Sunday, April 19, 2009

Use Your Webcam to Take Photos Online: Cameroid


Before today, I had a pretty Logitech webcam sitting on my desk for the past three months, lacking any possible use. It did make look like I knew a bit more about computers than I actually do and the little neon-green light on the top is always cool to ogle but otherwise, I hadn't really found any use for it (by the way, I also have a sick microphone that hasn't ever been used either but I know how to use that). But that's when I found Cameroid, an free online utility that lets you snap a few pictures using your webcam without any complicated software.
The simple interface is really well-done and error-free made by the good guys at Sideshow Digital. Basically, there are two main pages, the homepage and the "snap" page. The homepage, is just, well, the homepage with your normal introduction and a few sample photos, but the other tab is what will really make your day.
To begin with, you'll be prompted to allow access to your webcam and obviously you should click "allow" so you can actually try this out. After this, you'll see what your webcam sees on the screen so you can be totally satisfied with what will be captured. Plus, if you want to, at this point you can apply several fun edits, from distortion filters that'll screw up the colours to creating a kaleidoscope-like image, to inserting your face into the Mona Lisa. Select a filter or just create an unedited photo and snap.
As a final touch, you can save your image to the public gallery, download it as a JPG or print right there. Of course, if you don't like it, you can just throw it out and try again.
You can take pictures of your face, your thumb, your dog, your hamster or your favorite pencil. And trust me, it'll be a lot more satisfying when you can actually use your webcam.

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