Hey Buddy... Can You Spare a Paint Brush?

Since I'm the guy who does most of the graphics for URC's graphical remotes, I get a lot of emails asking me questions about... well... graphics. Besides the number one question ("Will you draw this or that for me?"—to which my answer is nearly always, "I'll put you in my queue, and your number should come up sometime around February, 2047), the second most common question I get is, "What program do you recommend for making my own graphics for my client's remotes?"

The answer to that one is tricky. You see, my personal choice for a graphics editor is a little-known, seldom used graphics program that was designed and built for the sole purpose of creating the user interfaces for web sites. Web sites and touch screens have a lot in common. Primarily, what appears to be a single image in both is really composed of bits and pieces of smaller images, arranged nicely to create the illusion of a seamless user interface. So I use Fireworks by Adobe to design nearly all of the graphics you see on URC remotes. (Yeah, I've got a few tricks up my sleeve with other programs, but Fireworks covers the groundwork for me.) 

The other reason I use Fireworks is that it was originally published by Macromedia, who was purchased, lock, stock, and barrel, by Adobe a few years back. The only reason this is relevant is that before I came to work at Universal Remote Control, I was a multimedia designer and technical writer for... you guessed it... Macromedia. And since I was the lead technical writer for the documentation for Fireworks, I know that program inside out, upside down, and other directions normally only described in boy-band pop songs. It kind of gives me an unfair advantage.

So here's the kicker. I don't recommend that you use Fireworks for your graphics editing needs. "Wait... What?" I hear you say. Yeah, really. Fireworks is dandy for creating graphics. It has some wonderful features that make bulk graphics go much, much smoother, even than the far-more-capable PhotoShop (also by Adobe). But for the average installer, you don't need to create 500 device icons in a similar style. You probably only need to create one or two. Most installers maybe need to edit a couple of buttons per client. And so for them, they need a graphics program that is designed to edit graphics, not to create them from scratch.

The good news is that PhotoShop is already here for that very purpose. The bad news is that PhotoShop, depending on which configuration you get, can cost you a grand or more. That's a big pill to swallow for turning a blue button green and cropping a client's family photo to use as a background once a month. Especially in this economy.

But don't worry... I've got your back.

See, being somewhat of a design nerd, I keep track of what's going on in the design world (or at least, in the software-for-design world). And have I got some good news for you. It turns out that PhotoShop has some arch rivals, kind of like Windows has Linux as its nemesis. And like Linux, some of those arch rivals are free. Even better, some of them are available on the web. As in, a fairly worthy competitor to PhotoShop, but it runs inside your web browser. You don't even have to install anything. How's that for free? That's like "extra free" if you ask me!

Enter Sumo Paint. 

Now if you've ever run any web applications before, you're probably thinking okay, this is going to be slow. And if you've ever run any graphics software, you're really thinking at least I'll have time to drink my coffee. Well, you'd better skip the foam on your latte this morning, because Sumo Paint isn't slow. Honestly, I don't know how they do it. I've got stand-alone graphics packages that run much slower and are far less capable than this web app. 

Is Sumo Paint a feature-for-feature PhotoShop killer? Absolutely not. But does it offer 100% of what nearly any casual graphics editor would need? You bet. And did I mention it's free?

So if you're one of the many installers who has an occasional need to edit graphics, but no particular desire to unload ten Benjamins to do it, get yourself over to SumoPaint.com and get cracking. It's always best to get in some practice with any graphics software before the day when you really have to make that blue button green before the client's wife gets home at 5:45. It's graphics software—they all work differently, so you'll need some time to learn the ropes. But that small investment in your skill set can turn into a big payoff on job after job.

Just in case anyone asks: No, neither I nor URC are affiliated with the makers of Sumo Paint. And no, I'm not switching from my beloved Fireworks. I'm still in the graphics creation business, so I basically need the computer equivalent of an art studio. Most likely, that's not you. Most likely, you don't need a studio at all. That would be overkill, and a waste of your time to learn to use it. But from time to time, the thing that's going to impress your client is that one little graphical tweak. For that, you could really use a paint brush.

No problem! Borrow one of mine. It's called Sumo Paint. You don't even have to wash it out when you're done.