Show HN: I made a tool that turns screenshots into dramatically angled photos(screenstab.com)
screenstab.com
Show HN: I made a tool that turns screenshots into dramatically angled photos
https://www.screenstab.com/editor/
262 comments
It would be nice to have a few more examples. The only example I see on the homepage is hidden in the video, both hard to see and not always visible.
Yes, I would recommend showing two images (before/after) instead of the video.
You could do more interactive stuff, like the common interface of moving a slider on the "before" image to reveal the "after" image. And that's nice, but it should be supplemental to the two images.
But take this advice with a grain of salt - after all, the video did cause me to spend more time on your site than if two images had immediately answered the question I was curious about.
You could do more interactive stuff, like the common interface of moving a slider on the "before" image to reveal the "after" image. And that's nice, but it should be supplemental to the two images.
But take this advice with a grain of salt - after all, the video did cause me to spend more time on your site than if two images had immediately answered the question I was curious about.
OP here. Thanks for the advice. I have been considering a few different options. Perhaps I could have a preloaded screenshot with the UI already initialised, so I immediately can show off the functionality? I don't know what is the best approach.
Yeah, I don't want to upload my data to a random website I've never heard of, just to see what the heck it does. You NEED a few examples, otherwise users will just close tab.
I uploaded a screenshot of the front page of hacker news
https://i.imgur.com/aTqN3qA.png
https://i.imgur.com/aTqN3qA.png
Maybe it's imgur but this looks so bad. A tweet with examples would be better choice if you can't update on the website quickly
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having blur set to extreme probably doesn't help but I haven't messed around with it
OP here. I understand this instinct. In this case it doesn't actually get transferred, but stays on the client, as stated in the footer: "Image processing is done in the browser. No image data is stored or transmitted."
You should make that much clearer, maybe even by running it in a codesandbox, and submitting that link to HN. I think it might be received better than when marketed as a service (and also, if the process is client-side, why is there a subscription offering?)
Think about Figma. They don't charge for how many drawings you make - that would seem ludicrous, especially since most of the compute power required to use the product is expended during client-side code execution. So instead, Figma charges you for using the app itself, but only once you want to add another collaborator to your private projects (at which point you're obviously happy with the product and probably willing to pay).
If you want to monetize this, I would encourage you to think along those same lines. You are building a product for somebody - but for whom? You can answer that question by letting people use it for free and seeing who likes it the most - marketers? news article editors? - and then building more features to focus the product on their use case.
Don't think about charging by volume - think about getting consistent usage from users who face this problem often, and then figure out how to integrate into their existing workflows. Then charge them money to do that.
Think about Figma. They don't charge for how many drawings you make - that would seem ludicrous, especially since most of the compute power required to use the product is expended during client-side code execution. So instead, Figma charges you for using the app itself, but only once you want to add another collaborator to your private projects (at which point you're obviously happy with the product and probably willing to pay).
If you want to monetize this, I would encourage you to think along those same lines. You are building a product for somebody - but for whom? You can answer that question by letting people use it for free and seeing who likes it the most - marketers? news article editors? - and then building more features to focus the product on their use case.
Don't think about charging by volume - think about getting consistent usage from users who face this problem often, and then figure out how to integrate into their existing workflows. Then charge them money to do that.
> Yeah,
You sound so cool when you start a sentence with "yeah" for no grammatical reason, as though answering a question that no one asked. I bet you're really laid back and were probably smoking a blunt and exhaling a massive cloud while you typed your comment. Did you personally innovate this conversational technique?
You sound so cool when you start a sentence with "yeah" for no grammatical reason, as though answering a question that no one asked. I bet you're really laid back and were probably smoking a blunt and exhaling a massive cloud while you typed your comment. Did you personally innovate this conversational technique?
Could you please not cross into personal attack or post flamewar comments to HN? Those things aren't allowed here.
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
What even is this criticism?
An ad hominem attack based on a single word and your extreme displeasure of it?
An ad hominem attack based on a single word and your extreme displeasure of it?
Maursault(1)
There are some tweets on it, but they are unclickable. I was hoping to expand them and see their examples.
100%, I also wonder what this would do to a regular non-screenshot photograph. Could be funky weird or funky cool.
OP here. It's basically Ken-Burns-on-steroids vibes.
Interesting, would very much like to see an example if you're up for it.
ken-burns 1.0
modern ken-burns not only slides the image, but does the 2.5D effects as well. much more interesting than just zoom/pan
modern ken-burns not only slides the image, but does the 2.5D effects as well. much more interesting than just zoom/pan
> turns screenshots into dramatically angled photos
> much more interesting than just zoom/pan
yes, Ken Burns goes beyond zoom/pan and over into dramatically slanted, at least for what purports to be documentary.
> much more interesting than just zoom/pan
yes, Ken Burns goes beyond zoom/pan and over into dramatically slanted, at least for what purports to be documentary.
OP here. Valid point! I find it hard to strike a good balance between demonstrating value and cutting to the chase. I wanted it to come off as a utility that lets you take action immediately.
My first reaction was “I can barely tell what this does” so it’s hard to feel motivated to take action at that point.
I had the same response. And beyond the motivation factor, the second response was, "I suppose I could test it myself, but I'm not uploading a picture of my screen to a strange website"
OP here. As per the footer text: "Image processing is done in the browser. No image data is stored or transmitted."
If you've the security consciousness to not upload then there's no way you trust that.
This critique makes no sense. Just monitor the traffic by using a random image if you don't trust the disclaimer?
Or just.. close the page and go do something else, which is what I did.
Monitoring the traffic is consequent to distrusting the site, surely. I too would use an arbitrary image with no PII.
Agreed
2nd this. Maybe, images with diff dimensions
Great results on the first attempt I did.
When I wanted to export the result in highest available resolution, it asked me to subscribe for $5/month. I only need 1 single screenshot, so I’m not going to subscribe, but I can see this being used by big newspaper companies. Good luck with your project!
When I wanted to export the result in highest available resolution, it asked me to subscribe for $5/month. I only need 1 single screenshot, so I’m not going to subscribe, but I can see this being used by big newspaper companies. Good luck with your project!
OP here. Thanks, that's good to hear. I got journalists at a couple of the big newspaper players here in my country (Norway) to purchase subscriptions, and after seeing these pop up in articles rather often, I felt that I had sold myself short with the $5 monthly fee. One of them (VG.no), is like the 2nd biggest site in Norway, with 70 million visits a month. I guess I'm bad at business.
Took me 2 scrolls to find an image probably generated by your tool.
https://www.tek.no/nyheter/nyhet/i/KnWn0G/ai-flause-for-goog...
You probably should make a personal account which limits the amount of images you can generate a month (10?) and a business account which offers unlimited generation but for a steep price.
https://www.tek.no/nyheter/nyhet/i/KnWn0G/ai-flause-for-goog...
You probably should make a personal account which limits the amount of images you can generate a month (10?) and a business account which offers unlimited generation but for a steep price.
$5/yr is too much for the casual user and too little for big newspapersq
Nit: It’s 5/mo not per year
I think the insight here is you should offer a pay-per-use model too.
It's the wrong pricing model, in my opinion.
consider the following: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwXlo9gy_k4 & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWZbWzAyHAE
consider the following: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwXlo9gy_k4 & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWZbWzAyHAE
Personal / business tier pricing
I can see how this is useful for laypeople. Those with a DIY attitude might resort to popular image editing tools. My choice would be trying to achieve this with Imagemagick. Fred Weinhaus' script http://www.fmwconcepts.com/imagemagick/skew/index.php and maybe adding a blur later.
In Gimp it's Tools, Transform Tools, 3D Transform.
This is a good idea to add visual novelty to images, especially plain ones.
The problem is the moat is very low: as low as 1 30-second YouTube video on using the transform tool in the case of Gimp.
Doesn't seem very defensible - but maybe if you add versioning & various other features (links for images, etc.) it could be.
This is a good idea to add visual novelty to images, especially plain ones.
The problem is the moat is very low: as low as 1 30-second YouTube video on using the transform tool in the case of Gimp.
Doesn't seem very defensible - but maybe if you add versioning & various other features (links for images, etc.) it could be.
One can make so many fun things as client-side web tools by compiling ImageMagick to Wasm!
One thing I played around with because I needed it myself was turning pictures into things that look like they've been scanned. Made for documents, but I suppose one could use it for screenshots as well. :) https://photocopy.fuglede.dk
One thing I played around with because I needed it myself was turning pictures into things that look like they've been scanned. Made for documents, but I suppose one could use it for screenshots as well. :) https://photocopy.fuglede.dk
> Fred Weinhaus' script http://www.fmwconcepts.com/imagemagick/skew/index.php
Wow! What a great find! I wish more documentation looked like this. There are a few other (feature-rich) command line utilities that could benefit from a similar approach.
Wow! What a great find! I wish more documentation looked like this. There are a few other (feature-rich) command line utilities that could benefit from a similar approach.
I wish there were an option to export a video like the example on the homepage (with some ability to control the camera path). I'd love to be able to use it to make a promotional video for a developer tool similar to the announcement video for the Windows Terminal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gw0rXPMMPE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gw0rXPMMPE
I was just thinking the same thing and commented up in the thread. let me know if you come across anything like this!
I agree. I'd actually pay if it could do this in addition to its current set of features.
Yes I would pay for the ability to generate videos like this, too!
Error on the landing page:
> Gorgeous screenshots is just a click away...
should be "Gorgeous screenshots are just a click away...".
> Gorgeous screenshots is just a click away...
should be "Gorgeous screenshots are just a click away...".
Why would this be a subscription? It could just be a standalone app for $10 bucks and you'll probably get more lifetime revenue that way compared to having a subscription, because in a year more people will buy for $10 than will subscribe and stay subscribed for long enough to overcome that revenue.
> Why would this be a subscription?
Because more monies.
Could also make it hard to unsubscribe. Like swedish insurance, where it needs 3+ hours waiting on the line to get to some supporter who can unsubscribe.
Because more monies.
Could also make it hard to unsubscribe. Like swedish insurance, where it needs 3+ hours waiting on the line to get to some supporter who can unsubscribe.
> Because more monies.
See how many people are saying the pricing model is wrong? They won't get hooked on a sub because they'll never sign up.
See how many people are saying the pricing model is wrong? They won't get hooked on a sub because they'll never sign up.
No, it’s literally less money.
Right. I (reluctantly) accept subscriptions if there is something the company does for me every month - in this case it's a javascript app that runs in my browser. There is no countervalue per month, making it unattractive.
I subscribe to the paid service and use it from time to time. I think it's quite good at what it is supposed to do: convert a "plain" screenshot into a particular type of presentation-ready image.
Like many utilities, there are countless other ways to get to a similar result, but I personally don't want to think through exactly what tools and adjustments would be needed. So, for me, $5/month is a good value to get a task off my plate every once in a while. Thanks for making it!
Like many utilities, there are countless other ways to get to a similar result, but I personally don't want to think through exactly what tools and adjustments would be needed. So, for me, $5/month is a good value to get a task off my plate every once in a while. Thanks for making it!
OP here. Thank you very much for using it, and for the thoughtful comment.
Nice work. I can see the utility since I manually do this for some of my blogs [0,1]. But a subscription model doesn't work for me.
[0] https://www.islandix.com/blog/announcing-1-1 [1] https://www.islandix.com/blog/radar-re-homed
[0] https://www.islandix.com/blog/announcing-1-1 [1] https://www.islandix.com/blog/radar-re-homed
I would reconsider this pricing model. Flat monthly fee with unlimited calls/runs may not be pleasant for you.
OP here. I don't do any cloud computing to deliver the service. It is essentially a pure JavaScript-application running on the client.
I have a similar tool that I am working on that is basically javascript on an html page.
There are probably other ways to add value for paying users so they are less likely to just save page as:
Integrating the JS into a WordPress plugin to generate screenshots automatically for posting to social media when a post publishes.
Zapier integration to help people automate these screenshots in their workflows.
There are probably other ways to add value for paying users so they are less likely to just save page as:
Integrating the JS into a WordPress plugin to generate screenshots automatically for posting to social media when a post publishes.
Zapier integration to help people automate these screenshots in their workflows.
Just a note that your front page doesn't look great when using dark mode on Firefox Android (in particular the stabby 't' disappears into the background leaving "Screenshots that sick out" which is quite funny but not what you were going for!).
it doesn't look good with dark mode in regular firefox either
OP here. This really blew up. I actually made this back in 2021 (doesn't seem long ago), and probably tried posting it to HN back then, to no avail. I just posted it again on a whim, because I felt I was on a roll with my previous post on here about the metal skeuomorphism thingamajig (https://www.metalmorphism.com). If you liked this project, and want to see what I've been up to in my spare time lately, feel free to check out that discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34707160
It looks like your 2021 post on this was decently successful! Here’s the discussion back then: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26088625
This is by a company in the middle of farmer county in Norway. Kudos!
OP here. You are absolutely correct. I'm in a rural part of Norway which is nicknamed "Norges matfat" (which translates roughy to "Norway's dinner plate"), because of how so much of our produce comes from here.
Moreover, I'm not exactly a company, but just one guy doing this in his free time. My day job is at a software company called Grensesnitt (check it out: https://www.grensesnitt.no)
I don't particularly care for the pricing, like most of the people here. However, you really shouldn't care that much what we think. How are sales amongst the normal people who just want to upload images and do transforms? I could see this doing fairly well with bloggers and such.
OP here. Thanks! I know what I'm getting myself into when posting here. This crowd usually has strong reservations when it comes to subscription based business models, which I can understand. For me the monetization aspect is a necessary "evil" to justify spending so much of my free time outside of my day job and obligations as a family man.
What about an option for $5 for a month of access but no subscription? I originally considered $1 a per image download but then I thought it might take some finessing to get the image right and simply having a month to mess around might be a better deal.
This is a pretty cool tool. I might be one of those freeloaders that is happy with an SD image but I could really see using this. I picked a random screenshot of code I had and the result was awesome.
This is a pretty cool tool. I might be one of those freeloaders that is happy with an SD image but I could really see using this. I picked a random screenshot of code I had and the result was awesome.
Interesting tool. But, for me, literally just the administration of managing the monthly charge is not worth signing up for this - highly suggest adding a yearly payment option.
+1000 to more examples. This is a visual tool, show us the visuals.
+1000 to more examples. This is a visual tool, show us the visuals.
Interestingly, I REALLY want the exact OPPOSITE of this.
Many times it's just so frustratingly difficult to take a screenshot of something on a computer screen and send it over one of the several mobile messaging apps that don't have a good desktop client, so I end up just taking a picture of the physical computer screen with my mobile phone. It looks like shit but I'm lazy. I really wish a piece of software could recognize what I just took a picture of and then pull the actual data from that portion of the screen, send the screen data over bluetooth or Wi-Fi or whatever to the phone, and "fix" the screenshot.
Many times it's just so frustratingly difficult to take a screenshot of something on a computer screen and send it over one of the several mobile messaging apps that don't have a good desktop client, so I end up just taking a picture of the physical computer screen with my mobile phone. It looks like shit but I'm lazy. I really wish a piece of software could recognize what I just took a picture of and then pull the actual data from that portion of the screen, send the screen data over bluetooth or Wi-Fi or whatever to the phone, and "fix" the screenshot.
I had a similar problem a decade ago. Had a lot of paper bureaucracy in my life, didn't have a scanner on me at all times obviously. So I wrote an app that undoes the perspective: https://github.com/akalenuk/Docam
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On Apple devices ”Universal Clipboard” (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209460) works fairly well for that (’fairly’ because, in my experience, it doesn’t always work in one go)
'KDE connect' has a similar shared clipboard, also very low friction local network file sharing IME, works on Android with either Windows or Linux (and maybe other systems too?).
How’s the SaaS model working?
OP here. I'm not quitting my day job anytime soon. It's a grind to get the word out in the first place, for one. The SaaS model covers some of the cost of running it, but it isn't a viable product on it's own just yet. I have other projects that generate income to cover cloud services, accounting costs and other fees.
Would be nice if you could paste images to it, instead of having to save the screenshot as a file and then upload it.
Would be cool if I could just ctrl+v my screenshot instead of having to open an image editor, saving it, and then manually uploading it to the website. I think snag.gy uses some simple method to collect screenshots from a paste command, maybe there is some easy way to implement it.
The generated images look too flat and too sharp, giving an aged look. No one takes screenshots programmatically anymore. Consider revitalizing the output by adding RGB pixelation and a moire pattern filter to look like it was taken from a real monitor with a phone camera.
I tried to use the tool, but it's very laggy/slow. Is it server-side? Why not just HTML5?
I think it's client side. At least his other project showcasted on the linked persille.no website is.
This looks neat indeed :)
I have no idea how hard it would be, but this would be great as an effect for Final Cut, Da Vinci, etc. I don’t think the video world has a plug-in standard like the photo kinda does (eventually lots of apps implemented Photoshop's API).
I have no idea how hard it would be, but this would be great as an effect for Final Cut, Da Vinci, etc. I don’t think the video world has a plug-in standard like the photo kinda does (eventually lots of apps implemented Photoshop's API).
OP here. I'm fantasising about making a video version of this app, to generate some very cool documentary-style Ken Burns-shit imagery.
A version that pops out the video on the site could be cool (like, takes in a screenshot but then tilts and zooms it as a video clip). Very “nightly news.”
See also open source Fotowall. Not mine.
https://www.enricoros.com/opensource/fotowall/
What is this paid subscription to be able to rotate the screenshot a certain way?
Yes, you pay for the "your mother who takes screenshots by photographing her screen" effect.
Ooh, I used to take 21MP photographs of LCDs as a cool effect. I really loved doing that. It looked so aesthetic.
OP here. LOL!
Looks cool but I think the UI should be improved for me to consider paying: I'd want more control over how the image is displayed / transformed and UX is currently too laggy (Firefox 106 on Mac).
I really hope you make some money with this somehow. It's funny.
I did something similar in photoshop for app screenshots... it doesn't take too long and looks great!
Perspective warp and then some shadows and rotations
This would be really cool for formatting images for social. Maybe you could add an option to export in different dimensions?
You could have named it "drama screen".
This is a cool idea. Wish website showed a bit more info and examples but I like what it d oes. Content creators could use this.
OP here. Thanks! And yeah, I will try to improve on the landing page.
Feedback: It would be very great if we could paste (Ctrl+V) into the webpage to upload an image.
I don't mean this in a troll-like fashion, to dump on something someone invested effort into. But I also literally don't understand the purpose. Could someone, even OP, explain why? Again, I'm not meaning this in a 'hurt your feelings' mode, it's more my brain seems to have a lack of comprehension on this.
A triumph of form over function!
I have no use for this. Very cool though. Reminds me of local news stories about the dangers of the internet
Small feedback regarding the landing page - first few impressions I got were the same - it is a paywalled article page, it wants me to pay first to read about how 'dramatically angled photos' can look like. I almost left the page without realising it's a product page itself.
Tip for getting good quality website screenshots for presentations from Chrome:
- Open developer tools.
- Activate the device toolbar.
- Set the DPR to 3 and make sure the screen is the width you want to capture.
- Press cmd/ctrl-shift-P to bring up the command popup
- Type 'screeenshot' and select one of the screenshot options - area, fullsize, node, or just plain screenshot to capture the viewport.
Result: high res capture of your webpage.
To get the 'dramatic' look from this tool, load it into powerpoint, apply a 3D transformation, overlay a radial gradient to get a vignette kind of look, then just do another screencapture.
- Open developer tools.
- Activate the device toolbar.
- Set the DPR to 3 and make sure the screen is the width you want to capture.
- Press cmd/ctrl-shift-P to bring up the command popup
- Type 'screeenshot' and select one of the screenshot options - area, fullsize, node, or just plain screenshot to capture the viewport.
Result: high res capture of your webpage.
To get the 'dramatic' look from this tool, load it into powerpoint, apply a 3D transformation, overlay a radial gradient to get a vignette kind of look, then just do another screencapture.
In Firefox, go to Developer Tools > Console.
:screenshot --dpr 3
Add --fullpage if you want a full page screenshot. Add --delay 4 if you want a four second delay to close the Developer Tools.
:screenshot --dpr 3
Add --fullpage if you want a full page screenshot. Add --delay 4 if you want a four second delay to close the Developer Tools.
This sounded like way too much work, but for some reason I tried it.
Then I realized I don't know what DPR is.
Or what the device toolbar is (is it the device button you push to emulate different devices?).
And ctrl-shift-P didn't do anything.
Ah well.
Then I realized I don't know what DPR is.
Or what the device toolbar is (is it the device button you push to emulate different devices?).
And ctrl-shift-P didn't do anything.
Ah well.
It's Device Pixel Ratio, which I found in the menu with the 3 vertical dots on the upper right corner, after enabling the device thing.
Does anyone know tools that can capture high quality screen recordings from a browser session? Thinking about the type of video that has lots of dramatic pans and zooms + smooth cursor movement used in marketing videos. I feel like I came across a tool that could do this but can’t find it now / might have been my imagination.
If you're on a Mac, you can just use QuickTime Player.
File -> New Screen Recording
It can't modify device pixel ratio for higher resolution (that might be needed for zooming and panning in editing).
I use the Awesome Screenshot and Screen Recorder Chrome extension.
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/awesome-screenshot...
It works very well.
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/awesome-screenshot...
It works very well.
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With all due and sincere respect to mikaelaast's effort and ambition, I can't believe we're at a point where the implementation of an image filter can ask for a automatically renewing $5 per month subscription and nobody blinks.
We used to blink, didn't we?
We used to blink, didn't we?
I didn't just blink; I immediately ignored.
And yes - same comment; awesome tool, but lol - not worth paying for.
If they really want to monatize: Enforce account sign-up, go on a token system for each use, and give a few free for trial maybe.
And yes - same comment; awesome tool, but lol - not worth paying for.
If they really want to monatize: Enforce account sign-up, go on a token system for each use, and give a few free for trial maybe.
and nobody blinks.
There are a whole bunch of repetitive comments about this already and it's not, by itself, all that on-topic in a Show HN, especially with the added meta.
There are a whole bunch of repetitive comments about this already and it's not, by itself, all that on-topic in a Show HN, especially with the added meta.
At this point I believe that this is only a snowflake on an enormous iceberg of opportunities that we are missing, because “come on, everyone could open a shell and <insert your convoluted pipeline here>”. It’s probably a trillions dollars industry that doesn’t exist due to professional deformation and being conditioned to sit and work for someone else’s profit.
You are not the target market.
You’re not the target market
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I'm sure you put a ton of work into this, so it's really unfortunate that I can barely tell what this really does or why we should care.
Also the "Ready to go pro?" thing seems very rushed and presumptuous. Like, I'm not even sure I'm ready to go "Free" yet
Also the "Ready to go pro?" thing seems very rushed and presumptuous. Like, I'm not even sure I'm ready to go "Free" yet
> so it's really unfortunate that I can barely tell what this really does or why we should care
It takes an image as input and produces a "dramatic" copy of that image in which "dramatic" is defined as being angled away from the viewer on two planes and having a blur somewhat consistent with it having been photographed with a shallow depth of field.
It takes an image as input and produces a "dramatic" copy of that image in which "dramatic" is defined as being angled away from the viewer on two planes and having a blur somewhat consistent with it having been photographed with a shallow depth of field.
I'm surprised to read this — while the examples could be more cleanly presented, I felt like the title for this post and the initial gif on landing show what this does reasonably clearly. I do see what you mean about the PRO part.
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I'd pay for one-time pro features. I don't want a subscription, but I'm willing to pay to use this service a few times a year maybe. There are probably more like me.
Maybe sell 10 pro edits or something like that?
Maybe sell 10 pro edits or something like that?
I think this would be a tough one. FWIW, I think your question highlights a great example of why so many companies don't offer the pricing you want, even though it's probably true that the majority of users would prefer this pricing.
My bet is that selling "10 pro edits or something like that" would nearly completely cannibalize any subscription sales. Thus, I think OP is probably likely to make a lot more money by only offering a subscription than by offering one-off pricing that kills subscription sales.
My bet is that selling "10 pro edits or something like that" would nearly completely cannibalize any subscription sales. Thus, I think OP is probably likely to make a lot more money by only offering a subscription than by offering one-off pricing that kills subscription sales.
I see where you're coming from, and I don't really have the market experience to argue with you.
In my case 10 pro edits would be way too much, it could expire at the end of the year too, to make it even more profitable. First of all it would be more expensive than one month of subscription, and second of all they would expire.
But a person like me who sucks at graphic design would still be willing to fork over like 10 bucks for 10 pro edits even if I only use a few of them.
Because once that rare moment comes where I want this, I really want it!
In my case 10 pro edits would be way too much, it could expire at the end of the year too, to make it even more profitable. First of all it would be more expensive than one month of subscription, and second of all they would expire.
But a person like me who sucks at graphic design would still be willing to fork over like 10 bucks for 10 pro edits even if I only use a few of them.
Because once that rare moment comes where I want this, I really want it!
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"Charged monthly at only $5 for individuals or $3 per person for teams of 3 and up. Cancel anytime." - excellent tool, terrible business model.
No on wants to pay $5/month for a utility.
No on wants to pay $5/month for a utility.
While the tool is extremely simple to replace with something more low level. I think there is no better way than what he chose to actually monetize something like this. Consider the target markets.
Individual bloggers. Too cheap to pay sub. Also too cheap to pay a $10 onetime.
Hackers. Would happily spend whole day implementing the same with a less polished npm package and would never pay for anything anyway.
Professional designers. Can get the same or even better results in the tools they already use with both hands tied behind their back. They don’t need this even if it’s free.
Now to the last and only viable market. Journalists who are lacking tech skills and no designer to back them up. They don’t care how simple the tech behind is, as long as it gives them value. It’s just cheap enough that they don’t have to blink and the recurring revenue from these will offset any non-existent $10 one-off purchases from individuals.
Individual bloggers. Too cheap to pay sub. Also too cheap to pay a $10 onetime.
Hackers. Would happily spend whole day implementing the same with a less polished npm package and would never pay for anything anyway.
Professional designers. Can get the same or even better results in the tools they already use with both hands tied behind their back. They don’t need this even if it’s free.
Now to the last and only viable market. Journalists who are lacking tech skills and no designer to back them up. They don’t care how simple the tech behind is, as long as it gives them value. It’s just cheap enough that they don’t have to blink and the recurring revenue from these will offset any non-existent $10 one-off purchases from individuals.
Yeah, I was initially interested, but then I saw that it was a subscription and I just stopped looking.
OP here. How would you monetize it?
I would consider the value to the consumer and use a value based pricing model.
The value you're offering is overcoming a few challenges.
First, the technical challenges of designing these graphics yourself - you have to pay for potentially expensive software suites (Photoshop, etc.) to get this kind of work done, and then you have to learn how-to do it. There is a financial and educational curve to climb there.
Then the second challenge is time. It takes time to sit and fiddle with a complex piece of software to make a screenshot do what your utility does.
So your value is you provide a single piece of software that does one job very well, and it's near instant and requires little to no learning curve whatsoever.
Further, you need to consider your own personal objectives with this software. I'm not in this field, so I do not have the foresight to see the potential growth with this software, therefore from my perspective it's a cute tool that does one thing. You might know different and can see potentially big markets.
Anyway. I would likely price this as a $15 one time purchase at the non-commercial level (targeting everyday Joe Blogs) with one year of upgrades, and around $50/year/user at the commercial end.
It really depends on the market and the user's pain points, Jobs To be Done, etc.
The value you're offering is overcoming a few challenges.
First, the technical challenges of designing these graphics yourself - you have to pay for potentially expensive software suites (Photoshop, etc.) to get this kind of work done, and then you have to learn how-to do it. There is a financial and educational curve to climb there.
Then the second challenge is time. It takes time to sit and fiddle with a complex piece of software to make a screenshot do what your utility does.
So your value is you provide a single piece of software that does one job very well, and it's near instant and requires little to no learning curve whatsoever.
Further, you need to consider your own personal objectives with this software. I'm not in this field, so I do not have the foresight to see the potential growth with this software, therefore from my perspective it's a cute tool that does one thing. You might know different and can see potentially big markets.
Anyway. I would likely price this as a $15 one time purchase at the non-commercial level (targeting everyday Joe Blogs) with one year of upgrades, and around $50/year/user at the commercial end.
It really depends on the market and the user's pain points, Jobs To be Done, etc.
Maybe a couple of freebies (with watermarks with link to your site for viral growth and license for personal use), then upsell with credits. You mentioned newspapers - I think you could charge a bit more for a full commercial license for the outputs - but it is fairly trivial for a graphic designer to replicate this in photoshop in 2 mins so there is probably a limit to the max fee.
Subscriptions are good for recurring revenue but maybe offer that as one option, not the only option? A lot of people drop off at that point.
I used to do these tilted 3D dof screenshots in After Effects a lot for videos - that is a use case I would pay for, if it’s quick enough - it was always a bit time consuming in AE and also a lot of people need videos but not everyone can use AE.
Subscriptions are good for recurring revenue but maybe offer that as one option, not the only option? A lot of people drop off at that point.
I used to do these tilted 3D dof screenshots in After Effects a lot for videos - that is a use case I would pay for, if it’s quick enough - it was always a bit time consuming in AE and also a lot of people need videos but not everyone can use AE.
For my own app https://screenrun.app/ that also produces outputs, I was thinking credits: eg $5 gives you 50 screenshots (or videos in my case). No subscription and people get debited only when they use the tool. Would be nice to add referrals so they could earn credits when others sign up?
Yeah, subscription for the big players (and raise your subscription price), then $1 a pop for a one-off.
What if a corp signs up as a consumer and uses $1 pops?
Mr. TotallyNotCorporate which makes 20 orders a day? Totally not a corp.
Just add "more than N screenshots a day are considered corporate usage with an according plan", ask to upgrade, ban.
Just add "more than N screenshots a day are considered corporate usage with an according plan", ask to upgrade, ban.
Just let them give you $20 a day.
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It looks really cool, best of luck commercializing it however it seems a little too simple for that. It produces an image almost exactly like I've takes a photo of my monitor, so I could just take a photo of my monitor rather than buying the HD option?
It's also possibly a bit too easy to replicate in an hour or so (e.g. apply image as a surface texture in threejs and screenshot/canvas-capture that, together with standard FX like bloom).
It's also possibly a bit too easy to replicate in an hour or so (e.g. apply image as a surface texture in threejs and screenshot/canvas-capture that, together with standard FX like bloom).
> It's also possibly a bit too easy to replicate in an hour or so (e.g. apply image as a surface texture in threejs and screenshot/canvas-capture that, together with standard FX like bloom).
Typical HN comment lol
Typical HN comment lol
Easy enough for ChatGPT?
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34738699
> Good idea for a website for portfolio but a good front end person can likely rig it up, I just did a version with asking chatGPT and dropping code into code pen. If there is a market there for you then someone will make a freebie. Than again maybe less tech savvy need weird things like this as they certainly do phone screenshot ones/ templates which could be an electron program or site mod of this
https://codepen.io/gschier/pen/AgLYBE
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34738699
> Good idea for a website for portfolio but a good front end person can likely rig it up, I just did a version with asking chatGPT and dropping code into code pen. If there is a market there for you then someone will make a freebie. Than again maybe less tech savvy need weird things like this as they certainly do phone screenshot ones/ templates which could be an electron program or site mod of this
https://codepen.io/gschier/pen/AgLYBE
It was about 20 mins using React Three Fiber (not counting a bug filing related to their npm dependencies).
https://snipboard.io/teiXnd.jpg
Yours looks better, but mine is 120FPS with zoom/spin and gravity :)
https://snipboard.io/teiXnd.jpg
Yours looks better, but mine is 120FPS with zoom/spin and gravity :)
Lots of fun. Adding fire now https://codesandbox.io/s/3878x
You could take a photo, but you'd need ideal circumstances - lighting, how clean your display is, and you need a camera for it, then strip EXIF data etc.
And sure, most people here can replicate it, but you are the 1%, the other 99% is out there potentially looking and willing to pay for a tool like this.
And sure, most people here can replicate it, but you are the 1%, the other 99% is out there potentially looking and willing to pay for a tool like this.
Yeah, my impression is that monetizing could be worth it for professional bloggers, but then it would need to be more than a one trick pony like this.
I'm also not sure if this is the only effect the app can do.
I'm also not sure if this is the only effect the app can do.
I think it doesn't matter if you market well and make it easy, people do want things that make their live easier and in a very small way this is one of those.
I built a thing to resize app icons/screenshots years ago and it still gets thousands of visitors per week: https://apetools.webprofusion.com/ - I didn't get around to monetizing it though!
I built a thing to resize app icons/screenshots years ago and it still gets thousands of visitors per week: https://apetools.webprofusion.com/ - I didn't get around to monetizing it though!
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You should have priced it at $15 for a permanent license desktop app. I'd pick it up as a snack purchase. But I'd never pay $5/mo for so little.
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I honestly thought this was satire, for those times when you want to make your nice clean screenshot look like your dad took a photo of the monitor with his phone.
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I clicked the link because it sounded interesting and maybe useful. But then I wasn't quite sure what it did.
I wanted a before and after photo. It's a simple concept. The landing page should be equally simple.
I wanted a before and after photo. It's a simple concept. The landing page should be equally simple.
Based on the GIF, I thought it created an animated video.
Even when the .PNG downloaded I thought for sure it’d be an animated PNG.
If I’m doing some content creation, I probably already have an image editor, in which case I can create this effect myself or would prefer an integrated plugin to do it.
Motion graphics is much harder, and there’s more demand there to add some sparkle to a static image. OP, have you considered that angle?
Even when the .PNG downloaded I thought for sure it’d be an animated PNG.
If I’m doing some content creation, I probably already have an image editor, in which case I can create this effect myself or would prefer an integrated plugin to do it.
Motion graphics is much harder, and there’s more demand there to add some sparkle to a static image. OP, have you considered that angle?
OP here. Sorry to disappoint you with the lack of animation. I have definitely entertained the idea of creating a video variant of this app. I fear it will remain a pipe dream due to the demands of my day job and family life.
I think they mean to say that the animated gif[0] your site is misleading as it shows an animated transition that doesn't actually occur in the product.
[0] https://www.screenstab.com/editor/resources/demo.gif
[0] https://www.screenstab.com/editor/resources/demo.gif
That's pretty much what the animated image is. It shows a screenshot before, the tool being used, and the final image as part of a tweet.
The GIF[1] on the mail page shows the effect with before-after transformation.
[1] https://www.screenstab.com/editor/resources/demo.gif
[1] https://www.screenstab.com/editor/resources/demo.gif
There’s a gif on the landing page that shows what it does pretty much immediately
OP here. A few others have made this point, and it's glaringly obvious to me in retrospect. Guess I have my work cut out for me.
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Good idea for a website for portfolio but a good front end person can likely rig it up, I just did a version with asking chatGPT and dropping code into code pen. If there is a market there for you then someone will make a freebie. Than again maybe less tech savvy need weird things like this as they certainly do phone screenshot ones/ templates which could be an electron program or site mod of this https://codepen.io/gschier/pen/AgLYBE
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I was wondering : is it a client side JS transformation? Yes.
Then how will the developer monetize it? Sending it to server for something, anything? No, rather watermarking the image client side. Or NOT doing it if you pay.
It would be interesting to watch this project succeed. I want it to. That will mean there's good business case in similar projects.
Six months later, an "I made $xx from this app" will be a more interesting post than the project itself. $xx can be any amount. Even if it's not that high.
Then how will the developer monetize it? Sending it to server for something, anything? No, rather watermarking the image client side. Or NOT doing it if you pay.
It would be interesting to watch this project succeed. I want it to. That will mean there's good business case in similar projects.
Six months later, an "I made $xx from this app" will be a more interesting post than the project itself. $xx can be any amount. Even if it's not that high.
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I can see use here but not monthly subscription, typically will use in a batch for say a newsletter. Seems like you can pay $5 a month, do your batch work, then cancel.
An alternative would be a pay-per-use scheme, but according to others, this has been implemented client-side, so it would be easy to circumvent or fake.
That said, given this is on HN, I'm sure a dozen free versions are already in the works.
That said, given this is on HN, I'm sure a dozen free versions are already in the works.
I'm really interesting in the best pricing models for this type of mini-product.
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$3 per month to rotate screenshots ?
It's a mobile friendly UI, that's one way this website stands out above many others.
Sure, it looks like the underlying process is a perspective shift, a gradient, and a blur, but making the UI usable deserves some credit.
If you don't feel like paying, you can repeat the process in any free image editor for a fraction of the cost.
Perhaps the value add will be bigger if the service gets expanded, for example when it also works with videos and allows for transitions. You can throw together a product demo video a lot quicker by combining that with some captions. It won't be much, but in many areas, it may just be enough to stand out in the crowd.
If I needed one of those "camera panning across a rotated screenshot" videos for a product, I wouldn't know where to begin. Maybe automate imagemagick? Teach myself Blender? I imagine for many tech illiterates (and there are a lot of those, especially these days) will have the same problem with plain images.
Sure, it looks like the underlying process is a perspective shift, a gradient, and a blur, but making the UI usable deserves some credit.
If you don't feel like paying, you can repeat the process in any free image editor for a fraction of the cost.
Perhaps the value add will be bigger if the service gets expanded, for example when it also works with videos and allows for transitions. You can throw together a product demo video a lot quicker by combining that with some captions. It won't be much, but in many areas, it may just be enough to stand out in the crowd.
If I needed one of those "camera panning across a rotated screenshot" videos for a product, I wouldn't know where to begin. Maybe automate imagemagick? Teach myself Blender? I imagine for many tech illiterates (and there are a lot of those, especially these days) will have the same problem with plain images.
That's cheap if you're a media company or online marketeer that uses it regularly. The alternative would be paying for Photoshop and acquiring those skills.
Not eveything has to be free, and people are willing to pay for things. You just need to know the audience.
I think one issue I have with comment sections is that a lot of people only speak from their personal point of view, and don't consider e.g. companies or other individuals.
Not eveything has to be free, and people are willing to pay for things. You just need to know the audience.
I think one issue I have with comment sections is that a lot of people only speak from their personal point of view, and don't consider e.g. companies or other individuals.
Agreed. I’m a bit surprised the author feels comfortable charging money, from what I saw. This is like 3 operations in Photoshop, isn’t it?
Locally in your browser, too. Footer:
> Image processing is done in the browser. No image data is stored or transmitted.
> Image processing is done in the browser. No image data is stored or transmitted.
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Firefox made something cooler: make a page into 3d using DOM's z-index property
https://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/devtools-user/3d_vie...
https://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/devtools-user/3d_vie...
That's a completely unrelated feature, intended for web development?
It also didn't end up being very useful, and they removed it in 2016.
It also didn't end up being very useful, and they removed it in 2016.
> It also didn't end up being very useful
Because SPA (Angular/React/Vue) happened. Webpages are going from handcrafted "semantic" ones to nested pile of DIVs.
Because SPA (Angular/React/Vue) happened. Webpages are going from handcrafted "semantic" ones to nested pile of DIVs.
Semantic HTML/CSS was always a fantasy. People aren't crystalline, nor are the documents we read/write or the webpages we use. Something like ARIA is orders of magnitude better for accessibility than the SUMMARY tag ever could have been.
Eh, most web pages haven't been handcrafted since ~1996. Remember how ugly Dreamweaver's output was?
> From Firefox 47 onwards, 3D view is no longer available.
:sadface:
:sadface:
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Shameless plug for https://screenrun.app/ which makes it super easy to create video out of screenshots
I like it! Do you have any examples where it can animate between different screenshots or a video? I think something like that would be super popular.
I should add more examples yeah good idea
This is great. I've been wanting something that looks like this for a product landing page for a long time. Thank you.
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My 100 Croatian lipa :
This feels like something that's too expensive for a random individual (I've become allergic over time to simple things that insist on subscription as opposed to pay once). But too cheap for enterprise use.
Consider putting together few more simple tools, build a quick pipeline, and offer per seat and enterprise licensing.
This feels like something that's too expensive for a random individual (I've become allergic over time to simple things that insist on subscription as opposed to pay once). But too cheap for enterprise use.
Consider putting together few more simple tools, build a quick pipeline, and offer per seat and enterprise licensing.
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I agree, I would also try to market this is as one tool (“Dramatic Screenshot”) of a larger “Screenshot Toolbox” or sth.
It's 13 Croatian Euro cent now ;)
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Here's my take, using Blender:
https://imgur.com/a/qDLR8e3
Could probably be called from a shell script or similar to automatically exchange the screenshot texture.
https://imgur.com/a/qDLR8e3
Could probably be called from a shell script or similar to automatically exchange the screenshot texture.
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The people here are so negative. Fortunately not ur target market. I think it's great. I saw the example, and immediately got the idea and tried it out. Well done!
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You can do this in Python with 1 function call:
https://docs.scipy.org/doc/scipy/reference/generated/scipy.n...
https://docs.scipy.org/doc/scipy/reference/generated/scipy.n...
Yes, but you need to compute the matrix first. That's the tricky part I suppose since applying the transformation itself is as simple as multiplying every output bitmap center by the inverse projective transformation matrix and translating the original color.
True! But this is of course basic knowledge for people working in 3d graphics.
If you don't have that knowledge, I think you can get quite far by just starting with a unit matrix and changing the coefficients iteratively until you get something that looks right.
If you don't have that knowledge, I think you can get quite far by just starting with a unit matrix and changing the coefficients iteratively until you get something that looks right.
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Now add fire, glitter, snowflakes and market towards extremely online aesthetics subcultures.
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Why not skew, mask and blur with photoshop in 10 seconds?
you mean aside from the fact that it requires downloading a huge multi-purpose program that starts at $21/mo which is built for significantly more than just those features and the user must use a lot more brain space for what they want to be a simple task?
Do it for free with Photopea.
And this would be just about one of the easiest "Photoshop tutorials" there is to follow.
And this would be just about one of the easiest "Photoshop tutorials" there is to follow.
Photopea is nice, but their website is not friendly. I could see why people would prefer to pay and have a simple website to use.
Or gimp. "Photoshop" is the all encompassing term for these editors. This task is actually quite trivial, but there is a bit of a learning curve for someone who knows absolutely nothing about photo editing.
For a Linux user, you can already build such a system yourself quite trivially by using PHP's ImageMagick extension to modify the uploaded image file.
I wonder can ImageMagick give you the "progressive linear blur" (or whatever you want to call it) that emulates depth of field?
Might as well ray trace it....
Might as well ray trace it....
My comment was mostly tongue-in-cheek. mih in a sibling thread added a link to actually useful IM scripts however, one of which supports variable blur using a mask (scroll below the table and parameters for example pictures): http://www.fmwconcepts.com/imagemagick/variableblur/index.ph...
photopea.com
That was my thought as well and you can go even further by just making it a script. Which begs the question: why is this a subscription service and not the script.
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