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Aviary is a web and mobile photo enhancement suite that provides professional-level tools without the need for downloading or installing extra software. The application can be embedded directly into mobile applications, or into a client's website. Aviary boasts tools for cropping, brushing up images and adding special effects to all of a user’s photographs. Aviary also supports interface customization, which means users who opt to embed the technology into their applications can adjust the way it appears to further match their branding. The application is not branded for consumers and is aimed at developers looking to enhance their creations.

Aviary launched into public beta as A.viary.com in February 2008. The site emerged from beta as Aviary.com in November 2008. The site was the brainchild of Avi Muchnick, the creator of Worth1000.com, an online collaboration site for creative designers. The company is headquartered in Long Island, NY. Long-term plans include the addition of a font editor, audio and video editing tools. These applications will be released to premium members in beta form as they are developed.

The Aviary framework provides users with a simple way to professionally edit photographs, right from their web browsers or phones. The application's focus is on simplicity--easy edits, easy mistake revision and easy sharing. All of these functions can then be included with the user's mobile application or web app. Aviary is exclusively for designers--the front-facing application for consumers is housed on a different website.

Aviary has a very Web 2.0 look and feel. General navigation is intuitive and fast, with a top menu bar containing sub-menus. The site is well organized and there is no advertising displayed on the site. The site maintains three different blogs – a Product blog, an Idea blog and a Microblog on Twitter. The developer key has also been designed to be easy to implement, and the mobile versions of the application work smoothly and quickly.

Registration is required to do anything useful at the site, such as saving of edited images. The registration process is straightforward, asking for username, password and email address.

The Aviary editing suite is free to download and free to install. Users will need to acquire an API key and secret code, which are available after registration is complete.

Aviary is an incredibly powerful application for any mobile or web developer looking to enhance the applications he or she works on. Implementing Aviary's framework allows users to further engage a user's website or application, and does so without adding too much additional development time.

• Functionality of Adobe’s suite of applications at a much lower up-front cost
• Support for a variety of mobile devices
• Active and helpful user community organized around excellent forums
• Easy to implement into a web or mobile application.
• Runs on a smooth, low-resource framework

Aviary video

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