Help Yourself
Programs, tutorials and information that can help you manage your own marketing assets.
Sinister Visions inc. uses the Adobe Creative Suite of graphic/web products (Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, etc.), but you may not want to spend thousands of dollars on software to make minor edits and updates to your marketing materials or website.
This page provides a number of alternatives and options, all free, and many of which Sinister Visions uses to supplement The Big Guns.
For more great resources and ideas, you should be reading Lifehacker.com on a daily basis!
DISCLAIMER: The information on this page is presented in the spirit of Making Your Life Easier. It is, of course, YOUR responsibility to research these programs and make sure they're right for you or your computer. Use at your own risk. If you don't like them, write your Congressman.
INFORMATION
IMAGE EDITING
WEBSITES
FREE PROGRAMS
IMAGE EDITING AND IMAGE VIEWERS
- Irfanview Image viewer
- Picasa Image viewer, organizer & editor
- GIMP Image editor, comparable to Photoshop
- Artweaver Image editor with a more artistic, natural media approach
- X-Inkscape Vector image editor, comparable to Illustrator
- e2vector Illustration Application Adobe Air-based simple vector image editor
- RIOT Radical Image Optimization Tool - read the description on Lifehacker.com
- ScreenCapturer Screen capture utility
- VSO Image Resizer Batch size and watermark photos/images
- FastStone Image Resizer Batch edit, size, rotate, crop & watermark photos
- PIXLR Online image editing right in your web browser
- IcoFX Icon creator & editor
- Greenfish Icon Editor Pro Icon creator & editor
- AMP Font Viewer Font viewer / installer
- NexusFont Font viewer / installer
WEBSITE AUTHORING / EDITING
- NVU HTML/website editing and authoring tool
- Filezilla FTP (File Transfer Protocol) Program
- GoDaddy.com Domain name registration and hosting
- BlueHost.com Website hosting
- NameCheap.com Cheap domain name registration
- CoffeeCup.com has a stack of free and very inexpensive programs designed to help you publish to the web with zero experience. SVi hasn't used them, but hears good things.
- net2ftp Connect/upload/download via FTP right through your web browser
More suggestions at Creative Nerds
More stuff will be posted as it's found and as time permits...
Recommended Vendors
Sinister Visions doesn't handle printing for our clients. Why? Because we'd have to charge you for the time required to play middleman, and that's a 20th Century concept; the internet and printing technology have completely changed the face of printing in the last decade, to the extent that you no longer need your designer to play middleman.
Sinister Visions will create the files you need to get your products printed, then work directly with the printer(s) of your choice to make sure they get the files they need, in the formats that they require, and the best part is it doesn't cost you anything extra.
Don't have a printer? No problem! To the right is a list of companies with whom Sinister Visions has worked, and for whom Sinister Visions can vouch as quality printers/service bureaus. These guys do great work at reasonable prices!
And hey - if you have a great printer/vendor that you'd recommend, send us their info, as we're always on the lookout for new resources!
Posters, Postcards, Brochures, Business Cards, etc.
Be sure to sign up for their mailing list to get tons of free or heavily-discounted printing deals all year long!
T-Shirts
- NewRepublicPrinting.com : Ask for Steve, and tell him Chad at Sinister Visions sent you!
Large Vinyl Banners
Embroidery
- NewRepublicPrinting.com : Ask for Steve, and tell him Chad at Sinister Visions sent you!