There are currently many tools and software options available for web designers. Currently, Photoshop is the most common one in web design. However, Pixlr is one of design tools which can offer an alternative approach. The layout design is commonly alike with Photoshop, and is intended to reduce the confusion for designers who already got accustomed to Photoshop and wanting to migrate over.  Moreover, Pixlr is the best option if someone wants to design using a simple tool yet attaining a very satisfying result.

Pixlr is quickly becoming a web designer’s favorite tool since it combines image design and paint tools with photo editing and adjustment features as good as many other renowned image editing programs. Pixlr is equally capable in producing results comparable with many of its software-based counterparts whether it is intended for creating an image carte-blanche, layering one image over another, or using a variety of filters, effects and level adjustments to transform photographs.

This article is intended for a web designer who has not tried Pixlr yet and wants to know what it is all about, especially for someone just starting out, as it does just about everything the average user needs, although professionals may likely find it lacking. So, here are some of the key features of Pixlr:

1. Features

• A fully customizable user interface with movable and scalable windows
• Navigation-free drop-down menus featuring all filters, adjustment and layering options
• Intuitive design and paint features with a dedicated history window for reference and quick undo/redo
• A “Photo Express” portal for quick, simple changes to images and photographs

Moreover, there is another review that many of our readers may find interesting. The review compares Pixlr with its counterparts, such as Picnik, Photoshop Express, and FlauntR. Follow this link to read about this review.

2. Editing Features

There is no doubt about Pixlr’s editing ability, Pixlr stands out for the depth and breadth of its image design and editing tools and features. Furthermore, Pixlr also provides basic layer canvas tools and features, letting users free-hand crop, move, super-impose and interpolate images and rotate and remove entire canvases, all for the needs of image editing. The high-quality features make it can be placed on par with others popular design tool in image editing programs.

3. Import and Export

One of the weakness in Pixlr is it has limited upload capabilities. The need of saving images to a users’ hard drive before they can be uploaded feels quite ineffective as it requires additional email, photo-sharing, and social-networking services to share the images, whereas, it could have greatly benefitted with integration with something like Dropbox or other cloud services.

4. Contentment of Use

From the interface side, Pixlr is an intelligent and intuitive program, since it can package complex tools and provide a simple to use interface. The movable history bar is helpful in doing all affects, filters, layer tools viewed and removed easily. In addition, all affects, filters, layer tools can also be accessed by a drop-down scroll away.

There are many other interesting features of Pixlr. We suggest you check it out today.