By Matt Lee MacNewsWorld Part of the ECT News Network
02/12/08 4:00 AM PT
Bling It does a great job of doing those simple things you need done quickly and efficiently. From deleting background images to resizing, rotating and changing color levels, Bling It takes you to digital nirvana. On the other hand, those of you who use Photoshop or Elements should put this software down -- it's not for you. This software was developed for people who need ease of use, not power tools.
When purchasing an Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) computer, consumers are often greeted and promised ease of use for a digital lifestyle. Though Apple Computers do greatly increase one's chances of becoming a digital guru, getting that far can often mean to a frustrating journey full of overpriced software and countless visits to Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) looking for The Complete Idiot's Guides to Everything.
For those home users looking to add flash to digital photos, the journey won't stop at Vertus' Bling It software, recently released in a Mac-compatible version, but that's where it can definitely begin.
Not a Power Tool
I've used tons of photo editing software over the past 15 years, and back in the day my favorites were always Paintshop Pro and MicograFX Photo Express. The reason why I still love those programs was because they did everything I needed in a no-nonsense way. No masking, no graphing, no layers -- just point, click and save.
Bling It is primarily marketed as a tool for adding gloss to product photos -- think eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) sellers who don't want to spend the resources to have every item they put up for sale photographed and processed by a pro. It can also be used to shine up everyday photos of friends, family, etc.
It does a great job of doing those simple things you need done quickly and efficiently. From deleting background images to resizing, rotating and changing color levels, Bling It takes you to digital nirvana. On the other hand, those of you who use Photoshop or Elements should put this software down -- it's not for you. This software was developed for people who need ease of use, not power tools. Parents, grandparents and children, this is a great tool to get your digital photos ready for e-mailing and printing.
No Photoshop Required
Often when people talk about digitally editing photos, they'll use the term "Photoshop." Anyone who knows Photoshop can tell you it's a never-ending learning experience that can confuse even the smartest computer geeks. Bling It has an intuitive interface that makes editing easy.
(click on image to enlarge)
Once you install Bling It (which is just like every Mac program: point and click), open it up and it will take you to a very user-friendly and simple interface. The main objects that will stand out are the Pathway Viewer (we'll get into that later) and the tool bar on the left side. By going to File Open and choosing your photo you are ready to start editing.
(click on image to enlarge)
Once the photo is loaded into Bling It, you will notice your photo is now covered by blue lines. This is the intuitive Object Line tool. This tries to distinguish the different sections of the photo. By doing this, you can now remove background sections from a photo with ease by choosing the paintbrushes on the left-hand side.
(click on image to enlarge)
By looking closely, you can now see the pathway viewer, which gives you an up-to-the-minute preview of what the finished product will look like. Made a mistake? Click the undo button. Don't like those fancy blue lines? Turn them off by pressing F2 or going to the View Menu.
(click on image to enlarge)
By clicking the Compose Picture tab, you now have the ability to change the picture's size, orientation and shape. There are two options to do this: You can use the arrows on the corner of the photo or you can click the Image Size button and manually enter your image sizes.
The next tab is the Effects tab. The only really useful tool in this tab is the Contrast and Highlight options. To finish, click the Final Image tab, click Save then Publish. That's it -- you have successfully altered a photo without expensive software or tons of reading.
iPhoto vs. Bling It
I am sure a lot of you are saying, "I have iPhoto already -- why do I need this?" In fact, I was thinking the same thing. However, to me, iPhoto has been and always will be a digital management program, not an editor. iPhoto does a great job putting everything where I want it, but when it comes to editing photos, iPhoto always seemed to me missing some key elements.
Think of Bling! It as a supplementary program to iPhoto. It will work hand-in-hand with your vast photo collections by allowing you to easily drag and drop everything you need from your iPhoto to Bling It and perhaps take your customizations to next level.
Bottom Line
Bling It is simple, straightforward home-use photo editing software. Is it the best I have ever used? Not by far. Is it the easiest I have ever used? Yes.
I'd recommend Bling It for basic home users, though anyone looking to polish up product shots might be better off using something like Adobe (Nasdaq: ADBE) Photoshop Elements.
With that said, this is the perfect tool for a grandmother e-mailing photos to family or a mom publishing soccer pictures on her blog. The ability to buy a software title and jump right into it these days is very rare, and Bling It does an amazing job at making digital photography easy for everyone.
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