Top 5 free tools to help publish a mobile app

You have created your app, tested it and are happy with your end product. That isn't you done though, you need to make sure you have the right icons, screenshots, feature graphics etc. This last hurdle can be a pain but here's a few free utilities I've found over the years which are a huge help.

GIMP - [FREE] Image creation and manipulation.

GIMP is a great free application for creating and touching up your images. Need to tweak your screenshots, create a feature graphic or an advertisement? GIMP is your tool. It's a great free alternative to Adobe Photoshop.

Syncfusion MetroStudio - [FREE] Icons for your app

Metro Studio comes with over 4000 pre-made icons which you can customize to meet your needs - change the colors, change the size and export them to any format you want. See my Syncfusion MetroStudio tutorial for help in getting started.

Paint - Simple image software

Paint is a great simple tool for quickly cropping images and tweaking screenshots.

Image Resizer for Windows - [FREE] Change the size of your images and icons

You'll notice each app store has different image sizes for feature graphics and screenshots which is another pain when uploading your app to the store. Image Resizer for windows however is a quick and easy tool for resizing your images - simply right click in windows and choose your new dimensions and the tool generates a copy of the file with the new dimensions.

Android Feature Graphic Generator - [FREE] Create quick feature graphics 

This great website allows you to simple enter the text you want in your feature graphic and it will generate a nice feature graphic for you. Tweak the colors, fonts and even add images. A really quick win if you want to get your app uploaded quickly and Google Play now requires you have a feature graphic. 

If you have any other tools you recommend please add a comment and I'll check them out. If you found this post useful subscribe via email using the link at the top of this site.

Paintable - Multi-touch table

As I have only recently become a project manager I have been thinking back over previous projects I have worked on and my only experience before of being a project manager was in my masters year at the University of Strathclyde. With a team of 7 people, a load of Java code, a budget of £2000 and 12-weeks to do it (along side our dissertations and other classes) we managed to pull together something quite remarkable - a multi-touch table.

Using the reacTIVision software toolkit (http://reactivision.sourceforge.net/), a Mac mini,a projector, a piece of perspex and a table from Ikea we produced an extensible framework from which the university could add new applications.

The following Youtube links show the table being used as a paint application , and also a simple checkers game.

Paintable - Multitouch interaction:

Paintable - Checkers game:

Not perfect but the concept is there! Oh and before anyone comments about it I do know that my .NET blog's first proper post contains Java and no .NET at all!