Adobe ImageReady
Encyclopedia
Adobe ImageReady is a bitmap graphics editor that was shipped with Adobe Photoshop
by Adobe Systems
for almost ten years. ImageReady is written in the C++
programming language
. It was available for both Windows
and Mac OS X
platforms from 1998 to 2007, after which it was discontinued.
ImageReady has fewer features than Photoshop, being designed for quick editing of web
graphics rather than effects-intensive graphics editing for other applications. To that end, ImageReady has specialized features such as animated GIF creation, image compression
optimization, image slicing and rollover effects, and HTML
generation.
During the time the product was offered, the Photoshop Toolbox had a quick link to ImageReady. A Jump to ImageReady button enabled editing of the current image directly in ImageReady and a return button enabled a return to Photoshop.
The ImageReady toolbox
is similar to that of Photoshop. One set of tools that does not resemble the Photoshop tools, however, is the Image Map set of tools, indicated by a shape or arrow with a hand that varied depending upon the release version. This toolbox has several features not found in Photoshop, including the following.
With the release of the Creative Suite 3, ImageReady has officially been discontinued, and many thought that the reason for this was that, since Adobe now owns Fireworks, they don't need ImageReady, and will continue to develop Fireworks instead. However, Adobe denies this and states that they decided to migrate ImageReady's features into Photoshop only by popular demand. There is some ImageReady-style functionality in CS3 and later versions found via File > Save For Web & Devices.
(CSS) for positioning. Beginning with Adobe ImageReady 7, however, Adobe provided an option to generate CSS from sliced designs.
While Adobe has implied that Fireworks can replace the functionality of ImageReady, Fireworks can not work with the slices and multiple rollover states that were generated with ImageReady. Therefore, according to Adobe Technical Support, the only option now for any designer who has multiple projects to maintain that were created in ImageReady during the ten years the product was offered, is to downgrade to Photoshop CS2. There is no promise of a future solution for this issue.
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems Incorporated.Adobe's 2003 "Creative Suite" rebranding led to Adobe Photoshop 8's renaming to Adobe Photoshop CS. Thus, Adobe Photoshop CS5 is the 12th major release of Adobe Photoshop...
by Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...
for almost ten years. ImageReady is written in the C++
C++
C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...
programming language
Programming language
A programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....
. It was available for both Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
and Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
platforms from 1998 to 2007, after which it was discontinued.
ImageReady has fewer features than Photoshop, being designed for quick editing of web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
graphics rather than effects-intensive graphics editing for other applications. To that end, ImageReady has specialized features such as animated GIF creation, image compression
Image compression
The objective of image compression is to reduce irrelevance and redundancy of the image data in order to be able to store or transmit data in an efficient form.- Lossy and lossless compression :...
optimization, image slicing and rollover effects, and HTML
HTML
HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
generation.
During the time the product was offered, the Photoshop Toolbox had a quick link to ImageReady. A Jump to ImageReady button enabled editing of the current image directly in ImageReady and a return button enabled a return to Photoshop.
The ImageReady toolbox
Toolbox
A toolbox varies with the craft of the owner. The purpose of the toolbox is to organize, carry, and protect the owner's tools used for trade, hobby or DIY.-Types of toolboxes:...
is similar to that of Photoshop. One set of tools that does not resemble the Photoshop tools, however, is the Image Map set of tools, indicated by a shape or arrow with a hand that varied depending upon the release version. This toolbox has several features not found in Photoshop, including the following.
- Toggle Image Map Visibility and Toggle Slice Visibility tools — that toggle between showing and hiding image maps and slices, respectively
- Export Animation Frames as Files option — saves all or specified frames for an alternate use, e.g., to e-mail slides for review
- Preview Document tool — provides a preview of rollover effects in ImageReady rather than previewing them in a browser
- Preview in Default Browser tool — previews the image in a browser, including any rollover or animation effects
- Jump to Photoshop button — opens the current image in Photoshop
Release history
Adobe ImageReady 1.0 was released as a standalone application. ImageReady was packaged with Photoshop between version 2.0 and CS2. Adobe synchronized the version numbers of ImageReady and Photoshop beginning with version 7.0.| Release | Version # | Release Date | Bundled with (version) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | v1.0 | July 1998 | (N/A) (Released as a stand alone product.) |
| 2nd | v2 | July 1999 | Photoshop 5.5 |
| 3rd | v3 | October 2000 | Photoshop 6.0 |
| 4th | v7 | February 2002 | Photoshop 7.0 |
| 5th | v8 ("CS") | October 2003 | Photoshop 8.0 CS |
| 6th | v9 ("CS2") | May 2005 | Photoshop 9.0 CS2 |
With the release of the Creative Suite 3, ImageReady has officially been discontinued, and many thought that the reason for this was that, since Adobe now owns Fireworks, they don't need ImageReady, and will continue to develop Fireworks instead. However, Adobe denies this and states that they decided to migrate ImageReady's features into Photoshop only by popular demand. There is some ImageReady-style functionality in CS3 and later versions found via File > Save For Web & Devices.
Criticism
Early versions of Adobe ImageReady could generate only table-based code, without providing an option to generate table-less code using Cascading Style SheetsCascading Style Sheets
Cascading Style Sheets is a style sheet language used to describe the presentation semantics of a document written in a markup language...
(CSS) for positioning. Beginning with Adobe ImageReady 7, however, Adobe provided an option to generate CSS from sliced designs.
While Adobe has implied that Fireworks can replace the functionality of ImageReady, Fireworks can not work with the slices and multiple rollover states that were generated with ImageReady. Therefore, according to Adobe Technical Support, the only option now for any designer who has multiple projects to maintain that were created in ImageReady during the ten years the product was offered, is to downgrade to Photoshop CS2. There is no promise of a future solution for this issue.