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Corner-A has updated their photo-editing program PhotoStyler to v4.5, bringing with it a heavily-revamped interface with a larger picture area and controls on the right. Effects are now layered, and each layer is expandable to bring up parameters.
The Microsoft Office for Mac team has released a new video highlighting Sparklines and photo editing in the forthcoming release. Office for Mac 2011 is due in October and the Office for Mac Blog is attempting to wet customer's appetites with previews of new features. Sparklines, which debuted in Excel 2010 for Windows, arrive on the Mac side in Excel 2011 for Mac. The feature provides numerical graphs that quickly show changes in data over time. They can be generated in cells near corresponding raw data to give fast visual illustrations for numeric data.
Adobe has announced three new software updates, Lightroom 2.6, Photoshop Camera Raw 5.6 and DNG Converter 5.6. Originally posted as trial updates for community testing, the final versions offer added RAW file support for 20 popular camera models including the Nikon D3s, Canon EOS 7D, and Leaf Aptus II 5, as well as DNG support for Leica M9 and Ricoh GXR camera models.
Adobe on Wednesday morning announced Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 (Mac and Windows versions), offering automated and "intelligent" photo-editing software for consumers. Billed by the company as "the perfect" complement to iPhoto, the Mac version of the software offers new options for media management, including all the features in Adobe Bridge CS4 software -- for quick organization with a custom viewing workspace and full-screen preview with one-click close-ups as well as keyword tags and a variety of search options.
Adobe on Monday released the latest version of its PhotoShop Camera Raw 5.5, Photoshop Lightroom 2.5, and DNG Converter 5.5. The updates deliver additional software support for five new popular camera models, such as the Nikon D300s and D3000, the Olympus E-P1, as well as the Panasonic DMC-FZ35 and DMC-GF1. In addition, the new Camera Raw 5.5 plug-in also fixes an issue involving demosaic algorithms in the raw conversion process, for Bayer sensor cameras that have un-equal green response 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 Software this week announced Essentials 2 software for iPhoto, a collection of four easy-to-use software tools to help correct color, creatively blur a photo for dramatic visual impact, add creative borders and resize digital images for high quality large prints. The software tools, the company says, are based on technology used in the professional level onOne Software Photoshop plug-ins PhotoTune 2.2, FocalPoint 1.0, PhotoFrame 3.1 and Genuine Fractals 5. The Essentials 2 for iPhoto software suite provides users of the popular iPhoto image editing and organizing software with four important plug-in solutions to solve common digital imaging problems.
Creaceed on Monday delivered version 1.5 of Hydra as well as a beta Aperture plugin for easy HDR image creation on Mac OS X Leopard. Hydra 1.5, which features an updated imaging pipeline and Aperture integration, gives human eye perception to photographs by creating high dynamic range (HDR) images from a series of regular photographs, either from DSLRs or traditional point-and-shoot cameras. The created image compensates for the limited dynamic range of cameras, the company claims. "In addition, it more closely resembles what is actually seen. Unlike most HDR softwares, Hydra does not require images taken with a tripod." Hydra supports photo resolutions above 20 megapixels and adds support for new RAW and DNG file formats as well as provides OpenEXR export format to further edit the image in other applications.
Acqualia has announced the release of Picturesque 2.0, a major update to what it calls an "image beautifying application." Entirely rewritten for Leopard using Core Animation, Picturesque 2.0 features a redesigned single-window interface, tools for cropping, presets, and the 3D perspective effect. Using an animated "drag and drop"-style interface, Picturesque adds effects, such as 3D perspective, reflection, glow, shadow, curve, and stroke -- all "in less time than it takes to open Photoshop," the company claims. Picturesque can also beautify images in batch, including the ability to resize (i.e., make thumbnails) and apply effects on an entire folder of images, Picturesque 2.0 is available now as a free download and requires Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard or later. Registration is $35, with upgrades from v1.0 priced at $13.
Green Volcano has released Photon 1.1, the first major update to its high-performance digital photo workflow application for Mac OS X. Version 1.1 brings an enhanced caching engine and better filesystem support. Designed for both professional photographers and advanced photography enthusiasts, Photon enables users to review and organize large numbers of photos by focusing on the front-end of the photo workflow process: ingest, review, and culling. Photon's intelligent on-demand caching engine offers full resolution views of the digital photos available within seconds. Additionally, Photon's innovative "stacking" feature streamlines the process of organizing large batches of images by making it easy to quickly shuffle photos into separate stacks using a single keystroke.
Nik Software this week released the Viveza plug-in for Aperture 2.1, Apple's photo editing and management software. The Viveza plug-in allows Aperture users to selectively control light and color in photographic images from within Aperture. Integrated seamlessly within Aperture's organizing and editing environment, users can simply place "U Point"-powered control points directly on colors or objects such as sky, skin or grass to make targeted adjustments to an image within Aperture. Software-based sliders enable users to easily adjust brightness, contrast or color with just a few mouse clicks. The Viveza plugin automatically selects objects and seamlessly creates masks based on where the photographer places a control point.
Adobe on Thursday morning released Photoshop Express public beta, a free internet-based application that easily and quickly edits and applies non-destructive digital effects to photos. As a beta product, Adobe promised it would solicit user feedback on product features and functionality and continue to evolve the product over time. The application leverages Adobe's image editing technology and allows users to store up to 2GB of images online for free, make edits to photos, and share them online with using social networking site such as Facebook. The free service, which offers a variety of photo management tools, is available online as a beta product, but the company did not provide any details on a final release date.
Adobe on Monday began shipping Photoshop Elements 6 software for Macintosh. Photoshop Elements 6, announced at Macworld Expo in early January, features new Photomerge technology that lets users create a group shot by simply choosing and combining the best facial expressions and body language from a series of shots. Version 6 also includes a new Quick Selection tool that snaps to the edges by simply clicking and dragging over a specific area and offers three editing modes, tuned for different levels of experience, including the new Guided Edit mode that walks beginners through various image improvement steps. Photoshop Elements 6 software streamlines editing with clean, uncluttered spaces and new tabs for easy access to various functions. Other enhancements include an improved conversion tool that converts color images into elegant, nuanced black-and-whites.
