Hobgit Web Hosting News

Do you need to capture your screen activities, test out color combinations, or join multiple videos into a single one? In this visual communication Sharewood Guide I have collected some cool new tools to help you prepare, organize and communicate your visual and video messages more clearly.

Photo credit: Avner Richard

Here the full set of visual communication tools I have chosen for you this week:

1. PicPick: Capture regions of your screen, grab pixels colors and whiteboard on your desktop
2. ColorCombos.com: Test out color combinations and grab a palette out of any site
3. FlickrIn: Embed a set of Flickr photos, that you can generate by username or tags, on your website
4. TimeRime: Build Flash-based visual timelines that you can share or embed on your blog or site
5. ScreenToaster: Record screencasts and share them online
6. Muveemix: Create mixes with videos and music, and publish them on the Web
7. Foto2Avi: Arrange all of your videos and pictures into a new movie easily
8. YouEmbedTube: Search for videos by tags, and get a Flash widget that points to them

Here all the details:

Visual Communication Tools

1. PicPick
   
   PicPick is an all-in-one software for developers, graphic designers and home users. It enables you to capture regions of your screen, that you can later edit into the integrated image editor. PicPick also integrates useful features such as pixel color picker, pixel ruler, screen whiteboard and more. PicPick is a portable application, which works only on Windows machines. Free.
   http://picpick.wiziple.net/features
2. ColorCombos.com
   
   ColorCombos is an online resource that people can use to test out color combinations easily. You can use the Combo Tester, which allows you to see how different color combinations work together on the screen, the Combo Library, to browse into a collection of pre-made combinations, but also grab a color scheme from a website by pasting its URL into a box. The service is free to use, no registration needed.
   http://www.colorcombos.com/
3. FlickrIn
   
   FlickrIn is a free service that allows you to embed sets of Flickr photos on your website. You can type in tags or any Flickr username, select the number of pictures the widget will have, and click generate. A preview will be shown to you, along with the HTML and Javascript embedding code. The service is completely web-based and free to use.
   http://www.flickrin.com/
4. TimeRime
   
   TimeRime is a timeline creator that allows you to build up a Flash timeline easily. Timelines can be filled with text, music, pictures and YouTube movies: each timeline has some controls such as in / out zoom button and date slider, as well as an embedding code and a sharing link. TimeRime is free to use, but registration is needed.
   http://www.timerime.com/

Video Publishing Tools

1. ScreenToaster
   
   ScreenToaster is a web-based screencasting software that lets you record screen activities without downloading any software. Working on any Windows, Mac, and Linux machine, ScreenToaster allows you to start recording your screen by pressing and stop just pressing a key combination. When you’re finished recording your video, the output file will be immediately saved into your account, so that you can whether share its link or embed it everywhere. Free.
   http://www.screentoaster.com/
2. Muveemix
   
   Muveemix is an online video mixer that lets you join multiple videos and add music to them. To create a mix, upload all of the videos you want to add, select an audio file from your hard disk, give it a name, and click on “Make Muvee“. You can then get a sharing link to send your video to other people, or simply embed it on your website or blog. Free.
   http://muveemix.com/
3. Foto2Avi
   
   Foto2Avi is a free video editor for Windows that anyone can use to combine videos and pictures. You can import images (BMP, JPG and PNG), videos (AVI, MPEG, MOV, WMV and FLV) and music, and combine them into a new movie (AVI, FLV or MPEG): you can add transitions, apply basic effects, or add animations, subtitles and logos. Foto2Avi is free to download and use.
   http://www.trustfm.net/divx/SoftwareFoto2Avi.php?b2=1
4. YouEmbedTube
   
   YouEmbedTube is a Flash widget creator you can use to embed a set of videos inside your webpage. To create a widget, just type some tags, select the number of random videos that will be embedded in your widget, and click preview. You can then get the code, and embed it on your webpage to let people see the videos you pointed at.
   http://youembedtube.com/

Originally written by Nico Canali De Rossi for Master New Media and first published on October 26th 2008 as “Visual Communication And Video Publishing - Selected Tools And Web Services - Sharewood Guide Oct 26 08“

Do you want to create a web site but you know nothing about HTML coding? Finally, the time has come for everyone to take advantage of a growing number of web site and web page creation services which allow you to create and publish your online content even if you don’t have any HTML code programming skills.

Photo credit: Silense

In this new Sharewood Guide I have collected the best free web site creation services to create a web site without knowing HTML.

Web site creators are free, user-friendly services that don’t require you to go through a difficult process of code writing to create and organize the layout of your web pages. You simply register (where needed), choose a name for your new web site, and edit all your content through a visual interface.

Here below the set of key basic characteristics that I have utilized to compare these tools so that you can easily find the one that best suits your needs:

1. Registration: If needed, you have to provide your personal informarion to utilize the service
2. Flash - Widgets Support: If present, you can embed multimedia objects like flash movies or widgets
3. Ready-Made Templates: Allows you to select a pre-made look for your web site
4. SEO Friendly: Creates friendly URLs for easier indexing into search engines
5. RSS Support: Enables users to be updated when you add new content to your web site

Here the best free web site creators I have found out there (if you know of other ones, please help me out by adding them in the comment area at the end):

How To Create A Web Site Without Knowing HMTL Comparison Table

go to the table!

How To Create A Web Site Without Knowing HMTL Tool List

1. Weebly
   
   Weebly is an online web-publishing solution that anyone can use to create a web site without knowing HTML or any technical programming language. To create a website, just register to the service, choose one of the preset designs available, add and customize content (including videos and Flash widgets) simply by dragging it, and save. The service is completely free to use, but registration is needed.
   http://www.weebly.com
2. Synthasite
   
   Synthasite is a web site builder that you can use to create your pages. Just by registering for free, you can start building your web site choosing from a wide archive of templates, that you can edit in simple or advanced mode (if you manage HTML language). Synthasite also supports widgets, and it is fully web-based. Free to use.
   http://www.synthasite.com/
3. Google Page Creator
   
   Google Page Creator is a Google application that you can use to create your set of web pages. You can create an unlimited number of pages, that can be also linked between themselves, and edit them as if you were editing a normal text document. Every page will then have a Google subdomain URL, and can be edited at anytime. Plus, you can upload documents and files that will have their own URL to be linked to. The service is free to use. A Google account is needed.
   http://pages.google.com/
4. Roxer
   
   Roxer is a web site creator that lets you edit your web pages easily. It is completely customizable, and you can add photos, YouTube videos, and music in live editing mode, so that you know exactly how your new page will look like. Roxer is completely free to use after a simple registration.
   http://www.roxer.com/
5. Freewebs
   
   Freewebs is an easy to use site building tool that anyone can use to create a professional looking web site in a few clicks. You can choose from more than 300 templates and start editing content with the integrated live editor. It also features a file manager that helps you adding images, documents and multimedia files to your site. Free to use.
   http://members.freewebs.com/
6. Wix
   
   Wix is a Flash-based software that lets you create web sites in seconds. Just select a style from the library, add elements to it using drag&drop facilities, import photos, videos, music, and save your project. No technical skill required, or software to download. Free to use, registration is needed.
   http://www.wix.com/
7. Zimplit
   
   Zimplit is a visual editor that users can install on their own server to easily edit their pages. After you install it, you can start creating your site, using the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor: you can add and delete pages, edit content, modify the template, insert images and more. Zimplit is free to download and use.
   http://www.zimplit.org/
8. Viviti
   
   Viviti is the fastest way to make a professional, easy to update, web site with only a few clicks. You can choose from a wide variety of professional templates and add new pages, add and drag content, edit settings, create blog posts, add photos, videos, music, widgets, and more. Viviti is free to use in its beta phase.
   http://viviti.com/
9. Jimdo
   
   Jimdo is an online editor that you can use to create web pages and blogs. Giving you 500MB for your files, Jimdo lets you create all the pages you want, with the possibility of adding text, images and videos. Every site will also have its RSS feed, for people to stay updated with the changes. Free to use, registration is needed. A pro plan is also available with 5GB of storage and free domain included.
   http://www.jimdo.com/
10. Webon
    
    Webon is a free web site builder that easily allows you to make up your own site. You can create pages without knowing any programming language, using the built-in live editor. You can embed widgets from sites like YouTube and Flickr. If you create a blog, you can use the RSS feature to let your viewers subscribe to your news and be notified as you update your site. Webom is completely free to use, registration is needed.
    http://www.webon.com/
11. Google Sites
    
    Google Sites is an easy app that you can use to create a site as if you were editing a document. You create as many pages as you want and let other people edit them with you in real-time. Every page can be customized with templates, and can contain text, as well as images, videos, presentations and documents (from the Google suite). The service is free to use, a Google account is required.
    http://www.google.com/sites/index.html
12. Tumblr
    
    Tumblr is a free service that you can use to create a personal blog. After you register, you can personalize every part of your site easily, without even knowing HTML language, and start sharing text, photos, links, music, and videos. The service also provides RSS capabilities for your readers to follow your news. Free.
    http://www.tumblr.com/

Originally written by Nico Canali De Rossi for MasterNewMedia and first published on October 20th 2008 as “Create A Web Site Without Knowing HMTL: Web Site Creators - Sharewood Guide“

How can you convert the contents of a web page into RSS? How do you generate a RSS feed for a website, search result page or news source that doesn’t have one? Can you do this without spending any money and without having any technical HTML skill?

Photo credit: Mipan

In this new Sharewood Guide I have collected the best free tools to convert any web page to RSS.

Web page to RSS converters are free tools, usually web-based, that anyone can use to keep changes of any site which doesn’t offer a RSS feed for its readers.

RSS feeds are very intuitive and easy-to-use: to create a feed just grab the desired page’s URL, paste it into the box, and click generate. Some of these tools, will also offer advanced options to let you refine which of the items present on a specific web page need to be included in your newly generated RSS feed.

Here the best web page to RSS converters I have found out there (if you know of other ones, please help me out by adding them in the comment area at the end):

Convert Web Pages Contents Into RSS Tool List

1. Dapper
   
   Dapper is a free service that lets you convert any web page content (from YouTube search results to blog posts) into a RSS feed in seconds. Just provide a URL (ore more), select and divide in multiple fields the content that you want to be included in your feed (e.g. titles, descriptions, images…), decide the output format and save your feed. You will need to be registered to create as many feeds as you want. Free.
   http://www.dapper.net/
2. Yahoo! Pipes
   
   Yahoo! Pipes is a RSS feed mixer that mashes content from the web together into new interactive creations. It lets you drag and drop different information feeds, such as the latest news items from your favorite news sources, or search queries, or anything else you want, and combine them through a series of filters into “pipes“.The service is completely free to use; a Yahoo! account is required.
   http://pipes.yahoo.com/
3. Feed43
   
   Feed43 is an online service that converts standard web pages or XML documents to RSS feeds. In order to create a new feed, simply identify the web page from which to generate a RSS feed, define the search patterns to help the system locate the news source, and generate the feed. The service is free to use, no registration is needed.
   http://www.feed43.com/
4. RSSxl
   
   RSSxl is an easy-to-use web page to RSS converter, that allows you to convert any page to a normal RSS feed. After you provide the URL of the site, you just have to identify the news items’ start and end points by pointing to them with some HTML or string keywords. Then you can click generate, and get your new RSS news feed to keep updated with that page’s changes. Free.
   http://www.wotzwot.com/rssxl.php
5. Web2RSS
   
   Web2RSS is a web-based app that automatically turns any website into a RSS news feed. Pasting the site’s URL is enough to let Web2RSS convert the content and export it in RSS format, without doing anything. If you want to make it even more precise, you can either match or exclude parts of the page using HTML or string expressions present on the page. Free to use, no registration is needed.
   http://www.baekdal.com/web2rss/
6. RSS Wizard
   
   RSS Wizard is a software for Windows machines than can generate the RSS feed out of any web page without having to edit it first. To create a feed, you have to start the program, paste a URL, provide a start and end string to make the software recognize where the news begin and end, and click OK to create the feed. Free to try, $29.05 to buy.
   http://www.extralabs.net/rss-wizard.htm
7. Feedity
   
   Feedity is an only feed builder that creates a RSS feed out of any website. Feedity is very easy-to-use and lets you get your feed in two steps: enter the URL of the desired website, help the service identify the news source on the page by pointing to some reference points (in simple or advanced mode), and click generate to retrieve your feed. Free to use, doesn’t require any registration.
   http://feedity.com/
8. Feedmarklet
   
   Feedmarklet gives you the ability to create your own RSS feed instantly through a browser bookmarklet, with no sign up required. After you insert a name for your feed, you can start adding content to it easily: find a link you want to keep an eye on and click on the bookmarklet button in your browser to immediately add the page you are on to your feed. By doing this, you can mix multiple sources into a single feed with one click. Free.
   http://www.feedmarklet.com/
9. FeedFire
   
   FeedFire is an HTML-to-RSS service allowing anyone to automatically create a RSS news feed for any website that does not have one. You simply register at FeedFire, input the URL of the page and it’ll do the rest for you in a matter of seconds. The service offers both free and paid feeds, which you can discover by signing up to the service.
   http://www.feedfire.com/
10. FeedYes
    
    FeedYes is a completely automatic tool for creating RSS feeds out of HTML web pages. Three steps are involved in the process: provide the URL of the page out of which you want to create a feed; indicate among the dynamic links found by FeedYes, which one is the first that refers to the news section; select the last item that closes the news section. Then, after a preview is shown, you can proceed and save your feed, or further refine it. Free.
    http://www.feedyes.com/
11. PonyFish
    
    Ponyfish is a web-based tool that allows you to create your own RSS feeds from almost any web page. All you have to do is point Ponyfish to the web page you want to create a feed from, then select at least two links that you will want to see in your feed (this indicates to the system which links are news sources) and finally copy your new RSS feed URL. Free to use, no registration needed.
    http://www.ponyfish.com/
12. Page2RSS
    
    Page2RSS is a completely web-based and automatic service which converts web pages to RSS feeds. You can just paste a page URL, and Page2RSS will instantly give you back a preview of the new RSS feed you just created, with the possibility of subscribing to it with the major RSS readers available. You can also use a toolbar button to create feeds for all the pages that you are currently viewing. Free to use, doesn’t require any registration.
    http://page2rss.com/
13. RSSpect
    
    RSSpect is a service that lets you add RSS feeds to any web page. RSSpect offers three kinds of feeds, so you can add a RSS feed to literally anything you find online: “AnySite feeds” allows you to create update feeds from any website or any document online, even those that you don’t control; “MySite feeds” allows you to generate advanced RSS feeds from your own website content, automatically. “Podcast feeds” are specially-designed RSS feeds to be used with iTunes. Free to use.
    http://www.rsspect.com/

Originally written by Nico Canali De Rossi for MasterNewMedia and first published on October 13th 2008 as “Convert Web Pages Content Into RSS Feeds: Web Page To RSS Converters - Sharewood Guide“

Need to convert your videos between major video file formats, create web-based charts, as well as editing or adding effects to your existing pictures?

Photo credit: Antonis Papantoniou

All this and more in this roundup of new cool visual communication and video publishing tools I have personally selected for you. This week:

1. ActivePixels: Edit your images for free on Windows machines
2. Cyclops: Search pictures on major stock photography engines
3. iCharts: Create Flash-based charts from input data or Excel tables
4. 1001FreeFonts: Browse and download free fonts for your Windows or Mac platform
5. Smush It: Upload a picture and let the system optimize it by reducing its size
6. Molv: Stream live images from your phone, and embed recordings anywhere
7. CellSea Video Converter: Edit videos with basic features and convert them between various formats
8. TubeMaster: Browse online videos on major sharing sites and download them in multiple formats

Here the details:

Visual Communication Tools

1. ActivePixels
   
   Active Pixels is a photo editor for Windows that lets you edit all of your pictures for free. Its interface reminds of Adobe Photoshop, and it has many features as layers, effects, freehand selection, and everything you would get in a professional editor. It supports more than 100 image formats, between which you can also find Photoshop’s native PSD. Active Pixels is free to download and use.
   http://idea-systems.net/
2. Cyclops
   
   Cyclops is an image search engine that lets you make researches on BigStockPhoto, Flickr, Fotolia, iStockphoto, Photos.com, Shutterstock, stock.xchng and stockvault with one click. After you input your query and select where you want to search, results will gather divided by source, and you’ll be able to click any image you like and be instantly brought to its download page on the source site. Free to use.
   http://cyclo.ps/
3. iCharts
   
   iCharts is an online service that you can use to create Flash-based charts easily. It allows everyone to upload Excel sheets or manually add data from which they can instantly create, share and embed interactive charts within minutes. Every chart can then be embedded anywhere on the web or printed. iCharts is completely free to use, registration is needed.
   http://www.icharts.net/
4. 1001FreeFonts
   
   1001FreeFonts is a huge database of free fonts for Windows and Mac platforms. When you land on the home page, you can start browsing fonts by category, see the day’s featured ones, or even search for them. When you find one that suits your needs, you can simply download it for free, paying attention to the version you need (Win or Mac), and install it on your machine. Free.
   http://www.1001freefonts.com/
5. Smush It
   
   Smush It is an image optimizer that enables users to provide an image and it will automatically reduce its size with no quality loss. To use it, just choose if you want to use it as a Firefox extension, or whether you want to directly upload images from your PC or URL: after a matter of seconds your image will be ready for download, reduced in size but not in quality. Free to use, no registration needed.
   http://smushit.com/

Video Publishing Tools

1. Molv
   
   Molv is a mobile video streaming service that enables any phone to stream live images on the web. If you own one of the supported phones, you can register to the service, download the software, and start broadcasting live images in your own channel. Shows are automatically recorded by default so that you can later embed them on any page, but this can be changed in the settings menu.
   http://molv.com/
2. CellSea Video Converter
   
   CellSea is a web-based video convert and editor which allows you to add effects, change size, add sound or simply to convert your videos to other formats. Just upload a video from PC ur URL (from sharing websites like YouTube, GoogleVideo, DailyMotion): you can then set the start and end time to trim it, join one or more videos to it, resize and crop it, or simply convert it to AVI, MOV, MP4, FLV or 3GP file. Free to use, no registration needed.
   http://www.cellsea.com/
3. TubeMaster
   
   TubeMaster is a freeware portable application which can download multimedia files (such as FLV, MP3, MP4 …) from major sharing sites like YouTube, and can save them on your computer. Using the integrated browser, you can make researches on these sites, and choose which videos to download as you watch them. All multimedia files can then be converted to other popular video or audio formats (AVI, MPEG, MP3, MP4, IPod, PSP …). Free to download and use.
   http://tubemaster.free.fr/

Originally written by Nico Canali De Rossi for Master New Media and first published on October 12th 2008 as “Visual Communication And Video Publishing - Selected Tools And Web Services - Sharewood Guide Oct 12 08“

Web-based image editors are online tools that anyone can use to easily modify, resize, edit and crop digital photographs or graphics files, without needing to download and install any software.

Photo credit: Pixlr Interface

Digital image editors, are typically free, and, in most cases, do not even require a registration in order to be used: just select an image or provide its URL, wait for the system to upload it and start editing it. No matter whether you need to rotate, resize, crop, or adjust the color tone of your images, these web-based image editors are designed to simplify your task when it comes to such operations.

Basic key features are pretty much the same for all of these web-based image editing tools. Among these, here are my selected top traits for a web-based digital image editor tool that you can use to more easily select the one that could be best for you:

• Layers: Let’s you have multiple layers on a single image, so that you can easily mix more objects together on the same canvas
• Registration Needed: Shows if you need to sign up to the service in order to start editing your images
• Advanced Selection Tools: Helps you select part of the image that you wouldn’t be able to extract with traditional instruments

Here a comparison table of all my selected web-based digital image editors and a full set of mini-reviews introducing each one of them:

Best Web-Based Image Editors - Comparison Table

go to the table!

Web-Based Image Editors Tool List

1. Pixlr
   
   Pixlr is an online image editing application that anyone can use to modify pictures online. Without any registration you can jump in, open any picture and start editing it: you can resize it, crop it, apply effects and filters, use layers, and every other thing you would do using a normal standalone software. Pixlr is free to use with no signup needed.
   http://pixlr.com/
2. Aviary
   
   Aviary is a web-based suite of image editing software, that you can use to edit all of your pictures without having no software installed on your machine. You can edit and resize pictures, create color schemes, edit vectors, apply effects, create fonts, and more. Currently in private beta it is free to use after someone invites you or you get accepted in the beta.
   http://a.viary.com/
3. Adobe Photoshop Express
   
   Adobe Photoshop Express is the web-based counterpart of the famous software based photo editing tool. This version, gives you 2GB of free space to upload all of your pictures and arrange them in galleries. But it obviously also lets you edit them: you can apply any kind of effect, resize, rotate, crop, adjust colors, saturation, brightness, and everything you would expect from a normal editing software. Free to use, registration needed.
   https://www.photoshop.com/express/
4. Splashup
   
   Splashup is a powerful photo editing online software that allows you to edit your pictures online without even registering to the service. You can edit any type of image, and you can resize it, crop it, select different regions, use layers, add captions and effects, and more. When you are finished with a picture, you can save it in a different format to your PC, or simply upload it your favorite photo sharing system (like Picasa, Flickr…). Free.
   http://www.splashup.com/
5. Flauntr
   
   Flauntr is a free online photo editor that you can use toedit your images easily and apply effects with one click. You can get photos from Flickr, your PC or online photo storage service, and edit it with basic and advanced features (resize, rotate, crop, captions, and many effects). Then, you can save them online on flauntR’s free photo storage, Flickr, or share them by email. Registration needed.
   http://www.flauntr.com/
6. FotoFlexer
   
   FotoFlexer is a Flash-based image editing tool, that you can use to edit your pictures online. After register for free, you can start creating as many photo albums as you want, in which you upload pictures that you can further edit by cropping, resizing, removing blemishes and wrinkles, changing eye color, adding captions, and more. It is completely web-based and free to use.
   http://fotoflexer.com/
7. Picnik
   
   Picnik is an image editor that lets you quickly edit all your photos online. It helps you resize, rotate and crop pictures, but also fix underexposed photos, remove red-eye, or apply many special effects. When done, you can save your image locally in various formats, but also upload it directly on all major image sharing sites. Picnik is completely free to use.
   http://www.picnik.com/
8. Sumopaint
   
   Sumopaint is an online Flash-based image editor, that lets you modify all of your images online with lots of features. Reminding Photoshop with its interface, Sumopaint supports layers, lets you apply filters, effects, create shapes, and edit your images just as if you were using a professional software-based editor. Free to use, no registration needed.
   http://sumopaint.com/
9. PikiFX
   
   Pikifx is a web-based image editor that you can use to edit your images with no additional software. You can decide whether to use a picture from your PC or to provide a URL, and immediately start editing it. You can rezise it, crop it, add effects, borders and captions. When you’re done, you can save your image in JPG, BPM, PNG, TIFF and GIF, email it, and get the HTML embedding code. Free to use with no need to register.
   http://www.pikifx.com/
10. FixPicture
    
    FixPicture is a web-based image editor that you can use to edit and convert pictures online. Just pick whether you want to use the Flash or HTML version, upload a picture from your PC or provide the URL, edit your picture(resize, crop, rotate, mirrorand adjust levels), apply basic effects, and choose the output format(jpg, png, bmp, gif, tiff, pdf). Free to use.
    http://www.fixpicture.org/
11. PikiPimp
    
    PikiPimp is a browser-based image editor, that enables you to edit your pictures with some basic editing tools. After you upload an image or type its URL, you are able to crop it, rotate it, set brightness, saturation, contrast, black&white, and more. It also offers many effects and tools, like sepia tone and captioning. When done, you can download the final image, and save it if you’re a registered user. Free.
    http://www.pikipimp.com/
12. Dr. Pic
    
    Dr. Pic is a Javascript-based online image editor that offers you some basic editing tools to modify your pictures. After you load an image, you can resize, crop rotate, add text, and even apply some basic effects to it. When done, you can export your image in different formats (JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP) with different quality settings. Free to use, no registration required.
    http://www.drpic.com/
13. LunaPic
    
    LunaPic is a simple online image editor. Simply upload your photo or paste the URL, and you can start editing your picture. You can crop, resize, rotate, apply filters, add text, draw…but also add as many animations and effects as you want. If you like what you created you can save it or send it and, if you have an account, you can save your photos in your own gallery. Its is completely web-based and free to use.
    http://www.lunapic.com/editor/
14. Picjuice
    
    Picjuice is an easy-to-use web-based image editor that allows you to modify any image online. Just upload the picture you want to edit, and it’ll let you resize, crop, flip, rotate and adjust all of your images without installing any software. After all of the changes have been made, you can save the new picture in JPG or PNG format. Free to use, no registration needed.
    http://www.picjuice.com/
15. SnipShot
    
    SnipShot is a browser-based image editor that lets you open any file from URL or PC, and to apply basic editing to it: you can resize, crop, rotate, enhance, adjust exposure and contrast, and apply effects. The result can be saved in multiple formats and shared with other people via email. Free, no signup needed.
    http://snipshot.com/

Originally written by Nico Canali De Rossi for Master New Media and first published on September 29th 2008 as “Best Web-Based Image And Photo Editors - Sharewood Guide“

If you want to convert your videos file formats, arrange your digital images inside an online photo albums, or be able to browse a huge database of free fonts and typefaces, I have gotten some tools for you.

Photo credit: Mitar Gavric

Here my selected visual communication and video publishing tools for this week:

1. Jalbum: Create and share photo albums with skins and music
2. Microsoft Image Composite Editor: Mix a set of images together to make a full panorama
3. DaFont: Browse a database hosting more than 8000 free fonts
4. Graphics2PDF: Convert images in one or more PDF documents easily
5. DryIcons: Search and download free sets of icons and vector graphics
6. Outshouts: Add video/audio messages to online videos and share them with people
7. Filsh: Convert any video from URL or PC to many formats with customizable settings
8. Slicd: Extract parts of YouTube videos and share them with people on a dedicated page

Here all the details:

Visual Communication Tools

1. Jalbum
   
   Jalbum is an online project that people can use to create and share photo albums. After you install the Jalbum software on your PC, you are able to upload your pictures,add descriptions, select a skin and change its colors, add music and more. When done, you can publish your album and share it with other people. Free to use.
   http://jalbum.net/
2. Microsoft Image Composite Editor
   
   Microsoft Image Composite Editor is an advanced panoramic image stitcher. If you have a set of overlapping photographs of a scene from a single location, Image Composite Editor will create a high-resolution panorama incorporating all your images at full resolution. Then, you can save your panorama in a wide variety of formats, like JPEG and TIFF. Free to download and use, Windows machines only.
   http://research.microsoft.com/ivm/ice.html
3. DaFont
   
   DaFont is a huge font database, hosting more than 8000 items, that lets you browse and download fonts. You can search for fonts, browsing them for style and name, see all the characters that compose a font, and also get a live preview of any word you type. When satisfied, you can download it in ZIP format and use it on Windows or MAC platforms. Free to use, no registration needed.
   http://www.dafont.com/
4. Graphics2PDF
   
   Graphics2PDF is a free PDF file creator that lets you convert your images to PDF documents. You can loads as many images as you want (BMP, JPG, GIF, PNG, TIFF) just by drag&dropping then into the program, and then click “Save as PDF”, to create one or more PDF documents that will contain your images. The setup weights just 4.2 MB, and works on Windows machines only.
   http://www.imposant.com/products/image2pdf.htm
5. DryIcons
   
   DryIcons is a free service which provides sets of icons and vector graphics to the general public, with a specific target to designers, software and web developers. You can browse all the sets, comment them, and obviously download them in PNG format (16×16px; 24×24px; 32×32px; 48×48px and 128×128px) to use them as you wish. Free.
   http://dryicons.com/

Video Publishing Tools

1. Outshouts
   
   Outshouts is a video messaging system, that lets you add video/audio messages to online videos. You can search any video from a number of sources and then, when you have found what you like, you can record your video message and then easily email it to anyone or embed it on your page. The service is free to use, no registration is needed.
   http://www.outshouts.com/
2. Filsh
   
   Filsh is a Dutch website that lets you convert all of your videos online. You can start by providing a video URL (YouTube, Veoh, Metacafe, and more) or by uploading it directly from you PC (50MB max): then, after you select the output format from the available ones, you will be able to customize the settings, such as video/audio bitrate, proportions and volume, and click. Your file will then be ready for you to download. Free.
   http://www.filsh.net/
3. Slicd
   
   Slicd is a free and easy service that lets you extract parts of YouTube videos. Just paste a video URL, insert the start and final timing of the video part you’re interested in, and click continue. A new page will be created, and you will be able to share its URL so that people will see a YouTube player with the video part you extracted before, being able to watch the new and the original video. Free.
   http://www.splicd.com/

Originally written by Nico Canali De Rossi for Master New Media and first published on September 28th 2008 as “Visual Communication And Video Publishing - Selected Tools And Web Services - Sharewood Picnic Sep28 08“

In this issue: Sync up any YouTube video with any Slideshare presentation. Finally get the chance to easily mix together the video recording of you delivering a presentation alongside the slides you were actually showing at that time. Sync it all up, publish it online or embed it anywhere you want. And this is just one of the eight new visual tools and web services that I have picked up for you here.

Photo credit: Rgbspace

If you need to edit images online without using any additional software, or need to take effective screenshots / screen grabs for demos and tutorials, I definitely have some other interesting visual communication tools for you to check out.

Here they are:

1. Instant VCASMO: Mix YouTube videos with Slideshare presentations into a single player
2. Dr. Pic: Upload and edit images with this Javascript-based editor
3. PixClip: Capture any part of your Windows machine screen
4. Image Analyzer: Edit images easily with basic editing features
5. Photie: Share all of your pictures with no size limit and search for other users’ images
6. FotoSketcher: Turn any image into a hand-drawn painting with no skill
7. Selfcast: Use your webcam to create your own video streaming channel
8. Overlay.tv: Paste a video URL and add writings, images, links and more

Here all the details:

Visual Communication Tools

1. Instant VCASMO
   
   Instant VCASMO is an online presentation creation software, that lets you mix YouTube videos with Slideshare presentations. After you paste a YouTube and a Slideshare URL, the service will automatically mix the input video with the presentation: all you need to do will be to select the slides’ duration, and grab the HTML embed code for the new player that will contain both the video and the slides. Free, no registration needed.
   http://www.vcasmo.com/instant/vcasmo
2. Dr. Pic
   
   Dr. Pic is a Javascript-based online image editor that offers you some basic editing tools to modify your pictures. After you load an image, you can resize, crop rotate, add text, and even apply some basic effects to it. When done, you can export your image in different formats (JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP) with different quality settings. Free to use, no registration required.
   http://www.drpic.com/
3. PixClip
   
   PixClip is a Windows only application that runs in your system tray, that you can use to take screenshots of your desktop. After you install it, you can select any region of your screen, and it’ll be automatically copied to your clipboard so that you can paste it anywhere; else, you can save it to file and export it in various formats such as BMP, JPEG, GIF, PNG and TIFF. Free to download and use.
   http://www.pixclip.net/
4. Image Analyzer
   
   Image Analyzer is a portable application for Windows machines that lets you edit your images. You can import any type of image and get access to basic editing features like resizing, red eye removal or rotating the image, brightness, contrast, gamma and saturation adjustment, and more. The software is free to download and use.
   http://meesoft.logicnet.dk/Analyzer/index5.php
5. Photie
   
   Photie is an image sharing service where registered users can upload and download pictures. You can upload an unlimited number of pictures, without worrying about their size, and let other users download them. You can also search for images among the other users’, and download or simply embed the ones you like the most. Free to use, registration is needed.
   http://photie.com/
6. FotoSketcher
   
   FotoSketcher is a free Windows software that turns your images into hand-drawn paintings. Just open an image, select the style among pencil sketch, pen and ink drawing, choose whether you want to improve your image (enhance contrast, sharpen, simplify image, increase luminosity, color saturation etc…), click a button, and your new artwork will be ready in seconds. Free to download and use.
   http://www.fotosketcher.com/

Video Publishing Tools

1. Selfcast
   
   Selfcast is a free video streaming service that lets you create your own channel easily. With just a webcam and an Internet connection, you can create and broadcast your own live casts or schedule them for later. Every channel has its own page and a text-chat area, and a blogging space where you can post your recorded shows. Free to use, registration is needed.
   http://www.selfcast.com/
2. Overlay.tv
   
   Overlay.tv is a free video service that you can use to edit and add items to online videos. You can paste a video URL, or use the search function to find one, and start adding writings, images, links, other videos and more. After you have finished, you can save your new video, and embed it everywhere you want. Free to use.
   http://www.overlay.tv/

Originally written by Nico Canali De Rossi for Master New Media and first published on September 21st 2008 as “Visual Communication And Video Publishing - Selected Tools And Web Services - Sharewood Picnic Sep21 08“