Coolest “Web Based” Image Editors

// March 10th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Cool Links, Cool Websites, Design, Design Resources, Featured, For Geeks, Graphic Design, Graphics, I recommend, The Best of.., Useful, art, free, web tools, webdesign

Here is a list of web-based image editors that I found to be the coolest.
Web based editors allow you to make changes to an image from anywhere without having to install applications for example when you are not at home or on your laptop. Or for support techs like me — I work with Financial Advisors helping them develop their own websites and most of them have no use for photoshop and asking them to download a program like Infranview just to crop or resize one picture for their website would be illogical -  so I’m always looking for easy to use web based image editors to link them to…which brings me to why I researched this topic and wrote this post. I hope some of you also find it useful. 

SumoPaint

which can be used as a paint program and photo editing program, and which was recently upgraded with a claimed 100-plus improvements, and a totally renovated web site to make it easier, faster, and more attractive, and several new tools. Layer FX, Change Layers With Blending Modes, change layer alpha, Shapes Tool, Brushes, Ink Brush Tool, Gradient Tool, Shape Trails, Zooming, Symmetry Tool , Color Picker, Swatches, Smudge Tool, and Custom Shape Tool. Sumo Paint’s user interface is Mac-like in a Photoshop-ish sort of way. Check out the Sumo Paint user manual here. Sumo Paint works with any browser but you must have the version 9 Flash player plugin installed, which you probably already do.  http://Sumopaint.com  

Fotoflexer

Another free online image editor I liked a lot was Fotoflexer, which is impressively fast and slick, with no registration or login necessary. Fotoflexer doesn’t have as many tools as Sumo Paint or some of the other online image editors I tried, and they’re laid out in a non-orthodox configuration, but it’s pretty intuitive, fast and responsive, and the adjustments refresh in real time so you can finely tune your enhancements visually as you move the sliders. Fotoflexer is also integrated with social networking sites such as Flickr, Picasa, Photobucket, Facebook, MySpace and more. It comes in handy when you’re looking for some quick common photo-editing needs such as cropping, resizing, and rotating. http://fotoflexer.com/ 

Picnik

Picnik is an image editor that was recently purchased by Google. Picnik lets you quickly edit all your photos online. Picnik has a fast startup and no login hassle, but I didn’t find the free version of this one up to par with the others. You would want to upgrade to the premium version, which costs $2.08 to $24.95 a month. Picnik is directly connected with many photo sharing sites like Myspace, Flickr and Facebook which is cool. http://www.picnik.com/  

MyPictr

MyPictr is basically just a picture resizing service, which allows you to create a custom profile avatar for your favorite social network. You don’t need to install any programs: just upload your picture, resize it online and download it. MyPictr gives you enough time (approximately 10 minutes) to download your picture, then your file is automatically removed. MyPictr is free to use. http://mypictr.com/  

Pixer.us

 
If you’re looking for an application to meet your simple photo-editing needs, check out pixer.us – a free, web-based photo editor. It has an intuitively simple interface which I really liked plus your basic yet useful photo-editing features like cropping, resizing, and rotating. It also has some color adjustment options such as Saturation, Brightness, and Contrast adjustments. You can save your work as one of the four popular digital image files (PNG, JPG, GIF, or BMP). PIXER.US requires no sign-up or account to use. Simply access the site, upload an image from a local computer, and start editing. When the editing is done, download the finished product. There are however, a couple of features missing. For example, I couldn’t find a way to import images from online photo-sharing sites such as Flickr or Photo-bucket. The program itself has all the basic features and functions usually found in this sort of app. These include features such as “rotate”, “flip”, “resize” and “crop”. The “resize” feature is nice, with a slider to make a picture bigger or smaller which I like because my clients don’t usually know what pixel sizes to choose but the slider would help make resizing more logical for them. http://pixer.us/ 

OnlinePhotoTool

OnlinePhotoTool is a service that uses Java to edit and save your images, screenshots and photos online. You can use photos and images from your hard drive as well as pictures on the Internet. If you want to save your images online you need to register. You can download photos from the internet using their Onlinephototool.com import bookmarklet. The editing tools seem typical — you can resize, crop, rotate, flip, paint as well as use other advanced tools. The site is simple, direct and functional.  http://www.onlinephototool.com/  

pic2color

pic2color is a tool that helps you extract colors from any images. It helps you creates sophisticated color schemes from images effortlessly and offers seamless integration with GenoPal Online for individual color exploration. Users can also integrate it into their website by posting some HTML code. Free to use. http://www.pic2color.com/  

picmagick

PicMagick – Simple yet Powerful Online Photo Editor http://www.picmagick.com/

Flauntr.com

a unique online imaging service that combines photo editing, printing, sharing and storage in a single seamless service. FlauntR by Fotodesk, is a digital effects website more then just an online image editor. Flauntr allows you to upload images from your computer or Flickr account and then add fun special effects. Create avatars, MySpace comments, or digital scrapbooks. http://www.flauntr.com/

Cellsea

Cellsea is a site that lets you rotate, resize, and crop photos to get the exact composition and size you need. There are over 15 ways to correct color, exposure, and lighting problems. You just need to click and drag your mouse to ripple, circle, sphere and curl the photo. It is also possible to add professional-looking blur effects to your photos. You can load from your PC or from an URL. Free to use. http://www.cellsea.com/java-cellsea/media/index.htm  

makeagif.com

Use a form to upload several pictures at a time that you want to animate together.  Makeagif takes the images and creates an animated GIF out of them, then your redirected to a download link so you can save it or share it. Very unique and very cool. I highly recommend you at least check it out. I was curious why I’ve never seen something like this before.  http://www.makeagif.com

myImager

myImager is a web-based image editor. You can upload images from your computer and from anywhere on the web and edit them freely with the dozens of tools and filters that this tool offers. Uploaded files can not be larger than 500 KB. myImager is completely free to use. http://www.myimager.com/  

Aviary Phoenix 

Phoenix is a powerful web-based image editor by Aviary. This online image editing suite, has a range of functions from basic image retouching to complex effects, providing the key features of a desktop image editor, with the simplicity and accessibility of a web-based application. Its suite of creation and editing tools includes undo and redo, brushes, magic wand, and blend modes. Phoenix also supports layers, groups, and layer masks, and has an intuitive drag and drop interface. To fully appreciate the potential of this excellent image editor Check out this list of tutorials. Aviary delivers the key features of a desktop image editor with the simplicity and accessibility of a web-based application. It allows you to import images from popular photo sharing websites.  http://aviary.com/home  

Pixlr

Another online image editor is Pixlr from Sweden. It’s free, it starts up very quickly with no login required, and has a good selection of tools, adjustments and filters that work quite similarly to functions in Photoshop, including tools such as layers, image adjustments, and the magic wand, and which I found generally work well, although one thing I didn’t like is that the adjustments don’t refresh in real time as you move the sliders. Pixlr plugin for Firefox turns your browser into an image editor. Once the plugin is installed, you’ll notice a little icon in the Firefox status bar that you can click to automatically import any web page you’re on to Pixlr for editing. http://www.pixlr.com/editor/  

Splashup

 

Online & Downloadable Image Editing Program. Splashup is integrated with popular photo sharing services like Flickr, Picasa, and Facebook.  One of the coolest features Splashup offers is that you can access your photos remotely, Key features include Capture images from webcam, Layers with blending modes, filters and brushes. It’s easy to use, works in real-time and allows you to edit many images at once. http://www.splashup.com/ 

72Photos

 

I was really impressed with 72photos.com! 72photos is an image host kind of like Fotki.com,  where you can also edit your photos. They offer the basic editing options- like rotate, crop, enhance, plus some special effects.  Once you’ve uploaded your photos you can tag them and edit them if you wish. You can organize them into categories, tag them , label them, and add them to different galleries. Sharing your photos is another plus to the site. Post your photos on; websites, forums, blogs, or send them to friends. There are many great photos on the site so take advantage and browse through them. You can view photos by the day they were uploaded to the site by clicking on the days of the calendar. Go to the popular galleries and popular profiles to take a look at the photos.. 72photos.com is a great place to host your photos and appreciate other people’s skills. http://www.72photos.com 

Diva Geek Thinks:

Based on what I found.. Sumo Paint, Pixer.us, Fotoflexer or Pixlr would be my choices to recommend to my clients.  I personally use Photoshop to do most of my photo editing and if I need to do a quick crop or resize I use a small program called Infranview* which I’ve been using for many moons! and I still love it.  

FYI..Many Moons = 6-7 years.  

*IrfanView:  is a very fast, small, compact and innovative FREEWARE (for non-commercial use) graphic viewer.. but you can also use to resize, crop, rotate, flip, paint as well as use other advanced tools like create a gallery, a slideshow, batch conversions etc.. it’s a very handy and useful tool that I think all web developers should at least try it.

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Pixlr.com – Cool New online image editing program – ALOT like a Free Photoshop!

// January 28th, 2010 // No Comments » // Applications, Browsers, Design, Design Resources, Featured, For Geeks, Geeks, Graphic Design, Graphics, I recommend, free, webdesign, webmaster

 Pixlr is a free online photo editor. Fix, adjust and filter your images. Manage your images in your browser, no registration jump right in!
Pixlr is a flash based web app that combines image design and paint tools with photo editing and adjustment features more convincingly than any other online image editing program. Whether creating an logo, layering one image over another or using a variety of filters, effects and level adjustments to transform photographs, Pixlr is equally capable of producing results on par with many of its software-based counterparts.
Yet, despite its deep feature-set, Pixlr remains facile, intuitive and, most importantly, user-friendly. Did I mention FREE?

Standout 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
• dozens of filters and effects to give photos a stylish effect.

Oh and it’s FREE and Online!

I totally Dig It!! I’ve never been impressed with online image editors but this one actually got it. So, if you like Photoshop and you need to create some basic simple logos, banners, image cropping etc.. Check it out.

• Follow Pixlr.com on Twitter!
• Pixlr Grabber 2.0.0 – FireFox Addon

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HOT Black and White Social Icon Sets

// January 5th, 2010 // No Comments » // Blogging, Design, Design Resources, Desktop Icons, Facebook, For Geeks, Graphic Design, Graphics, I recommend, Icons, Rss Feed Icons, Social Network, Social Network Icons, Twitter, Useful, free, icon sets, web tools, webdesign, webmaster

Ultra Glossy Silver Buttons Icons »



Magic Marker Icons »



High Resolution Dark Blue Denim Jeans Icons »



Brushed Metal Pewter Icons »



Silver Inlay Square Metal Icons »



Grunge Stamps Textures Icons »



Glossy Black 3d Buttons Icons Social Media Logos »



Whitewashed Star Icons »



Matte White Square Icons Social Media Logos »



Black White Pearls Icons »



Flat Gray Floral Icons »



Glossy Black Icons »



Simple Black Square Icons »



154 Crystal Clear Bubble Social Icons »

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New Social Networking Icon Sets Galore!

// January 5th, 2010 // No Comments » // Blogging, Cool Links, Cool Websites, Design, Design Resources, Desktop Icons, Facebook, Featured, For Geeks, Freeware, Geeks, Graphic Design, Graphics, Hosting, I recommend, Icons, Rss Feed Icons, Social Network, Social Network Icons, Twitter, Useful, free, icon sets, web tools, webdesign, webmaster

Two cool new sites offering new social networking icon sets. It’s always nice to see new sets and I’m always looking so if you know of one I have not posted please let me know or if you’ve designed one and you’d like to be featured – Let me know!

Both sites were designed using.. My Site My Way which is something new to me..what I found strange instead of them having their own domain names they use a subdomain – for example: icons.mysitemyway.com must be great for mysitemyway’s search engine results! However..If I were the webmaster for one of these web sites above, I would nix using the mysitemyway’s subdomain and definitely register my own domain name. Because I’d want my ranking, seo etc.. to go towards my web site not my web hosts. Plus I never recommend sub domains. Use a .com and point to your main index so that people can type your domain name directly into their browsers and show up where they need to go without having to remember a long sub domain address.

Random and possibly use-ful or use-less information…

Understanding Sub-Domains and Sub Directory and how it effects SEO

“blog.domain.com” is a subdomain while “domain.com/blog” is a subdirectory or a folder within a domain.

A sub domain creates more separation than just a sub directory or a folder, since a subdomain is basically creating a stand alone site that could easily be it’s own domain. However, you may want to piggyback on the main domain name. For example, google.com is the main site. Gmail actually lives at mail.google.com.

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Merry Go Round Icon Set – Pastel Pretty-ness

// October 9th, 2009 // 8 Comments » // Design, Design Resources, Desktop Icons, Featured, For Geeks, Geeks, Graphic Design, Graphics, I recommend, Icons, Useful, free, icon sets, webdesign

Too cute! This Merry Go Round icon set is pretty pastel goodness.

Beginner’s Guide
- How to change icon in Windows XP:[link]
- How to use Large(48px) icon size on Windows XP: [link]
- How to change icon in Windows Vista: [link]

——————————————————–

 More Icon Sets by the same Artist 

1. _{Hoya Imperial Icon Set [link]}
2. _{Legendora Icon Set [link]}
3. _{Harmonia Pastelis Icon Set [link]}
4. _{Summer, Love+Cicadas Icon Set: [link]}
5. _{Red Little Shoes Icon Set: [link]}
6. _{In Spirited We Love Icon Set: [link]}
7. _{10000 Cats Icon Set: [link]}
8. _{Natsu Icon Set: [link]}

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Looking for an older version of your Favorite application? Look no more..

// October 4th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Admin Tools, Applications, Browsers, Chat, Cool Links, Cool Websites, For Geeks, Freeware, Geeks, I recommend, Useful, free, web tools

I got a new computer so now I have to download all my “can’t live without” apps and tonight while I was looking for the older yet FREE version of a program called Fastone Capture 5.0 I found this cool website called OldApps.com and not only did they have 5.0 but all the way back to 3.0! Oldapps.com also offers older versions of web browsers, messenger apps, FTP apps, security tools, developer tools, Office and Editing, Image Editing, Music Utilities , File Sharing and more..

So, Add it to your Bookmarks to save for a rainy day!

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An old Bird with a NEW Look – Dont-cha dare Twit and Drive!

// October 4th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Cool Links, Design, Design Resources, For Geeks, Graphic Design, Graphics, Icons, Social Network, Social Network Icons, Twitter, Useful, free, icon sets

Check out these two new Twitter icons sets with a unique concept. Twit and Drive and also a Twitter bird with a little bit of an evil look compared to the sweet “button eyed” version we’re used too. Make sure to visit FlipZ website Adobemagic.com. Click the birds below to download the icon sets and PSD files and don’t forget to Leave a comment on the artists website if you like his work and especially if you plan on using it on your website that’s the least you can do for an artist who’s offering their work free to the public. Thank you FlipZ!

Evil Twitter

Twit and Drive

Click the pics above to visit the artists FlipZ website and too download these Twitter Birds.

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Freelance Website’s You Must See

// July 25th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Blogging, Code, Cool Links, Cool Websites, Design, Design Resources, For Geeks, Geeks, I recommend, The Best of.., Useful, free, web tools, webdesign, webmaster

When you delve into the world of freelancing, there are many things that you won’t be prepared for. You can be the most talented web designer or web developer in the world but there’s more to freelancing than just the design and code. The following resources are invaluable when dealing with life as a freelancer.

1. Freelance Advisor

2. Freelance Magazine

3. Freelance Folder

4. Freelance Switch

5. Wake Up Later

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9 Free Wordpress themes from TemplateLite.com

// July 24th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Blogging, Cool Links, Design, Design Resources, For Geeks, I recommend, Wordpress Themes, Wp Themes, free, webdesign, webmaster

I found some really unique and beautiful Free Wordpress themes at TemplateLite.com.  So, if your looking for something new and unique plus well-coded (is that even a word)? Anyway..you get the point. Check out TemplateLite.com! I’ve listed 9 of the FREE templates below but you MUST visit the site to find even more!
*You must keep the footer link and a footer script intact to enjoy free usage

Girly Nature

 

Coffee Desk

 

Grunge Style

 

Watercolor Theme

 

Doggy Love

 

Paper Craft

 

Wooden Fence

Rustic Portrait

Exotic Vacation

 

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Don’t Miss Out on Local SEO Opportunities

// July 21st, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Affiliate Networking, Blogging, Code, Design, Featured, For Geeks, Geeks, SEO, Tutorial, free

Don’t Miss Out on Local SEO Opportunities

Local search engine optimization is a great way to charge up your search rankings. It’s a faster method for making sure you’re on the right track, and if optimized properly you can really take advantage of some targeted traffic that will only help your business in the future.

• Start with Local Search Engine Optimization
• Get Listed With These Local Search Engines, Directories and Providers

It doesn’t matter if you’re developing websites for a mom and pop local plumber or a multi-million dollar agency that will have thousands of dynamic pages, the same 13 steps to on-site SEO will need to be applied to each.

• 13 Easy Steps to On-Site SEO and How to Implement Them

How to Write Blog Posts to Increase Search Engine Traffic – Here’s an easy formula to follow:

• In your blog, write a post with keyword A in your title something catchy, more info on that over here at seomoz or copyblogger
• Write in-depth and informative content related to keyword A
• Target keyword A in a link from your post to page2.html
• When appropriate, link out to other authorities that can offer more information about your keyword topic (Use this tip with caution. While you are trying to give the user more info and get the attention of the other site – thus possibly getting a link back to your site – you should try to strike a balance so that the effectiveness of your post is maximized without excessive links out from your site)
• Remember to vary the way you link keyword A to page2.html (did you target long-tail keywords? Those are very easy to alter)
• Repeat this process on each post for all pertinent keywords throughout your site

The nice thing about this formula is that you actually tackle quite a few of the common marketing questions that challenge many business owners.

Read this full article at alibiproductions.com

Also check out this blog –  Why No One Links to Your Best Posts (And What to Do About It) – Visit http://www.copyblogger.com/ for some really useful tips on Blogging and getting the attention you need to be successful blogger.

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80+ ridiculously rad social networking icons

// July 14th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Blogging, Cool Links, Design, Design Resources, Desktop Icons, Facebook, For Geeks, Geeks, Graphic Design, Graphics, Icons, RSS Feeds, Rss Feed Icons, Social Network, Social Network Icons, Twitter, Useful, Wordpress, free, icon sets, webdesign, webmaster

Introducing 80+ ridiculously rad social networking icons, made by deft-fingered Haitian refugees, not really… but really. I’ve developed over 80 refined, amazing social networking icons for the top networks around. They’re all the rage with you crazy newsk00l intarweb kids. Use them on your blogs. Put them on t-shirts, coffee mugs, your face-space or whatevs.

These are just to cute I had to post them..Make sure to check out the website to download the rest of the icon set including the twitter icon and more.. at komodomedia.com!

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How to Make Money Online With Wordpress Themes!

// July 13th, 2009 // 7 Comments » // Affiliate Networking, Blogging, Code, Design, Design Resources, For Geeks, I recommend, Magazine Theme, Premium Wordpress Themes, Wordpress, Wordpress Plugins, Wordpress Themes, Wp Themes, blog, free, web tools, webmaster, wordpress tutorials

Making money online. When you hear those words, what’s the first thing that pops into your head? A year ago, I would’ve instantly thought “Google ads on a website”. I’m sure that’s what many of you thought of too.
There are literally hundreds of ways to make money online, and if you can just perfect one of those methods, you’ll be good to go. Maybe not quit-your-day-job rich, but you’ll have a very comfortable amount of secondary income coming in every week. Who wouldn’t want that?
In this post, I’ll be outlining the 3 best ways to make money with Wordpress themes. I’ve used each of these methods myself, and have experimented around in all three. I know what works best for me, and what doesn’t. At the end of the post, I’ll let you guys know my opinion on what I feel is the best technique.

Read the rest of this post!

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Twitter from Your Outlook Inbox

// July 11th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Applications, Blogging, Featured, For Geeks, Freeware, Geeks, I recommend, Software, Twitter, Useful, blog, free, web tools

Are you addicted to Twitter, but afraid to use it while you’re at work? Here’s a cure for your addiction! Well, not really a cure… I guess it would be more like throwing fuel on the fire. Now there’s a way for you to post on Twitter directly from your Outlook Inbox for FREE! Not only that but you’ll also be able to read posts from the people you’re following? Sounds great, right?

The app that will let you do all of this for free is called TwInbox. It integrates directly into your Outlook client so that you can both read and post to Twitter… all while looking like you’re sifting through hundreds of emails. The toolbar serves as a quick access point for all of your Twitter needs.

Want to know what all this is capable of? Here’s a list of features:

• Update your Twitter status directly from Outlook.
• Receive your friend updates in Outlook.
• Archive, manage, group and search your tweets the same way you manage your email.
• Search, track keywords. TwInbox will automatically download ALL tweets matching the keywords you specify, even if you are not following the tweet sender. This feature is perfect for keeping up to date with the Twitter buzz on your name, brand, interests, etc.
• Group tweets by sender, topic, etc using the Search feature.
• Upload and post picture files and Outlook email attachments.
• See new tweets at a glance.
• Assign custom folder and categories to new messages.
• Use Outlook’s “Reply” and “ReplyAll” commands to send twitter direct messages and @replies.
• Automatically sort new tweets into per-sender folders.
• Shorten URLs with tinyurl.
• See graphs of your Twitter usage statistics.

Tweets sent to you (@replies and direct) are marked with high importance, so you can see them at a glance.
Honestly, this is the most creative interface I’ve ever seen for managing a Twitter account. When I first saw this I didn’t expect it to do much more than provide a popup box for posting to Twitter. The thing is a full-featured Twitter client right in your Inbox! I could see this being a huge hit in the corporate world… especially for people who are forced to tweet for the company they work for. Pretty much everyone is familiar with Outlook, and this undoubtedly minimizes the learning curve. Not that Twitter is difficult to use, but this makes it feel no different than sending a short email.

I give mad props to the developer(s) for not only creating this, but for also making it free. And, in case you’re wondering, it works with both Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007.

TwInbox Homepage (Windows only; free)

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Tutorial – Design a Beautiful Website From Scratch

// July 4th, 2009 // No Comments » // Design, Design Resources, Featured, For Geeks, Graphic Design, I recommend, Tutorial, Useful, Website Templates, Wordpress Themes, free, webmaster, wordpress tutorials

Have you ever wanted to design a beautiful website but just didn’t know how? To be honest, a few years ago, that happened to me too. While browsing the web, I saw so many nice looking websites and wished I had the skills to create such designs. Today I can and I’m going to teach you how to do so too! Essentially, it requires a few Photoshop skills and an eye for detail. Through this tutorial, I will point out these tiny details which make a website design look beautiful. Fire up Photoshop and let’s get going!

Author: Marko Prljic

Design a Beautiful Website From Scratch

The final PSD designs are, of course, on sale at ThemeForest.net.

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IconFinder.net – A Web Designers Helpful little friend..

// June 30th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Cool Links, Design, Design Resources, Facebook, For Geeks, Freeware, Geeks, Graphic Design, Graphics, I recommend, Icons, Rss Feed Icons, Social Network, Social Network Icons, Twitter, free, icon sets

Here’s a handy little site that I think is useful to add to your bookmarks if you are a web designer, it is called Iconfinder. It does exactly what it says…. finds the icon of your choice.

The site is simply designed and straight to the point, add your search query, click and wait for the results. All icons are licensed with either Creative Commons, GPL, or LGPL. Below is a screenshot for “home” icons.

So, if you like icons I’d recommend a visit!

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