XtraLean ImageWell 4.0.7 review

There's little point arming yourself with anything but Photoshop if you're a designer, but if all you want to do is crop and resize an image before uploading it, a focused tool is better.

ImageWell has been around for years, and despite its ugly interface, it's long been a capable, efficient tool.

You drop an image on the well, resize it and drag it to its new home; alternatively, you can define locations (folders, FTP, WebDAV) in the preferences and upload directly from the app.

ImageWell also has editing functionality built in, which takes place in a larger window. Here, you can crop, rotate and flip an image, fiddle with levels and add shapes, labels and text. The results are workmanlike and this aspect of the application isn't always intuitive.

Most disappointing in ImageWell 4, though, is what's not included. Updates should improve existing features or add new things; but while ImageWell 4 has some rendering tweaks and support for Spotlight and Quick Look, the developer's removed the batch processing, many of the upload options, templates and watermarking.

Some of these things will return in updates (although not batch processing, which will be separate), but for now the app's less than it was.

What saves this 'upgrade' is its price. For new users, it's worth a look, but ImageWell 3 users should stick with what they own.

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