watermark – RGdot

Wolfcoders ScreenSnag: Freeware Screenshot Grabber

Wolfcoders ScreenSnag is an attractive freeware screenshot grabber.

Wolfcoders ScreenSnag works by enabling or disabling a number of options via its window and then proceeding to capture. The first option is to choose the ‘Input’. Here choose one of capture window, full screen or area. The corresponding properties button is for choosing a transparency – current or clean – for the capture. The ‘Output’ is a choice between a file and the clipboard. The file option has properties for choosing the file format – png, bmp or jpg – file name and quality.

More options are available to customize the screenshot. Caption is like watermark and includes automatic text in computer name, user name, date and time. Colors and transparency for the same text as well. The caption or watermark can be placed outside or inside the screenshot.

Border and scale customize the size of the output further. The cursor can be visible or not. Timer adds a delay to complete the capture. Sound – to remind that the capture is complete – can be turned off and ScreenSnag can automatically open the capture in the default image viewer or editor.

The Storage button opens the output folder and the Capture button does the actual task of grabbing the screenshot.

The program’s settings (the button to the left of minimize) includes starting the program with the system and enabling global hotkeys, among others. The hotkeys are limited and are not configurable however (see image.)

ScreenSnag runs on XP or newer.

Giveaway: Watermark, Protect Images With BatchMarker

Grab a copy of BatchMarker available for 24 hours only, see details below

BatchMarker is a simple watermark program, it presents all its options and features together. It can work on one image or batch process a folder of photos and images.

The steps required to finish protecting image(s) are indicated when the program opens. From the left hand side then to the right hand side all the while seeing a live preview in the center of the program window. A carousel of any other images chosen or within the same folder is available on the bottom as well.

The first step is to add an image or folder of images, BatchMarker will automatically include images in subfolders. Watermark options include the copyright symbol, the registered symbol and the trademark symbol. The symbol can be accompanied by any text (see image). Position and font are fully configurable as is the option to add a ‘background box’ and to make the watermark size proportional or fit to the image. It is also possible to add a text watermark without the symbol with the same configurable options.

Logo or image watermarks are also supported with an opasity (sic) slider. Finally one can add lines to an image too, only a cross or X is available in this case and it is configurable in color, position, thickness and what BatchMarker calls ‘Empty center’ where the center part of the X can be left out.

The image and text watermarks can be dragged and positioned using the mouse. BatchMarker can also erase any exif metadata, however this is set to stay by default. It can be turned off using the program’s options.

The final options reside on the right side of the program window. A watermark template can be saved for future use, the destination folder can be changed and one can choose to convert all image(s) to jpg or preserve their original format(s)

BatchMarker runs of Windows 2000 and newer and is normally $27.50

Giveaway details:

No support provided.

Updates are not free but the downloaded version can be used indefinitely.

The software must be registered with the giveaway name and code within one month of this date.

Register BatchMarker with the following details:

The giveaway period is now over. Thanks for visiting.

BImageStudio: Freeware Simple Image Editor

BImageStudio (Version: 1.2.1 tested) is a freeware and simple image editor with some basic tools and an unusual method of working with images.

Features or tools that are included are edit, resize, crop, rotate, flip, watermark (image and text), rename and convert. BImageStudio can work in batch as well. What is somewhat different about BImageStudio is how this is done. One must add individual or folder of images using the add button or drag and drop them. The black and white interface and larger than usual interface of the program shows thumb previews of the image(s) and the buttons under the preview(s) allow the user to view them in pane (like windows explorer), gallery (like windows’ flimstrip) and details (like an explorer list).

When one or more image is selected the operations are chosen from the left hand side. Everything can be done from this left hand side, however to ‘set filter’ – use the brightness, contracts, saturation, hue and gamma sliders – is left to a separate window.

The watermark is also added in a separate window and lets the user choose a position for the watermark, either set to a corner or a custom one. Renaming is basic and simple using a file name, separator and increment or counter.

Finally one must click the process button to start the operation. BImageStudio prompts the user to choose which operation to do first, second and later. For example if images are being renamed and resized the user must choose which of the two BImageStudio processes first.

BImageStudio works on Windows XP and newer.

PearlMountain Image Converter Giveaway

PearlMountain Technology have provided a giveaway in time for mother’s day. Comment below to win a copy of PearlMountain Image Converter, worth $29.90!

PearlMountain Image Converter is an all in one solution for working with images. It does more than just batch image conversions.

The workflow is similar to other PearlMountain software. Images are added individually, several from a folder or via URL. The left hand side of the interface lists the program features. The first is the conversion itself, formats supported here are jpg, gif, bmp, pdf, tga, tiff, psd, pcx, ico and many more listed on http://www.batchimageconverter.com/image-formats/index.html. It is possible to preserve exif or iptc metadata when processing conversions.

The second set of features is the resize option. Here the usual by size, by percentage, custom and dpi resolution is possible. There are also presets for best fits on devices like iPhone, Sony PSP and others. Additionally there is a resample setting and the option to switch width and height to match image orientations.

Image or text watermark is next with all the flexibility of positioning the watermark. These include alignment, rotation, opacity, offset, shadow, edge, font and more.

The rename option is equally flexible with many options for the renaming. These include having file date, exif and other file info in the output file name.

Corrections has the brightness, contrast, saturation and sharpen/blur sliders.

Border can add borders along the images with varying thickness and in advanced mode the border can be applied to any of top, right, bottom and left sides of the image leaving the other sides borderless.

Crop features more advanced options. Automatic crop cuts the images in preset sizes and manual mode cuts images by percentage.

The final step is to optionally change the output folder and then click the large Start button. A profile can be saved to re-use the same chosen options later. PearlMountain Image Converter works on Windows 2000 and newer and offers to add itself to the context menu as well. One minor oddity is that it required a reboot after install on a XP machine but it also used the browser to open a thank you page at the same time.

PearlMountain Photo Watermark Review And Giveaway

PearlMountain Technology Co. has generously provided a number of Photo Watermark licenses, valued at $19.90 each, comment below to win one!

PearlMountain Photo Watermark is one of the more advanced watermark tools available. It features several ready made text or image watermark templates for protecting photos or images. The user can also create others with one of the many options available.

On startup the user can decide to use a template or just click the Load button to go straight to the main program interface. The first step would be to add or drag and drop an image into the image area or alternatively use the Add drop down to add an image, folder of images or to import an image from the web.

The first options are to configure text watermarks. Here any text can be added and fully configured in position (on the image), offset from that position, color, font, justification, edge or border, shadow, opacity and rotation. The text can be anything of course but the program offers lots of options for automatically adding text ranging from special symbols, EXIF meta data, date and source or destination folder path (see image above).

The image watermark tab can be used to add an overlay image instead of text and offers the same flexibility for position, opacity and rotation as the text option. The image watermark can also be tiled to fill the whole photo. The program also comes with a set of 77 images to use for this purpose (see image below).

The task area to the left has options to modify the output image(s) to .jpg, .bmp, .tiff, .png, .gif, .pdf, .tiff or .psd. The original image can be resized and renamed. When working with a set or folder of images the output file name can be in the form of increasing increments (image1, image2, etc.) or similar to those offered for the text watermark, as mentioned earlier. Corrections has setting for brightness, contrast, saturation and sharpen/blur. Finally a border can be added to the original image.

The workflow concludes by clicking the Start button and optionally configuring the output folder. PearlMountain Photo Watermark works on Windows 2000 and newer and is good for both 32bit and 64bit systems.

Freeware Shorts: Horizon33 (Screen Capture)

Horizon33 is an easy to use screen capture or screenshot program. It has useful capture and save options. Choose a combination of the options described below using the gear button to the left of the large capture button and then click the capture button itself to start taking screenshots.

There are six modes of capturing and Horizon33 can save the output in BMP, JPG, GIF or PNG formats. The capture options are full screen, active window, freehand, (configurable) fixed region, (selected) region and object. The output destination is also configurable. The options are save to file, save as, application (Microsoft Paint by default), clipboard, email, Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint or Excel) and upload to web (automatic saving to Imageshack). Multiple outputs is also an option with the capture ending up in more than one of the aforementioned destinations.

Additionally Horizon33 can automatically convert to grayscale, invert color, add watermark and resize too. Finally there is an option to include the cursor in the screenshot.

The program settings accessed via the top right button are divided into the following:

General for things like starting with Windows, delaying before capture, pressing X to close the application, staying always on top and others. Output to choose the default image format and destination for the multiple output operation. Effects has the options for color, resize and watermark. For example, here is the place to choose the file and position of the watermark or overlay image. Hotkeys lets the user assign keyboard shortcuts for any or all of the six capture options. File Name lets the user choose the output file name. Any combination of year to second is possible. A prefix and incremental numbering is available too. Dialogs includes JPG quality and fixed region options among others.

Horizon33 requires Windows XP and newer and is worth a download.

Note: In the image I used Horizon33 to capture this thread on the DonationCoder.com forum.

Freeware TSR Watermark Image Protects Your Images

TSR Watermark Image is a freeware tool for adding text, images or watermarks to your images. TSR Watermark Image makes it easy to watermark a series of images because it works with a source folder – where the images may reside. The user can then configure the destination folder keeping the originals untouched.

The output format, quality, transparency and – the preservation of – EXIF data can then be configured. The position of the watermark itself can also be configured from nine placement options like center, lower left and others. After placing it in one of the nine locations TSR Watermark Image also offers additional control over that location via the ‘relative offset’ settings.

Finally one can choose to do watermarks by using or overlaying another image or to simply add a text watermark. One useful additional feature is that a user can change the size of the watermark relative to the original images’ sizes so that one can choose to watermark a smaller or larger portion of the images. When adding a text watermark the font, color and style of the text is configurable as well. Note that by default TSR Watermark Image adds the watermark at a 270 degrees angle (see image), this may or may not be the best angle but as with everything else this is also configurable.

TSR Watermark Image is free for personal use and also available in a portable version.

Image Tuner Is Your Basic Image Editor

Image Tuner is a lightweight freeware which works on images or series of images and applies a set of basic but simple and useful tasks to them. Pictures or a folder of pictures are added by dragging them into the program window or by using the Add Folder or Add Images buttons. The images will then be listed and previews of them can be seen on the top right. On the lower left a destination folder is chosen and any of the available options checked.

Pictures can be resized to one of many preset sizes in the available drop down or to a custom size by clicking the icon immediately to the right of the drop down list.

Images can also be converted to and from *.jpg, *.png, *.gif, *.bmp and *.tiff. The icon to the right opens up the program settings relevant to each format.

Images can also be renamed. In the text area one can for example type “picture_” (without the quotes). This will produce output images named picture_1, picture_2 and so on.

The Add Watermark option allows the user to browse to another image which will be overlayed or watermarked on top of the ones in the image list.

The program settings include options for each image format such as out put quality and others, as mentioned earlier, relevant to the image format. The settings also include positioning and transparency settings for the watermark option and also the option to maintain the proportions of the original images when resizing. Additionally the choice of filters and interpolations used to generate out put images are listed and can be chosen, these include the default and common Lanczos3 and others.

Image Tuner runs on Windows 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista and 7 including 32 and 64 bit versions.

Freeware Modi Is Easy Image Processing

Modi is described by it’s author as

Modi is a powerful and flexible batch image processor freeware with an easy to use interface…

Modi has a simple interface. Any number of images can be added via the ‘Add Files’ button or dragged and dropped into the program window. A preview of each image can be seen either on the top right hand side or by hovering over the file name (if the quick view box is checked). Then any number of ‘modifiers’ can be added. These include add frame, resize, crop, reduce noise, auto level, sharpen, convert to black and white and others. In addition to these print EXIF, add image or text watermark and print file name are available watermark options via the same Add Image Modifier window (see image), with each being very configurable in position and format. The output path and format can be configured in the bottom of the program and a preview is also available before proceeding with the modifications.

It is possible to save multiple operations as a preset for quicker future (batch) image processing. Modi requires the .NET Framework, does not require installation and should run on all Windows versions.

Text File Stats & Watermark Images

Two GNU licensed freeware courtesy of Lune Rouge offer easy and lighweight means of achieving sometimes useful tasks.

Firs off line TextStat described simply as

Create statistics on a text file

Using it is as simple as browsing for a file and then clicking the “TS” icon. Using TextStat it is possible to analyze any text or HTML file and generate wide ranging info. Among others TextStat produces stats on the number of words and paragraphs to such things as number of carriage returns, number of occurances of every word and an estimate on the number of syllables. TextStat supports such options as exluding words and separators like question marks (see image below). The results can be viewed in the program itself, copied or exported into a text or HTML file. An additional tool is the calculation of the Flesch Reading Ease test or score which calculates the readability of the text based on the number of words and syllables per sentences and words respectively.

Next up is CopyrightLeft described as

…add a copyright on or below your images

Also GNU licensed, CopyrightLeft offers a no frills way to add watermarks to any image. It offers the needed options such as color, text position, rotation and transparency and even more (see image below). What makes this 799KB download even better is its batch processing. It is possible to force the output format of watermarked images, such as converting images to .jpg, and also one can create a HTML file with a linked listing to the said images. It has worked well for me except in one case. If the option to add ‘Shadow’ or ‘Glow’ is checked and the watermark text is rotated the shadow and glow remain at zero degrees and do not follow the text orientation. Sometimes, but not in all my tests, checking ‘Transparent background’, as if to hide the glow or shadow, solves this issue.

Both should work in all Windows versions.