Ask HN: Simple and Elegant Graphics App for Novices?

3 points by zachster 15y ago ↗ HN

My day-distraction-project Profile Banner went viral a couple weeks ago (even though I got no love from HN!). http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=117320678334654

I'm getting 200k impressions per day, but I don't want to put skeezy ads all over the place to pay for the servers I need to buy (or lease or whatever).

I was thinking that I could sell a really simple graphics app. I get quite a few requests for recommendations. My users want something easy to make the banner of their dreams.

I sent Pixelmator (http://www.pixelmator.com) an inquirey (a few minutes ago), but I thought I'd ask here for recommendations. My users are young, international, and a little silly.

I'd love to find something that feels more like an iPhone app than a desktop one. I think $20 would be a good price point, hopefully with at least a $5 referral payout.

Any suggestions. I'd also be curious about open source ones (but REALLY simple), and other suggestions for monetizing. I am working on a system where users can pay to get their banners featured so they get more downloads. But who knows if that will work out.

5 comments

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zachster 15y ago ↗

Clickables:

My App: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=117320678334... http://apps.facebook.com/profile-banner/

Pixelmator: http://www.pixelmator.com/

jbrennan 15y ago ↗

Pixelmator is great but I'd also highly recommend Acorn[1] (for Mac users).

[1]: http://flyingmeat.com/acorn/

Oooh. That does look good. I will look into it. Thanks!

I did want to find a cross platform product so I could unify support and tutorial information, but I can compromise on that.

magicofpi 15y ago ↗

Here's another possibility: Sketch [1] (by the makers of Fontcase), which seems simple enough also. Incidentally, they also have an iPad app, called SketchPad [2].

For open source, there's an app I've tried a few times called Drawberry [3], which looks something like Pixelmator, but is for vector drawing.

[1] http://www.bohemiancoding.com/sketch/overview/ [2] http://www.bohemiancoding.com/sketchpad [3] http://raphaelbost.free.fr/DrawBerry.html

[dead] one010101 15y ago ↗

I use Paint.net. It is simple, elegant, and free!