So Long Ulead…

Ulead gobbled up by Corel…
I’ve been a user of some niche and little known products during my career in the Web dev field.

I’ve used Ulead’s PhotoImpact since version 6 and I’m a huge fan of SmartSaver Pro. I liked PhotoImpact because it didn’t have that Mac-ish feel that PhotoShop and all the products that try to emulate its GUI have.

In PhotoImpact (at least until more recent versions) you didn’t think of “layers” but “objects” with a stack order. I don’t know why but this concept is just easier on my brain. Unfortunately in PI 11 and 12 they’ve made a big deal about layers.

I think the version on my main machine is 8 and I’ll probably just continue to use it or maybe transition to Microsoft’s Expression graphics offering. As for SmartSaver, it’s simply the best program I’ve ever used for batch processing images for the Web; resize, compress, etc.

Today I found out that Ulead was gobbled up by Corel. Isn’t it amazing how all these little niche companies seem to get snapped up over time.

I’m still getting over the fact that Macromedia is gone.

Anyway, I guess this is all the more reason to covet my old copies of all these obscure programs I’ve collected over the year.

I can feel a DVD burning session followed by a trip to the bank’s safe deposit box coming.

Chris Leeds, MVP, WPD
Chris Leeds is a longtime digital photographer and Web enthusiast.

Chris has recently developed and released a software product that allows Webmasters to create Web sites that can be edited by their clients with just a browser.

Chris also maintains and operates Northeast Digital Photo.

Chris has additionally had “Tips and Tricks” and numerous articles published, on Microsoft’s site and other locations, regarding various facets of FrontPage and recently served as a technical reviewer for the O’Reilly Press “FrontPage 2003 the Missing Manual.”

His latest writing project is in the role of author for Microsoft Press’ forthcoming “Expression Web Step by Step.”

[tags]Ulead, Corel, PhotoImpact, SmartSaver, Chris Leeds[/tags]