Adobe has announced version 2 of its raw processing and work flow tool, the Photoshop Lightroom. Enhancements include the support of localized adjustments (similar to Capture NX’s selection brush and gradient tools), dual monitor workspace, better photo management and organization tools, third party plug-in development, flexible and customizable print packages, and more.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 costs $299 for a new license and $99 for existing users to upgrade. A free trial is available (Adobe account is required).
Nikon has released Capture NX2, an upgrade to the award wining, powerful, easy-to-use, and non-destructive photo editing and raw (NEF) conversion software.
Full product details can be found at capturenx.com. 60-day trial version can be downloaded here. Rob Galbraith has a quick review posted here.
One improvement I like very much is better integration between View NX and Capture NX. Users can now download images using Nikon transfer, sort, rate, and label images in View NX. The ratings (stars) and labels (0-9) are now visible in Capture NX2. Unfortunately Capture NX2 still does not support full screen viewing in browser.
Just a friendly reminder: if you edit and save files in Capture NX2 and decide not to purchase the upgrade, the saved NEF files might fail to open in older version of Capture NX. So keep a backup!
Posted in
Software on June 4th, 2008.
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PhotoME is a very powerful and free metadata editor digital photographers can use to view and manipulate the EXIF, IPTC, and ICC profile data embedded in your photos. Modern digital cameras keep extensive details in digital photos, such as image information, camera settings, camera serial numbers, copyright notes, color profile information, etc. Those information can be a great help to digital photographers but it can also be a privacy concern. It is good to know what information is in the photo and how to modify the details when you post it to the Internet. Read More…
Nik Software, the maker of the Capture NX Raw editing software for Nikon NEF, has released a new software called Viveza for Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. The new software brings the revolutionary U-Point technology to Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Element users. Digital photographers who do not use Nikon cameras, or who do not use Capture NX, can now effortlessly enhance and correct the light and color selectively within the photograph without using complicated masks and layers in Photoshop.
U Point powered Color Control Points, with easy-to-use controls that are directly placed on colors or objects in a photo, can be used by photographers to quickly adjust brightness, contrast or color in a fraction of the time needed by other tools or methods.
Nik Software has some video demonstrations on how Viveza and U-Point technology works. A 15-day trial version can be downloaded here.
Posted in
Software on March 6th, 2008.
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LumaPix FotoFusion provides easy-to-use image layout editing tools in an affordably priced software package. It is very difference from an photo editing software such as Adobe Photoshop. FotoFusion allows users to create complicated and high resolution composite pages using a what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) user interface. Users can easily share their work via email and the web, or create high quality prints with many options.
For users who are not familiar with the software, the best place to start is obvious the Company website at http://www.lumapix.com/. FotoFusion software has three different license types for different users from fun-seeking hobbyists, very serious enthusiasts, to high-volume professionals with different price tags. Please read the detailed comparision chart for the feature differences and the prices. Read More…
Posted in
Software on February 28th, 2008.
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The English version of Nikon’s Asian support site has posted the latest update (Version 1.3.2) to Nikon Capture NX. It fixed a well know bug we reported in last December and also included the support for the recently announced Nikon D60 Digital SLR camera. The changes are: Read More…
Posted in
Software on February 19th, 2008.
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If you are Linux user, the choices of good RAW editors are limited. LightCrafts announced the beta version of its Lightroom-Aperature-hybrid-looking raw editor LightZone for Linux for your evaluation (not for sale yet). You may also want to read the impressions of LightZone beta for Linux by Scott Gilbertson on Wired Blog.
Posted in
Software on January 11th, 2008.
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The all-new Flickr uploader 3.0 is available for download. There are numerous improvements from the previous version.
- You can now add titles, tags and descriptions to photos, add them to multiple sets and adjust each photo’s privacy settings.
- You can reorder your photos before uploading by simply dragging and dropping them.
- By selecting multiple photos, you can replace the titles of the selected photos, add to existing individual photo descriptions, add to existing individual tags.
- You can work offline. You can close the application in the middle of the process and restart from where it is left.
- You can start an upload and immediately add more photos and start to tag and organize them, all while the first batch of photos is being sent to Flickr.
Many people are happy with the new Flickr uploader and I am one of them. However there are also some reports of errors and bugs in this official Flickr uploader 3.0 discussion thread.
Posted in
Software on December 16th, 2007.
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