Imagewell – Resizing, compressing and editing images made easy

Let’s face it, getting images to the web is a time-consuming multi-step process. Open the file in an editor, tweak it, resize it, sharpen it, export it, FTP it, test the URL, copy it and finally enter it into the code. Sometimes you just want to get a file up to a location, without waiting for the feature-rich editor to start up and without having to jump through all these hoops. This is where Imagewell comes in.

Like with most Mac programs, it all starts with a drag.

Almost instantly, Imagewell springs open and loads the selected file. Once it does, you are presented with the following screen. Right from here you can:

• Resize
• Compress
• Rename
• Convert to a different format (tiff, jpg, png)
• Send (term for upload/copy)
• Generate a random filename

By accessing the “Watermark” and “More” screens you can:

• Watermark (text or image)
• Automatically copy the URL in several different code syntaxes
• Copy to and paste from the clipboard
• Rotate
• Screengrab (whole or selection)

The way the workflow is set up, “saving” or “exporting” of the file are not necessary, hence no obvious way to perform those functions. Instead, Imagewell uses the metaphor of “sending” a file. You set the options to reflect your desired end product, select a destination for the final file and hit “send.” Valid destinations include volumes, folders as well as several different types of web servers. Your original file is never modified using this method and the acts of sending and editing are combined into one efficient function.

The sending portion relies on “locations” which are defined by the user ahead of time. The Locations dialog is where often-accessed folders or servers are defined to become selectable locations. Once these are setup, they show up in the drop-down next to the Send button on the main interface.

Beyond these core functions Imagewell also supports some simple editing and annotation.

The user can:
• Crop
• Rotate
• Easily add arrows, speech bubbles, frames and boxes

The editing interface is accessed by hitting “Edit” on the main screen, at which point the screen expands. This is a pretty non-standard interface, but works well for the intended purpose once it’s understood.

Imagewell’s interface is not the most intuitive thing at first, but its nonstandard approach really works well for the intended task. After a few rounds with it the workflow becomes natural. Besides the need to learn a new interface, most might be put off by some of its shortcomings. For as many things as it does well, it is missing some key features. The biggest being sharpening. This alone makes it hard to use for uploading photos, as they all need a bit of sharpening before uploading. In addition there is the lack of a target file size dialog, which allows you to enter a target file size for the compressed output and makes the program find the optimal compression settings to reach that size. There are also quality concerns. Imagewell uses OS X’s Quartz engine for image rendering, making the final output lower quality than what other tools are capable of. To their credit, the developers have said that the next version of the program will include its own rendering engine as well as a way to sharpen the images.

Imagewell does an admirable job at streamlining the workflow of those wishing to get images converted and transferred. It comes in two versions, a free and an “Xtra” version costing $15. The Xtra version offers the ability to set often-used settings as presets, batch processing, an expanded shape library, multiple images on the canvas and the ability to resize the canvas. At this point in time, my recommendation is to download the free version and see if it fits your workflow rather than spending money on the Xtra. Right now even the paid version is missing some critical functionality for photographers that might be added in the future version. Personally, I’m taking the wait and see approach before I pay.

Imagewell is made by Xtralean Software and is free for the standard version or $14.95USD for the “Xtra” version. The software download weighs in under 1MB.