Imagine, Create and Share-- A Blogger Bonanza

In the middle of May, 2012 a new application was released.  On November 27, 2012 Richard Byrne of Free Technology for Teachers posted about this app having had it introduced to him through Twitter.  This free service can be used online, as an iOS app or Android app.

Muzy is one of the most interesting applications for creating a blog post I have seen.  It incorporates the use of other apps.  Upon accessing the home page you have a variety of choices.



You can immediately connect to Facebook to like a particular app, sign up or sign in, or create a photobox collection.  Along the top in the upper right-hand corner other visible apps are photo collage, versus and photo pile.  Simply mouse over each to be given an explanation of what they provide.


By clicking on more users can see a display of thirty other applications which can become a part of your Muzy blog.  Some of the additional apps are PicMonkey, Word Play, Thoughts, Photo Quote, Dream Status, Video, Comic, Music Maker, Brushes, or Webcam Status.  Simply mouse over each to discover the possibilities.  These applications are heavy on images but allow for text, drawing, audio and video to be added to your blog.

Users of this application need to be at least 13 years old.  To sign up you need to choose a username, give your email address and choose a password as well as read the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy unless you wish to sign up through your Facebook account.  Muzy has a very inclusive Help section which can be located at the bottom of the page.

Upon signing in you are taken to your dashboard (home page).  Immediately your choices are:

• search for other Muzy posts to like
• create a new post (new post)
• go to your blog (my muzy)
• check for messages
• enter in a keyword to search for apps, users or posts
• go to your account (Blog Settings, Invite Your Friend, Help and Sign out)
• select one of seven apps shown to start a post
• view Recent posts from you or your friends
• view posts grouped by Popular, Funny, Creative, Cute, Truth, Awesome, Want or Beautiful
• view updates under Notifications

Having recently completed a Mock Caldecott unit with fifth graders in my building plus Skyping with fifth graders in Illinois who were doing the same (Katherine Sokolowski) that became the theme for the posts on this blog.  I decided to begin using the Photobox app.  This is a great app; bringing in photos from either Facebook, upload from your computer, Google images, Muzy, webcam, or via a web address.  Each photo can be altered with a variety of filters; enhance, cross process, artsy black and white, old timey and x-ray...or no effect at all.

If you decide you want to change the layout mid-way into your Photobox it is as easy as a mouse click. Added photos can be deleted, edited and dragged from position to position.  There are nine different fonts for the box title.  A full color spectrum is offered for the border.  Four options are available for the photo corners and by checking a box you determine whether you desire shadowing.  When you click the orange Post button you can have it posted to Facebook, Twitter or neither.

Having clicked Post your creation is saved and you are taken to the app choice window again to design another post.  If at any time you wish to see your blog click on my muzy at the top of the screen.  Each post can be liked, deleted or a comment can be left.  There are 19 Muzy themes to choose from for your blog background or you can upload an image from your computer.

Each post is hyperlinked to another window which allows the user to like, repost, comment, or share a URL link for that post or click on the tiny gear located in the middle right-hand portion of the screen.  The options here are to share, edit or delete the post.  If you select share your options are to post it to Facebook or Twitter, send it via email, download it to your computer or copy the URL link.

A person could easily spend hours making posts for their blog with the available choices.  The ease of use, the integration of the apps into Muzy, is a huge plus.  I successfully tried five of the apps.

The link to my blog is embedded here.  (To enlarge each post for viewing mouse over and click.)  When you download one of your posts it turns into a .jpg file.  On the left is one of my posts that was downloaded.

I can see using Muzy to highlight units of study, books read, student projects or activities.  It would be a terrific way to compile top "..." lists.  I know some of my PLN on Twitter are creating memes; they could be posted in a Muzy.  Another of my Twitter colleagues is posting a picture of a book read every day.  Collecting those in a Muzy for her followers would be fantastic.

Muzy definitely has my vote as a great vehicle for quickly making a blog that will get people's attention visually.  Will I put it in my virtual toolbox?  Yes!

Swinging High

Just a little over four months ago I posted about Picnik ( a day late and a dollar short) which closed officially on April 19, 2012.  They have moved some of their most loved assets over to the Google+ group.  Just prior to its closing several tweets on Twitter recommended PicMonkey . 

 This free web 2.0 application has the clearest, most concise and humorous Privacy Policy and Terms of Use that I've read yet.  Not to mention the About and Team sections which are worth reading just for fun.  Bottom line...users need to be 13 years of age.

When you access the site four boxes appear on screen; three filled with images you may edit.  The fourth represents an image of your own to edit by uploading from your computer.  When you import your image a new screen appears with your picture front and center.

To the left is a panel of editing tools.  The first set of tools are for the basic edits, crop, rotate, exposure, colors, sharpen and resize.  By clicking on the smaller icons on the far left of the bar the basic edits shift from top to bottom to:  effects, touch up (humans), text, overlays, frames and new.

The thirty-seven current effects are sorted into tried and true, basic, camera look, paintbox, area, artsy and advanced.  Fifteen touch-ups for skin, mouth, eyes and just a couple more are at the ready.  Fonts, thirty-two to be exact, can be added to your images.  Overlays or shapes come in twenty-two options.  There are eight frames from which to choose.  And seven new textures are available to try.

Here is an original image on the left.  The one on the right has been cropped, exposure and colors adjusted and the sharpening tool used.
In the third photograph I applied the effects of soften, dark edges and film grain.

In this final image I added some text which you can size, change the color, fade, make bold or in italics, justify and blend modes or right click for even more options.  I also added a drop shadow frame.  Some of the options will become part of the Royale package eventually but for now they are free, if you don't mind having a crowned monkey in your graphic.

 

It's safe to say that PicMonkey has my vote as a worthy photo editing tool.  I could have spent hours trying all the options for images.  

Pleasing Pictures With Picnik

Not new in the web 2.0 field (launched in 2007) but new to me is a photo-editing application, Picnik.  No registration is required for using this free application.  Features noted on the home page are:  photos fixed in a click, advanced controls can fine-tune an image, crop, size and rotate in real time, loads of special effects, numerous fonts and top-quality type tool, large assortment of shapes, functions on Mac, Linx and Windows and best of all---no download or installation.

Begin by clicking on the Get Started Now! button.  This welcome page for using Picnik has these choices:  Register for free, upload a photo, open a demo, or open photos from Picasa Web Albums, Flickr, Facebook or Photobucket.  (Additional tabs along the top are Help, Privacy Policy, Terms and Policies and About Us.)  I decided to register because having an account usually has its perks.

To register for an account pick a username, password and give your email address.  The Program Policy and Privacy Policy must be accepted.  After registering another band of options appears across the top, upload (edit photos from your computer), collage (mix all your photos together), print (bring your favorite photos to life) and show (share pictures with friends and family). 

The free basic account lets the user upload five photos at one time.  Each photo uploaded can be edited, deleted, emailed or saved.

Basic editing tools are crop, rotate, exposure, colors, sharpen and resize.  There are currently thirty-nine different effects that are free, an array of stickers, four free touch up tools, seven free frames and numerous fonts. 

When the photo has been redesigned click on save and share.  It will be saved to your computer as well as to your history on Picnik if you have an account.
Collages, fancy collages (similar to scrapbook pages), shows and "keepsakes"(for a fee) can be created from your photos.  I made a small show from a single image that I uploaded and altered using different effects.  Each photo editing web 2.0 application brings added features.  Certainly Picnik should be added to your online image toolbox; it couldn't be simpler to use with great results.

"Picnik Show"

Create a free slideshow with Picnik!

Too Much Fun With Photos

Is there no end  to the interesting, imaginative photo editing tools that are currently available online?  I spent way  too much time last evening using PhotoFunia .  There are more than 200 frames in which your image can be placed.

For this app you simply click on an effect, choose a file which must be in JPEG, PNG or GIF format, edit  the area, click OK and click GO.  Your creation appears nearly full screen.

At that time Save, Share, Order a Print or Send as a Postcard can be chosen.  There is a fee for Order a Print or Send as a Postcard.  Posting on Facebook, LiveJournal, LiveInternet or Twitter is just a click away.  Other options of posting in a blog or website, direct link to the image or for posting in a forum can be chosen. 

Only persons 13 years of age are allowed to use this site.  Please click on each of these images individually.  One of them has motion.

It's Not Just For The Birds

It seems like every time I read a blog post I discover some new (to me) web 2.0 application that would be amazing for students or staff to use in their school or personal life.  In reading a post  by Joyce Valenza on April 16, 2011 at NeverEndingSearch on the School Library Journal blog titled Design Tools to Die For she lists Aviary .  The creators of Aviary state:  Aviary is on a mission to make creation accessible to artists of all genres. 

Aviary can be used without registration but registration is simply accomplished with a username, email address and password.  Under the Terms they are asking that users be 13 years of age.  If not they should be under the supervision of a parent or legal guardian. 

Initially a user can upload a file or paste a URL into the frame on the first page.  That image can be altered by clicking on one of the eggs  to the right--sharpen, rotate, flip, resize, crop, redeye, blemish, colors, saturation, blur, brightness, contrast, drawing, text or stickers.  Beneath are golden eggs that offer various framing and effect options---Instant, Toy Camera, Old Photo and Retro. 

By clicking the Save button users can add a comment before downloading or even editing it further.  Image detail link, image URL, HTML image, HTML link, message boards or linked image are choices that can be selected prior to posting this image.  It can be posted directly with a mouse click to an Aviary account, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit or an email.

This is an uploaded photo that has been sharpened, brightened and enhanced with the Old Photo effect.  It was embedded using the HTML image feature.

Further down the screen Advanced Creative Tools are found.  These fall under the three headings of Photo, Design and Audio.  By launching the Image Editor, Effects Editor or the Screen Capture users can edit layers, merge photos, create patterns or use a variety of photo effects.  Quick cropping, creating logos, illustrations or matching colors can be done with the Vector Editor, Image Markup or Color Editor under the Design graphic.  Podcasts, editing of audio, creating beats or ringtones are some of the selections available below the Audio tab. 
Aviary has 87 tutorials for users to access and learn about these features which can create a definite WOW factor.

But the best, newest feature still in Beta is Aviary Education .  By asking for an account you need your school email, school name and location, how many student accounts and, so they can prioritize, why you need your account.  These student accounts are billed as being 100 per cent  safe and they are private.  Assignments and projects can be monitored and managed.  Educators are asked to get written permission from parents or legal guardians if  their students are under 13 years of age.  When I set  up my account the system was so new that  there was a small glitch which I will quickly point out has been fixed.  The reason that I mention it is that I was contacted by two separate techs until it  was fixed.  Their willingness to help and overall customer service rocks!

By the way, Aviary was selected as the name for the services that  this application supplies because the user is creating on the fly.



An Introduction to Aviary Education from Aviary on Vimeo.

BeFunky Fun For Teachers

I have previously mentioned BeFunky on this blog (9/21/2010 and  01/31/2011) As stated on their blog:  BeFunky simplifies photo editing and effects for everyday people. 
Check out how this classroom teacher in England used this web 2.0 application in his classroom, BeFunky In Your Classroom.

In the interview he describes the specific activity, how the children responded and the results which are pretty amazing for the age of the children.  This might be a good year-end project with classroom photographs. 

I checked their Terms/Privacy section again today and it states that users need to be 13 years of age so I am curious as to how he was able to use it with 8 and 9 year old students.  But the app is certainly easy enough for them to use and there is no registration requirement where any information about them could be stored.  To begin they just need to click the Get Started button.  Then they have the option of  clicking on six boxes:  Edit your photo, Apply Photo Effects, Apply Artsy Effects, Add Graphics, Shapes, add Text, Speech Bubbles or Add Frames, Borders.  After selecting one of these boxes a photo needs to be uploaded. 

With parental permission for a classroom activity this would certainly be possible.

Choices, choices, choices...Flex or Funky

Last week I needed to do some quick editing of a graphic that I wanted to use on this blog but Adobe Photoshop was on my computer at home.  Quickly searching online I discovered a site, while up and running for several years, was new to me...FotoFlexer.  This site boasts of being the world's most advanced online image editor.  Images can be uploaded from your computer, FotoFlexer, PhotoBucket, Facebook, MySpace, Picasa, Flickr, Phanfare, Smugmug and Yahoo Search.  Upon uploading your graphic a series of tabs appears at the top of the work area:  Basic, Effects, Decorate, Animations, Beautify, Distort, Layers and Geek.  The Basic tab includes Auto Fix, Fix Red Eye, Crop, Copy Region, Resize, Rotate, Flip Horizontal or Vertical, Adjust (hue, saturation and lightness), Contrast and EZ Collage.  There are 25 different options included in the Effects tab.  Stickers, text, glitter text, draw, erase, fill, grab color, insert a face, fun cards, borders and poster are choices within the Decorate tab.  The Animations tab reveals animated stars, animated lovies and animated stickers.  Believe it or not under the Beautify tab are smooth, sharpen, fix blemishes and smooth wrinkles.  Images can be twirled left or right, bulged, pinched, stretched or squished be selecting the Distort tab.  Under the Layers tab the user can add images, select, select all, duplicate, opacity, push back, push forward group, ungroup or merge.  And the Geek tab contains Smart resize, Smart recolor, Smart cutout, Smart scissors, curves, morph and web cam.  Some of these features are still in Beta form but will be useful to the more experienced photo editor user.  When you have tweaked the graphic you can save it to your computer or a variety of social or photo sites or a tiny pic can be created to embed it in your blog or web site, it can be emailed or a URL/Link can be generated.  I did have trouble trying to get the tiny pic function to work.  That is probably because my computer is older than dirt and slower than molasses in January.

As much as I like Be Funky ( it was mentioned in a blog on 9/21/2010 regarding the making of comics) in comparison it lacks the extent and sophistication of FotoFlexer.  After uploading a photo for editing a bar of choices appears across your image as opposed to tabs above your image in FotoFlexer.  The choices in Be Funky are Edit, Apply Effects, Add Goodies, Add Frames and Add Text.  Options included under Edit are rotate/flip, resize, brightness/contrast, exposure, hue/saturation, color filter, temperature, sharpen, blur filter, enhance detail, smooth, highlights/shadows and duotone.  These are similar to those available in Fotoflexer.  I did use the crop tool in both.  The tool in FotoFlexer was better by allowing more options for sizing before the crop.  There are 26 possibilities under Effects.  Many are the identical to those in FotoFlexer but not always. The Goodies are all stickers with various themes.  The Frames does offer more choices for fun and the holidays.  There are 15 fonts within the Add Text selection.   Upon completion of editing an image in Be Funky can be saved to your computer, the library, Facebook or Twitter.  It can be printed or shared via email, Facebook, MySpace or Flickr. 

For both of the web sites users need to be 13 years of age.  No registration is required and they are free.  These sites could be very useful in adding appealing graphics to school, professional or personal creations.  They offer excellent possibilities to users of various capabilities. 

Be Funky Pop Art Effect



FotoFlexer Pop Art Effect