Review: Pixelied (Beta) – Graphic Designing Tool

I am quite in favour of testing our beta version of products, and often like to give feedback. I have done so on ProductHunt and other sites. For example, I had signed up the for the testing of DirectAdmin Web management panel for GestianDBI last year. Similarly, this week, I had tried out Markup Hero (which I found through Betalist).

Yesterday, developer Dawood Khan put a call for beta testers for Pixelied in facebook lifetime deals group. I signed up, and gave the graphic designing tool a spin. Below is the feedback I had posted in that group.

Update July 8, 2020

The speeds seem to have improved significantly. Not sure about the changes Pixelied made on their side, as for me, I did the following:
a. Mac OS update ( impact to be assessed)
b. Updated Vivaldi / Chrome, and cleared up cache/cookies, etc. Now loads crazy fast with 10 tabs running (biggest positive impact)
c. Tried a different ISP (similar behaviour, so can be eliminated)
d. Used a VPN- Loading speeds actually lowered.

In terms of features-the image filters are a good option to have. The Terms and Conditions as well as clarity on assets created during beta testing phase need some refinement. Specifically, on copyright and license to use on production or commercial sites.

I had a good chat with Dawood Khan, the creator of Pixelied, after I spent some time playing around. Here is my feedback, and some further points based on our discussion :
I understand this is a beta product, however, I have received multiple warnings from Chrome / Vivaldi and Safari that the webpage (in edit mode) is consuming significant amount of energy. (Macbook Pro 2016) Normally I have 5 or 6 tabs running. Note: Warnings do not occur when a single tab/ window with Pixelied is open.

Next, I closed all tabs/ cleaned cache. Pages loading fast (sign in— selection of image process takes a few seconds.) The editor page loads with the menu first, followed by templates on the left, finally the image. Total time: @ 10 seconds. The editor interface (and editing itself) is rather slow. Something that needs to be looked at. 

On the plus side: 

a. Interface is clean, templates are bright and awesome. Having used Stencil/ Promo Republic / Canva, I must say learning curve is minimal. 
b. Resizing is easy, performs as expected. c. Choice of some fonts is interesting- e.g Bungee. Maybe other tools have them, and I’ve missed. Interesting is the operative word, does not mean good or quirky 🙂 

Editor:

I think the basic elements are there… Dawood has mentioned about social sharing, Dropbox integration, etc in the original post so that is a good to have. 
Saved Images:
a. Maybe they can add folders for “my designs”..
b. Search feature for templates is disabled for now. I understand from my chat that once more templates are populated, the search feature will be made live.
c. And maybe down the line ability to upload custom fonts.

Image sizing:

Ability to export as a PNG transparent is a good feature on a plus side : png image size at that level of clarity – is awesome! Less than 100 KB for a sample images I created. (one attached) Saves a couple of steps before serving on webpages. jpeg is a respectable size too (same image as a jpeg: 240 odd KB) Not sure about others in the group, but for Stencil or Promo republic I always have to reduce the image size before uploading on the image server (e.g. feature image on WP or other Content Management Systems). This is not a problem for inline images, but definitely an additional step. Image sizes are comparable to export from Canva at first impression.

Images created using Pixelied

You can find the jpeg version of the above image here.

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