photos

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which I answer Mac-related questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week, readers asked about using drives attached to a Time Capsule as separate shared backup destinations for Time Machine, how to deal with managing photos both in the Finder and in iPhoto, and managing a completely black MacBook screen.

I welcome contributions from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in the comments!

Question: Using multiple shares on a Time Capsule for Time Machine backups MacFixIt reader Gregg asks:

At startup Pics.io, a Ukrainian trio thinks it's time for the Web browser to take on a computing task that thus far has resisted the inexorable shift toward cloud computing: raw photo editing.

Eager for higher quality and flexibility, photography enthusiasts and pros have gravitated toward raw photos formats, which record cameras' image data directly without processing into a more convenient but limited JPEG. But handling raw photos is a processor-intensive task -- the kind of thing that Web-based software historically hasn't been good at and the kind of thing that people buy specialized software such as … Read more

With Postcards, it is possible to create and send an actual paper postcard from your iPhone to anyone in the world in less than a couple of seconds. The cost is higher than you might pay for a ready-made postcard, but the convenience and customization options available make for a very unique, engaging experience, wherever you happen to be traveling.

Postcards is similar to many other apps that offer the same service, but it is streamlined to a certain degree. You open the app and either take or choose a photo to send, then do some light modifications to that … Read more

PicsArt Photo Studio doesn't offer many features that other photo editing tools don't already, but it is well crafted, smartly designed, and filled with options. When combined, these options allow you to do everything from frame and text-tag your images to filter and add masks and effects to photos.

What PicsArt Studio has done is combine many of the most common features provided in other free photo editing apps into a single interface. In many cases, this would have led to a messy, convoluted design, but it works here, even with the text labels on each of the … Read more

The professional status update is assuming a new look as LinkedIn has decided to embrace photo and rich media sharing, meaning members can finally share more than text and links in their status updates.

LinkedIn said Thursday that members can now use the share box on the home page to upload images, documents, and presentations as part of their updates. In addition, members can attach videos and rich media content hosted elsewhere by pasting a link into the box. The service's 2.9 million company page administrators also get image and file uploads with the release.

The update expands … Read more

With its sleek interface and convenient features, Xee for Mac delivers a worthy alternative to Preview or any other Mac OS X image browser.

At around 3.8MB, this app downloads within a minute. Xee for Mac features a neat and clean, typical interface for image browsers. All options are easily located within a well-organized menu. Previous and Next buttons are on the left upper side as well as options for zooming. Options for automatic orientation and rotation are positioned on the upper-right side. In the Preferences menu the user can view and set up keyboard shortcuts for many options … Read more

There's no shortage of methods to share photos and photo albums using our smartphones. Whether you prefer Photo Stream, or Dropbox, or Facebook, or Google+, or -- well, you get the point -- there is always room for another photo-sharing service. Or is there? We'll save that debate for another post.

For now, you have to leave room for one more app. With the free iOS app called AlbumShare you can create and share a photo album through a text message, with no account required to create or view an album. Creating an album is as simple as … Read more

While lacking more advanced options, InstantPhotoSketch for Mac successfully converts digital photos into pretty pencil sketches. This application is free and performs only one function, but does so without any hassle.

After installation InstantPhotoSketch for Mac opens to a plain but functional user interface. The main menu offers only some basic functions such as open, save as, create sketch, and zoom in and out. There is also a link to the developer's home page. Once the user opens a desired image, they are able to adjust the black level and white level intensity by moving the horizontal scroll bars. … Read more

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. -- In 1993, on the Internet nobody would know you were a dog. In 2013, everybody knows that you are a dog. That's how Mary Meeker, a general partner with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, described changes over the last two decades in her Internet Trends 2013 presentation at the All Things D conference.

Data is exploding. About 500 million photos are uploaded and shared on the Internet each day, and that number is expected double year on year. "It looks like we are going to double in 2013. The major driver of that … Read more