We’re starting a series of preview screencasts for ImageFramer version 3. Each screencast will focus on a specific feature of ImageFramer 3. Of course, you can find hints to other features, which are not discussed, simply by looking at the user interface.

The first screencast is about multiple document support in ImageFramer 3. See the screencast on Apparent Software’s Facebook page and don’t forget to “Like” us to be to receive updates about the screencasts and other Apparent Software news.

ImageFramer has entered grace period for updates. What this means is that everyone who purchased ImageFramer after July 1st 2010 will get free upgrade to version 3 when it goes out.

Why is this good? First and foremost, ImageFramer 3 standard version will be more expensive than current ImageFramer Personal license. That’s one good reason. Secondly, there’s nothing to loose – you get to use ImageFramer right now and don’t have to worry about upgrade pricing.

So go and buy ImageFramer right now!

New ImageFramer is the next scheduled update of ImageFramer with the following changes:

• New Frames: Added 5 new frames to “Bronze” set in “Real” collection. They appear at the top of the list.
• Reduced download size by about 7MB from 2.4.8 by reducing graphics overhead without affecting quality.

As always, either auto-update or download from http://www.apparentsoft.com/imageframer/download

New version of Blast and of ImageFramer were released today.
The Blast release is especially large and sports a major new feature – filtering recent files by kind. Now, the top of the Blast window sports a selection control where you can select which files you want to see:

The number of recent files remembered was increased tenfold from 25 to 250. Together with the filtering, it won’t overwhelm you.

The performance was also improved. Blast’s window now opens instantly even if the previews will take some time. File preview generation was moved into background and they now appear as they are generated, making Blast much more snappier in use.

There were some UI changes, such as the Blast menu button move to the top and its icon replaced. The scroll bar on the right of recents file list was made larger for easier handling. The window size was changed a little as well.

Among other new features, the context menu now has an option to move the file to Trash and an option to clear the list. If your list becomes irrelevant to the task at hand, you can clear it to remove clutter.

Also, Blast no longer displays splash screen on launch, which irritated some of you and it is now also 64-bit universal.

ImageFramer

ImageFramer 2.4.8 adds 7 new frames into the “Wooden frames” set in “Real” collection.

ImageFramer 2.4.7 now adds the option to limit the shadow from the frame to be only inside the frame. Designs that use this will have export image size to be same as without shadows but all the shadows and bevel lighting inside the frame will be intact, giving your more flexibility.

Also, we’ve added 10 new frames (actually 3 of them are variations of the same original frame).

As always, use auto-update or download from the regular location.

Also, make sure to see the latest newsletter. Subscribe, if you aren’t subscribed yet. There’s ImageFramer 3 preview in there.

This is the relevant part of our press release.

Apparent Software announced today that it has acquired Blasted, a productivity booster application from Ted Roden. The application places all recently used files at user’s fingertips, providing fast and easy access to them. This acquisition promises an exciting future for the application, which already has hundreds of enthusiastic users. As part of the acquisition the application is renamed to “Blast” and an important upgrade, version 1.2, is released.

Blast keeps track of all the files the user has been recently using on his Mac. With Blast, all these documents are just one click away. The user can access the file list anytime by clicking on the application icon in the menu bar. Some benefits of using Blast:

• User doesn’t need to worry about where he just saved a certain file – it’s in his menu bar
• User can drag downloaded files directly into any application without opening finder and send email attachments faster
• User doesn’t need to search for a document he was reading yesterday. It is in Blast list, one click away
• As part of the launch, Apparent Software releases a major update to the application

Version 1.2 includes the following new features:

• A preview for all the files in the list allows the user to find his file visually just by looking at its icon
• A favorites sidebar allows user to save his favorite folders and files to be accessed at any time
• Application shows the list of recent files even after it was closed and the computer was rebooted
• Improved user interface with several new features, like showing the path to the file

See more about Blast.

We’re glad to announce that Cashculator is now distributed in Japan by ACT2. ACT2 has been distributing ImageFramer in Japan for almost 2 years now, since version 2 was released.

Cashculator 1.1.4 is fully localized in Japanese including the tutorials and the user manual. ACT2 provides local support in Japanese.

You can learn more about Cashculator in Japanese http://www.act2.com/products/cashculator.html

Today’s release of ImageFramer 2.4.5 adds 11 new frames into Larson Juhl’s set in Manufacturer’s collection. As always, use auto-update or download from http://www.apparentsoft.com/imageframer/download.

Today we released ImageFramer 2.4.4 with several little changes:

• FIX: Now when loading a design on application launch, the frames selection pane will open.
• FIX: More robust license key check to prevent erroneous rejects of licenses, in some cases.
• NEW: ImageFramer version is now displayed in Finder’s Get Info panel.

You can download ImageFramer as always from download page or use the built-in auto-update mechanism.

We’ve released ImageFramer 2.4.3. It now fixes several issues that lingered for some time without a fix plus added a couple most requested features such as dropping images from iPhoto and overwrite warning when dropping to Finder or during batch processing. Full release notes:

• NEW: Now supports dragging from iPhoto.
• NEW: Added a warning on export if file exists when dragging and when saving on batches.
• FIX: Saving a JPEG no longer produces black border. Now uses background color.
• FIX: No more frame artifacts on Snow Leopard on high size exports.
• FIX: When automatic startup settings file doesn’t exist, ignore the setting. This prevents a bug where users report that they can’t add mats.
• CHANGE: Now doesn’t lock Finder while saving large images.
• CHANGE: Reduced shadow blur radius for faster operation.

Download ImageFramer at http://www.apparentsoft.com/imageframer/download.