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> If I need alternate versions of files I just save them with version numbers.

As a designer/programmer, I completely agree.

As a programmer, the idea of saving multiple copies of a file with different versions numbers just sounds awful.

But when designing in photoshop, theres rarely a need for a full version control system since I usually only have 5-6 PSDs of each iteration per design (or logos/sites/etc) and at that scale its easily manageable.

If version control was built into photoshop, it would be nice but the important thing is its not a need I have and I wouldn't necessarily seek this type of product out.

* But when designing in photoshop, theres rarely a need for a full version control system since I usually only have 5-6 PSDs of each iteration per design (or logos/sites/etc) and at that scale its easily manageable.*

I feel like the word "version" means completely separate things to a programmer talking about (d)vcs and to a designer talking about mockups. To a programmer, version control is more likely to mean revisions of the same file as it evolves and is changed. To a designer, a version is a distinct mockup that represents a new look.

(Sure, a programmer may rewrite something, and a designer will tweak something. But, even then. Different words are used to describe what took place.)

Man, this space is filling up so fast. We're working on a similar product, we're funded and a little further along (shameless plug: http://www.revisu.com). When we started working on this, there was no one in this space. Now there are a ton of offerings!

I think you hit the nail on the head with regard to what designers need from version control. We bill ourselves as Dribbble + Github for creative teams exactly for the reasons you describe.

Friendly advice:

I would really like to find out what revisu does and how it works without signing up. An intro video would be ideal, or at least a much more detailed feature list and screenshot walk-through.

Thanks for the advice. We've been fortunate that we've had a huge user base to test with initially, so we haven't put very much work in to our public-facing stuff. More to come on this...

I agree with joemoon, and I also advise you to annouce what are the OS supported. So I didn't register.

It's a web app. Pretty OS agnostic.

Ah good to know, while it looks like a web app I didn't see any mention about it (did I miss it?) But then another question arises, that means I have to go there and upload the new version?

Hey Kerry,

Thanks for your feedback! We've talked to a few designers and it seems like everyone has a slightly different workflow. There are definitely people who manually save different files as you do and some more hardcore designer/developers who use git to manage versioning. We think there's a middle ground in between where you don't have to think about versioning and it just happens in the background.

We've hidden it in the demo but we've baked in collaboration as well. You can create a group for your team or even show it off publicly, a bit like Dribbble. The benefit of using Pixelapse is that you can learn how a design was created from start to finish. Like you said, not all designers necessarily work with other designers, but there's definitely collaboration and conversations with managers or developers or other stakeholders who may not be design/tech savvy. We want to save you from the cycle of exporting the psd, emailing the copy to a bunch of people, getting feedback and having to repeat as you incorporate the feedback. We're still thinking about different ways to expand and move forward and doing a Dribbble + Github may well be where we ultimately end up. :)

The functionality that you've outlined in your second paragraph wasn't obvious to me and I'd be interested in hearing more about that. I've been considering using GitHub:FI (I think it's called something else now) for a while now and their image diffs are helping to swing me in that direction. My first reaction to your service was that it was a nicer version of that without the rest of GitHub and I assume a designer friendly upload interface.

Sounds like you're aiming at teams and small ad agencies? Is that correct? I do like the idea of being able to share the versions as it progresses with other stakeholders. That is valuable. I didn't grep that from the demo. Admittedly I didn't poke around too much, I spent a few minutes on the site.

Is this for web design teams or mostly traditional media teams (Packaging, branding, print)? If the former, how do the developers work with it? If the latter, I like the functionality you've described.

I apologize if these questions and my critiques are too early in your dev cycle, I realize that you just released this (And it does look well polished!). I really just have an interest in this space and would like to see something work for my needs.

Your feedback is great! Our initial goal is to focus on web design teams because that's what we have the most experience with. As a designer, I can share a permalink either to a particular revision or all the revisions with a developer and he can pull the assets and incorporate them back into the codebase. We don't have too much experience with traditional media teams so we're not sure how the workflow is different but we'd love to learn more. Please email me: shravan@pixelapse.com and I'd be happy to chat more.

I've been somewhat involved with the development of http://halftoneapp.com - they focus on collaboration amongst team members and getting feedback from clients.

I agree with you on the collaborative part. Add in a "deviantart" component, and you got a killer product for designers.