subject: Improve Your Cpa Site With A Free Photo Editor [print this page] Your accounting website is, to a great extent, a visual medium.
Although this post is about an alternative picture editing program, this one is very similar to Photoshop and it's free!
The next time you need to alter to your CPA firm's logo, create a fresh ad for your CPA Seminar, or make a fun Holiday photo, use Pixlr.
This is an online service.
Pixlr is an online service and this has the serious advantages of being able to work anywhere you have access to a computer online. You also don't need to download any software so nothing to upgrade over time, all of it is taken care of for you.
Full Tutorials
There is both a tutorial section on how to do some specialized tasks and a help section on how to work with different parts. The functionality of this program is almost indistinguishable from Photoshop. If you've ever used Photoshop you won't need these. Otherwise they are a great introduction to the different parts, how to use them and then how they can come together to create some interesting effects.
Other Fun Stuff
There is a blog post on how to add a Christmas hat to your favorite mug shot. The software has an add-on for both Firefox and Internet Explorer to edit any webpage via a screen shot directly in the browser.
Basic Version
There is a very basic version for quick edits or if you prefer there are many advanced features. This can be especially helpful if you just need to crop a photo down so it can be used in the page header of your CPA website. Other basic functions include red-eye removal, teeth whitening, sharpen, blur, auto levels (VERY handy if you have a photo that's too dark or otherwise poorly exposed) and much more. The basic, or "express", version also offers a variety of simple but fun photo effects.
Advanced Features
One of the most advanced features of Pixlr is it's ability to work in "layers". Working in layers adds a lot of power to your ability to create and manipulate images. The full version of Pixlr also has a number of built in filters that will allow you to apply effects to your image like adding noise or swirls. Layer styles include shadows, beveling, and glow.
Pixlr doesn't support channels and paths, so it's not quite a professional grade image editor, but it's pretty darned close!
Getting Pixlr
All you need to do to use Pixlr is go to www.pixlr.com. It's really that simple. Any web browser that supports flash will be able to run pixlr. This includes all the major browsers; Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. Flash 10 runs best, but older versions of flash are also supported as long as you don't mind uploading your images to the Pixlr site while working on them.
Bookmark Pixlr
Bookmark the site as one of your favorites to make it easier to come back to and use. So in a couple of months you can use it to help create a quick advertisement for your CPA seminar.
Having this on your favorites could never hurt you never know when you are going to need to edit some images. and you have one the next time you are thinking about changing anything including pictures on your accounting website.
