Last week we put a working demo of NetImager live on our site. NetImager is an online image editor which was developed out of a requirement for a cross platform image editor for EditBureau, which already had a windows only editor, but for obvious reasons, we needed something cross platform.
After endless searching, we simply couldn't find an image editor that suited our requirements, and that was of sufficient quality, so we decided to develop our own! We have been using NetImager on some EditBureau accounts since autumn last year and we have been adding enhancements to it since then. Since we couldn't find a solution ourseleves initially, we decided that we should license it as a standalone product, so here we are.
I know the Ajax debate comes to mind - so why implement NetImager as a java applet?
Well, I think there are situations where plugins applets are acceptable (and sometimes more suitable), such as in content management systems, and other 'closed' systems which aimed at functional business usage.
One scenario that comes to mind for when NetImager as an image editor, comes into its own, is for getting a large (2-3mb) image file to the server; the end result usually does not need to be a 2-3 mb file; just a 200kb or less file (usually). The thing I don't like about Ajax in this instance, is that the initial file must be sent to the server for processing. I know its not huge by any means, but why send a 2-3mb file to the server for processing when the processing could be done at the client.
I want to go into the whole Ajax versus Applet thing a little later, in another post!
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