BragIt has announced BragIt HTML Slideshow, a new Lightroom plug-in. Designed for web use, the app makes it possible to create a controllable slideshow with customizable descriptions or story points. It does not require any Flash plug-ins in order to work, and integrates output directly into a web page.
Adobe has posted a free beta of Lightroom 3, the next version of the company's photo workflow software. Mainly intended for professionals, the software handles the import, export and organization of various filetypes, as well as some limited image editing tasks like exposure, colors and curves. Version 3 is said to be a major revision of the software, rebuilt with a new import dialog, new architecture for handling of large libraries, and a new RAW processing engine for enhanced sharpening and noise reduction.
Hasselblad chose Friday to unveil a long-in-progress upgrade to its H System medium format cameras. The H4D is billed as one of the first cameras to have a true off-center autofocus system, known as True Focus. Where even DSLRs often have to first focus and then reposition the camera to get focus significantly away from the center, the H4D has a yaw rate sensor that can detect the horizontal and vertical movement away from the focus point and refocus the lens to compensate.
Apple's Aperture workflow software is losing significant traction with professional photographers, claims Adobe. Citing data gathered by the research firm InfoTrends, Adobe notes that in a 2009 survey, only 12.5 percent of photographers with Macs reported using Aperture for RAW files; by contrast, Adobe's Lightroom software was nearly four times as popular, at 44.4 percent. The figures represent a widening gap, as in 2007, only 26.6 percent chose Lightroom and 14.3 percent chose Aperture.
Several image leaks allegedly show upcoming Leica cameras, the X1 and M9, according to Leica Rumors. Unconfirmed specs point to a full-frame 18.2 megapixel sensor on the M9, up from the current 10 megapixel component. The camera is also claimed to offer improved noise performance at high ISO settings, while adding an SD card slot and a free copy of Adobe Lightroom.
Lightroom, Adobe's workflow tool for photographers, will officially join other programs from the company in going Intel-only. The announcement follows a similar one for the Creative Suite, revealing that its PowerPC support will be phased out in a manner reflecting the switch in Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Apps in the Creative Suite include titles like Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop.
Kubota Image Tools has released the newest addition to its Lightspeed WorkFlow line of products, RPG SpeedKeys. The device is a wireless keypad with programable hotkeys for use in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2. The keypad comes with v3 of Kubota Lightroom Presets, consisting of 29 functions such as develop, export, print and filter. Collections v1 and v2 are also included, bringing the total number of available presets to more than 100.
Adobe has released final versions of the Lightroom 2.4 and Camera Raw 5.4 updates. Both add a significant number of supported cameras to the company's software, such as the Nikon D5000, Pentax K-7, Panasonic Lumix GH1, Sigma DP2, Epson R-D1x and Kodak EasyShare Z980. Compatible Canon cameras now include the Rebel T1i and PowerShot SX1 IS, while Sony offerings include the A230, A330 and A380. Olympus owners can now use files from an E-450 or E-620.
Following the distribution of early release candidate versions, Adobe has posted final editions of its Lightroom 2.3 and Camera Raw 5.3 updates. Both of the patches enable RAW file support for two recent DSLRs, the Olympus E-30 and the Nikon D3X. The Camera Raw update provides support within Photoshop CS4, Photoshop Elements 7 and Premiere Elements 7.
Adobe has posted release candidate updates for two key pieces of photography software, Lightroom 2 and Photoshop Camera Raw. The former handles bulk processing and editing of photos, while the latter expands support for RAW files within Photoshop. Lightroom has been updated to v2.3, and Camera Raw has been pushed to v5.3.
Kensington on Tuesday announced a range of new products, including a hands-free car kit for use with Bluetooth cellphones, its SlimBlade TrackBall mouse and a pair of two space- and energy-efficient notebook chargers. The Bluetooth speaker clips onto vehicle's sun visors and can pair up with three different cellphones and holds three frequently-called phone numbers for each handset. Swapping between the three handsets or dialing any of the pre-programmed numbers is done via pressing a single button. Kensington has integrated noise-cancelling technology for the device that makes calls loud and clear. Two battery packs are included, providing users with 10 hours of talk time.
Adobe has released an update to its Photoshop Lightroom software for organizing and managing photos. Photoshop Lightroom 2.2 adds raw support for seven new camera models including the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and Canon PowerShot G10. The update also includes several refinements such as enhanced performance of the local adjustment tools. In addition, the company said that its Camera Profiles are now available natively within Lightroom 2.2 and are provided automatically as part of this release. As the visual starting point for the raw processing workflow, camera profiles provide flexibility that allows photographers to quickly achieve their desired rendering.
onOne has released the latest version of its image resizing plug-in, Genuine Fractals 6. The update now allows tiling for smaller printers and batch processing. A gallery wrap function has been added, along with support for Adobe Photoshop CS4, Elements, Lightroom 2 and Apple Aperture 2.1. The company claims that its fractal-based interpolation algorithms allow image sizes to be increased by 1000 percent without losing sharpness or detail. The utility also allows images to be cropped to fit a variety of common document sizes.
Adobe today announced updates to Photoshop Lightroom and the Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in. Available immediately as free upgrades for Lightroom 2 and Photoshop CS4 users, the releases provide added raw file support for 15 digital cameras including the Nikon D90, Nikon D700, Canon EOS 50D and Canon EOS 1000D. The Lightroom 2.1 update also includes improvements to Photoshop integration, Web module stability for Microsoft Windows Vista 64-bit operating systems, performance with 64-bit Mac OS X 10.5 Macintosh computers, and Keyword migration from Lightroom. A complete list of improvements is available in the Lightroom update documentation.
Adobe on Tuesday unveiled Photoshop Lightroom 2, a major update to its photo management, tweaking, and presenting software, offering users enhancements such as dual-monitor support, non-destructive localized image correction, and improved search capabilities. Lightroom 2 also marks Adobe's first attempt at a fully 64-bit application, offering improved memory performance when dealing with large image files. Adobe is offering Lightroom 2 for $300, with an upgrade available for $100.
Adobe on Thursday released updates to correct for issues found in Lightroom 1.4 and Camera Raw 4.4 and apologized for the issues caused by the update. The Lightroom 1.4.1 and Camera Raw 4.4.1 updates provide all of the changes included in the original Lightroom 1.4 and Camera Raw 4.1 releases but also include corrections for EXIF metadata, DNG conversion, and JPEG artifact issues that were introduced with the latest updates.
Adobe is already in the middle of developing its Creative Suite 4 series of applications, but Mac users will have to wait behind PC owners in order to take full advantage of their platform, the company has announced. While there is no formal release date planned for any version of CS4, Adobe says that only Windows Vista users will have a completely 64-bit suite at launch, with Mac conversions coming sometime thereafter.
Adobe has debuted the first beta version of Lightroom 2.0, the next iteration of its professional photo workflow software. The program is mainly meant to process RAW files, and can also be used to print images, create slideshows, or publish to the web. Lightroom 2.0 makes several important changes, among these the ability to create new print layouts with multiple sizes of an image on the same page. Users should also be able to sort through images faster, thanks to interface adjustments, and output video to a second monitor.
