The British Library has released a million images into the public domain - and it needs your help

The British Library is home to over 150 million published items; a copy of every publication—whether a book, newspaper, magazine or periodical—made each year in the UK and Ireland is archived there. In partnership with Microsoft the BL digitised tens of thousands of out-of-copyright publications from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. As part of this process they acquired millions of images from these pages and they've now released them into the public domain on the Flickr Commons. The collection includes illustrations, satirical comics, geological diagrams, maps, illuminated letters, and maybe a few photos. Now that they have been released into the public domain they are free for anyone to use, remix, and repurpose as they wish. But the BL is also asking for help to find innovative ways to allow people to navigate and search these images; while the library knows the book, volume, and page from which each image was drawn, it knows nothing about them indivdually. It wants to crowdsource descriptions of what each image portrays to make the collection a lot more useful, as well as develop an efficient tagging and metadata system.

You can take a look at the images over on the British Library's Flickr stream and if you have any bright ideas to help them with the project, they'd be interested to hear from you, too.

(Headsup to Ars Technica)

Video comes to photo storage app Loom

I've been a fan of Loom since since I tried out its public beta version earlier this year. It's a photo storage service that allows you to access your images across all of your devices as well as auto-upload them to take some of the strain off of keeping your back-ups secure. It's easy to use and looks good, too. Today they've released their biggest update to date, which will allow users to play and stream videos on their iPhones, iPads, and from the website. The process that their developers have implemented lets users watch their videos almost automatically without any of that pesky buffering. As soon as you press 'play' it starts to stream the lowest quality version of the recording while simultaneously buffering the higher quality one and switching to that as soon as your Internet cnnection and screen resolution lets you. Yes, it's similar to the system that Netflix uses.

They've made a pretty video to show it off, too:

Loom already gives you 5GB of storage for free; 50GB costs $39.99 for a year, or $99.99 buys 250GB of storage for a year. However, if you refer your family and friends to Loom you can pick up an extra 5GB for free.

Yes, Loom is only iOS-only at the moment, but Android expansion is planned. Let's hope that's Loom's next major update and it comes along quickly!

It's all about communication: Instagram unveils Instagram Direct

When Instagram sent out paper invitations to its press event held in New York today, there was, naturally, speculation regarding what the square-picture-sharing-service might announce. Might it be print options? Or perhaps a messaging service? Now, everything has been revealed by Instagram's Kevin Systrom. It's called Instagram Direct: instant messaging via image, allowing you to share pictures and videos and communicate with just one or up to 15 of your Instagram contacts. If you'd like to send a direct message to someone you don't follow you can, but it will be held in their inbox as a 'pending' message and the recipient won't be able to see the image until they accept your request. Or they can ignore you.

When you send an image to a contact or group of contacts, you can see when they've opened it and you can communicate privately around it. It allows for real-time communication and the opportunity to share experiences with people whom you love or you think will be specifically interested in an image, rather than your entire feed. And seeing as Instagram has said that it doesn't proactively monitor these communications, someone would have to lodge a complaint if you sent a naughty photo. So perhaps boobies and bottoms between boyfriends and girlfriends might be permitted at last! But no, they're not venturing into Snapchat territory with Mission Impossible-style self-destructing images.

With images now being permitted in Twitter direct messages, this might be seen as direct competition. And of course there's lots of chatter about Snapchat. But I'm more intrigued to see the imapct that it'll have on messaging apps, like WhatsApp, Line, and Viber. Images, push notifications, read receipts, and group messaging is eating into these guys' territory. The message from Systrom today was very much about communication; not only is that bread-and-butter to WhatsApp and Viber, but it's an area where Facebook, and by extension Instagram is keen to capitalise. Let battle commence!

The update will be available today in the App Store and on Google Play.

Auto-playing videos come to Facebook

Oh joy! Facebook has embarked on a steady roll-out programme to bring auto-playing videos to all of its users. It started with Android devices, progressed to iPhones, and now the team at TechCrunch has noted that it has made it to desktop. Let us, however, be thankful for small mercies: these self-playing videos will remain silent until you click on them to enable the volume. At least you won't suffer the indignity of perfect strangers knowing that you're checking Facebook in a public loo, or being shown up at work as not concentrating on that deeply thrilling spreadsheet as much as your colleagues believed you were. It's only videos that have been uploaded directly Facebook or shared from Instagram that will play automatically; anything else sits in suspended animation. Do then, be kind to your Facebook friends and link video from YouTube, Vimeo, or elsewhere. Of course, this move fits in with Facebook's need to make make money. Next stop: auto-playing video advertisements.

There's no way that you can disable video auto-play entirely. However, if you need to watch your data download limits on your mobile network, you can ensure that videos will only auto-play when you're connected via wi-fi. For iPhone users it's Settings > Facebook > Settings > Auto-play videos on WiFi only. Not that this is much consolation for people living where wi-fi bundles aren't cheap and data limits are tight.

Share joy with #Flickr12Days

What does joy mean to you? The people over at Flickr would like to know. And in return for sharing your holiday images of joy, you could win up to £3,100. (Or US $5,000.)

From today, the 12 December, you can enter as many images as you have portraying festive joy to the #Flickr12Days competition. Every day the judging panel will look for one photo that's creative, original, and conveys the sense of the season. Out of the 12 daily winners, who'll each claim a £310 prize, a grand prize winner will also be selected. She or he will be awarded £3,100 and the the warm fuzzy feeling of knowing their image summarised holiday joy.

Entering isn't hard: you need to share your photo on Flickr, publicly, and it needs #Flickr12Days in its title. The Flickereenos have provided step-by-step instructions, too, and as always, please do check the terms and conditions to make sure you're not signing away your soul or similar. You'll find those here.

Get snapping, and enjoy!

Gorgeous handmade camera straps from Signe Vicky

I've never been especially fond of the camera strap that came with my camera. Having a black, red, and white piece of fabric slung around my neck emblazoned with the words 'Canon' and 'EOS 6D' seems a bit indiscreet, really. 'Oh yes, muggers. Do come and pinch my several-thousand-pounds-worth of kit that I have casually suspended from my body.' So how about a handmade, individually numbered camera strap, produced at a workshop in France? Not only is it far more discreet but it's a bit more classy and definitely unique.

French-Canadian maker, Signe Vicky, is responsible for these beauties. There are full length straps priced at €60 or wrist straps that cost €30. They can be shipped anywhere in the world, and if you get in quick you can pick one up to have sent directly as a Christmas present.

The best way to get hold of one is to contact Signe Vicky through her Facebook page or to drop her an email. I have to say, I'm very tempted.

The 50th anniversary Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is now open!

Entries to the fiftieth anniversary Wildlife Photographer of Year are now being accepted! You have until midday (GMT) on 27 February 2014 to make your submissions. If you're an adult, you'll need to pay a £30 entrance fee. Entry for under-17s is, however, free. Whether you're aiming for the adult or Young competition there are ten 'single image' categories: mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles, invertebrates, plants and fungi, underwater species, the earth’s environments, the world in our hands, black and white, and natural design. You can submit a maximum of 20 images if you're an adult and ten if you're under 17 years old. There are also four adult special awards, including a time-lapse feature, and one special report competition for young people.

The young people's special interactive award, WILD-I, is probably the competition that I find the most exciting. They're being asked to submit one report captured on a mobile device that comprises six images, a 150-word report, and up to 90 seconds of moving footage. The judges are looking for personal or newsworthy features about the natural world that have been captured on a mobile device, are well-researched, tell the story innovatively, and of course are high quality. The feature can explore anything from conservation efforts to documenting habitat destruction. I suppose it appeals to my love of projects.

There are some fantastic prizes on offer, especially in the young people's competition. The over all Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year, who'll be chosen from the age category winners, receives £1,000, a trophy, and a two-day field workshop with an experienced photographer to explore technical and creative development. Anyone who wins their age category (the competition is divided into three: 10 and under, 11 to 14, and 15 to 17) receives £500, a medal, a trip to London for the awards ceremony, a year's subscription to BBC Wildlife magazine, and a one-day workshop.

The WILD-I winner will bag £750, a medal, a trip to London for the awards ceremony, a year's subscription to BBC Wildlife magazine, a Natural History Museum field assignment, and a one-day workshop. Anyone who makes the finals in their age group takes home a certificate, a year's subcription to BBC Wildlife Magazine, and a one-day workshop from their trip to London for the awards ceremony.

There are quite strict rules on what subject matter is admissible or not for this competition, so please do read through everything carefullly. All of the details are on the Natural History Museum's website.

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition usually produces a cracking exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London, so I'm really looking forward to your entries!

Better looking iPhone lighting with Lightstrap

The flash on the iPhone is a notoriously unflattering beast. It throws out harsh shadows, crazy colour casts, and can leave your photos looking less than beautiful. The flash on the iPhone 5s has seen some improvements, but plenty of people aren't using a 5s and even then, it could still be better. There are a few ways of getting around the terror of terrible flash. Only last week I found myself lighting Einstein the hamster with the torch app on my phone while my brother's housemate's girlfriend (got that?) took a photo with her smartphone. Or you can buy yourself an add-on flash from numerous sources. They work well, but they're something else that needs to be carried around in a bag or pocket, something to be forgotten or dropped or just have to be schlepped. Wouldn't an iPhone case with an integrated light source be better?

That's exactly what Brick and Pixel has developed with its Lightstrap. It's looking to bring it to the masses with the help of Kickstarter.

The Lightstrap slots over an iPhone similarly to a protective case, but offers you a temperature-controlled and brightness adjustable ring light. The ring light should give flattering shadows and avoid the curse of evil red-eye, the brightness adjustment should stop you blowing out your background, and the six temperature options will help to prevent colour casts that make everything look wrong.

You won't drain your phone's battery using the Lightstrap; it charges independently via a micro USB cable. You can expect about 500 flashes or 30 minutes of video recording time from one charge. Unfortunately for people like me who are still kicking about with an iPhone 4 or 4s or have gone for the colourful 5c choice, the Lightstrap won't be of any use. It's only iPhone 5 and 5s compataible, which is a shame given that there's still a sizeable chunk of us still using older models, and we'd definitely benefit from some advanced flash assistance.

Brick and Pixel needs to raise $245,000 by 3 January 2014 to bring the Lightstrap into production. Pledge sums start at $87 to lay your hands on an early adopter model. What do you reckon? Worth the outlay? If you think so, the Lightstrap's Kickstarter page is here.

Let's go fly a Sparrowscope! Kite photography comes to Kickstarter

Ori Barbut has loved electronics and tinkering with things since he was a kid. He fixed things for his friends and his parents' friends; then he took two degrees in engineering; and now he's a freelance engineer in the aerospace and energy industries. But he's also developed a project on the side, combining all of these skills and interests, inspired by a picnic in a Toronto park in 2012. Someone asked him and his friends if they could help secure a camera to a kiteline, for a spot of aerial photography. It got Ori thinking: there has to be an easier way to have a go at kite photography. Within a few days of thinking about it, Ori had knocked together a balsawood prototype. And now, after 16 months of development, he's about to launch the Sparrowscope on Kickstarter.

The Sparrowscope comprises a kite, a harness for a picture-taking mobile device, and an app for communication. The theory is that you launch the kite, fly it into clean air where it's easier to control, and then attach the harness to the line and send your mobile device up to start taking photos.

The Sparrowscope uses an easy-to-fly kite, so even if you're not a kite-flying expert, you shouldn't have too many problems. The harness uses a three-point design, meaning that if one strap fails there are two more to hold your phone in place. And the frame that takes the harness up the line is designed so that regardless of the angle that your kite plummets ground-wards, your phone shouldn't hit it. You won't need to catch it in your hands.

You'll need two devices, both running the Sparrowscope app, to operate the Sparrowscope: one in the harness and one on the ground. The one in the harness will be your picture-taking device; it will also send tone pattern signals to the tilt-pan motors through its headphone jack, allowing you to direct your camera using your device on the ground. The aerial device and the grounded device communicate using a wi-fi generated by a wireless hotspot. The device in your hands will give you a live view of what the aerial device is recording as well as allow you to direct the pan-tilt function to help you get the shots you want.

You can send a fourth or fifth generation iPod Touch (running iOS 5 or later), an iPhone 4 or later, or an Android phone running 4.0 or later up into the sky. On the ground, you've a greater range of device options:

• a third, fourth, or fifth generation iPod Touch running iOS 5 or later
• an iPhone 3GS or newer
• any iPad model running iOS 5 or later
• an Android phone running 4.0 or later
• an Android tablet running 4.0 or later.

Barbut needs to raise $75,000 (Canadian) from his Kickstarter campaign to bring kite photography to the masses through the Sparrowscope. The cheapest pledge that you can make and get your hands on a kite and harness rig is $249 (Canadian). As luck would have it, the project is launching on a day when the winds are so high in the UK several train companies have been forced to cancel services because of the risks from falling trees, but you shouldn't let that put you off. This sounds like far too much fun to pass up!

And the winner of the Social Photography cover competition is...

Actually, that should read 'And the winners are...' We received over 200 submissions to the competition to see one of your photos feature on the front cover of my next book published by the Ilex Press. There were landscapes, portraits, and macros, wildlife, architectural, and street photography shots. Some were in colour, some were in black and white; some people had chosen to apply filters, some hadn't. We were delighted by the number of entries and seriously impressed by their quality. Choosing one winner became such a difficult task that we decided that perhaps two would be a better option. It cut down on the nail-biting and shouty emails. I am very pleased and proud to announce, then, that the two images which will feature on the front cover of Social Photography will be:

by Ben Denison

and

by Elisa Alonso Aller

We chose Ben's photo for its instantly recognisable scene fused with gorgeous colours and great composition. We liked Elisa's for its bold colours and great story. Congratulations, both. We'll be in touch soon to organise the tiresome admin of licences and the rather more exciting receipt of prizes.

Everyone who entered made it a tough job to select a winner; thank you. It really wasn't an easy selection process: you gave us so much to consider. And now Designer Kate has to re-jig the cover design... again!

Getting up close with your iPhone and Olloclip's 3-in-1 macro lens

Last week Olloclip unveiled its 4-in-1 lens in Holidays-special gold and space grey options to match iPhone 5s models. This week it has announced a brand new 3-in-1 macro lens attachment for iPhone 5 and 5s phones. One reversible attachment and one adapter brings 7×, 14×, and 21× magnification to your iPhone photos.

Just like other Olloclip attachments, it works by slotting over your iPhone camera. The 7× and 14× factor magnification options are on one side of the attachment—you switch from 14× to 7× by removing the adapter—the 21× lens on the other. You get two diffuser heads to help soften the light, too.

The 3-in-1 macro lens is available from Olloclip for $70. This one doesn't come in spangly colours, just black. But it does look rather smart.

(Headsup to Engadget)

One month left to enter the Sony World Photography Awards

You've one month left to submit your entries to the Sony World Photography Awards, which will be judged by the panel announced today. W.M. Hunt is chairing the jury of ten, and will be joined by: Ruth Eichhorn, Director of Photography, Geo Magazine (Germany); Johanna Neurath, Design Director for Thames & Hudson publishing (UK); Isabella Icoz, Art Advisor (Turkey); Guy Harrington, Director, Soho Management (UK); Matthew Pillsbury, Photographer (US); Harry Hardie, Panos Pictures/ HERE Press (UK); Suzy Koo, Creative Media Manager, Burberry (UK); Poorna Bell, Lifestyle Editor, Huffington Post and Simon Barnett, Director of Photography, CNN Digital. There's a complete range of categories and competitions for you to enter, depending on whether you're amateur, professional, or a youth. Professional photographers can put themselves up for the $25,000 L'Iris d'Or by submitting a series of photos to any one of 15 categories. Amateurs can enter the Open competition, with a chance of winning $5,000. And three photographers under 20 years old will be chosen as winners of the Youth competition. All the winners will receive kit from Sony, too.

All of the winners and finalists will see their photos exhibited at Somerset House in London from 1 to 18 May 2014. The shortlists will be announced on 4 Febraury, ready for the final judgement and announcements on 30 April 2014.

A few of the entries from the Open competition have been released to get your juices flowing. All of the entry details are available on the World Photography website.

Canon EOS M2 announced in Japan. When next the rest of the world?

Finally! There have been months of rumours and speculation swirling about the upgrade to Canon's mirror-less EOS M camera and at last the great unveiling has taken place. At least, in Japan. The rest of the world must wait to see if Canon has put any guts and determination into this model. When the EOS M was launched last year, I was convinced that a late, single entry into the mirror-less market by Canon would have made it a camera worth waiting for. Canon would crack the mirror-less market and take the photography world by storm. Sadly, I was desperately mistaken when all that one heard about it was how mindbendingly slow the auto-focus was and it felt more like a camera that Canon felt obligated to produce, rather than one it had engineered with heart and soul. I'm not convinced that the EOS M2 is going to rekindle any verve or sparkle in the notion of a Canon mirror-less camera, either.

The M2's new Hybrid CMOS AF II auto-focus system is meant to be 2.3× faster than that in its predecessor, but the impression that I have is that they'd have to actively try to make it any slower, so this doesn't say very much. I'm seeing a few raised eyebrows that the M2 isn't capitalising on the dual pixel technology seen in the 70D, which makes for smoother and faster auto-focusing when in live view mode.

The M2 still uses an 18 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor powered by a DIGIC 5 processor, but there's now wi-fi and it's approximately 8% smaller than the original EOS M. But why-oh-why when the Sony NEX-6 has a frames-per-second rate of 10, does the EOS M2 languish with 4.6? When you're not producing an entire range of mirror-less cameras, you need your solitary flagship to stand out from the crowd.

Apart from seeing if the auto-focus has improved, there's nothing about the EOS M2 that makes me want to pick it up and try it. There's no sense of excitement or innovation about it. It's coming over as just another camera and dammit, I don't want that.

Engadget is pricing it at ¥84,800 with a kit lens, or ¥64,800 body-only, due out later this month. Those prices equate to roughly $820 and $625, but you should never make straight conversions. When the EOS M2 does reach Europe and the US, it'll likely be more pricey.

Black Friday deals

I've heard a rumour that it's Black Friday. Something about starting Christmas shopping? Or maybe getting deals on your purchases? Here are a the deals and offers that we've heard about. Do keep checking back throughout the day as it'll be updated as and when we hear of more.

Cameras

Most of the big retailers are offering discounts on a vast range of cameras, usually around $100. Ones to look out for include:

• Nikon D3100 with 18-55mm and 55-200mm lens kit from Adorama: $496.95
• Pentax K-50 (white) with 18-55mm lens from Adorama: $546.95
• Canon 60D body-only from B&H: $599
• Olympus OM-D E-M5 with 12-50mm f/3.5-5.6 EZ Zoom lens from Adorama: £1,099

Lenses

Again, lots of lenses on offer from the big retailers. Best to go look for yourself.

• Lensbaby - selective focus lenses that don't break the bank:
• Spark special offer that includes a Lensbaby Spark, 1.6 telephoto adapter, 0.6x wide angle adapter, +4 & +10 macro filter kit, only valid Friday 29 November

Accessories

• Lollipod - the sweetie-coloured, lightweight versatile support devices:
• Buy two, get a third free, valid until Firday 6 December

• Olloclip - attachable iPhone lenses:
• 10% off all purchases before Monday 2 December by entering the code CYBERMONDAY13

• Manfrotto tripods at John Lewis
• 10% off all Manfrotto tripods at John Lewis

Editing

• Adobe Lightroom 5
• Both Adorama and B&H are selling Lightroom 5 for $109

Apps

• Photoristic - the iPad editing app that I reviewed earlier this year which is great for creating your own presets:
• Friday 29 November: 80% off, $0.99
• Satrday 30 November and Sunday 1 December: 55% off, $1.99
• Monday 2 December: 40% off, $2.99

Books

Ilex, the house that publishes many of the books that Haje and I write, has some great deals on e-books over the weekend. Many are half price, and that includes three written by Haje and one written by me. As well as some by Miss Aniela, Lara Jade, and Brooke Shaden, amongst others!

Printing

Fracture (images printed on glass) are offering 50% off gift cards until midnight (EST) tonight.

Just Go Do It: the 30 Day Photo Challenge

Okay, okay, so we're a day late, but this is still a thought provoking photo challenge and a rather lovely run-down to Christmas (if you're of the Christmas-celebrating persuasion). Thirty days, thirty challenges. Go!

It's being run by the people behind the @Just_Go_Do_It Twitter account. They come up with all sorts of creative and inspiring challenges, from sparking you off to try your hand at a poem to mark World Poetry Day or 48 hour challenges to convey a saying in a picture.

Take your photos, share the love on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and any other photo-sharing medium that takes your fancy, and then see what everyone else comes up with. Don't forget to let @Just_Go_Do_it know, and to tag pictures #justgodoit and #30dayphotochallenge, too.

Boomf: your Instagram on a marshmallow

Some things you read about and go 'Yeah!' Some things you read about and go 'Yeaaaah!' And then there are some things that you read about and go 'Yeeeahhhh?' I'm not entirely certain where Boomf's venture into printing your Instagram images on marshmallows leaves me. 'Mmmm...yeaahh..?' For £12, you can have nine marshamallows emblazoned with your very own Instagram shots, ready to toast over a bonfire or melt into hot chocolate. You log in via your Instagram account, select your images (but not the darker ones, they don't come out too well), pays your money, and wait for them to drop through your letterbox. Omnomnom.

What do you reckon, good for children's parties and wedding favours?

At present, Boomf is a UK-only venture, but they are planning on going international at some point; and they only come in vanilla flavour right now but they're cooking some new ones, too.

Now, who's going to be the first to Instagram their Instagram marshamallow?

(Headsup to DesignTaxi)

Update! Now shipping to Europe and North America!

Your photo on the cover of a book?

My newest book is due, many-things-but-mostly-the-weather-permitting*, to be published in April next year. Apart from me signing off on the final proofs, its publishers, the Ilex Press, and I have one outstanding task to complete: selecting a final image to include on the book's front cover mosaic. Seeing as the book is dedicated to the phenomenon of social photography, we—or rather Adam, the Associate Publisher at Ilex—couldn't think of a better means of finding the perfect fit than to ask you if you've an image that you would be proud to see gracing the cover of an internationally published book.

As well as having your picture on the front of the book, you'd receive a copy of it (when it's released) as part of your prize. If you're very lucky, Ilex might have something else up its sleeve for you, too.

On a need-to-know basis, you need to know that you have between now and Monday 2 December 2013 to submit an image to the special Ilex Social Photo Flickr pool. The photo must be square format and you must own the copyright to it. The winner will be selected by me and the Ilex Photo team and announced on Friday 6 December 2013. Importantly, you will retain all rights to your image and it will only be used by Ilex on the cover of the Social Photography book and for the purposes of promoting the competition.

If you've any other questions, holler. Otherwise: good luck!

* Delivery of my book Surreal Photography: Creating the Impossible was delayed by a typhoon in the South China Seas earlier this year. More recently, several containers of books were lost to the waves as a result of storms. The loss of books is in no way comparable to the loss of lives, this merely serves to illustrate why we don't have accurate delivery dates.

Palette: a tactile interface to edit your photos

When you're beavering away in your editing suite, converting images to black and white, tweaking the colour balance, and adjusting the levels, how do you work? Graphics tablet? Mouse? Keyboard shortcuts? A mixture? The team behind Palette is looking to provide a new, more tactile means of making adjustments and applying presets to our images. They're hoping that Kickstarter can help bring to life their customisable, modular, hardware interface for editing. Comprising blocks that fit together like Lego, a palette allows you to edit your images using tactile controls. Different functions are assigned to different controller blocks; these include buttons, sliders, and dials.

If you decide that you need to reconfigure your palette, switching your toy camera preset to a black and white preset, you can do that via the Palette web app.

The Palette team is looking for CA$100,000 in Kickstarter funding. Pledges for Palettes start at CA$99 for the brushed aluminium four module starter kit, comprising a master block, a button, a dial, and a slider. Then come six module apprentice kits and 16 module professional kits as well as some limited edition cherry wood ones, too.

Palette might not be so great for editing on the move, but I like the idea of having physical controls over my edits, rather than relying on mouse, keyboard shortcuts, and trackpad. I also find Palette's flexibility and reconfigurement and expansion capability appealing. It's also worth pointing out that Palette isn't just for photographers: the controllers can be assigned to interact with music production suites and video editing programmes; if you've another idea, get in touch with the team.

Interested? There's a heap more information on Palette's Kickstarter page!

Photo books from Flickr

Flickr's been offering prints, courtesy of Snapfish, for quite some time. Click on the 'More' button and you can turn your images into prints in a variety of sizes. There are options to create canvases, calendars, and collages, too. It's relatively simple, without any faffing around uploading pictures that you've already uploaded to a print site. From today, you can create a photo book straight from a Flickr set: you can send an existing set straight to print, or you can create a new set especially for book binding. There aren't any decisions about paper or bindings to be made: Flickr has done that for you. Books start with twenty pages of premium white lustre-finish proPhoto paper. You can choose between full bleed printing (that's images taking up the entirety of a page) or images with a margin, and it's bound in a hardcover with a matching dust jacket.

Books measure 11 inches by 8.5 inches and cost $34.95 for 20 pages. Add $0.50 for each additional page. At the moment they're only shipping to US addresses, but that should be changing soon.

Naturally, I had to go and have a play around to see what the process was like. It's ludicrously easy. Head to your Sets, choose the set you want to make into a book, hover over it, and click on the book icon. Then you get to rearrange your images into the order you want. When you're happy, hit the checkout button and everything should be good to go.

There aren't decisions about book sizes and paper type to be made, and there are no captioning options, either. The Flickr tools automatically crop and position your images, but you can choose rearrange them or zoom in or out. You know, I quite like those decisions being made for me. Choice is good, but too much choice can be overwhelming, especially when you don't know about the technicalities. I've an odd feeling that this, along with the photos already being uploaded, will make me more likely to create a photo book and not less. But I'll have to wait.

I did, however, encounter a problem: there was a note telling me that my images weren't of print quality. Thinking this was very odd—all of the photos in the sets I'd tried to turn into photo books had been taken with a dSLR and were definitely of sufficient resolution—I dropped a quick email to the Flickr team. They've suggested that it's because I have some iPhone images in my photo stream and it shouldn't be a problem.

Anyway, you can check out the Flickr Photo Book video yourself, if you fancy:

Adobe extends its Photoshop + Lightroom subscription offer to everyone

In September, Adobe announced that, for a limited time, owners of Photoshop CS3 would be eligible to sign up to a special Photoshop + Lightroom subscription that would cost them only £8.78 ($9.99) a month. I thought it read like a sweetner for the huge numbers of loyal Photoshop users who felt snubbed by the switch to Adobe's subscription-only model. However, it wasn't of any use to anyone who owned Lightroom and felt like trying Photoshop, or was just getting started with Creative Cloud. Now, if you're not too disgusted with Adobe's handling of its hacking fiasco and prepared to trust it with your credit card details, anyone can sign up for this not-bad-value offer, regardless of whether you own CS3 or later.

For £8.78 ($9.99) a month, you will have access to Photoshop, Lightroom, 20GB of cloud storage, and Behance ProSite. However, you must commit to an annual subscription and you must sign up between now and 19:59 GMT on 2 December 2013. (For CS3 owners, you still have until 31 December 2013 to sign up.)

All the details are waiting for you on Adobe's website.