Help me pick the right name for my software

[vlastimil]

Hi all,

I know I suck at naming my software, so maybe this time I should ask before making another bad decision.

The program is an image/photo/animation editor (I mentioned it in this topic, when I was looking for beta testers). Until now, it was called Paint.COM, which I thought was funny, but apparently it wasn't to some people. I decided to change it.

Here are some candidates:

RealWorld Paint - unimaginative, but fitting my other tools. Probably hard to remember.

Paint Quest - painting is an adventure, a holy quest :-). It has a gaming feel and could appeal to younger people. I was also thinking to eventually make interactive tutorials, where the users will be given tasks to fulfill, but that would not be done in the near future.

Paint++ - it seems there already is a software called Paint++, but it looks like 1:1 copy of the old Windows Paint and it is likely to die. So, the name is more or less still free. Would probably appeal to programmers.

Qaint - Q = P+1 or maybe Quaint (new English word I learned today, yay!). It sounds good to me, but I am unsure if I can become #1 in Google for the quaint keyword. People would probably misspell qaint. Also, the relation to painting is not straightforward.

P-Paint - short version of Portable Paint.

5Ps - Portable + 3 other adjectives starting with P + Paint.

or...

Thanks for any opinions or suggestions.

[mouser]

"RealWorld Paint" makes the most sense to me,

but I am a notoriously bad software namer so i won't even try to suggest any names, however i can help rule some out.

Anything with punctuation should go, especially with the ++.  Basically makes it hard to search for.

And searchability is the bottom line i think when looking for a new name.  So that rules out the 3 letter 5ps.

[mahesh2k]

How's "Paintamin" ?

[Ath]

"RealWorld Paint" makes the most sense to me,

-mouser (September 24, 2011, 08:59 AM)

+1, shorted to RW Paint as on the website, still makes sense

[Renegade]

I would love to participate, but please have a look at my software names. You'll quickly see that I have nothing worthwhile to contribute.

And searchability is the bottom line i think when looking for a new name.

And that is the largest part of why my software names suck. Well, for search engines they are tasty, but that's about it.

The only thing that I can possibly suggest is something like:

<company name> <product name>

or

<product name> for <purpose>

Slick names are great if you have a marketing department that can push stuff for you. Sucky names that are search engine friendly are for poor little developers that have to do it all themselves.

[40hz]

I agree with Renegade. 

Cute and clever only work if you have the marketing resources to promote it. Otherwise, it only serves to confuse people and make your product harder to find with search.

The other problem is that, when it comes to product names, nothing is more common than clever. So odds are somebody will have already thought of it or be using it if it has any logic to it. And possibly have (or claim to have) it trademarked, or copyrighted, or whatever. Sometimes they even get ugly about it (esoecially if theyre crazy to begin with) and start playing DMCA takedown games once you start using it. (Been there.)

In general, clever is more trouble than it's worth.

Renegade's suggestion for YOURNAME + a functional descriptor is what I'd go with in a similar situation.

[cranioscopical]

vlastimil, be aware that "Quaint" can have a somewhat old-fashioned, almost disparaging connotation in modern usage..

I strongly agree that you should use 'RW' for thematic continuity.

RW Imagin (with apologies to 40hz  )  ?

RW Imaged  ?

RW PaintKing ?

Best of luck, whatever you choose!

[Darwin]

I vote for RealWorld Paint as well.

[Curt]

Please take a minute to reflect on your other programs' names: Photos, Icon Editor, and Cursor Editor. I know that Photos was not named Photo Editor (like any other photo editor), but the new baby/program should not be named too differently from the brothers; they are family. Photos... Paints?

[vlastimil]

Thanks for the responses! It seems like almost everyone directly or indirectly recommends

RealWorld Paint

or a variation that uses another imaging-related word instead of Paint. It is likely that I will pick this name in the end, and it seems like a natural choice.

But I feel like I am not in control, like the name just happened, not like I chose it. RealWorld is kind of random - I started with 3D editor years ago that was supposed to be called RealWorld Designer, because VirtualWorld Designer was too ordinary, and it stuck. For me, it is a bit hard to pronounce (maybe native speakers do not have this problem) due to the amount of Rs and Ls. The RW is even longer (R-double-U). I have hard time imagining someone recommending the software on the street or in the pub and the other side remembering it correctly. That is the reason I tried to find another name - something that can live without the RealWorld. A general purpose image/animation editor has potentially many more users than an icon editor or a cursor editor and I think an unique and easy to remember name (I can also rank for) could help.

Edit: what would you think about something like RealWorld Paintee?

[40hz]

Edit: what would you think about something like RealWorld Paintee?

-vlastimil (September 24, 2011, 12:14 PM)

Sound hokey - no likee! 

Seriously. No.

[tomos]

For me, [RealWorld] is a bit hard to pronounce (maybe native speakers do not have this problem) due to the amount of Rs and Ls. The RW is even longer (R-double-U). I have hard time imagining someone recommending the software on the street or in the pub and the other side remembering it correctly

-vlastimil (September 24, 2011, 12:14 PM)

this would *not* be a problem with native speakers, but I'm sure you will have a lot of non-native english speakers using the app as well...

[NigelH]

Watch out for the similarity (in name mostly) to Real-Draw
That was the first association that came to mind.

[cranioscopical]

I feel like I am not in control, like the name just happened, not like I chose it. RealWorld is kind of random

-vlastimil (September 24, 2011, 12:14 PM)

Some accidental events turn out to be a godsend. Real World has connotations of practicability and reliability.

FWIW I'm with 40hz…  no paintee, please no paintee — too suckee!

[rgdot]

Mix of the candidates:

RealWorld Paint +

This also hints that this is a newer thing

[tomos]

PaintPlus


maybe not, seems popular with google...

[mouser]

But I feel like I am not in control, like the name just happened, not like I chose it.

welcome to the club.. names once chosen are very hard to escape from.

[MilesAhead]

How about "No Title" from the Ten Years After tune of the same No Name?

Hmmm, some better suggestions... perhaps PhotoCrop? Or Limp instead of Gimp? Perhaps Frodo-Graphic Editor?  Devil's Workshop?