Some of you are probably aware of PicTML, a Visual Basic program I wrote with back in high school.  Well, now it exists on the web.  Go here to see some examples of what PicTML can do, and feel free to make your own pages and publish them for everyone to see.  There are a number of improvements, namely different optimization options (I find it easier to tweak settings in “small HTML” mode, and then convert to “accurate image” mode before publishing).

I try to make my site accessible to non-geeks, and PicTML could use some help in this area.  The background color field currently accepts the following colors:  red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, violet, purple, magenta, white, grey, black, and pink.  And of course you can use any hex color you want, but if you know how to do that then this paragraph isn’t really directed at you now is it.

I was actually a little disappointed with how easy PHP made it to do a program like this.  I had the working prototype done in a single evening.  I had set out to make this a two-week project, to take me right up until Christmas break.  I mean, when I was learning to code on the TI-83, we had to program uphill, in the snow, barefoot.

Geeky sidenote- once I had finished I realized that I had used an MVC design pattern without even intending to.  The image itself, the $_SESSION vars, and the script to validate the $_POST vars are the model.  Then the control frame is the controller and the preview frame is the view.