Curvemeister Forum

It looks like Curvemeister 3 is actually starting to be ready.  Mike's favorite part, the code, is just about stable.  He is working through the documentation with significant observations about the difficulties of writing, but getting it done.  All that is going pretty well.

What he really really needs for a successful product is marketing, and that, in the great programmer tradition, he finds close to impossible.  And I (elf in charge of some of the accounting and paperwork, occasional proofreading, and much "mm, what are your alternatives?" listening) am even worse.  I think it is a great product and given all the wedding photos I've seen where the skin tones are not quite human, a product that fills a real niche.  But marketing is so much harder than writing code!  It is hard to know where to start and what is just throwing away money and effort.

If people have ideas on marketing, or connections, or anything useful....Mike would be grateful.  Are there on-line reviewers that you think would be interested in Curvemeister?  Paper publications that seem appropriate?  I know you didn't sign up for Beta testing to help with marketing, but any thoughts?
          Thanks,  Ann

Ann,

I sent Mike a link to some publication stuff...

Tell him to quit passing open windows....

Greg

This really isn't my field, but I'll make a couple of comments.

The functionality of CM is hard to explain in words, and it's even harder to get across the message that it's so much better than standard PS curves. The key, I feel, is video demonstrations, either from the CM website or via YouTube or similar.

Forget demonstrating the shadow, highlight, neutral routine. It's too trivial, and there's a good chance that anyone interested in looking at CM will very likely already know that stuff, and if they see it in relation to CM they'll probably just think it's a wizard-sed version of the same stuff that PS does well enough to start with.

A video showing pinning of skin tones would be valuable. The new double-pin-then-rotate functionality is simple and powerful and would make a good video with the right image. Somehow demonstrating the power of switching colour modes would impress someone who know what it means.

The trigger that made me look at CM was when Mike reviewed an image of mine after I'd posted it in a PS newsgroup. The key phrase he used was "the black rocks in the foreground have a yellow cast". He continues with this valuable advice, and that's great, but it needs to be built upon. When someone reports an image problem in one of these forums, not only should Mike offer assistance (as he would anyway) but he/someone should produce a video showing how CM solves such problems. I took the step to learn how to correct my rocks cast with CM and Mike subsequently got a sale; most people probably take those steps, but they might if a video appeared showing them exactly how easy it is to correct their problem with this tool.

In short, it needs to be demonstrated, possibly via short videos, to people who are expressing image problems in public forums.

Oh, and fix the website. It's dreadful!

I like the ideas of videos.  This is another dimension in which to attract people who, like so many who seek out a profession in graphics, simply don't like to read all that much.

The website does have a certain, er, shall we say air about it.  It looks a lot like the desk I work at - very cluttered, but lovable, and even cozy, in a Victorian sort of way.

I do agree about the videos, and it is an interesting thought to use questions on the net as a conduit for reverse marketing.  Thanks, Derek.

i first heard of curvemeister through googling "elements curves" (when I was appalled to discover the lack of curves in photoshop elements!).  that did (and does) take you straight to luminous landscapes - so i'd definitely give bob johnson a shout.

Thanks, Roy.  I did send Bob an offer for an early copy for review.  He sometimes takes a while to answer, and this case is no exception. Busy guy.

Mike, do you know Mark Segal? (He wrote that Curves essay on Luminous Landscape.) I met him at the conference, and mentioned CM to him today, and he seemed quite interested...and he's on a PC.

Hmmm - interesting.  I do know Mark, but I had Michael Reichmann down as my contact at LL.  Will send him a note.  Thanks!