Tag: Software
If you’re a Mac user, there’s a lot to like about Aperture, and its
version 2 includes new features that greatly improve the efficiency and
capabilities of this powerful imaging application—all at a new, lower
price of $199. There are more than 100 new features, but we’ve focused
on some of the more important changes that make this new version worth
the upgrade.
The technique of masking usually involves neck-straining precision and a tedious amount of time refining your edges to get the perfect outline. This requires a variety of brushes or selection tools and loads of time to get right. That’s where software like Vertus Fluid Mask 3 can drastically cut down on the time you spend masking.
The last year has been a big one for photo software, with several of the top applications getting significant updates and the introduction of new software alternatives for photographers. The big news most recently is the latest update to Photoshop, but perhaps even more significant is Adobe’s introduction of Photoshop Lightroom.
The long-awaited upgrade to Photoshop CS2 is finally on the way, which
is especially great news for Mac users, as Photoshop CS3 will run natively on the latest Intel-based Mac systems. For Windows users, it's
ready for Vista, too.
Digital video has revolutionized video for the enthusiast, bringing
with it many advantages: more capability, more control, more speed,higher quality and easier editing. The drawback has been that standard-definition (SD) video is standard TV resolution (640 x 480), while high-definition digital (HD) video has been too costly and complex for most nonprofessional applications.
Every
release of Adobe Photoshop Elements raises the bar a bit more and
brings the feature set closer to its big brother, Photoshop CS2.
Elements 5.0 is no exception, with a number of enhancements that will
appeal to both casual and serious photographers, as well as a new group
of users who have avoided traditional digital-imaging software in the
past. The latest release (currently Windows only) makes organizing and
editing images easier and gives you more control over advanced image
corrections than in previous versions.
For
all its power and capability, Photoshop is a program that can leave a
photographer’s eyes glazed over. The seemingly endless assortment of
features and different ways to achieve similar results can lead many of
us to spend more time emptily gazing into a computer monitor rather
than creating images behind a camera. Enter Photoshop-compatible
plug-ins—tools that make photo editing simpler, more efficient and
intuitive.
Whether
you want to spend time enhancing your images or you simply want to
organize, print and share them, it’s almost certain that you’ll be
spending time at a computer running one of the many digital-imaging
programs available today.
The big news this year is the new version of Photoshop, CS2, of course,
but Adobe isn’t the only one at work to make our digital darkroom work
better, more efficient and easier. Corel has put its own touches to the
venerable Paint Shop Pro, offering a fresh version that keeps all the
old features, but puts them in a photographer-friendly interface, while
Microsoft has made significant upgrades to its Digital Image program.
If you’ve ever been frustrated with prints that don’t match what you
see on your monitor, you understand the importance of color management.
Having a calibrated monitor allows you to make changes to an image with
confidence because the colors displayed on the screen are an accurate
reflection of the file. In addition, it helps ensure that the color
values you see on the screen will closely match your output.
Corel Painter IX’s wide selection of customizable brushes, tight
integration with Wacom pressure-sensitive graphics tablets and
easy-to-get-started interface make it the best painting software we’ve
used to date. While Painter IX is primarily a painting program and not
an image processor, you don’t have to be a painter or have any training
in the craft to enjoy experimenting with your photographs.
Having just used Adobe’s new video-editing program to create a soccer
video for my daughter, I can tell you that Premiere Elements is
designed to make professional-level editing more accessible to
everyone. My editing went faster and easier than any video editing I’ve
ever done before.
It seems only natural that legendary optical manufacturer B+W would use
its expertise to develop a set of software filters. Some of the filters
stand in for glass filters you’d use over your camera lens, but many of
the plug-ins go beyond that to provide effects that can be challenging
to produce, even with image-editing software.
Since the beginning of digital imaging, noise has been a serious
problem for photographers. We’ve longed for a way to reduce noise while
not affecting image quality and camera performance.
Plug-ins are useful accessories for your image-processing program.
These small software programs work within the main program, using the
host to do marvelous things with your images. Since plug-ins come with
many different functions, you have to examine them carefully to see if
they fit your needs.
