Vision Board Builder is a free application designed to build montages of photos quickly and easily. While it is possible to produce photo montages in image editors like Adobe Photoshop and GIMP, Vision Board Builder is specifically designed for this purpose. This makes it very easy for less experienced users to produce attractive results quickly.
Highlights of Vision Board Builder
As a specialist tool for producing photo montages, Vision Board Builder has a number of highlights.
- Easily blend photos together using preset options
- Intuitive interface that encourages experimentation
- Add text with transparency and drop shadow effects to montages
- Export montages as PNG, JPEG or BMP files
- Set custom background colors
Why Use Vision Board Builder
Unlike image editors, Vision Board Builder is designed for the single purpose of producing photo montages. For users who are confident in producing these effects in other applications, this software may appear superfluous. However, for less experienced users it may be an excellent tool for producing photo montages with blended images very quickly.
The user interface is very focused and the various options available have presets that can be chosen from drop down menus. This makes it very easy to experiment with different effects as it really is a case of click and select and if the result isn't quite right, try a different setting. The inclusion of a text tool also lends Vision Board Builder a greater degree of versatility as labels can be added to a montage without having to use another application.
Limitations of Vision Board Builder
The software lacks any form of keyboard shortcuts, though in most respects that isn't an issue as the interface is so simple to use. However, as someone who knows I should save my work regularly for fear of an unexpected crash (though admittedly don't as regularly as I should), having to go to the File menu to save rather than pressing Ctrl+S is a little frustrating.
The limited number of options that makes this well-suited for less experienced users may make it feel a little restrictive for more advanced users who may want to apply effects differently. Also, while the preset options for various tools is very user friendly, it would be nice to have more control over some aspects, such as text size.
Help and Support
There is a Help menu in Vision Board Builder, but the only entry there is for the about screen. That does, however, have a link to the website and there is some advice on using the software there, including a seven minute video tutorial. In reality though, with such an intuitive user interface, most users will be able to jump straight in and learn on the go. If you experience any technical issues, its clear from the comments that the developer is happy to offer advice and suggestions if you contact them after encountering any problems.
You can download a free copy of Vision Board Builder at the Dayblocks website.