Media Lab Inc. Monday unveiled PhotoWebber, a graphic and design software package that aims to
simplify the process of converting a layered Photoshop file into individual
graphics files and HTML code.
The product is expected to be available later this quarter.
“PhotoWebber lets Web designers focus on creative work and avoid the
drudgery of building Web sites,” said Chris Perkins, CEO of Media Lab, in a
statement released by the company.
PhotoWebber seeks to solve the dilemma often encountered by designers
when they transfer a Photoshop file to the Internet and lose much of their
changes in the conversion process.
The product automatically converts layered Photoshop files into a folder
of graphics files in .gif, .jpg or .png format along with the HTML code to
display them. By doing it this way, files maintain the integrity of the
original Photoshop design without losing any information.
Key features in PhotoWebber will include:
at any time
colors
PhotoWebber also has a feature that spots and logs incompatibilities with
different Web browsers, then takes the added step of offering suggestions
for the best fix. The Interactive Warnings Window allows the user to make
changes and adds them to a list of errors and suggested fixes.
PhotoWebber is compatible with any graphics program that can save files
in layered
Photoshop format. Applications on the market that support this format
include Photoshop 3 or later including LE, Corel Photo-Paint, Jasc Paint
Shop Pro, and MetaCreations Painter.
Web pages produced by PhotoWebber can be edited with any HTML editor,
such as Macromedia Dreamweaver, Adobe GoLive, BBEdit, or Microsoft
FrontPage.
To run on a PC, PhotoWebber requires Windows 95/98 or NT/2000, a Pentium
or higher processor, 32 MB RAM, and 30 MB free hard disk space. On a
Macintosh, PhotoWebber requires System 7.6.1 or higher, a Power PC or higher
processor, 32 MB RAM, and 30 MB free hard disk space.
Java is included with the install package for both platforms and must be
running on the user’s system in order to run PhotoWebber.
PhotoWebber is scheduled for availability in later this quarter. A downloadable version will retail for $199. The product is
available on CD-ROM for $249 plus shipping. A downloadable, trial version
will be available on the Web site when the product ships.
