Web-based competition for photo editing and library managers

Get ready to chuck your application-based photo editor/organizer in favor of a powerful duo of Web applications. A new, free, photo-editing package called Preloadr adds photo-editing capabilities into the Flickr photo-sharing site. Armed with Preloadr's editing capabilities and Flickr's excellent Organizr (for, you guessed it, organizing pictures), you should be able to replicate most key features of desktop applications--such as Apple's iPhoto, Google's Picasa or Adobe's Photoshop Album--in a totally portable package. With Preloadr and Flickr, you can go on a laptop-free vacation and still get your pictures tagged, edited, organized, and posted for sharing.

Preloadr uses the Flickr API to authenticate users and pull pictures directly out of their Flickr accounts. The first time you log in to Preloadr, a Flickr page asks if you'd like to give the external application access to your photos. Assuming you allow it, you're returned to the Preloadr front page, which allows you to select pictures by tag, set, or date.

Once you've selected a picture, you can edit it using filters, such as a blur, sharpen, or even a graduation curve. You can also rotate, crop, or flip the image; add and manipulate individual layers; view a histogram; and add text to it. If you're a Flickr Pro member, you can save your edited image directly over the old one; regular members can only save a copy into their accounts.

Simon Anderegg, a developer at Nexbyte (the company that develops both Preloadr and the NexImage Server back end it runs on) said Preloadr is still under development. Expect new features such as sepia filters and red-eye-removal tools.

Preloadr has the same look and feel of Flickr because it's just a skin on top of the NexImage Server. Anderegg said Preloadr is an advanced demo of what's possible with NexImage Server and will remain free. The company does sell licenses for the NexImage Server.