F.A.Q. - Frequently Asked Questions

ChocoFlop... What for a name is this? Did you notice it sounds like a toy or some kind of cereals for fat kids?

The name may sound like a toy but the product isn't. Originally I thought I'd call the program GigaFlop but that was a bit too common and of course it was rather bad for Googling. Just type ChocoFlop in a a search engine and you'll end up on this page or somewhere else on this website. That's the point. But there is a 'logical explanation'. So Flop stands for the GigaFlops that you can get from your graphics card thanks to Core Image and Choco because it'll be as sweet as chocolate! Plus since it's a 100% native Cocoa application, the result can only be chocolate. See it all makes sense now! Oh well, maybe not, but it sounds funny. Some people say it is aimed at becoming a total flop, public-wise, too but I'll do my best for them to be wrong. As for fat kids, they are harder to kidnap.

What's the pricing scheme?

The idea is to make ChocoFlop affordable for home users. Currently since we are in alpha stage, you can chose the price you want to pay. Starting at 14.99 EUR. There is a shop now

What are the limitations of the free version?

Basically none. There is a small (and easy) math question everytime you save. Consider purchasing it though, since it encourages me to keep on working on it.

Will you support file format XYZ

See features pages for a list of currently supported formats. If there is enough demand for a particular format (such as PSD with layers) then I'll probably do my best to support them, but remember I am not building and image conversion tool and it takes time to support every format out there. Out of the box ChocoFlop already supports most of today's common web/print formats.

What is the capital city of Botswana?

10 PRINT "Gaborone"

What does Gaborone have to do with an image editing application?

Nothing but for some reason, it's in the F.A.Q. As a consequence, many people ask about this, therefore it's a frequently asked question and deserves to be here. 20 GOTO 10

Why don't you work faster, when will this be ready for the public ?

While I would love to dedicate entirely to this, this is only a project I can work on during my free time. Bear with me (or send me a few millions).

Can I help?

Report bugs using the appropriate system (e-mail is ok also, but it makes it harder for me).
Make a donation. This will get you a free license when the times of licensing comes.

Can I translate the application in my language ?

Not right now. But your help will be very welcome and somehow rewarded when a stable release shows up. I'll obviously do the french translation myself since this is my language.

Is this supposed to compete with Photoshop ?

Not really, unless you are using a pirated version of photoshop, in which case it is nicer and legal to use ChocoFlop. ChocoFlop could rather be a competitor for entry level apps such as Adobe PhotoShop Elements. It is meant to be quick to launch, fast to use, but not necessarily suitable for large high-end graphics. In the end, you decide. If you have a MacBook Pro and are only using reasonably sized images and target the web rather than the print industry, then it could be a viable competitor (once stable).

Why are there such speed differences between macs with a similar processor?

ChocoFlop is based on Apple's CoreImage, which uses the power of the GPU (ie. your graphics card). An iMac or a MacBook Pro will therefore be much faster than a mac mini or a macbook. Sadly, Intel's integrated chipset (in mac minis and non-pro macbooks) is really a terrible GPU. Short said: if 3D games are slow on your mac, ChocoFlop will be too, since they rely on the same technology. If you own a mac with an upgradeable graphics card you will see a great difference between pluging in a cheap and a powerful graphics card.

Why don't you open-source it ?

Let's face the truth, it's been in development for quite a while and it could benefit from a dedicated teams of individuals commited to make it better. True indeed. That said, ChocoFlop is kind of my hobby. I do it for fun. And I don't think managing a team and reviewing patches would be fun. Moreover the project isn't ready source-wise for public consumption. History has shown that releasing crappy source code to the public has only one positive effect: it encourages people to start from scratch. Trust me I speak from experience.

However, if I die a violent, painful, premature death before making other plans I'd like the source to be released as a zip file on this site. So if you're both an opensource advocate and a cruel, cold-blooded killer, this might be an opportunity.