Logo courtesy FotoFlexer
Throughout the summer, I will be doing a series of reviews focusing on free Web 2.0 tools that can be used in the classroom. The first site I am reviewing is FotoFlexer. FotoFlexer is a free, online photo-editing tool that I have found to be very robust, user-friendly, and a valuable tool for any photo editing an amateur would want to accomplish.
When I found FotoFlexer, I had been looking for just this type of tool. I didn't want to go out and spend the money on the popular, but expensive photo-editing software that is out there. My mantra has always been "if it costs anything, it costs too much" when it comes to technology tools. Now, I'm not going to try to say that a professional graphic artist would find this tool to be everything they needed to get the job done. But for the teacher, hobbyist, or for that family photo album, FotoFlexer will fit the bill.
FotoFlexer is free to use. Simply create a login to get started. Once you have logged in, you can begin working on photos that you have either uploaded from your computer or fetched from online photo-sharing sites like Flickr, Picasa, Photobucket, MySpace, Facebook, and others.
I found the site very easy to navigate. Once you have loaded a picture, you have tabs from basic to geek, with editing options that range from fixing red-eye to animations to morphing. There really isn't anything I could think of that I would want to do with a photo that I would not be able to do with FotoFlexer. You can add borders, stickers, text, dazzling effects, and you can even smooth those wrinkles.
I decided to take
a shot of myself on my bike and make it appear as though I was triumphantly coasting through the Champs-Elysees. Although you can see that I could have done a better job (I finished this edit in just a few minutes), I believe that this was the easiest photo-editor I've used for cutting out parts of a photo and layering them onto another. FotoFlexer does this with great precision on less complicated photos. Using the smart cutout feature, you can simply make a few marks on the parts of the photo you want to keep, then place a few marks on the parts you want to delete and FotoFlexer will predict what it is that you want to accomplish. I found this so much easier to use than tools that require me to outline the object I wish to cut out.
All in all, I believe FotoFlexer is a great tool and would be valuable in a classroom that is feeling the budget crunch. Give it a try and let me know what you think!
Comments