Marmalade Moon » iPad

An Inkling of the Future for Artists

Kate — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:26:59 +0000

Wacom’s Inkling is a digital pen that captures your sketch from paper. Recording your strokes and transferring your sketch digitally for further editing on your computer. The Inkling has a pressure sensitive ballpoint tip and can create layered sketches.

It’s exciting to see new technology unfold, bringing tools that bridge the gap between traditional, freehand sketching and digital input with a mouse or tablet. Both the iPad with its finger-painting and the Inkling give artists the tools to interact more directly with their devices, removing the clunky layer between your hand and your canvas.

A special thank you to my friend, artist Jamie Berry, who brought the Inkling to my attention.

12 Styli Reviewed by Macworld

Kate — Mon, 09 May 2011 13:53:13 +0000

The iPad lets you interact directly with your device with your fingertips, which makes the experience feel uncomplicated, natural and tactile. But some users prefer using a stylus, and some use a mixture depending on the task at hand. So when do you need a stylus and how do you pick one?

My Experience

Touchscreen computing really appeals to me. Finger painting feels very intuitive to me and I prefer to use my fingers to do everything on the iPad, except writing. That’s when I like to use a stylus.

There’s something about the angle you hold a pen that becomes part of your handwriting. The way your writing forms a unit, from one word to another and from one passage to another. It’s different than writing with your fingers when it becomes more about drawing each individual character, like writing in sand, and you don’t get quite the same flow writing with your fingers as you do when you write with a pen.

Choosing a Stylus

Here’s a useful comparison of 12 different styli to help you pick one that suits you. Check out the video and for more depth, the companion article Drawing on the iPad: 12 touchscreen styluses reviewed and see what you think. While I haven’t tried all the styli featured in Macworld’s comparison, I’ll be back with an article on the styli that I find useful for painting and writing.

The Secret of iPhone Collages

Kate — Fri, 06 May 2011 10:04:42 +0000

Getting Lost is Just Part of the Process. Digital collage by © LUMILYON.

If you’re interested in learning how to to create an artful, poetic, digital photo collage, you’re in luck! Award winning iPhone photographer Lumilyon has written the second free tutorial in her amazing series. This time she reveals how she creates her stunning, dreamy digital collages using her iPhone!

In this unique tutorial you’ll learn:

one of Lumilyon’s techniques for creating a collage using an iPhone
how to create an interesting background with just one click of an app
how to extract an element from a photograph and collage it onto another
how to blend two two photographs together by blurring them

You’ll need 3 creative photography apps to follow along in this guide for how to create a digital collage using your iPhone:

Tiny Planets – Stereographic photos on your iPhone (free app!)
Juxtaposer – Fun and Intuitive Photo Compositing App for your iPhone and iPod Touch
BlurFX – Fantastic out of focus pictures

Now head on over to this priceless tutorial: iPhone Tutorial 02: Little Fishy Collages.

Learn How to Customize Your Desktop

Kate — Mon, 02 May 2011 08:19:37 +0000

Renewed Help Section

We’ve been improving the help section at Marmalade Moon to make it really easy to learn how to customise your desktop with icons and wallpapers.

Video Desktop Tutorials

We’ve got a series of brand new video tutorials to make it simple and quick to learn how to change the icons on your computer and how to change your desktop wallpaper. Each tutorial comes with a free, downloadable PDF that you can save to your computer.

Guides for Mac and Windows

There are tutorials for how to customize your icons in Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Mac OSX and you can learn how to customize your wallpaper on Mac OSX, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, on your iPad and on your iPhone or iPod.

Tutorials on all Levels

For beginners there’s an An Introduction to Desktop Customization and a series of articles with Suggestions for a Productive Desktop. I hope you find these new resources helpful and just like before all of these resources are free.

PhotoSync: Wirelessly Transfer Photos and Videos

Kate — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 14:32:01 +0000

PhotoSync is a handy app that makes it easy to wirelessly transfer the photos and videos from your iPhone to your computer as well as to your iPad, iPhone, iPod touch.

A simple way to share photos and videos between iOS devices and computers, this is a gem of a tool for any iPhone photographer.

The Secret of Artful iPhone Photography

Kate — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 09:10:23 +0000

iPhoneography Tutorial 01: Vintage French Street Scene. © LUMILYON

If you’d like to learn how to create an artful, dreamy photo like the one above, you’re in for a treat! Award winning iPhone photographer Lumilyon, has generously shared a free tutorial that reveals how she creates her exquisite, breathtaking, poetic photos!

In this unique tutorial you will learn:

one of Lumilyon’s techniques for transforming a photograph into art
a secret trick that involves a hidden menu
how to add variety to generic app presets such as grunge effects and light leaks so that the apps you use will be less recognisable
you’ll also get a feel for the many possibilities of the apps used in this tutorial and for how you can create your own variations based on Lumilyon’s technique

You’ll need 5 artful photography apps to follow along in this guide for how to process a photo:

Now head on over to this gem of a tutorial: iPhoneography Tutorial 01: Vintage French Street Scene.

15 Best Photo Apps for iPad and iPhone

Kate — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 17:57:53 +0000

There’s no doubt that the iPhone and iPad sparks people’s creativity and have given mobile photography and editing a boost in popularity. There’s a tremendous amount of photo apps on the market. To help you pick the photo app that suits your needs, I’ve put together this list of the 15 best apps available now. I’ve tested these photography apps thoroughly and can recommend each one of them. Apps to help you get the most out of your photos through editing, adding filters and processing.

MOBILE PHOTO EDITORS

Filterstorm

Filterstorm’s unique touch interface makes it intuitive, easy and fun to use. The versatile and varied set of tools for editing photos includes powerful masking tools, that give you the ability to apply any of the filters by brush, color range, and gradient, as well as to the entire image. Selectively adjust your photo by painting on your adjustments. Includes in-app video tutorials.

For iPad and iPhone. Developer: Tai Shimizu.

Photogene

Intuivitve and easy to use to edit, enhance and share your photos on the go. Professional editing tools. Photogene is an excellent everyday photo editor.

For iPad and iPhone. Developer: Omer Shoor.

PhotoForge

PhotoForge is a digital darkroom with an impressive range of tools; image manipulation, painting, retouching, effects, and color correction.
PhotoForge is available for iPad and iPhone.

Developer: GhostBird Software.

Adobe Photoshop Express

The free, basic mobile photo editor that lets you upload, view and share your photos.

Available for iPhone, iPad and Android.
Developer: Adobe.

MOBILE PHOTO EFFECTS

Pano

Take beautiful, seamless panoramic photos directly from your iPhone. Handy semi-transparent guide helps you line up all your shots perfectly. 360 degree panorama images.

For iPhone. Developer: Debacle Software.

QuadCamera

4-8 serial shoots are taken in sequence by the iPhone’s camera, then composed into a single shareable image with six selectable effects. One of many toy apps by Takayuki Fukatsu that allow you to do fun and artistic things with the iPhone’s built-in camera.

For iPhone. Developer: Art & Mobile.

TiltShift Generator

Create more dramatic-looking images, focused only on one spot. Processes your photos with blur, color, and brightness to apply radical depth-of-field effects. Makes even flat cell phone images look like DSLR-quality shots with depth of field.

For iPhone and iPad. Developer: Art & Mobile.

ARTISTIC VINTAGE FILTER EFFECTS

CameraBag

Recreate the magic of film by emulating photography’s most beloved and iconic vintage cameras, film, and processing techniques. Effects can be stacked. Easy to use with an intuitive, simple interface.

For iPhone, iPad, Windows and Mac. Developer: Nevercenter.

lo-mob

Retro lo-fi and photographic experiments on your iPhone. Select or snap a photo and lo-mob immediately generates a list of previews of all the different effects. Pick the one you want, tweak it if you like, and save or share your photo via e-mail as well as through a range of social media services

For iPhone. Developer: Aestesis.

PictureShow

Choose between 37 analog presets or mix your own style with frames, light leaks, noise and vignetting. Features lens kit, random shuffle effects and social photo sharing.

For iPhone. Developer: graf.

Plastic Bullet

Randomly generates the look of many combinations of cameras, lenses and films turning your photos into gloriously unpredictable works of art. A true electronic lomography app that encourages you to explore the “happy accidents” of your photography. Share directly to Facebook and Flickr.

For iPhone. Developer: Red Giant Software.

Film Lab

Recreate the look of analog film stocks with Film Lab’s impressive set of film and film styles from brands like Ilford, Kodak, AGFA, Calotype, FORTE, GAF, Polachrome, Rollei and Fuji.

For iPhone. Developer: CLBITZ Ubiquitous Communications Inc.

FX Photo Studio

Tons of effects that can be stacked on each other, combined, randomised and saved as new presets. Includes basic photo editing like cropping, rotating, flipping, as well as social photo sharing.

For iPhone and iPad. Developer: Mac Phun LLC.

Hipstamatic

Turns your iPhone into a small toy camera. Take your time swapping a variety of camera components, film, lenses, and flashes with hip descriptions, for a variety of different looks and styles. Can not save your unprocessed photo.

For iPhone. Developer: Synthetic Corp.

Instagram

Instagram offers a selection of filters and borders but what really sets this app apart is its focus on social media and photo sharing. Easily share photos through Facebook, Flickr, Tumblr, Foursquare and Twitter.

For iPhone. Developer: Burbn, Inc.

Which are your favourite photo apps for the iPhone and iPad? What did I miss?

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How To Change Wallpaper on Your iPad

Kate — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 16:26:19 +0000

Here are two methods for changing the wallpaper on your iPad.

Changing The iPad Wallpaper Through Settings

Tap on Settings
In the Settings screen select Brightness & Wallpaper
Now you have several options. First select which screen you would like to customize, the Home Screen or the Lock Screen.
- Wallpaper will take you to Apple’s pre-installed selection of Wallpapers. Switch to a new one by clicking on its thumbnail image
- Saved Photos lets you pick any of the photos you’ve synced with your iPad. Select the one you want to use as a wallpaper by tapping it
At the top-right corner you have the option to set the chosen wallpaper for the Lock Screen, the Home Screen or Both.
Once you have selected an image, you can drag your finger to move the wallpaper into the position you like and use the finger-thumb pinch to zoom it in or out. When you’re happy, tap on Set Wallpaper

Changing the iPad Wallpaper Through Photos

Click on Photos
Select the photo you want to use as a wallpaper
Tap on the Actions icon in the top right corner
Once you have selected the image, you can adjust it by dragging your finger to move the wallpaper into the position you like and by using the finger-thumb pinch to zoom it in or out. When you’re happy, tap on Set Wallpaper

Tip

You can make a photo library in iTunes for your iPad wallpapers and name it something like iPad Wallpapers to easily find wallpapers you want to use on your iPad.
Click the arrow to save this handy tutorial to your computer.

Find out how to change the wallpaper on Mac or Windows or read some suggestions for how you can make your desktop productive.

Tutorials and Guides

Kate — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 19:20:49 +0000