Play With Pictures for Mac

CNET Editors' review

by: Seth Rosenblatt on February 03, 2009

Play With Pictures takes one of the most essential image editing features and expands it into an entire program. It is not a photo editor, at least not in the mold of Photoshop. Play With Pictures takes the cut-and-paste feature and simplifies the process while building out supplementary features for creating online avatars, greetings cards, and other projects that require image mash-ups.

The interface presents a re-imagining of the image editing toolset, gearing users towards projects instead of stand-alone edits. The left nav toolbar even notes the steps needed to take a user from start to finish. Tools are categorized as Start, Create, and Finish, clarifying the recommended workflow. Click the Canvas Settings button to begin a project and open a new window from which you can import images, determine background colors, and adjust the image size via slider or specifics. From there, you can add a Cut-Out, Text, or a comic-book-style Speech Bubble. The Cut-Out feature lets you import an image, cut foreground objects from it, and paste them into the background you created in Canvas Settings. Finishing tools include Previewing, Saving, and Printing.

If you're looking to remove lens flare or make fine color-corrective adjustments, Play With Pictures is not for you. Children, however, or those who prefer making image collages, will likely get the most mileage out of this image editor that aims to inject fun into the post-production process.