of optimised JPEGs for the Web without trial and error that can save you valuable production time as you achieve smaller, faster JPEG files.

To install: close your compatible graphics program, copy the file listed above to your graphics program's plug-ins folder and when you restart the program, ProJPEG should be available. See various reference documents in the folder.

Web link: www.boxtopsoft.com

Xara 3D produces high quality 3D images that you can animate and export to AVI or Gif format. Its slick interface gives you total control over text, font, extrude depth, bevel types and lighting. You can position and rotate 3D objects simply by dragging, and the image updates in real-time. The latest version features new animation paths, true soft shadows, transparency, text kerning and tracking.

Web link: www.xara.com

Expires after 15 days

Ulead's top-notch GIF animation program will help bring some sparkle to your Web pages, without their grinding to a halt.

Web link: www.webutilities.com

Trying to match up colours for your Web pages? Load Eyedropper from the Windows Taskbar and a magnifying tool attaches itself to your mouse pointer. Move your mouse around and this handy tool reveals the RGB or hexadecimal value of any pixel.

Web link: www.inetia.com/eyedroppereng.asp

Mac OS

NOTE: The Mac programs on this CD are mostly in archived 'HQX' (BinHex) files – they can be extracted with several applications, including Stuffit Expander (which is on the CD...). Clicking on the links below should set the process in motion. You may receive a message that the file cannot be loaded into Simple Text — if so, start Stuffit and then open the HQX file you want from within Stuffit.

Lens Pro is a Photoshop (and compatible application) plugin that gives you great lens warping effects. Have a trial look.

Web link: www.panopticum.com

DeBabelizer specialises in graphics file conversion, both of content and between different formats, including powerful batch processing. The Lite version has a reduced features list compared to the full version. See the Equilibrium Web site for more information.

Web link: www.equilibrium.com

More advanced than the Mac's simple scrapbook utility, iView lets you view and organise all types of images. Can read a host of file formats supported by QuickTime, including JPEG, GIF, Photoshop, Silicon Graphics, GRIP, QTIF, and PICT formats. It can display images as icons, as thumbnails (in various sizes) or as a slideshow. After an image is found, iView can remember the image's location, open the folder in which it resides, and launch the application that was used to create it. You can save a list of images as a catalogue that you can later search and print.

Web link: www.scriptsoftware.com

(Recently updated)

Graphic Converter converts graphics... simple! Make various adjustments and save/convert images in a wide range of file formats. The program includes high-end editing tools for graphic manipulation, as well as the ability to use Photoshop-compatible plug-ins. It also offers batch conversion and slideshow capabilities.

ProJPEG is an easy to use, high performance tool for preparing optimised JPEG images for the Web. It is a file format plug-in for Adobe Photoshop 3.0 and greater. ProJPEG provides many unique abilities to aid you in the creation of optimised JPEGs for the Web without trial and error that can save you valuable production time as you achieve smaller, faster JPEG files.

Web link: www.boxtopsoft.com

Totally Hip's WebPainter is a vector and bitmap animation tool aimed at the Flash market. The floating toolbox and palettes plus the layered storyboard metaphor will be familiar to Photoshop and PhotoAnimator users. WebPainter creates a variety of Web file formats including animated GIFs, AVIs and QuickTime movies. It features 'onion skins', tweening, transition effects and filtering.

Web link: www.totallyhip.com

PhotoGIF lets you create and edit GIF files and is ideal for creating Web graphics. This tool is a plug-in for use with Adobe Photoshop or other compatible programs. This version fixes bugs, improves the interface and includes the PhotoGIF Filter for better integration with Photoshop-compatible image editors.

The unregistered version does not allow you to save files.

Here are some sets of more plug-in filters suitable for use with Adobe Photoshop and other compatible graphics applications.

Unpack the HQX files (using Stuffit Expander or similar) and copy the plugins to your compatible graphics program's plugins or filters folder – you will usually need to restart your program for the plugins to become available.

• Photoshop Dither Filters – implements two dithering algorithms that are optimised for printing on laser printers
  software/mac/graphics/pshop_plugins/dither filters
  /ditherfilters-1.8.cpt.hqx

• MediaSpark Filters – edge effects including vignets
  software/mac/graphics/pshop_plugins
  /media spark/filters.sea.hqx
  Web link: www.mediaspark.com