Typepad’s What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get editing interface is great, but one thing is still missing – direct copy & paste of a picture (or drawing).
We all know that pictures, diagrams, even videos are essential to so-called "Web2.0" blogging. The problem is, it takes an awfully long time to edit them. Let’s see what it takes.
- Find a source picture. Is it already in the hard drive? Then jump to step No.3.
- If the source picture is on the web, I need to take a snapshot (clearing the right issue is another headache but we don’t discuss it here). Then I need to store it on my local hard drive.
- I might very likely need to "size down" the picture for fast download. Activate the Photoshop (or Microsoft Paint), open the picture file, trim it down, and at last, change the file format to *jpg or *png.
- In the Typepad interface, click the "insert image" icon, specify the picture file location, upload it, and finally, set up the image location options.
Thinking of all these procedures I have to go through, I usually end up pulling a link to an appropriate website, search for suitable Youtube video link, or just cop out (like I am doing today).
The ideal image editing interface should include the following features.
- direct pasting using Ctrl + V shortcut key
- File format selection (*jpg, *png, *gif, even *bmp)
- Image trimming option
- Image zooming option
This is what a paid service should provide.
I haven’t checked the FAQ section in the service corner.