Visual communication and video publishing tools take again center-stage here at Master New Media, and just like every week, I have selected some great services and tools for you. Want to edit your pictures without installing any software, download and convert videos or images online, or simply capture a region of your screen? I surely have got what you are looking for.

Photo credit: Rahul Tiwari

Here the eight visual communication tools that I have selected for you this week:

1. Splashup: Free web-based photo editor allows you to edit your images online with no software to install
2. Image Converter: Convert any image to any available format online without any registration
3. WebKut: Adobe Air based website screenshot application
4. FastStone Capture: Screen capturing tool for Windows machines
5. Mutapic: Create picture arts online using shapes, colors, textures and more
6. Fawnt: Get free fonts for your publications in this growing font directory
7. My Image Size: Provide an image URL or upload it from your PC and get it resized automatically
8. Mux: Free video conversion system lets you convert any video that has a URL online

Visual Communication Tools

1. Splashup
   
   Splashup is a powerful photo editing online software that allows you to edit your pictures online without even registering to the service. You can edit any type of image, and you can resize it, crop it, select different regions, use layers, add captions and effects, and more. When you are finished with a picture, you can save it in a different format to your PC, or simply upload it your favorite photo sharing sistem (like Picasa, Flickr...). Free.
   http://www.splashup.com/






2. Image Converter
   
   Image Converter does exactly what its title suggests, allowing you to easily convert graphics files online. Without any registration, you can convert any type of image in over 100 different file formats available just by selecting the image, the output file format, and clicking a button. It is completely web-based and free to use.
   http://www.online-utility.org/image_converter.jsp






3. WebKut
   
   WebKut is an Adobe Air based application that allows you to take screenshots of any website. After you install it and open it, you will be brought in a standalone mini-browser, in which you can type any site and start taking screenshots of any part of it, and save them in JPG, PNG or PDF format, with customizable quality settings. Free to download and use.
   http://toki-woki.net/p/WebKut/






4. FastStone Capture
   
   FastStone Capture is lightweight screen capturing tool. It can save any region of your screen in BMP, GIF, JPEG, PCX, PNG, TGA, TIFF and PDF formats and it features a built-in editor that can easily handle simple annotations and editing tasks such as cropping, adding text, arrows, highlighting, watermarking or or enhancing. FastStone Capture is free to download and works on Windows only.
   http://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=775






5. Mutapic
   
   Mutapic is a free web-based picture generator that you can use to create picture arts. You can add and modify shapes, color, tint, brightness, scale, blur, glow, and textures that will be mixed between each other to create a set of pictures, from which you can select the one you like the most and keep editing it. Mutapic is free to use, and does not require any registration to be used.
   http://www.mutapic.com/






6. My Image Size
   
   My Image Site is a simple tool that can be used to resize images online. Just provide a picture URL or upload it from your PC in any format, use the slider or type in a value to change the width, and then wait until your picture is ready to be saved. The service is completely web-based and free to use.
   http://www.my-i-size.com/






7. Fawnt
   
   Fawnt is a free growing directory of typing fonts. As you arrive on Fawnt's home page, you will see a list that you can scroll with fonts' previews to see at a glance the best fonts for you, also providing you with a download counter. When you've found the fonts you like the most you can download them for free, with no sign up required.
   http://www.fawnt.com/

Video Publishing Tools

1. Mux
   
   Mux is a free video conversion tool, that you can use to convert videos online. You can convert any video from video sharing sites like ,YouTube, or any video that has a public URL(Avi, Mov, Wmv, Mpg...), into other major formats. All you need to do is paste the URL, select the output format, provide your email and wait until your video is converted. Free to use, no registration needed.
   http://mux.am/

Originally written by Nico Canali De Rossi for Master New Media and first published on May 25th 2008 as "Visual Communication And Video Publishing - Selected Tools And Web Services - Sharewood Picnic May25 08"