A new batch of Myspace updates released that I thought it would be worth looking at a little bit - especially the photo editor.
The new profile 2.0 modules are no surprise, I was waiting for these to be released. After Myspace adding activities (any updates you make - adding photos, blogs, songs, videos, etc) and the status and mood function to the homepage it was only a matter of time until they put them on the profiles. It does make sense for them to only release them for profile 2.0 as well (because they want more people to use this and it would have been much easier to integrate), it also means that people can choose whether to have it on their profile or not (rather than people getting up in arms about yet another part of the profile they have to hide).
Anyway, the main focus of this post was going to be the “photo editor” Myspace have released. I really want to criticize it and tell people not to use it but I guess that would just be the designer in me thinking that it is a bad editor in comparison to the greats (e.g. Photoshop). I actually can’t believe that in Tom’s blog about it he says that you can “manipulate the photo in very sophisticated ways similar to Photoshop”, it’s nothing like Photoshop, anyone who has used them both can see that straight off.
As I was saying before, I really want to criticize it, but I can’t. I actually kind of like it. Okay, so I personally wouldn’t use it because I own and can use a better graphics package on my computer, but that is no reason to hate it. If I had no idea about graphics packages and editing photos then this editor would be amazing. It’s so simple to use and easy to understand. Each set of tools is clearly marked by tabs at the top and each tool clearly states underneath it what it does. On top of this there are a couple of built in tools that do quite a lot to fix up your photo by only clicking one button (Okay, so not to a professional standard, but still to an acceptable one), for example the “fix red eye” button which will take red eye out of your photos with one click, then there are the “beautify” options for those who want to sharpen an image or remove blemishes/wrinkles.
All in all it is a pretty nice tool if you have little to no idea about using a graphics package, even if you aren’t going to use the photos on Myspace you can still use the editor for them.
For any of you wondering how you get to use this photo editor it is quite simple. Go to view the picture you want to customize and there should be a “Customize photo” button below it. Simply click that and edit away. It might take you a few minutes or so to get used to the application but after that it should be relatively simple to use.
Enjoy editing!
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