A great set of visual communications tools, to help you prepare impactful images for your next report or to edit and compose your best photo-montage are the key selected tools I and Nico selected this week together with a trio of video recording and downloading tools that may just save a bunch of time and money.

Photo credit: RGB Space

Here is my selection for this week:

1. Mosaickr: Use your Flickr pictures to create a mosaic of a master image that you select
2. ResizeYourImage: Web 2.0 online image editor lets you crop and rotate your pictures online
3. PhotoScape: Free photo editing software enables you to edit your pictures using many effects
4. Ascgen: Convert your images into ASCII text, and export them in plain text, HTML or GIF format
5. ImageSorter v2: Visual image management software organizes images by color, date taken, name or size
6. Xcavator: Visual search engine allows you to find images basing on color and shape similarities
7. uTipu: Record anything on your screen
8. I Show You: Free software allows you to record everything on your screen and add voice narrations
9. YouTubeCatcher: Grab the URL, paste it, and download every YouTube video in FLV format

Here the details:

Image Editing and Visual Communication

• Mosaickr
  
  Mosaickr is a Flickr mashup that lets you create a mosaic using Flickr pictures. To start creating a mosaic, all you have to do is to select a master picture from your account or making a research, pick the pictures that will compose the mosaic (at least 200) and then, just wait for the link. Free to use.
  http://start.mosaickr.com/job/select





• ResizeYourImage
  
  ResizeYourImage is a Web 2.0 application that you can use to crop all of your pictures with no need to install any additional software. After you upload the picture, you are able to rotate it, crop it using the arrows at the edges of the image, zoom on it and, when finished, you can download your modified version on your PC. Completely web-based and free to use.
  http://www.resizeyourimage.com/





• PhotoScape
  
  Photoscape is a free photo editing software to fix and enhance photographs. Its main features and tools are resize, crop, brightness, auto contrast, whitebalance, sharpen, blur, noise reduction, red eye removal, and more. You can also batch edit your pictures, create animates GIFs, capture things on your screen. You can download it for free.
  http://www.photoscape.org/





• Ascgen
  
  Ascngen is a free downloadable tool for Windows that you can use to convert you images into plain ASCII text. After you load an image into Ascgen, you have full controls over the output file: you can change the output dimensions, flip sides or adjust the brightness and contrast levels of the output text image through sliders in real time. Then, you can save your new image in plain text, HTML file, or GIF image, both in black&white or color picture. Free to use.
  http://ascgendotnet.jmsoftware.co.uk/





• ImageSorter v2
  
  ImageSorter is a visual image management software that organizes images by color, date taken, name, or size. The main purpose of the application is to help you find pictures you've taken when you remember how the picture looks (by color) but have no idea where it is on your computer. ImageSorter runs on both Windows and Mac, and is completely free to use.
  http://mmk.f4.fhtw-berlin.de/...





• Xcavator
  
  Xcavator is an image search engine that allows you to look for images based on shapes, colors, image composition, object proximity, or any combination of these similarities. To start searching, you just have to select if you want to browse pictures for color, tags or similarity to an uploaded one and click search. It is free to use.
  http://www.xcavator.net/

Video Recording and Download Tools

• uTipu
  
  uTipu is a new screen recording software which allows you to record anything appearing on your screen. Software demos, tutorials or clip recording. uTipu can capture your full screen or any selected region you may want to define. It can zoom and record your mouse movements as well. Fully free it works on Windows XP and Vista.
  http://www.utipu.com/app/





• I Show You
  
  I Show You is a free software for windows, that enables people to easily record a sequence of operations that are going on on their screen. After the recording session has ended, the recorder presentation can be edited by drawing on it, by adding notes, and by recording a voice over narration. When done, you can send it to friends via email, messenger or any other application. You can download ISU by clicking here.
  http://www.vapisoft.com/ISU.htm





• YouTubeCatcher
  
  As the name suggests, YouTube catcher is a free web-based service that anyone can use to download videos from YouTube. All you need to do to use it, is to grab the URL of the video you wish to download, paste it in the box and click download. You'll then get an FLV file that you can convert or watch with a FLV converter or player program. Free to use.
  http://www.youtubecatcher.com/