iMaginator for Mac

User Reviews

• Think of what's to come

  greglawhornJune 9, 2006

  Pros

  Cons

  Summary

  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />The biggest drawback to iMaginator is the lack of layers - I can't seem to blur text on top of an unblurred image. It's not at all a bad program. It's real value to me was to illustrate what Photoshop will be like once it is released as an Intel native program. Working with a 30 meg tiff file on my MacBook Pro, iMaginator never once gave me a "working" bar; it rarely even paused to think. I don't think that it's the program for me, but it's close.

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• The first CoreImage app with some hidden jewels

  DavidGassnerMay 2, 2005

  Pros

  Cons

  Summary

  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />At first glance, this is just a simple vis-a-vis CoreImage front-end. It's clear that it's not trying to dethrone Photoshop. It's also not a substitute for iPhoto, rather it's complementary to it. It has more options for image enhancement than iPhoto, really easy ways to control these effects you apply to the image (non-destructively, I might add), and turns mundane images into paintings, especially when you combine several effects. The important thing to remember when using iMaginator is that the files are made up of two independent pieces: effects and the image. You can swap images with the same effects or swap effects onto the same image. The editing is totally non-destructive too, so there's no such thing as a "point of no return" even after you save. It's real power is tucked away a bit, behind that simple face you initially see. It allows more precise input via sheet dropdowns if you double-click on the effects sliders. It does batch processing of images, has a full Applescript dictionary, uses LinkBack (especially handy if you use Stone's Create or Omni apps), integrates with Spotlight, and you can save and reuse combinations of effects, called, "effects chains", with custom settings intact. You can also change the default settings for these effects, though this could use a bit more visual/graphic polish. Stone also provides several of its own CoreImage effects (they're in boldface), and frankly, most of them are better than the ones Apple provides by default. It's a 1.0 product as of this review, so it will surely grow. Stone has free upgrades for life, and updates its major products frequently. I would recommend iMaginator to anyone who wants more control of overall image enhancement, wants to add automation to their image processing, and anyone who wants their pictures to be more like paintings than plain old photographs. In the future, I hope to see better integration with the iPhoto library, some minor cosmetic improvements to the lefthand panes (a little too much metal for my taste), more Stone CoreImage effects, and maybe some kind of simple selection/masking tools, although that's a slippery slope.

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