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Most people don’t use Adobe AIR apps. Many people don’t know what Adobe AIR is. I have only a vague understanding myself. There are probably all sorts of complex reasons that these situations exists, but one reason is the stigma surrounding the apps themselves. Most of them are, like widgets, pretty useless.
But it would be untrue to say that all of them are useless. Here are four that are actually quite useful.
1. Adobe Media Player
Probably the most common AIR app, this one is actually really useful. It is a great resource for tutorials and discussions on anything from lab color to green design to inspiration. The quality of most of the videos is good, and the speed of downloads and streams is also fairly good.
2. Adobe Shortcut App
Since time-saving techniques are dear to me, and Adobe doesn’t use any of the standard Mac keyboard shortcuts, this app is an invalueable resource. Divided by program, utilizing a search feature, and allowing you to make favorite shortcuts, this app can greatly decrease the time it takes to search out the shortcuts for those not-so-common-but-still-important-enough-to-use-every-once-in-a-while tasks.
3. Adobe Kuler
If you haven’t heard of Kuler, it is a equal parts social media and color scheme designer. It’s free to sign up at Adobe.com, where you can design a series of swatches that make a color scheme. However, the AIR app is a quick way to browse through popular color schemes that people are sharing. If you are stumped on complementary colors for a document, this is a great way pick other people’s brains.
4. Contrast-A
Ever wonder if a color-blind person will be able to read your snazzy catchphrase on its complementary-colored background? You should. And this app lets you check the colors of text-background combinations for brightness, color, and luminace contrasts. And all of the algorithms are based on WC3 standards. If your combination’s ratio is too low, it can generate visual thresholds on color palletes. This app is a must have for maintaining accesibility. You can even export the couplet to a PDF.
Most people don’t use Adobe AIR apps. Many people don’t know what Adobe AIR is. I have only a vague understanding myself. There are probably all sorts of complex reasons that these situations exist, but one reason is the stigma surrounding the apps themselves. Most of them are pretty useless. But it would be unfair to say that all of them are useless. Here are four that are actually quite useful.
1. Adobe Media Player Probably the most common AIR app, it can actually be really useful for those learning how to use Adobe products. It is a great resource for tutorials and discussions on anything from lab color to green design to inspiration. The quality of most of the videos is good, and the speed of downloads and streams is also fairly good.
2. Adobe Shortcut App Since time-saving techniques are dear to me, and Adobe doesn’t use any of the standard Mac keyboard shortcuts, this app is an invaluable resource. Divided by program, utilizing a search feature, and allowing you to make favorite shortcuts, this app can greatly decrease the time it takes to search out the shortcuts for those not-so-common-but-still-important-enough-to-use-every-once-in-a-while tasks.
3. Adobe Kuler If you haven’t heard of Kuler, it is equal parts social media and color scheme designer. It’s free to sign up at Adobe.com, where you can design a series of swatches that make a color scheme. However, the AIR app is a quick way to browse through popular color schemes that people are sharing. If you are stumped on complementary colors for a document or just want to see which colors other people say are “minty,” this is a great way pick other people’s brains.
4. Contrast-A Ever wonder if your background and text make for easy reading? You should. And this app lets you check the colors of text-background combinations for brightness, color, and luminance contrasts. And all of the algorithms are based on WC3 standards, so if your colors pass, then it’s safe to upload to the Web. If your combination’s ratio is too low, it can generate visual thresholds on color palettes so you can correct them. This app is a must have for maintaining accessibility.
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