Turn Your Web Browser into an Image Editor

Today I want to show you an online cloud service called Pixlr that offers several tools that you can use to capture and edit your images (and photos) right inside your web browser. You simply visit Pixlr.com and your browser is transformed into an image editor.  No account sign-up is needed or required.

The tools in Pixlr are are driven by Flash and you need to have the Flash plug-in (get flash) to get it to work. Most PC’s today have the Flash plug- in already installed. To find out if you have flash installed, simply visit Pixlr and try to load the editor. The cool factor about Pixlr is that if you are using the current version of Flash, you will not have to upload your images (or photos) to the server. The image you desire to work on will be opened directly into your browser at the local level (on your PC). The plus about this is that your image is not being sent somewhere else, which could be a privacy concern; especially if the image is sensitive in nature. In essence, your internet browser (such as Firefox, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Opera etc.) becomes an image editor.

Pixlr Editor – If you are already familiar with image editing software (e.g. Photoshop, Gimp, Paint.net, Paint Shop Pro), then you will be right at home with Pixlr Editor. The editor offers the same functionality, navigation and tools, with the ability to handle layers, that you find in your typical image editing software. Your final creation can be saved to your computer as a JPEG, PNG, BMP or PXD (layer Pixlr image).

Available Tools:

Marquee tool
Move tool
Lasso tool
Crop tool
Wand tool
Clone Stamp tool
Pencil tool
Eraser tool
Brush tool
Gradient tool
Paint Bucket tool
Blur tool
Sharpen tool
Smudge tool
Sponge tool
Dodge tool
Burn tool
Red Eye Reduction tool
Drawing tool
Bloat tool
Pinch tool
Color Picker tool
Type tool
Hand tool
Zoom tool

In addition to Pixlr Editor you will also find Pixlr Express and Pixlr Grabber.

Pixlr Express is an online utility that gives you the ability to “quick fix” your photos with basic tools (e.g. crop, resize, rotate, flip, adjust the color and apply photo effects).

Pixlr Grabber is a is a light weight application that enables you to right click any image on your desktop and open them in Pixlr Editor. It is available as a Windows application or as a Firefox extension.

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Creating a personalized font from your own handwriting…

FontCapture is a web based (cloud app) that walks you through a (4)-four step process of creating a font style in your very own handwriting. You will need a fine point marker, printer, scanner, an internet connection and a little computer know-how to make this work.

The FontCapture web site indicates it is a (4)-four step process; however, I found it is actually to be a (6)-six step process from the point of completing the template to actually getting the font style on your PC.

Personally, if you follow all of the steps and take your time completing the template, the end result is very good.  Below is a sample of the results I managed to get.

Step 1: Download and print the the template

Step 2: Complete the template in your own handwriting

Step 3: Scan the template ( >200 dpi) – Save as a PNG file

Step 4: Upload the saved PNG file to FontCapture

Step 5: Preview and Download the converted font file

Step 6: Locate and Copy the downloaded font to your Windows font directory.

Note: If you experience any problems copying the font file to your Windows font directory, I encourage you to follow these “easy” step-by-step instructions on:

“How To Add A Custom Font To Your PC” [ at Tech-for Everyone ]

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Over 33,500 High Quality Clipart Images for FREE

If you are looking for that special visual touch for that blog article, school paper, or any document for that matter; then visit WPClipart.  This site is loaded with over 33,500 high quality “public domain” images.

I encourage you to visit the “Legal F.A.Q.” page to learn how you can take these images and freely modify them to make derivative works that legally can be used for a logo, banner, etc…

The creator of WPClipart, Paul Sherman, started this online  project as a “safe” collection of clipart for his kids. Mr. Sherman we give you a thumbs-up for maintaining and compiling such a great list of clipart that will be a benefit to many! WPClipart has made it to the What’s On My PC…  “Freebies Page”.

You can browse the collection [ here ] .

Web Site Description:

WPClipart is a collection of high-quality public domain images specifically tailored for use in word processors and optimized for printing on home/small office inkjet printers. There are thousands of color graphic clips as well as illustrations, photographs and black and white line art. Nearly all are available in lossless, PNG format. The wpclipart server is also able to convert any image (up to 600 pixels in width or height) to a JPG, if that image format is desired.  As of Wednesday, 10/07/2009 there are 33,544 images.

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Protect your email address before sharing it…

Did you know that posting your email as plain text in forums, on Twitter, web pages or on classified sites makes you an easy spam target?  Spammers use automated spam robots that endlessly scour the internet looking for email addresses to harvest. In other words, post your email address where it is visible on a web page, anywhere on the internet, and I will guarantee that you will experience a dramatic increase in spam. If you notice when you leave a comment here on the “What’s On My PC…” blog, I will ask you for your email address (to contact you back); however, your email address is never made visible to the spam robots or others for that matter.

The solution… If you have a need to post your email, you can mask it using this FREE service called scr.im .

scr.im – Converts your email address into a short, cute and safe link you can share on the web, in Twitter, forums, Craigslist, anywhere…

How to use it… Simply visit the scr.im site, enter your email address and click “protect my email”. You will subsequently be assigned a short URL (web address) that you ultimately can use on web pages, forums, twitter, etc.  When a person clicks on your scr.im link they will ultimately be required to go through a short “humanity check” (see below) before the email address is revealed.

scr.im is like having a spam firewall to protect your personal email address.

You will be prompted to enter your email address

You will be assigned a short URL (that you need to remember)

Anyone that clicks on or visits your short URL
will be required to complete the humanity check
before your email address is revealed.

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Learn about Google Wave

The primary reason I write a blog is to inform the everyday computer user.  Just today I had an “everyday computer user” ask me, “What is Google Wave?”.  Well, I was like, uh, hmmmm!, let me get back to you…  I needed to do my homework on Google Wave.

To the everyday computer user, they are hearing about Google Wave via the news media and that Google Wave is currently in a limited preview via an invite. You can request an invite to Google Wave from [ here ].  At the present, it is my understanding that 100,000 invites were sent out and the people who received those invites can invite another (8)-eight people.

Ok, what is Google Wave all about?

Google Wave is an online tool for real-time communication and collaboration. A wave can be both a conversation and a document where people can discuss and work together using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

You can visit the official Google Wave site [ here ] .

To the everyday computer user, the description I provided probably did not help matters any.  Ok, let’s try some YouTube videos.  The first video is the Google Wave Developer Preview.  If it seems too in-depth, definitely watch the second video.  The person who created the second video put it all together for us in very simplistic terms (and pictures) that even I could understand.  Enjoy!

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How to backup and filter files using your Gmail account…

The blog “AKS-Feel The Change” recently featured an article [ Link ] about a really neat utility called “Backup To Email”. This utility enables you to backup files to just about any email account, including Gmail. To point out here, Backup To Email is not a full featured backup program designed to backup your whole computer. It is designed to supplement the backup routines that you should already have in place.

I use Backup To Email, to backup and store project files that I am currently working on or other files that are important to me. For example, while drafting this article, I sent a backup copy to my Gmail account using Backup To Email. This is added insurance that if disaster strikes (computer crashes), my project files are backed up off site. If I think the file(s) I am backing up are sensitive in nature, I will often encrypt the file prior to uploading it to my Gmail account. The program I use for encryption purposes is, Drag’n’Crypt Ultra.

Nearly everyone these days has a Gmail account with approximately 7 GB’s of space. If you want to maximize the usage of that space, here is a neat way to use the Backup to Email program with your Gmail account to filter out (separate) the backup files from your regular email. The reason I lean toward using Gmail is that I can open the majority of my backup files right inside my Gmail (using Google Docs). Utlimately, If you are going to backup a lot of files, you could also setup a separate Gmail account to strictly store files.

To make this all happen, you must have Backup To Email installed and configured to recognize your Gmail account. This may look more difficult than it is, but it really easy to do and in the end your backup files are automatically separated from your regular email that you receive in your inbox.

• Log into your Gmail account and click on Settings at the top right corner.
• Click on Labels
• At the bottom, type in the word “Files” where it says Create a new label
• Click on Create (the Files label should show up)
• Next, Click on Filters (at the top)
• Click on Create a new filter
• In the From box, type Me
• In the Subject box type BackupToEmail (all one word)
• Click on Next Step
• Put a Check Mark next to Skip the Inbox
• Put a Check Mark next to Apply the Label and select Files from the drop down box
• Click on Create Filter and you are done.
• Test to see if the filter is working by backing up a file using Backup To Email.  If it is not working properly, recheck the filter settings.

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Learn About FREE Online Backup Strategies

Backing up your data to the cloud… What are your options?  Is it costly? Is it hard to do? Should I do it?

If you have a desire to get answers to these questions, I encourage you to visit Scoroncocolo to learn more about FREE On-Line Backup Strategies AND how you can take advantage of them. The article is very well written for us everyday folks to understand.  Be sure to check out the nice listing of online storage services that offer “FREE” storage space.

A “What’s On My PC…” Web Clip!

September 27, 2009
[Source: Scoroncocolo]

Cloud Computing is a buzz phrase we hear a lot these days. All Cloud Computing means is using your Web browser instead of your hard drive to run applications to do the work you do everyday. It won’t be long until this is the norm rather than the exception.

SkyDrive and Syncplicity are not the only cloud backup I use. I also have music, photos and files backed-up on Adrive and Box.net.

One thing you might want to keep in mind about using cloud storage providers is that they could go belly-up at any time. You may recall that this happened to AOL-owned Xdrive in or around August 0f 2008. With this in mind, you may not want to consider using backing-up in the cloud as your only method of securing your data.

Once you have music, pictures and documents stored on Google Docs, SkyDrive, ADrive, Box.net or Amazon, you can download and install Gladinet Cloud Desktop to keep track of everything. Gladinet Cloud Desktop allows you to access files stored in the cloud as if they were in a local folder.

[Source: Scoroncocolo]

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