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Although Amazon’s second Prime Day event of the year has come and gone, you can still get great deals on their site. You can also find bargains at other retailers like Walmart, Target, and Adorama, where we are seeing some great prices on tech for artists and galleries. Check them out below.
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AMAZON DEALS
Sennheiser Consumer Audio MOMENTUM True Wireless 3 Earbuds
Buy for $154.95 and save 45%
These wireless earbuds are designed with adaptive noise cancellation, which means you can listen to audio and be completely immersed in the music or audio without distractions, or you can use the transparency mode to stay in touch with the world around. They also have an IPX4 rating, which means they have some water resistance, and a very good battery life of up to 7 hours.
***Limited time deal!*** Kasa Smart Video Doorbell
Buy for $37.99 and save 37%
If you’re looking for a high-quality wired video doorbell, this Kasa Smart Video Doorbell offers a lot for the money. It provides very good 2K-video resolution video, a 160-degree diagonal field of view, and two-way audio via a single tap on the Kasa mobile app. It’s also compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant technologies.
Sony Alpha 7C Full-frame Mirrorless Camera – Silver (ILCE7C/S)
Buy for $1298.00 and save 19%
There’s a lot to love about the Sony Alpha 7C: For starters, it’s one of the smallest and lightest full-frame mirrorless cameras on the market, but still has a 24.2-megapixel, full-frame CMOS sensor. It has an excellent battery life, a flexible display, versatile autofocus modes, 5-axis in-body image stabilization, and it can capture both photos and video.
GoPro HERO12 Black and Accessories Bundle
Buy for $299.99 and save 33%
The GoPro HERO12 Black action cam is lightweight and very portable, but it packs a lot of great technology. It can shoot 5.3-resolution video (which provides more detail than 4K and 1080p) and capture 27-megapixel still photos. High Dynamic Range (HDR) technology which offers better detail in shadow areas and highlights, and GoPro’s HyperSmooth 6.0 stabilization minimizes jitter and shake in video footage. It’s also rugged: waterproof to a depth of 33 feet. This bundle includes a handler, head strap, Enduro battery, and carrying case.
AT WALMART
Apple AirPods with Charging Case (2nd Generation)
Buy for $89.00 and save 31%
These older, second-generation AirPods come with the standard lightning charging case, are lightweight, and are easy to set up. When listening to audio, just double-tap to play or skip forward. They also charge quickly in the case.
Lenovo IdeaPad 3i 15 inch Windows II Laptop
Buy for $479.00 and save 45%.
This Lenovo IdeaPad Windows laptop offers a lot of value, and it now 45% percent off at Walmart. It comes with an Intel Core i7-1255U processor, a Windows 11 Home OS, and a 15.6-inch FHD IPS touchscreen display, with is also LED backlit and has anti-glare coating. Not to mention 16GB 3200MHz DDR4 memory and a 512GB solid state drive for internal storage.
AT BEST BUY
Apple 10.2-Inch iPad (9th Generation, Space Gray) with Wi-Fi
Buy for $199.99 and save 39%
This Wi-Fi only version of Apple iPad comes with 64 GBs, has a 10.2-inch Retina display, A13 Bionic chip with Neural Engine, and stereo speakers. You get up to 10 hours of battery life and it has a Lightning connector for charging and accessories. This model comes with an 8-megapixel back camera and a 12-megapixel, ultra-wide front camera.
AT ADORAMA
Lexar Silver Series Professional 1066x 512GB UHS-I SDXC Memory Card
Buy for $59.95 and save 40 percent
This Lexar Silver Professional 1066x SD memory card is now 40 percent off, which is great if you need a great memory card for photography or videography. With this card, you should be able to capture video resolutions in Full-HD or at 4K UHD. It’s engineered for high-speed performance, has a capacity of 512GBs, is reliable and durable, and is compatible with many mirrorless cameras, DSLRs, and point-and-shoots.
Nikon Z 7II Mirrorless Camera bundle
Buy for $1996.95 and save 33%
This is the second-generation model of Nikon’s second full-frame mirrorless cameras, the Z 7. The Nikon Z 7II offers a high-resolution 45.7-megapixel sensor, a 493-point Hybrid autofocus system for precise focus, and in-body image stabilization. It can also capture 4K ultra HD video capture at multiple frame rates. This special deal not only gives you a third off, but adds a 128GB SD memory card, an extra battery. and a cleaning kit.
AT TARGET
***SALE ENDS TODAY!*** Canon EOS R100 RF-S18-45mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM Lens Kit
Buy for $499.99 and save 17%
While many artists and photographers lust after full-frame mirrorless cameras, there are many excellent mirrorless cameras out there with smaller sensors. Among them is the Canon EOS R100, which has a smaller-than-full-frame APC-C-size sensor. In addition, it has a DIGIC 8 processor, Dual Pixel CMOS autofocus (which is super fast), the ability to fire off a burst of photos at 6.5 frames per second and capture 4K-resolution video up to 24 fps or Full-HD videos up to 60 fps (although the videos are cropped). This is a quality tool for a reasonable price, especially at 17% off.
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, ARTnews.com may receive an affiliate commission.
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What Is Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Day?
Amazon’s second Prime Day event of the year, Prime Big Deal Days, started yesterday and will run through 11:59 pm PST tonight. Over those 48 hours, Amazon is offering thousands of deals across all shopping categories, including art supplies and equipment.
What’s the Catch?
To get access to the deals (or most of the deals), however, you have to be an Amazon Prime subscriber.
Amazon Prime costs $14.99 a month or $139 a year. Its benefits include faster shipping on Amazon orders, discounts at Whole Foods, and access to Amazon’s streaming entertainment. You can also pick up a free 30-day trial of Prime here.
What’s on Sale?
Prime Days feature deals across all of Amazon’s categories, including tools for artists. Many of these deals are Lightning Deals, lasting only a few hours. A word of advice: Move fast, as the most desirable products will sell out quickly.
What’s On Sale Right Now?
While (frankly) many deals are not worth shopping, we’ll be tracking the best deals on tech for artists and galleries as they become available. Some can be accessed without a Prime membership, though with Prime membership you’ll get free shipping. Others are only available to members. See our picks below and check back in with us often to find our favorite Prime Big Deal Days deals and discounts. Happy browsing!
***NEW***35% off Amazon eero 6+ mesh Wi-Fi router—Buy for $194.99
Buy: Amazon eero 6+ mesh wifi system – Supports internet plans up to a Gigabit, Coverage up to 4,500 sq. ft., Connect 75+ devices, 3-pack $299.99Today, it’s essential to have a working Wi-fi connection. With this 3-pack eero 6+ Wi-Fi router, you can feel confident that you and your family, or you and your staff, have enough bandwidth for your needs. This router supports Wi-Fi speeds up to a gigabit, without the premium price tag. It’s also compatible with previous-generation eero devices. It even has a smart-home hub to connect compatible Thread and Zigbee devices on your network with Alexa.
***NEW*** 36% off Kindle Paperwhite Cork Cover (11th Generation-2021)—Buy for $31.99
Buy: Kindle Paperwhite Cork Cover (11th Generation-2021) $29.99Whether you’re looking to read a biography of your favorite artist or brush up on your art history, a Kindle is a portable way way to enjoy any book. This cover is designed to perfectly fit and protect your Kindle Paperwhite or Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition (11th Generation only—it will not fit prior generation Kindle devices). It opens and closes like a book, waking your Kindle or putting it to sleep.
***NEW*** 36% off Epson EcoTank ET-4850 Wireless All-in-One Printer—Buy for $349.99
Buy: Epson EcoTank ET-4850 Wireless All-in-One Cartridge-Free Supertank Printer with Scanner, Copier, Fax, ADF and Ethernet – The Perfect Printer Office – White, Medium $349.99It’s been about nine years since Epson broke new ground in the consumer-printer market by introducing a new type of printer: the EcoTank. With the EcoTank, you didn’t have to rely on ink cartridges—possibly the most detested of all home office technologies (they’re too expensive, they don’t last, they never work right, they stain fingers, etc.).
Like all EcoTank models, this Epson ET-4850 all-in-one printer is easy to set up by opening each of the four colors of ink bottle and filling each of the corresponding ink tanks. According to Epson, you won’t have to add more ink for another two years (although that depends on how much printer you use your printer). Speaking from personal experience, I can tell you that the mid-range Epson EcoTank printer I bought two years ago has been among the most reliable peripherals I’ve even owned. At the very least, it’s worth considering EcoTank printer if you can find one that fits in your budget.
***NEW*** 50% off Beats Solo 4 Wireless Bluetooth On-Ear Headphones—Buy for $99.00
Buy: Beats Solo 4 – Wireless Bluetooth On-Ear Headphones, Apple & Android Compatible, Up to 50 Hours of Battery Life – Matte Black $129.95Although some might prefer over-the-ear type headphones to these on-ear style headphones, this generation of Apple Beats Solo headphones are designed to be more comfortable that their predecessors. They also give you up to fifty hours of battery life. They don’t come with active noise-cancelling technology, but they are wireless with the option of connecting to and streaming music from devices via a USB-C port. Lastly, they also support spatial audio and lossless audio (through that same USB-C connection).
20% off Canon EOS R6 Mark II Mirrorless Camera (Body Only)—Buy for $1999.00
This, the second iteration of the Canon EOS R6 full-frame mirrorless camera, adds more resolution to the sensor (now with 24 megapixels). There are other enhancements as well—for instance, in burst mode, the R6 Mark II doubles the number of frames per second when shooting with the electronic shutter from 20 fps to 40 fps. Its battery life is a little better too. Like its predecessor, it can still capture 4K-resotuion video in 60p, has dual memory card slots, includes built-in image stabilization, and has powerful AF subject-detection technology (for people and animals).
25% off Apple MacBook Air Laptop—Buy for $749.00
Buy: Apple 2022 MacBook Air Laptop with M2 chip: Built for Apple Intelligence, 13.6-inch Liquid Retina Display, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage, Backlit Keyboard, 1080p FaceTime HD Camera; Starlight $949.95This 2022 MacBook Air has a 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display, 8GBs of RAM, a 256GB SSD hard drive for storage, and a backlit keyboard. It also includes a built-in 1080p FaceTime HD camera, a three-mic array, and a four-speaker sound system with spatial audio. Overall, it’s a very portable laptop that weighs just 2.7 pounds.
49% off Samsung Galaxy Watch—Buy for $169.00 with an Amazon Prime Membership
Buy: Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 44mm Bluetooth Smartwatch, Fitness Tracker, Personalized HR Zones, Advanced Sleep Coaching, Heart Monitor, BIA Sensor, Health Wellness Insights, Big Screen, US Version, Graphite $247.49If you’re looking for an outstanding smartwatch, but aren’t interested in buying into the Apple ecosystem, you should take a close look at this Samsung Galaxy watch. It’s great for keeping track of the number steps you take each day, the quality of your sleep, and how many calories you burned during your workout, along with many other tasks.
50% off SimpliSafe 10 Piece Wireless Home Security System with Outdoor Camera—Buy for $214.99 with an Amazon Prime membership
Buy: SimpliSafe 10 Piece Wireless Home Security System with Outdoor Camera – Optional 24/7 Professional Monitoring – No Contract – Compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant $292.55Keep your home studio or gallery safe with this product, which is a whole security system right out of the box. It comes with two 1080p, full-HD resolution wireless security cameras, one for indoors, and another—with color night vision—for outdoors. It also includes a base station, keypad, motion sensors, and entry sensors. There’s even a downloadable SimpliSafe mobile app designed to let you effectively interact with your entire setup. Though this system is usually a bit pricey, it’s now 50 percent off for Amazon Prime members.
50% off Wacom Intuos Medium Bluetooth Graphics Drawing Tablet – Buy for $99.95
Buy: Wacom Intuos Medium Bluetooth Graphics Drawing Tablet, Portable for Teachers, Students and Creators, 4 Customizable ExpressKeys, Compatible with Chromebook Mac OS Android and Windows – Pistachio $99.93There’s a lot for artists to like about this drawing tablet from Wacom, which is the company’s medium-sized Intuos tablet. For starters, it comes with a battery-free pen, so no charging is necessary. The tablet itself comes with lots of free software, has four customizable express keys, and Bluetooth technology that lets you connect to your laptop or desktop computer. Best of all, while the sale lasts, it’s half off!
42% off Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max streaming device—Buy for $34.99
Buy: Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max streaming device (newest model) supports Wi-Fi 6E, free & live TV without cable or satellite $59.99If your job includes keeping up-to-date with the latest streamers, consider this inexpensive but very capable device, which can stream content in 4K (3,840 x 2,160 resolution). It was already reasonably priced, but now its more than 40% off.
62% off Blink Outdoor 4 wireless smart security cameras (3 camera system)—Buy for $99.99
Buy: Blink Outdoor 4 (newest model), Wireless smart security camera, two-year battery, 1080p HD day and infrared night live view, two-way talk – 3 camera system $99.99This great deal gets you 3 fourth-generation Blink Outdoor wireless, smart security cameras for more than half off. Mount them outside your art studio, gallery, or even your outdoor installation. They’re easy to use and to set up: simply pop in two AA batteries. Each camera provides you with a 1080p full-HD live view (which is also enhanced with motion detection and person detection), plus infrared night vision and crisp two-way audio.
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, ARTnews.com may receive an affiliate commission.
When Bruce Springsteen sang, “Maybe everything that dies some day comes back,” he wasn’t singing about digital photo frames. But he might as well have been. Several years ago, digital photo frames were nearly impossible to find either in brick-and-mortar stores or online, but they’ve made a remarkable comeback. And the new models are not like the picture frames of the past, which didn’t do a great job of displaying photos, had clunky interfaces, were not very versatile, and could be pricey. Today’s models have improved quite a bit, with more features and the ability to display and play video clips, and some can be connected to a cloud service or a cellular phone plan. In fact, at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas, LG introduced a wall-mounted air conditioner that included a digital photo frame on its front.
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In many ways, the explosion of products for the “smart,” internet-connected home has helped pave the way for a renaissance of digital photo frames. It’s one of the reasons companies are continuing to innovate in the photo frame market, including digital frames with new features that make them easier to use, improve picture quality, and take advantage of in-home wireless networks.
The following are some of the best models currently available, in a range of price points.
Simple Budget Photo Frame: Aluratek 8-Inch LCD Digital
Buy: Aluratek 8 Inch LCD Digital Photo Frame with Auto Slideshow Using USB SD/SDHC (ADPF08SF) – Black $34.99This inexpensive photo frame from Aluratek doesn’t have many features, and its image resolution, at 800 x 600 pixels, is a bit low. It also doesn’t have many physical buttons or switches—just a few controls on the back of the frame—but it’s very easy to use and sets up quickly. You will need a memory card (up to 32 GBs) or thumb drive to store your photos on this 8-inch frame.
Smart-Home Controller With Photo Frame: Google Nest Hub (2nd Gen)
Many smart displays go well beyond the intent of the earliest digital photo frames, which was simply to display images. Take the Google Nets Hub, which is easy to hook up to photos stored on Google Photos. It doesn’t have the highest resolution—1,024 x 600 pixels—and the screen is just 7 by 5 inches, but that means this wireless device will fit almost anywhere. Not to mention it can help you do things around the house—like switch on lights, lock doors, and turn up the thermostat.
Frame for Easy Photo Sharing: Aura Carver
Buy: Aura Carver WiFi Digital Picture Frame | The Best Digital Frame for Gifting | Send Photos from Your Phone | Quick, Easy Setup in Aura App | Free Unlimited Storage | Sea Salt $149.00To use this attractive frame, you simply send your photos and videos directly to it from your phone. Then you can invite family and friends to add their photos too. Setup is relatively easy (provided you have Wi-FI access) via the free Aura app, which is compatible with both Apple and Android devices. One downside to this frame is that it shows pictures only in landscape orientation; it doesn’t offer a portrait option. However, it does use AI to pair portrait-oriented photos, which is a clever work-around. Like a number of other frames, it can adjust the photo brightness with auto-dimming technology and can shut the frame off at night. It includes a built-in speaker for video clips with audio.
Touchscreen Frame With Wi-Fi: Nixplay 10.1-inch Touchscreen Smart Digital Picture Frame
Buy: Digital Picture Frame [Upgraded] | 10.1″ HD Touch Screen Display | Perfect Photo Frame for Sharing Memories | Ideal Gift for Grandparents | Super Easy Setup & Upload | Secure | WiFi Enabled $149.99Although it’s a bit pricey, what’s nice about this frame is that you can interact with it in the same way you might with an Apple iPad or other tablet, since it has a touchscreen. It also has HD resolution (1,280 x 800), so images and video are pretty sharp. Plus, when you download the frame’s mobile app (compatible with both iOS and Android), you can connect to Facebook, Instagram, and Dropbox to access photos and media stored on those services. The frame can also display photos in either landscape or portrait orientation.
Frame With 2K Resolution: Aura Mason Luxe
Buy: Aura Mason Luxe WiFi Digital Picture Frame | The Best Digital Frame for Gifting | Send Photos from Your Phone | 2K Display | Quick, Easy Setup in Aura App | Free Unlimited Storage | SandstoneThis Wi-Fi frame is a big jump up in cost, but that’s because it offers 2K image resolution (2,048 x 1,536), which means photos and video clips will look crisp and sharp. To display your photos, you’ll first need to download the company’s mobile app (like the Aura Carver, it’s compatible with both Apple and Android devices.); then you can show an unlimited number of photos or videos from your camera roll. (You can also use Google Photos online.) This frame doesn’t have any onboard storage or allow the use of a memory card or thumb drive with it. However, unlike the Carver, you can orient it in either portrait or landscape mode.
Large Photo Frame: Pix-Star 15-Inch Digital Photo Frame
Buy: PixStar 15 inch Large Digital Frame WiFi | Free Unlimited Cloud | Share Videos and Photos by Email or App | Motion Sensor | Best USNews Digital Photo Frame 2024 | Large Electronic Picture Frame $219.99If size is more important to you than crystal-clear resolution, consider this photo frame from Pix-Star. Its 15-inch IPS LED screen is larger than most, and the colors and tones in its images look quite good. However, it provides just 1,024 x 768 pixel resolution, which means if you’re examining images up close, you won’t see a lot of detail. Like a number of other frames, this Wi-Fi picture frame comes with a free online account, with which you can manage up to 25 frames remotely. It also comes with 8 GB of internal storage.
Jumbo Fine-Art Smart Photo Frame: Netgear Meural Canvas II
Buy: Meural Canvas II – the Smart Art Frame with 27 in. HD Digital Canvas that Renders Images and Photography in Lifelike Detail | 19X29 Black Frame | WiFi-Connected | Powered by NETGEAR (MC327BL) $399.99If you’re looking for a much larger frame, closer to the size of artwork you might see in a gallery or museum, the Netgear Meural Canvas II may fit the bill. This model, which includes smart technology features, is among the largest available, with a diagonal display of 27 inches. The frame is also available in four finishes—black, dark wood, light wood, or white. You can use the Meural app (compatible with iOS or Android) to do a variety of tasks, such as scheduling display times or adjusting settings. You can also control the frame via voice controls since it supports Amazon Alexa. In terms of resolution, it’s essentially a 1080p full high-definition display, with an antiglare finish and adjustable backlighting. It connects to both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies and can be displayed in vertical (portrait) or horizontal (landscape) orientations. Another feature that’s intriguing, although will cost you extra, is that you can subscribe to Meural’s digital library and get access to more than 30,000 works of fine art. Membership is $69.95 annually.
Super-Size 4K-Resolution Smart Digital Photo Frame: Samsung “The Frame” LS03B Series Smart TV
Buy: SAMSUNG 43 – Inch Class QLED 4K The Frame LS03B Series, Quantum HDR, Art Mode, Anti-Reflection Matte Display, Slim Fit Wall Mount Included, Smart TV w/Alexa Built-in (QN43LS03BAFXZA) $697.95Artists, collectors, and art lovers who want to see more detail in the images or video clips their digital frames display will simply need more pixels. Samsung’s The Frame, with a 43-inch 4K-resolution display, provides just that. It’s expensive, but it’s really a 4K HDTV, and that’s the main reason it offers more resolution. Its display is 3,840 x 2,160, so your images and video look super sharp. The screen also has antireflection technology and a matte finish to minimize glare. Like most 4K smart HDTVs, this model comes with lots of ports, including 4 HDMI ports, 2 USB ports, an Ethernet connection, and more. This TV/frame also is available in six other sizes, from 32 inches all the way up to 85.
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, ARTnews.com may receive an affiliate commission.
Amazon Gaming Week runs from Monday, May 22 through Sunday, May 28, which means Amazon will be offering deals on various gaming gadgets, including computer peripherals, computer hardware, games (of course), and more. Artists, even if they are not gamers, will find some great buys on useful equipment. Here are three discounted tech products as good for the studio as they are for gaming.
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Dell 34-Inch Curved Gaming Monitor
Buy: Dell S3422DWG Curved Gaming Monitor – 34 Inch 1800R Curved Screen with 144Hz Refresh Rate, WQHD (3440 x 1440) Display, HDMI, DP to DP 1.4 Cable, AMD FreeSync – Black $399.99
One of the wonderful things about a really wide gaming monitor like this one from Dell is that it affords lots of room on your screen to use and arrange all of your software and computer program screens. For working with multiple programs at once, editing video content, or comfortably viewing layouts, this space-saving, 34-inch curved computer monitor may be just what you need. It has a resolution of 3440 x 1440 (WQHD) and three-sided ultrathin bezel, all of which, Dell says, “envelops you with minimal distractions.” It also has vertical alignment technology for deeper blacks and has excellent contrast. In short, it’s a very well-made, easy-to-set-up computer monitor that’s sure to help any artist or graphic designer be more productive and organized.
Acer Swift X 14-Inch Laptop
Buy: Acer Swift X SFX14-42G-R607 Creator Laptop | 14″ Full HD 100% sRGB | AMD Ryzen 7 5825U | NVIDIA RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU | 16GB LPDDR4X | 512GB SSD | Wi-Fi 6 | Backlit KB | Windows 11, Gray $1,025.78
The Acer Swift X is a very good 14-inch laptop for any artist on the go, even if he or she is not interested in gaming. It’s small and compact, just a tad over 3 pounds. But what really makes this model stand out is its power: It runs on an AMD Ryzen 7 5825U processor with Zen 3 core architecture, which enables it to complete tasks quickly and easily. It ships with 16GB LPDDR4X memory, an 512GB SSD (for internal computer storage), 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 dual-band 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz featuring 2×2 MU-MIMO technology, and has Bluetooth 5.2. It also has a biometric fingerprint reader (to use with Windows Hello) to securely log in. It comes with lots of connectivity, too, including a USB type-C port USB 3.2 (Gen 2), two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, an HDMI 2.1 with HDCP support, a headphone/microphone-in jack, and more. So if you’ve got lots of work to do—from updating your website to working on spreadsheets to using your favorite word-processing program—this Acer laptop is an excellent performer that should allow you to complete all your tasks, with time to spare.
Amazon Basics 128GB microSDXC Memory Card
Buy: Amazon Basics Micro SDXC Memory Card with Full Size Adapter, A2, U3, Read Speed up to 100 MB/s, 128 GB, Black $11.06
It’s easy to overlook how important memory cards are . . . until you run out of space on the card you’re using and you don’t have an extra one. That’s why this 128GB microSDXC card is a wise buy. You can use it in many devices, including smartphones, tablets, cameras, and GoPro or other action cameras to make sure you capture all your photos and audio and video clips. What’s nice about this Amazon memory card is that it’s already pretty cheap, before the discount. But this week you can save an extra 15%. So buy one—or two—to make sure you always have enough storage for your multimedia files, from installation views to video clips.
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, ARTnews.com may receive an affiliate commission.
Last December, Adobe—the company that makes Photoshop, InDesign, Acrobat, and other computer programs for creative professionals—released a new suite of digital tools for web and mobile called Creative Cloud Express. Designed as a more accessible version of Adobe’s Creative Suite, the program offers easy-to-use layout and image-editing software that allows just about anyone with an internet connection or a smartphone to produce visuals ranging from menus to Instagram stories. The suite isn’t entirely new—it’s actually a next-generation version of what was formerly known as Adobe Spark, a web and mobile tool, geared to nonprofessionals, for making web-friendly graphics, images, and videos. However, it now comes with Adobe Photoshop Express and Adobe Premiere Rush.
I wanted to see if Creative Cloud Express could be a useful tool for artists, particularly as a way for them to promote their work. To find out, I created two types of content for fictional artists: a notice for a gallery exhibition and a promotional video. Both needed to be relatively easy and not too time consuming to produce. For both, I used the web-based version of the program.
Here’s what I discovered:
A notice for a fine-art gallery opening
Though notices for gallery or museum shows were once either sent through the mail or printed in newspapers or magazines, today they more often appear in digital form. I found that using Creative Cloud Express worked very well for creating both still and animated digital notices.
When you start using the program, you’ll find lots of examples of layouts, which are actually templates that you can use for your own work. Click on one you like and then click on the button on the bottom that reads, “Create from this template.” And you’re on your way! There are tools that let you customize the templates, many of them with drag-and-drop functionality.
The original template.
Creative Cloud Express is free, but with a $9.99 per month subscription, you’ll also have access from within the app to 20,000 premium Adobe fonts and 175 million royalty-free images from Adobe Stock.
For my exhibition notice, a gallery invite for a show of work by a fictional artist, I simply typed “still life” into Adobe Stock, and a vast array of still-life images, including animated images, came up in the results. When working with images, you can perform various tasks, such as autotoning, cropping, or straightening images, or removing a background from a photo.
Once you’ve selected your template and image, you have access to several tools, including Colors, Animation, Background, Resize and Design. If you click the Colors, two circular icons show you the current color palette (comprising five colors) for the design. The left circle lets you change one of the colors and the right circle lets you shuffle how they’re used. Underneath, you’ll find more five-color palettes you can try out.
Use color groupings for quick changes.
Here’s my final design.
Final gallery invite.
With my template, I could either post my design either as a static image or as a four-second animation; for the latter, I animated the still life image and the frame as well as the top and bottom border graphics.
To see the animated version of the notice, click here.
A promotional video for an artist’s work
Next, I used Creative Cloud Express to create a promotional video for a different fictitious artist. This proved a bit more of a challenge because there were more pieces to assemble. However, though it took me longer to make the video than to make the notice, the process was more or less the same: I chose a template, added media and text, adjusted colors and designs, and the video was ready to download or publish.
I wanted the opening of the video to stand out, so I searched for a template that would let me animate the title so it would fade in slowly.
The original template.
For my video, I used rather touristy footage that I’d recorded on a trip to Greece last year.
This is a screen shot of the intro to the video. As you can see, my design looks very different from the original template because I changed the font style and font size, as well as the background image.
There are a number of limitations to Creative Cloud Express, particularly for video. I had considered adding my own music track and an animated segment to my video, but I wasn’t able to create either within the program itself. In the end, I shelved the animation and chose an audio track from one of 17 built into the program.
This is not to say that you can’t upload your own music or animations along with your video, but file size matters in Creative Cloud Express. When uploading audio files, you may have to go with lower sound quality. And you need to watch how large your video clips are, since the program won’t accept a video file larger than 200MBs.
To see my final promo video, click here.
It took me about two hours to create the animated notice for the gallery exhibition and four hours to create the video. So in my view, the experiment was a success! Though it has limitations, Adobe Creative Cloud Express is definitely a useful tool for anyone, including artists, who want to promote their product but have little or no expertise in graphic design.
Pricing
There are two ways you can try out the service—and one of them is free. The premium plan, which costs $9.99 a month, also comes with a 30-day free trial. You can review both plans in detail here.
Some tips for using Creative Cloud Express
Though I made these promos on my computer, you can also access Creative Cloud Express on your phone, so the tools to promote your work are always with you. But learning how to use a new digital tool isn’t always easy. To get you started, here are a few tips to keep in mind when you use the service.
1. Find help from Adobe online
Web version: If you’re on the Creative Cloud Express home screen, go to the far-left-hand side of the screen, where you’ll find several icons. The bottom icon is “Learn,” which will bring you to a group of video tutorials. For more in-depth help, click on “Support” at the bottom of the page.
Mobile app version: Click on the gear icon in the upper right corner of the app and then click on “Help,” which takes you directly to the support page.
2. Google your question
When you are unsure of a feature, or if you have a specific question about that feature, ask Google. For example, you can type in, “What can I animate in Creative Cloud Express?” The top result brings you to a webpage on the topic from Adobe’s user guide, which includes more than a dozen animations and a couple of YouTube videos.
3. Be sure to take some time to experiment with the tools. And finally, be patient with yourself!
For more on the new suite of digital tools, check out the following useful links:
Adobe Creative Cloud Express
Introducing Creative Cloud Express, a new suite of tools that helps anyone create by Scott Belsky
Introducing Creative Cloud Express for Education by Mala Sharma
Creative Cloud Express Features by Justin Church
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In my previous Mobile Apps for Artists article, I described how the introduction of the first Apple iPhone in 2007 forever changed how consumers, including many artists, created photographs. But perhaps even more dramatic are the changes that mobile digital imaging has brought to video production in the past several years.
Fifteen years ago, consumers were still buying camcorders, cameras that focused on capturing video instead of still photos. Back then, there were four types of camcorder: MiniDV tape, MiniDVD, hard drive–based camcorders, and flash-based models. Each had its own method of recording video onto media—and its own pros and cons. For instance, MiniDV tape cameras captured video footage on an audiocassette-like tape. If you wanted to edit that footage, you needed to transfer it from the tape to your computer. That meant you had to connect the camcorder to a computer, then boot up your video-editing software, and start capturing the video from the MiniDV camera with your video-editing software—which it did in real time! In short, the process took a lot of time, and you needed very robust computer hardware to do it.
Camcorders that recorded video onto MiniDVD discs were also less than optimal. These could be “finalized” and then played on a DVD player or DVD drive on your computer; the big problem was that MiniDVD discs were quite glitchy and sometimes wouldn’t play at all. The video on MiniDVD discs was also challenging to edit.
At the time, almost all consumer-level camcorders captured standard-definition video. But in 2006–2007, the makers of camcorders began to introduce a new, higher-resolution video format to the marketplace, in camcorders like Sony’s HDR-HC1. Purchasers of these new, high-definition camcorders needed to upgrade their hardware and software (since none of the software was cloud based) in order to handle the new, larger files. Even then, editing video footage remained a difficult and cumbersome task.
This all quickly changed, though, over the next several years as software companies began to produce much more flexible video-editing software, which would soon be based in the cloud. This coincided with dramatic changes taking place in the camera world: Interchangeable-lens cameras—namely, DSLRs and mirrorless models—with the ability to capture high-quality video would soon ship.
But it still took some time for video mobile apps to hit their stride. True, there were apps like iPhone’s iMovie, which appeared on iPhones in 2010. Another, KineMaster, was introduced on Android devices in 2013, but its iOS-version camera came out only in 2016. Fast-forward to 2015 and 2016, and you have Adobe and GoPro introducing their video-editing mobile apps. Even then, Adobe’s app was, at first, only for Android OS. So it’s really just in the past several years that we’re now seeing robust and versatile video editing on mobile devices.
Today, there are many video-editing mobile apps available. Below, I outline five that I think are well designed and offer artists a lot of ways to get creative. All but one app are compatible with both iOS and Android mobile platforms; Apple’s iMovie is compatible only with iOS. Generally speaking, the five apps function similarly in that they have a timeline and a way to access video, photos, and other media. Each lets you edit by adding, splitting, changing, and deleting both video and audio.
Note: All apps were tested on the iPhone 12, and all demo images of the video-editing apps in this story were created on the iPhone 12. All video-editing apps (except Apple’s iMovie, available only on iOS) should operate in a similar fashion on Android phones, although they may look slightly different.
1. Adobe Premiere Rush (iOS & Android)
Adobe introduced this video-editing app in 2018, calling it the company’s first “all-in-one, cross-device video editing app that makes creating and sharing online content easier than ever.” It’s called “cross-device” because it stores all projects in Adobe Cloud. When artists want to access them, they can do so easily from any location or device, which is great if you’re away from home.
Premiere Rush also lets you capture video, edit, color-correct, record, and clean up audio; customize animated titles; and publish straight to social media. And since projects are saved in the cloud, the changes are reflected across all your devices through automatic project syncing. On both the mobile app and the desktop app, you can select media, trim elements, and rearrange clips in your project timeline.
Pricing: For an individual plan, the app costs $9.99 per month (there’s also a free version, which limits you to three exports and 2 GB of storage). The app is also included for free in Adobe’s Photography Plan, also $9.99 per month, which includes Lightroom, Photo, and 20 GB of cloud storage. Note: In addition to the mobile app, you can download desktop apps for MacOS and Windows.
Three screen grabs from Adobe’s Premiere Rush mobile app.
2. GoPro Quik (iOS & Android)
This wasn’t GoPro’s first video-editing mobile app, but in this latest version, which was introduced in only March of 2021, it actually becomes two apps in one: First, you can use it to control your GoPro camera and settings and to transfer media from your GoPro to your phone or tablet. Second, it functions as a very cool, easy-to-use video editor that lets you create an edited video not just from the recordings on your GoPro but from any video and photo you have on your phone or tablet from other cameras—even DSLRs or mirrorless cameras.
The app itself is a little different from what you might expect. When GoPro launched it, the new app wasn’t meant to replace a comprehensive software video editor. Instead, GoPro intended it as a fun and easy-to-use mobile app that allowed you to produce videos really quickly and to create a highlights reel of the media you had on your phone.
To create these videos, you initially add your favorite videos and photos to the Mural section of the Quik app, which GoPro says acts as your own private feed within the app. I find it functions like a playlist on a streaming music service, but with events instead of songs, with each event containing multiple photos and videos. To add media, simply share the photo or video clip to an existing event, or create a new event. From there you can create short videos comprising highlights of your videos and photos within the various events. It’s very automated, which might not appeal to everyone’s taste, but you can customize those automations as well.
Key features and benefits of this app include the above-mentioned ability to import photos and videos from any phone or camera, including GoPros and DSLRs. Subscribers get unlimited cloud backup, with every photo and video you post to your Quik Mural feed backed up at its original quality. Another key feature is the ability to quickly create music-synced videos by simply selecting photos and video clips you want to use along with a song from the included library, which comes with GoPro original music, or you can add music from your own library. You can adjust exposure, contrast, color, and vibrancy as well as change the speed of the video project (you can make it run faster or slower). In short, there’s a lot to like on this app.
Pricing: There are three pricing levels: a free or trial version (which gives you limited access to features), a Quik subscriber tier, which costs $1.99 a month or $9.99 a year, and a GoPro camera subscriber tier, for $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year.
Four screen grabs from GoPro’s Quik mobile app.
3. Apple iMovie (iOS only)
Apple iMovie has been around for quite a while, and it still does a great job, allowing you to do granular edits on video, photos, and music clips while still being easy to use. And with its recent updates, it now comes with some cool new filters—Comic, Comic Mono, and Ink—that turn your video into a cartoonlike recording.
It includes lots of other easy-to-use features, such as eight different themes with matching titles, transitions, and music. You also get 13 video filters and 11 animated titles (with the ability to change fonts, colors, size, and location). You can also add solid, gradient, or patterned backgrounds to your movies, and, as with other apps, you can slow down or speed up any video clip. You can select from more than 80 soundtracks that automatically adjust to match the length of your movie, and you can add sound effects, songs from your music library, and your own narration.
It’s also easy to transfer projects between your iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch using AirDrop or iCloud Drive. You can also experiment with Hollywood-style trailers, which are like very short movies or videos.
Pricing: Free with iPhone, iPad, or Mac laptop or desktop computers.
Four screen grabs from Apple’s iMovie mobile app.
4. PowerDirector (iOS & Android)
Cyberlink has offered video-editing software (and other multimedia software) for quite a few years now. Its suite of software isn’t as well known as Adobe’s Cloud Suite, but Cyberlink software works well and is quite affordable. That’s why it wasn’t all that surprising when Cyberlink introduced a mobile app version of its video-editing product at the beginning of 2020 and made it compatible with iOS and Android.
Overall, Cyberlink’s PowerDirector app does not disappoint, offering many different types of digital tools and effects. You’ll also find a variety of transition effects and templates so you don’t need to create everything from scratch. In addition, the app has a large stock library filled with more than a million royalty-free photos, videos, and music tracks from Shutterstock. You have access to a timeline, like what you’d find on traditional software, and you can add extra audio layers. Plus, if you’re new to the app, you can go to the website and check out Cyberlink’s helpful tutorials.
Pricing: There are three pricing tiers—$5.99 per month, $9.99 per quarter (three months), and $34.99 per year. There are some discounts available on a yearly subscription when you buy Cyberlink’s Director Suite software.
Screen grab from Cyberlink’s PowerDirector mobile app.
5. KineMaster (iOS & Android)
KineMaster was introduced in 2013 for Android and in 2017 for iOS. Right from the start, the company aimed to feature lots of tools that might appeal to professionals, including a multilayer interface, green screens, key-frame animation, animated handwriting, overlays, visual effects, and more. In essence, the app lets your mobile device cut, order, transition between, and export video clips into more finished movies.
As with most video-editor apps, you can import video, images, and audio from your device and then arrange, composite, and transition between your videos and images. You also have access to color-grading presets, blending modes, and color-correction adjustment tools as well as effects, overlay graphics, and text. If you want to draw directly on your video with handwriting layers, you can do that too. KineMaster lets you export your project at up to 4K and 60fps, which is a powerful feature.
Pricing: KineMaster is free, but its premium version removes the watermark. KineMaster Premium costs $3.99 per month or $23 per year. According to the company, you can use one KineMaster Premium subscription on up to five devices, but they must be either all Android or all Apple devices.
Screen grab from KineMaster mobile app.
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For many years, I found inkjet printers frustrating. No matter what model, settings, or paper I used, the prints I made of my photographs never looked all that great.
That is, until I tried an inkjet printer that used pigment inks. Formulated with solid pigment powder, these inks are more vibrant, more stable, and more archival than the dye-based inks used in more traditional printers. In terms of print quality there is no comparison, which makes a pigment printer an ideal option for artists and photographers who display or sell their works.
The 13-inch-wide Epson SureColor P700 is the less expensive of two models Epson introduced in May of 2020. It cost $799 when it was introduced but can sometimes be found for a bit less. (Its larger companion, the 17-inch-wide P900, currently retails for around $400 more.) While this may seem pricey relative to the dye-ink printers usually found in home offices, this printer is actually quite reasonable for a pigment printer and gives great value.
The Epson SureColor P700’s features include:
- A customizable touchscreen
- Wireless connectivity
- Epson’s UltraChrome HD PRO10 ink in 10 colors: cyan, light cyan, vivid magenta, vivid light magenta, violet, yellow, gray, light gray, photo black, and matte black.
- A 10-channel MicroPiezo AMC printhead for fast, accurate printing
- iOS-compatibility with an easy-to-use interface * Professional media-handling for a range of surfaces
- Industry-leading print permanence (prints made with UltraChrome PRO10 ink are expected to last up to 200 years for color and 400 years for black-and-white)
Overall, I found it simple to set up the printer and sync it to my home wireless network, and the printer itself was easy to use. It produces beautiful inkjet prints (including knockout black-and-white images) for a relatively affordable price.
The P700 has 11 ink cartridges, but you’ll use only 10 of them on each print. That’s because the Epson P700 offers two blacks, Photo and Matte.
Although it can produce prints up to 13 inches wide, this printer is quite compact.
The setup instructions were easy to follow.
A responsive touch-screen LCD makes operating the printer simple.
The pigment-ink cartridges are larger than dye-based ink cartridges and last longer.
The two prints on the right were printed on the P700 using Epson 13-by-19-inch Ultra Premium Luster photo paper. Overall, I found the the color, detail, and quality of the prints impressive.
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, ARTnews.com may receive an affiliate commission.
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, we may receive an affiliate commission.
The first Apple iPhone, introduced in 2007, wasn’t the first with a camera built into it. Lots of phones had them before, including models from Blackberry, Sony Ericsson, and Nokia, among others. But the features on these other phones didn’t resonate with the general public the way the iPhone’s features did, particularly those connected to its camera, which had just a 2-megapixel image sensor and lacked many basic features found on most stand-alone point-and-shoots. Nevertheless, the earliest iPhone gave the public its first look at a new bond between mobile devices and photography, a bond so strong that it would bring dramatic changes to the photo industry: Less than 10 years later, according to the image hosting site Flickr, more consumers were using iPhones than DSLR cameras.
This is the original photo I used to test all the mobile apps in this article.
Yet it wasn’t the iPhone hardware alone that achieved this success. An equally important component was Apple’s App Store, which allowed consumers to download mobile applications—small programs—that could customize the feature set on their iPhone. (This is possible as well for Android phones, which have the Google Play App Store). And that was, and remains, a powerful force for consumers, one that has given countless photographers a new means to express themselves creatively.
Today, more than 14 years after the first iPhone was introduced, developers continue to introduce impressive new apps, including many related to photography. The following five mobile apps are some of the more powerful and versatile photography-related apps that artists can use for brain-storming ideas, capturing and editing all kinds of still images and video, and even creating impressive digital fine art.
Adobe Lightroom Mobile App (iOS & Android)
If you’re looking for a professional-level mobile app for your phone or tablet, Lightroom is an excellent choice. It is quite easy to use, integrates well with Adobe’s desktop version of this app (Lightroom CC), and provides a variety of tools to capture, edit, organize, and share your photos quickly and easily. Most of the editing features on the mobile app are free. However, if you have a Creative Cloud Photography subscription, you’ll also get features like cloud storage, the Healing Brush tool, selective adjustments, geometry tools, and the ability to make edits to RAW images on a phone or tablet. You also get the ability to sync your Lightroom photos on all your devices, including your computer, and to create a customized website to showcase your photos powered by Adobe Portfolio. Pricing: As mentioned above, the limited version of the app is free. The full app starts at $9.99 a month.
I created this image using various filters and settings in Lightroom, then cropped the image to a 1:1 ratio, or square.
Snapseed (iOS & Android)
Snapseed is a photo-editing app that was originally developed by Nik Software (which has created a wide range of filter software and plug-ins) but is now owned by Google. It has been redesigned several times over the years, but it’s still a fun and creative app to use. It is divided into three sections: Looks, Tools, and Export. Looks mimics Instagram’s filter section and provides a quick way to change the color saturation or tone of your photo. The Tools section, the largest portion of the app, gives you a variety of ways to manipulate your photo’s texture, lighting, or tone. You can use a blur filter, add text, or add a frame as well. One of my favorite effects is the Grunge filter, which adds a gritty texture to images. Then, when you’re ready, you can use the Export function to share your creation on social media or on a device like your phone. Pricing: Free.
The Grunge filter within the Snapseed app applies various rough- or crumpled-looking textures. It’s definitely one of my favorite parts of this mobile app.
Prisma (iOS & Android)
When this intriguing photo-editing/filter-based mobile app came out, around five years ago, it made a big splash, since it doesn’t just enhance colors or tones or textures but transforms your photographs into new works of art (sort of). It does this by using a filter algorithm, which scans the image data in a selected photo. It then makes various calculations based on those scans to apply different digital-imaging effects, which can dramatically alter the colors, lines, shapes and patterns of your original photo. Pricing: You can try the app free for three days, then pay $7.99 a month or $29.99 per year.
After using the Dragon style (one of many available styles) in the Prisma app, I then adjusted the exposure, tone and color settings.
VSCO (iOS & Android)
VSCO is more than a photo and video editing app. It’s also a social media app, having attracted a very strong photography and creative community. On the production side, you’ll find lots of editing tools as well as preset effects that let you quickly change the look of your image or video clip. VSCO also has filters that recreate vintage looks of film stock, like those from Kodak, Fuji, Agfa, and others. You can use advanced photo-editing tools like HSL and Split Tone and use the Borders function to frame your images as well. If you want to be inspired by the VSCO community, check out the Discover section of the app. And with a VSCO membership, you can take part in one of the weekly Photo Challenges. Pricing: Free. VSCO membership costs $19.99 annually after a seven-day free trial.
I used a few filters and a blur effect in the VSCO tool set, then used its Crop function to reshape the [O2]photo with a new, more horizontal aspect ratio.
Although this mobile app is free (for the basic features), it still provides a plethora of editing tools—perhaps almost too many! You get traditional tools like Crop, Curves, and Flip/Rotate, but also cool ones like Stretch, which allows you to quickly distort your image in various ways, or Motion, which lets you repeat a specific shape that you define by drawing with your finger over the image on your phone. In addition to the Tools section, the app has a deep effects section called FX. Plus, there are other ways to edit or enhance your photo, including Retouch, Sticker, Cutout, Text, Brushes, Draw, Lens Flare, Shape Mask, Frame, and more. Pricing: The basic app is free; you can buy its premium Gold version for $11.99 a month or $55.99 a year.
Artists will find the PicsArt app has a wide array of creative filters, including one that allows users to place a grid over the image, then distort or visually warp parts of the image, including the grid.
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Stephen Sondheim once noted that “art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos.” However, practically speaking, many artists have so many facets to their careers that life feels more chaotic than organized. Whether you’re working in new media, digital photography, video, or traditional media like oil painting, in any given week you may need to be following up on leads for potential juried exhibitions, attempting to connect with gallery owners and curators, arranging for your artwork to be photographed, writing a new draft of your artist statement, figuring out the best platform for your website, trying to stay relevant on social media, paying bills, calling the plumber, and on, and on. Oh, and it would also be nice if you could carve out time to actually make the art that makes you an artist.
You can get organized, though. And a great way to do that is to arm yourself with a mobile app that will help you prioritize your tasks, plan your day, stay focused, and keep track of what needs to get done. Here’s a short list of some exceptional mobile apps for your phone or tablet that can help you move away from chaos and toward a more ordered life. (Prices current at time of publication.)
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For Creating To-Do Lists: Todoist
One of the best ways to start organizing your life is to create a to-do list. You can grab a piece of paper and write down your tasks and chores, but a mobile app can really help you plan and prioritize. You can use an app to set a reminder for a task or an event, and you can view your list on several different devices. You’re also far less likely to lose that list since many mobile to-do apps allow you to save and store it in the cloud.
A versatile and easy-to-use mobile app, Todoist has a clean, simple, straightforward design that can be customized to your needs. Here’s how it works: You create projects and populate them with various tasks (and subtasks as well, if you like). You then set schedules for those tasks or organize them into sections. If you’re looking for examples of how to get set up, the app comes with a host of templates to download, from project trackers to event planners. And even the help guide is easy to use. Plus, Todoist includes collaborating tools, so you can connect and work with others—say, the staff of the gallery when you’re planning your next exhibition.
Like most apps, Todoist has a few different versions: There’s a free one, which is quite good, plus two paid versions—Pro ($4 a month if billed monthly, or $36 annually) and Business version ($6 a month if billed monthly, or $5 annually). Check out the plans here.
The mobile app is compatible with iOS (for both iPhones and iPads) and Android devices. You can also launch Todoist from your dock or taskbar on your Windows 10, macOS or Linux computers. There are even other, similar apps designed for Apple and Android watches, yet another format to help you stay organized. For more, go to https://todoist.com/.
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For Notetaking: Evernote
No matter what kind of project you’re working on, taking notes can help you stay on track. And downloading a powerful and flexible mobile app like Evernote is a great way to do it.
Here are just a few of the features that make Evernote so valuable: Its Web Clipper feature lets you save web pages as you browse (without the ads, if you like) and then mark them up with arrows, highlights, and text to make them more useful. Its Rich Notes feature lets you add and capture images or record audio (all from your mobile device) and add them to your text, and you can do so even when working offline. Evernote even has a document-scanning feature, to back up your paper documents to all your devices. All in all, it’s a very versatile app with lots of functionality. Some may find there’s a learning curve as they get to know the app. However, the more you use it, the more the various features make sense.
Evernote has a Basic free version of the app, which lets you sync two devices, has a 25 MB limit for note sizes and a 60 MB limit for monthly uploads, and includes some fundamental features. For $7.99 a month, Evernote’s Premium plan gives you everything in the Basic plan, plus you can sync an unlimited number of devices, access notes offline, annotate PDFs, and more; you also get a 200 MB limit per note and have 10 GB of storage per month for uploads. Last, there’s Evernote’s Business plan, which costs $14.99 per month, offers all that’s in the Premium plan, plus the ability for users to work together in shared spaces and many other collaborative tools. You also get a 20 GB monthly upload limit. You can compare plans here. The Evernote site also has a very nice support section here.
Evernote’s mobile app is compatible with iOS (for both iPhones and iPads) and Android devices. You can log into any web browser to access your notes in Evernote. Plus, there are additional computer-based desktop apps for Windows 10 and macOS platforms. For more, go to https://evernote.com/.
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For Storing and Sharing Large Files: Dropbox
If there’s one type of mobile app almost every type of artist needs—and not just visual artists, but also those involved in music, movies, video, and any type of multimedia—it’s an easy-to-use online storage app that allows you to grant access to others while only allowing them to download specific files on that cloud drive. That’s the essence of Dropbox, which lets your contacts download files of your work quickly and easily (with your permission, of course).
For those not yet familiar with the ubiquitous service, Dropbox is what’s called an online file-syncing and storage service. What this allows you to do, among other things, is send a link to someone who can click on it and get access to just the particular files you specify. That beats sending them enormous files via email, which may not even be delivered. Dropbox includes a wide array of other features that you may find valuable, but its core capability is what makes it a great app.
The Dropbox app is available for iOS and Android devices. You can also download computer-based desktop apps available for Windows and macOS platforms. You can also use it via a web browser.
Dropbox also has several plans. The basic free plan offers 2 GB of storage for up to three devices. The two cheapest paid plans are the Plus plan (provides 1 user with 2 TBs of storage for $11.99 a month billed monthly or $9.99 a month billed yearly) and the Family plan (provides up to 6 users with 2 TBs of shared storage for $19.99 a month billed monthly or $16.99 a month billed yearly). The Professional plan is pricey ($24.99 a month), but it gives you 3 TBs of encrypted storage on as many devices as you need. There are other business tiers as well, but they’re more for teams. Find more on plans here. For more general information on Dropbox, go to: https://www.dropbox.com.
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For Visualizing Workflow: Trello
What most artists will love about Trello is that it’s an appealingly visual app that’s quite fun to use. Trello is what’s known as a Kanban app (kanban is the Japanese word for “visual signal”). It uses “boards,” which are a type of project management tool designed to help visualize work, limit work-in-progress and maximize efficiency (or flow). Kanban boards can be very nice to use for to-do lists or presentations, or when you’re collaborating others in the fine-art world.
You can use Trello to divide up tasks and workflows so that everything gets done efficiently. To get ready for, say, a gallery exhibition, you might choose a popular type of Trello template called “To Do, Doing, and Done.” This gives you, in effect, a large area (or board) divided into three columns (labeled “To Do,” “Doing,” and “Done”) and a bunch of sticky notes. You label tasks on the sticky notes and place all the tasks in the To Do column. Next, you take on each task yourself (if you’re working alone) or, if you’re working with others, assign tasks to everyone involved. As each task is being worked on, you simply move it (in the app) from the “To Do” column into the “Doing” column, and then into the “Done” column when it’s completed.
These boards can be more complex than that, but that’s the basic idea. If you’re interested, spend some time looking at the Trello site or the templates, which should help you visualize how to use this app.
Trello offers a free version of the app, which allows you to create up to 10 boards. If you want more features, such as the ability to create an unlimited number of boards, you can upgrade to the Business Class plan ($12.50 a month, billed monthly, or $120 annually). You can download mobile apps for iOS and Android devices. There are also additional, similar apps for your computer desktop for macOS and Windows platforms. And Trello is accessible through several web browsers, including Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Safari. For more, go to https://trello.com/home.