Who Needs Photoshop When You Have Phoenix

No matter what business you are in, you probably have a need to edit, crop and retouch photos.  Many businesses think that means they need Adobe Photoshop, a $1,000 piece of software with a very steep learning curve.  In fact, very few of those businesses actually do need it.  What they should be using instead is Phoenix, a web-based image editor from a company called Aviary that has a bevy of great image and art creation tools.  Phoenix delivers all of the major functionality most people need Photoshop for in a free package that allows for much easier collaboration than Photoshop has ever provided.

With Phoenix you can edit your images with undo and redo, brushes, magic wand, and blend modes.  And like Photoshop you can work with layers, groups, and layer masks in a drag and drop interface.

GIVE ME AN EXAMPLE
As with all apps we supply you with a sample usage case that will hopefully help you generate some ideas of how your business could be using this product.

• Physical Therapist – Let’s face it, marketing is not usually what you are focused on and you can’t justify spending $1,000 on the Adobe Creative Suite.  But every once-in-awhile you need to edit a photo to send to a trade journal or newspaper.  You may also need to do a quick advertisement with your office’s name and phone number added to the photo.  All of this can be accomplished from within Phoenix.  With the built-in share feature you could also start an ad, and then kick it over to a graphic designer to polish off for you, all for a fraction of the cost of having a designer create it from scratch.  While most designers will shudder at this notion, some might enjoy having a client that is organized and knows what they want.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Aviary has a great suite of products with Phoenix leading the way.  As a free image editor and Photoshop replacement it can’t be beat.  As Aviary continues to add to its products, the need for a full version of Photoshop will be reserved for true photo editors and designers.

• post-img: http://appeveryday.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/phoenix.jpg
• topsy_short_url: http://bit.ly/auIlKO