Although my favorite all around do everything PDF App is PDF Expert, I can certainly recognize Apps that are targeted at specific tasks and especially when they're FREE for a limited time. That's where Softsign comes in Softsign is designed to allow you to annotate and digitally sign PDF documents on your iPad, iPod touch and iPhone. It's a Universal App so it plays nicely with both the iPad and iPhone/iPod touch display sizes. You can import PDFs into the App using the Open In command from Mail, Evernote or Dropbox. My Evernote lovers will enjoy the benefit of an integrated Sync with Evernote. Once you have the PDF in Softsign you can draw right on top of it with the built-in tools or insert a signature field. This is great if your PDF is not an official PDF form as you can add Text where ever you need to. You can also highlight text in the PDF document. The signature placement tool is probably one of the best I've seen and I love that it allows you to scale the signature even after you've signed. Mine was a bit too small. Once you've finished editing/signing the PDF you can then save it back to any PDF compatible App as well as Email out to anyone you want. The App has built-in password protection to keep your sensitive documents/contracts secure.

My only minor (very minor) complaint is that while it's possible to undo or clear annotations, those commands are buried in another menu. I'd like to see them on screen at the same time that I'm doing edits so that they are one tap away. Otherwise, you can't beat this App for what it does and you certainly can't beat it while it's FREE. Don't wait! Grab it today here from the 

Side note: At first I couldn't get Softsign to show up in the Open In command on my iPad. I tried it on my iPhone and it was fine so I knew the App worked. I even went as far as to delete it and reinstall it. Still nothing. Then it dawned upon me that perhaps there's a limit to the number of "Open In" apps that will show up in the list. So I tired deleting one of my other Apps that can handle PDFs and another one popped in the list that wasn't there before (not Softsign). I deleted another App and Softsign then Appeared in the list. Apparently the limit is 10 Apps for any one document type. This is an iOS limit and not the fault of Softsign.

I started using my iPhone to create model releases a few years ago Photographer's Contract Maker. The idea was great to have them digitally sign and generate a PDF emailed both the model and me all directly from my iPhone. While I still do that same thing today on my iPad, I realized that there are so many other uses for paperless contracts and documents that go beyond just model/property releases. While I do use Easy Release for my Model Releases, I use Contract Maker ELITE for everything else. With this App you can create just about any custom form, contract, agreement, etc. that you will ever need. The number of available customizable fields is staggering. You can choose from over 500 of them to build your multiple page contract. 

My favorite use is print releases

I have a standard print release form that a client can use to show a service provider that they have the rights to have the image(s) printed. I was doing these by hand in Adobe InDesign, generating PDFs and emailing them to the client or print provider. Then I realized that I could be doing these on my iPad. Within minutes I had it setup by copying my existing Print Release's text into the App and then I added the custom fields that I needed. Now whenever I need to generate on one of these I can do so right on the spot and PDF it to whoever needs it. Although I haven't started renting my out just yet, I'm sure when the time comes I will create a rental agreement that the renter has to sign. You guessed it. I'll be doing that agreement as well in Contract Maker ELITE. 

The Bottom Line

For anyone (not just photographers) that need to generate agreements/contracts or other forms and you want the ability to customize it extensively, Contract Maker ELITE is the "Best App" The new Font formatting Placeholders address my longest standing complaint of the contracts looking to "plain". It was also great that the developer worked in my feature requests of letting us create 2 column contracts as well as Contracts that can be forced to fit on one page (if you like). He even added GPS place holders so that you can have the geo location automatically added to the Contract for where it was signed. There is a lot to love about this App.

You can get Contract Maker ELITE for $19.99 here from the 

Recently I reviewed a new business card reader by Readdle that uses OCR to translate the picture of the business card that you take to text. OCR is not perfect and therefore will usually require some manual checking, verifying and corrections. These corrections are made by you, a human. What if you could hand a stack of business cards to your Administrative Assistent and have him/her enter them for you? If you've got an Admin, then you probably can. For the rest of us it's up to us to get our Contacts entered on our own. One of my readers suggested that I take a look at CardMunch, so I did. 

CardMunch uses humans

The big difference between CardMunch and all the other Business Card Reader Apps is that when you take the picture of the business card with CardMunch, it uploads to a LinkedIn powered service that employs real human beings to transcribe the business card, proof read it and then send it back down to your iDevice with a push notification to let you know it's done. Best of all it's FREE! Wow! Once you upload the photo of the card via the App it can take anywhere from 10-20 minutes on average to get the transcribed card back. However, in every one that I've tried to date they have come back 100% correct requiring no further editing on my part. You are required to have a free LinkedIn account to use the App. Since the cards are being transcribed by humans it doesn't matter how complex the card is in terms of hard to read graphic backgrounds that would confuse the OCR based solutions. Once you get the transcribed card back down into the App you can then choose to add it to your iOS Contacts or just keep it in the app. Bonus Tip: When you turn your device to landscape orientation it gives you a cover flow style view of all your scanned cards. Cool!

Sounds great! What's the downside?

While this is very magical and seems perfect, there is one bit of concern and that is that you are submitting your business cards/contacts to a 3rd party. This may be a concern to those who have Privacy issues in general. 

You can get CardMunch for Free here from the 

It is always nice to be able to participate in online meeting from wherever you are on any decide that you are on. The GoToMeeting app allows you to attend a GoToMeeting meeting or a GoToWebinar webinar from your iPad or iPhone. The application allows you to join and participate in a meeting. You will be able to see what is being shared as well as the attendee list (if the presenter has made that available). A major disadvantage to the GoToMeeting app is that it doesn’t offer the ability to host a meeting directly from the app. Joining a meeting works perfectly, however running one is impossible. Part of this reasoning might come down to the fact that GoToMeeting is, unlike Acrobat Connect, geared towards sharing your screen and to the far extend your webcam. Neither of these have up until very recently made much sense on an iPad (screen sharing is just not possible). Now that Apple has added a camera to the iPad 2, I want to see this app updated to support it.

Conclusion

If you participate in a fair few number of GoToMeeting meetings I would definitely get this app. Having it adds the opportunity of not having to sit in front of your computer to participate in the meeting. The app however is nothing that should make you think about switching from another online meeting provider.

The good folks over at Readdle (makers of my favorite PDF App for iPad – PDF Expert) have released a business card scanner App for iDevices. As a public presenter I get my fair share of business cards handed to me at events. When I get back to my hotel room or home if I don't deal with them right then and there I will have no idea later why I even have that person's card. I'm a Contacts freak! I'm always maintaining and updating my Contacts on a regular basis (one of the keys to my success). However, I hate manual data entry. I've used other business card reading Apps in the past (my past favorite being Business Card Reader). While I was content with my past choice, I decided to give the Readdle App a try since they did such a good job with their PDF apps. You start the process by taking a picture of the business card with your iDevice camera. Then you decide if the picture is good enough or retake it. Next your tap the process button to begin the OCR.

Accuracy is the key

The card above needed a correction to one digit in the phone number and a dot added in the email address. This is likely due to the small italicized type on the card.

Let me start this off by saying that NO BUSINESS CARD READING APP IS PERFECT at reading all business cards. Some cards will scan 100% accurate (rare), most will need minor tweaks/corrections and some will be easier just to enter by hand. It all depends on the source card. Cards with clean easy to read type will work best. Cards with fancy or photographic backgrounds will be the hardest. Card Scanner Pro uses the ABBYY OCR engine, which is well known for its accuracy. This helps, but again it will depend on the source card.

Garbage in, Garbage out!

The card above is an example of one that just won't work well with these Apps.

Other features

Card Scanner Pro offers the ability to choose your Language up front. This helps when dealing with International contacts. Once you get the card scanned in and made any corrections that needed to be made, the next thing will what you can do with the card? Card Scanner Pro offers the ability to store the card in its internal card holder as well as send it to your Contacts on your iDevice. If you're syncing with your computer/MobileMe/iCloud then your New Contact (business card) will end up in your Address Book on your computer too. I also like the fact that Card Scanner Pro offers the ability to add the contact to one of your pre-defined Groups too. A must for me! While these are the features I'd expect, I actually would like to see a few more. I'd like to see a Universal version for iPad too. Granted this App will work on an iPad 2 with a camera, but I'd like to see it in the native size. It would also make doing corrections easier with the larger screen, keyboard, etc. It would also be nice to see some social networking tie ins such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+ etc. to lookup and compare info with.

The Bottom Line

Card Scanner Pro is definitely a contender. It's stable (haven't had a single crash, which isn't always the case with Apps in this category), and does a good job at what it does. I like that it can show you the original card on demand when you're editing a particular entry and can't tell what the OCR was trying to read. This is great for not having to keep the paper card. If you don't have a business card reader App or not happy with your current one, Card Scanner Pro is worth a look.

You can get Card Scanner Pro for $6.99 here from the 

We're on iOS 4.x and there are a few things that still haven't been implemented into Apple's Mobile OS. To this day the built-in Mail client doesn't have any support for multiple Email Signatures. While you can certainly create multiple email accounts, the default email signature for each of them will still be "Sent from my iPhone" or "Sent from my iPad", etc. You can change this signature to whatever you want it to say including clever messages like "Sent from my iPhone, typos and all". However, what you can't do is assign a different signature to each email account or have a selection of signatures to automatically insert into an email message. I have 5 different email signatures that I use regularly on my MacBook Pro, but have no access to those signatures on my iDevices.
 

Email Signature Pro Saves the Day

My good friend Sarah K noticed that my signature coming from my iPad 2 was pretty generic and turned me on to Email Signature Pro. Email Signature Pro allows you to create up to six custom signatures complete with not only text, but also your photo, a second custom image, as well as social media icons complete with active hyperlinks. As a matter of fact while all of this is doable on the desktop, it's so much easier to create these signatures in the App.
Once you create your custom signature(s) you can then launch the app and tap one button to copy any one of your signatures to the clipboard. Then you can switch to Mail or any other App and paste it in. This is handy when replying to an email. However, if you are creating a new email from scratch you can tap the "insert Signature into New Email" button for the signature you want to use and the App will generate a new email (either in the App or using the Mail client-your choice) complete with your custom signature right in the body of the email. You can also export your custom signatures to your desktop/webmail client with images and links.
 

While the App is really slick and provides all the features I want, I do have a few gripes. First off there is no native iPad support. Don't worry, the App works just fine on the iPad, but it would be nice to have it in native iPad size. My second and larger gripe is that the App crashes a lot. I have found that when switching screens if you have an image setup and you don't wait for that image to display the app will almost be assured to crash. Luckily everything is preserved and all you have to do is re-launch it. Also you would probably only see this crash during the creation/editing of your signatures and not during the day-to-day use. I'd really like to see this bug(s) fixed and the App updated to be a lot more stable. My last couple of suggestions to the developer would be to spruce up the social media icons a bit. The colors seem very muted and I'd also like to see a sizing option for the custom graphic. It appears to only support one size and it's a bit too large for my taste (I know that clients usually say, "make the logo bigger!" However, it's not always what we want).

Overall Email Signature Pro provides a feature that should be built-in to iOS. Until Apple builds this in I'll be using Email Signature Pro.

You can get Email Signature Pro for $4.99 here from the 

Just like Terry, when I look for a new App it is to solve a problem, or entertain me. After all why else would you want an App? It has to do one or the other otherwise I’m not interested. The other day I was at a photoshoot without my laptop and I needed to look at and move a file on the backend of my WordPress website. I had my iPad, and my iPhone with me. This was definitely a problem that I wanted to solve with a quality App. After a few quick searches I found FTP On The Go. There were two versions, Free and the Pro $9.99 version. I went with the Pro version because I wanted an App that worked on the iPhone as well as the iPad (universal binary). Only the Pro version is a universal binary. The free version is not designed for the iPad’s larger screen.  This App has the look and feel of Fire FTP, my desktop FTP client.  FTP On The Go does absolutely everything I need and more.

Functionality

The main things that I needed from an FTP client on my iOS device had to do with viewing, moving, and deleting files from my directory. There are a lot more features contained within this App however I simply don’t use them. Upon firing this App up you have to provide your ftp server address, your user name, and your password. Once you hit connect you will see the familiar screen similar to the one you see on your desktop FTP client, and the image you see above. From here you can access each folder within your directory, as well as  the files contained within those folders. You can add any files to the FTP directory that you have saved on your iPad as you would with a normal desktop Client. You click on the Apps tab within iTunes to add files to the iPad. Along with adding files you can also save any file from your FTP directory to your iPad within the App.

Great things that I don’t use

I’m not a programmer. I don’t do any text editing of the code within my site. If I wanted to however, and if I wanted to do it on my iPad, this App is the one to do it. It offers a built in text editor that allows you to download, edit and re-upload the text file right to your site. Also built in is a browser allowing the user to view the changes within the App. On the iPad, the App allows you to view and edit many files at once.

FTP On The Go Pro is for You

This App is perfect for anyone who wants to access, and/or edit their FTP directory. With all of the built in features including automatic image resizing, smart replace protecting your files from being corrupted if an upload is interrupted. This is the most full featured FTP App available in the iTunes store. If you have a need to access your files from your iOS device, this is the App for you.

Download FTP On The Go Pro from the iTunes store for your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch for $9.99 here:

I actually began my consulting business many years ago setting up FileMaker databases for clients. Back then I would have definitely considered myself to be a power user. I looked at each client's needs as a challenge on how I could not only solve their problems with FileMaker Pro, but also automate as much of their workflow as possible. While I'm no longer a consultant, I'm still a FileMaker Pro user and I use it to manage my non-profit organization MacGroup-Detroit, Inc. The database I built years ago still gets the job done. It's in need a face lift and I'm sure I can take advantage of some of the new features that have been added to FileMaker Pro over the years, but I haven't really needed to fix it up because it just works!

Now I can access my database on my iOS devices

FileMaker Go comes in two flavors. There's an iPad version and an iPhone/iPod touch version. I opted for the iPad version simply because it makes more sense to do this kind of work on the larger iPad screen. However, make no mistake about it, if you need FileMaker Pro database access on your iPhone or iPod touch, there's an App for that too! While I've been anticipating this app for some time now, I'm actually glad that they (FileMaker, Inc.) didn't rush it. FileMaker Go is AMAZING! From the moment I launched it on my iPad, I knew then that this was going to be a great App. I love it when a developer pays attention to detail. For example, when you launch it you'll have the local databases (the ones actually installed on your iPad) on the left and any FileMaker Pro databases running on the network on the right. Since I figured that installing my database on the iPad would probably work just fine (just like the Bento app), I was more interested in the networking abilities. So I fired up my FileMaker Pro database on one of my Mac desktop computers and then went to the iPad. The iPad (FileMaker Go) saw it right away and was able to open it wirelessly without any problems. 

I can do everything I need

If you were to ask me what would I expect to be able to do with an iPad version of FileMaker Pro? I would say that I want to be able to add records, find records, edit records, delete records and switch layouts. FileMaker Go not only does these things, but the UI (user interface) is well thought out. I can see this App along with the iPad being an inventory, order taker, evaluator, or administrative assistant's dream come true. Of course there are lots of other use cases too, but those immediately came to mind. For anyone that needs to access THEIR data in the palm of their hand, I can't think of a better solution. FileMaker Go is not for new database creation. You're better off building the databases on your computer anyway. 

What about the price?: The price of the iPad version is $39.99 and while that will put some of you into sticker shock, it's really not bad when you consider the possibilities and target (business) market. The iPhone/iPod touch version is only $19.99. My only wish is that for those willing to pay the $39.99 for the iPad version, it should be a + (plus) App that runs both on iPads and iPhones. That would feel more fair to me. As it stands now if you want to run this on both an iPad and iPhone, you would have to either buy both, or buy the iPhone version and not take advantage of the iPad's native size. Otherwise, I don't have any issues with the prices being charged. You either need this kind of app or you don't and if you're just a consumer (not a business user), then you're probably better suited with the Bento App. 

The Bottom Line

Other than a couple of minor layout glitches in my database, FileMaker Go did a phenomenal  job representing my exact FileMaker Pro layouts on my iPad. I found the App easy to use and there really isn't anything I can think of that I would ask for. I know that some of you are going to be upset because there is no printing. However, that's not a limitation of the App, it's a limitation of the iOS. Although an Export/Print to PDF would be nice. At least that way you could share a report more easily on the go. If you're a business user or you deploy FileMaker Pro Apps, this is a must have for you and your clients!

You can get FileMaker Go for iPad here from the 

You can get FileMaker Go for iPhone/iPod touch here from the 

As a presenter the one thing I'm always concerned with is staying on time. Although I'm usually doing my presentation from my computer and there is a nice clock in the upper right corner I just can't simultaneously concentrate on my presentation and do the math on how much time is left from the current time. I need a timer. The iPhone has a nice built-in clock App that has a timer. However, it's not designed to keep the screen on the whole time and it also gives you no intermediate warnings (like 5 minutes left, 2 minutes left, etc.). It just sounds off once the time is up.

SpeakerClock mimics those big red TED clocks

I like SpeakerClock because it's simple, big, easy to read and keeps the display on the whole time. So at anytime during the presentation I can look down at my iOS device and see exactly how much time I have left. To use the App you just launch it and use your finger to drag across the display to set the time (00:00 to 99:30). So say you set it for 30:00 minutes. Then you just tap the display when your presentation starts to begin the countdown. As you get close to zero, the green light will go to yellow (3 minutes left) and then finally it will go to red (1 minute left). This is to let you know visually that it's time to wrap it up.

SpeakerClock works both portrait and landscape and is a universal App for native support on all iOS devices including iPad. It really looks great on the big iPad display.

It's great as is, but I want a couple more features. There is no option for an audible cue. Also there is no way to configure when the traffic light changes from green to yellow to red. I'd like to set the yellow warning at 10 minutes left and the red warning at 5 minutes left. I'd like the option of having a 10 minutes left beep and a 5 minutes left beep. Aside from those minor things, this App is AWESOME and I'll be using it from here on out. It's also great at helping me keep to the 10 minute YouTube limit.  

UPDATE: Thanks to a tip from Twitter follower Karsten Warner, it appears you can adjust the traffic light intervals by first swiping/dragging the time to when you want say the yellow light to come on (for me 10 minutes) and then hold down the yellow light for a few seconds to set it. Then swipe/drag the timer again to set your red light interval (for me that would be 5 minutes) and hold down the red light a few seconds to set it. Very cool and thanks again Karsten!

There is the option to do an in-App purchase for 5 additional presets for $0.99. The default preset starts you off at 18:00 minutes.

You can get SpeakerClock here from the 

See a video here on how it works

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StFC_aM3JMo

At the end of April I compared my top two picks for Apps that let you do model (property, etc.) releases right on your iPhone. Back then I challenged both developers to take the great apps that they had created and add just a few missing things to make their Apps the "Ultimate App." Well today, I get the pleasure of reviewing the first major update out of the gate by Michael Shiffler and it's actually a NEW App called Contract Maker Pro. I have to give Michael credit for not only "listening" to my advice and implementing every single thing I asked for, but also for going beyond what I was asking for and developing a great new "multi-purpose business tool!"

Totally Customizable Contracts

Photographer's Contract Maker (PCM) was already ahead of the competition in terms of the number of placeholders (fields) that you could insert throughout your Contract, however, this new Pro version blows away everything else out there. Not only do you get all the same types of placeholders as with PCM, but now you get 10 "Custom" text fields that you can assign to whatever data you want to capture, 5 Roller fields (you know the kind that give you the wheel to spin to select a value), 6 custom checkboxes and even a Counting Number placeholder to automatically increment the value (ie. Contract Number). You even get to choose between 5 different fonts to format your contract in. This goes way beyond model and property releases. The idea here is that this is not only a great tool for Photographers and Videographers, but it's also great for ANYONE that needs to generate a totally customized contract and have clients sign off on them electronically on the spot.

I got what I wanted! – One of the things that I really hoped for the most in the update was the ability to easily add a photo on the spot to the contract. Maybe it's a shot of the model you just photographed or a drivers license to verify age, etc. They added this ability, while still maintaining the ability to pull the photo from your Contacts. Speaking of Contacts, you can import them as you need them from your Address book and they stay there! You can use them again and again going forward without having to hold on to the old contracts. They also added a custom logo feature with an ON/OFF switch so that I can turn it OFF on the contracts that it doesn't belong on. They even implemented the "shake to clear the screen" on the signature panel if you want to start over. 

You can get it here from the App Store:  

What about a native iPad version?

Although this App works on the iPad, it doesn't yet take advantage of the iPad's screen natively. While at first I envisioned that I'd want to run my "model release" app on the iPad, in actuality I prefer doing them on my iPhone for one simple reason. On the iPhone I can snap a photo and immediately include it on the contract.  Doing the same thing on the iPad would require multiple steps since the iPad doesn't have a camera. Now with that said, I can certainly see someone that doesn't require the ability to take a photo on the spot, wanting an iPad version and the developer's ears are open. So you can chime in with your thoughts about it in the comments below. For me it's a non issue and even though I had an iPad version of the the competitor's App, I still did it on my iPhone.

The Bottom Line

This is a MUST have for Photographers! It's also the most customizable App out there and the fact that it supports contracts up to 5 pages means that it should work for just about anyone. So whether you're a photographer or not, if you have a need to do digital contracts this is your app! Although there are customization features galore, I'd still like to see a little more work done in the formatting of the final release. Currently there's no way to see if your release spills over onto a second page until you actually generate one to test. A minor thing, but hey since they did so much work on everything else I can nitpick a little

The fact that they implemented every single feature I wanted (and features I hadn't even thought about) earns this App my coveted 5 Star Rating! I can't wait to use it on my next photo shoot!

Yes it can be awkward signing with your finger so get a stylus!

If you're going to be a doing a lot of these, you might want to make an investment in a iPhone stylus to make it easier for your clients to sign. I got one of these and I LOVE IT! Makes it so much easier to sign!