Ulead SmartSaver Pro Optimize Your Web Graphics Forrest Stroud
SmartSaver Pro is another graphics client from Ulead Systems designed specifically for Webmasters. The app arrives with one goal in mind — to be the fastest and easiest way to optimize GIF (both standalone and animated formats), JPEG, and PNG images for Web use.
SmartSaver works its magic by giving you an extensive set of tools for saving GIFs, JPEGs and PNGs in a variety of formats, including transparency and interlacing modes, various dithering and palette options, smoothing levels, and reduced colors for GIFs, as well as progressive and standardized modes, various subsampling options, compression/quality trade-off levels (from 1 to 100), and smoothing schemes for JPEGs and PNGs.
SmartSaver presents you with a WYSIWYG preview of both images side-by-side in "before and after" panes, allowing you to see exactly how big the file will be and how it will look compared to the old image. In this manner, users are saved the trouble of modifying an image, saving it, and then reopening it, only to find that the changes are undesirable. SmartSaver will also perform batch processing of files and compression scaling to a specific file size for JPEG images.
SmartSaver is available on the Web for a 15-day trial period. Purchasing the client ($59.95) will give you unlimited access to the client and future interim upgrade releases. Using SmartSaver with either Photoshop or Ulead PhotoImpact will give you the ability to export any image supported by these applications into the SmartSaver client and then save it as a smaller GIF, JPEG, or PNG graphic.
If you design Web pages and host a site with anything less than a broadband connection, utilizing SmartSaver will definitely help make your users a whole lot happier.
Pros: Excellent GIF/JPEG optimization tools, great for reducing image sizes on websites
Cons: Lacks full screen capabilities and animated GIF optimization, primarily limited to web use, week non-web image manipulation tools, overpriced ($60) and outdated (no updates in five years)
