DxO Optics Pro 7.5.1 adds four cameras, plus D800E support for Elite users

Special 30% discount through June 30, 2012

June 20, 2012 - DxO Labs announces the immediate availability of DxO Optics Pro v7.5.1 for Mac and Windows, its image processing software of reference for all exacting photographers. This update means that DxO Optics Pro 7 now supports the latest cameras from Nikon, the D800E (Elite Edition only) and the D3200, Sony's SLT A35 and SLT A57 translucent-mirror SLRs, as well as Panasonic's hybrid micro 4/3 camera, the Lumix DMC GX1.

Ever more DxO Optics Modules

DxO Optics Pro 7 now counts more than 7,000 lens-camera combinations in its Optics Module library.

Since the last version, DxO Optics Pro v7.5.1 integrates more than 400 new DxO Optics Modules, of which 61 are modules for Nikon D800E and 71 are for the Nikon D3200. These latest modules enable support for additional Canon, Minolta, Nikkor, Panasonic, Samyang, Sigma, Sony, Tamron, and Tokina lenses for numerous Canon, Fuji, Nikon, Pentax, Samsung, and Sony cameras.

More effective moiré removal for the D800E

Since the Nikon D800E does not have an antialiasing (AA) filter, it can be more susceptible to moiré. DxO Optics Pro v7.5.1's RAW conversion algorithms have been fine-tuned such that the "Remove color moiré" tool works more effectively for this camera to restore the finest details.

Availability and special discount

The Standard and Elite editions of DxO Optics Pro for Mac and Windows are available in the DxO Labs online store (www.dxo.com) and at photo resellers, at a special discount price good through June 30, 2012:

USD:

DxO Optics Pro 7 Standard Edition: $99 instead of $169
DxO Optics Pro 7 Elite Edition: $199 instead of $299
EUR:

DxO Optics Pro 7 Standard Edition: 99€ instead of 199€
DxO Optics Pro 7 Elite Edition:199€ instead of 299€
(Suggested retail prices, including VAT)
BGP:

DxO Optics Pro 7 Standard Edition: £89 instead of £135
DxO Optics Pro 7 Elite Edition: £179 instead of £269
(Suggested retail prices, including VAT)
This upgrade is free for all owners of DxO Optics Pro 7, as well as for photographers who purchased a license for DxO Optics Pro 6 after September 1, 2011. A fully-functional trial version of DxO Optics Pro 7, good for one month, is available on the DxO Labs website (http://www.dxo.com/intl/photo/free_trial_version)

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ACD Systems launches ACDSee Pro 2 editing and workflow tool for Mac

Seattle, WA – June 19, 2012 – ACD Systems International Inc. today announced ACDSee Pro 2 (Mac), the only Mac-based photo editing and management software that reduces the time, cost and complexity of creating exceptional photography. ACDSee Pro 2 (Mac) is designed to meet the exacting needs of the professional, yet it is simple and affordable enough for the passionate amateur photographer. As with other ACD products, ACDSee Pro 2 (Mac) incorporates the company’s patented technology and user-focused design which have made ACD Systems photography editing and management products the solutions of choice for over 50 million users worldwide.

“Our users are incredibly loyal and ACDSee Pro 2 (Mac) is in response to their feature requests and strong demand for us to continue to lead in Mac photography software,” said Doug Vanderkerkhove, Founder and CEO of ACD Systems. “The proliferation of quality digital cameras and the desire for everyone to take great photos and share them, means people value their digital assets more than ever. As a result, it’s important for us to create products that not only allow photographers to fully enjoy their creativity, but manage their digital assets in the cloud and via social media.”

ACDSee Pro 2 (Mac) includes a combination of features unavailable through any other Mac photography software product. The product allows users to create professional quality photos and manage their image libraries the fastest way possible from start to finish. New features in ACDSee Pro 2 (Mac) include:

Import files from a connected device or access files from their original locations. When a folder is opened on a laptop or connected device, Pro 2 will begin to display thumbnails of photos.
Customizable batch presets apply rules as photos are imported. Save, back-up, rename, resize, set metadata information and apply edits across any number of photos, all at once.
A more intuitive user interface allows editing of photos faster with non-destructive editing tools that operate in real time. Preview results in full screen or restore to the original photos at any time.
LCE (Lighting & Contrast Enhancement) lets users experience the full power of ACDSee’s patented LCE technology. Use this lighting tool to gain complete control over shadows, mid-tones and highlights to create natural HDR-like results.
Soft Focus and Clarity tools target midtones to make intuitive, natural-looking adjustments to your images, instantly.
Color labels quickly identify groups within a large number of photos for further processing using customizable Color Labels.
Calendar feature captures day and time of photos and automatically indexes them by date.
EXIF or IPTC fields now let users search using presets or keyboard shortcuts to accelerate a search.
Duplicate finder eliminates digital clutter. Users can look for duplicate files, no matter what format, to free up space on the hard drive and improve performance.
The company also has its online photo sharing and storage site, acdseeonline.com which pairs with the new Mac product. ACDSee Online’s cloud-based environment allows photographers to store and share images in a free 10 GB online space. ACDSee Online users can easily archive any file format (including RAW formats), email photo albums, post albums on Facebook and Tweet links to albums. It is safe and secure and does not require purchase of any ACDSee product. ACDSee Online also recently released their free iPhone and iPad app in the iTunes App store to manage and share digital assets on the go.

Pricing & Availability

ACDSee Pro 2 (Mac) is available beginning June 19, 2012 online for suggested retail price of $139.99(US). Existing ACDSee Pro (Mac) users can upgrade for a suggested retail price of $79.99(US). A free 30-day trial is available online at acdsee.com. ACDSee Pro 2 (Mac) runs as a 64-bit application on Mac OS®, Snow Leopard and Lion (10.6 and 10.7). Full system requirements, online tutorials and more information on ACDSee Pro 2 (Mac) can be found at acdsee.com.

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Apple releases Aperture v3.3 with iPhoto integration

Apple has announced Aperture v3.3, which features a series of updates including sharing its catalogue with the simpler iPhoto program that comes with iOS. Other improvements include support for AVCHD video, a revised Highlight & Shadows tool and more sophisticated white balance options. The software has also been designed to make use of the MacBook Pro's 'Retina' display. Aperture v3.3 is free to existing v3 users or can be bought for $79.99 from the Mac App Store.

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Corel releases Service Pack 2 for PaintShop Pro X4

Corel has announced Service Pack 2 for PaintShop Pro X4, the company's photo editing solution. With this update Corel has added bug fixes, Raw file support for 18 additional cameras and improved support for PSD files.

Press Statement:

Corel PaintShop Pro X4 users can download the Service Pack from Corel's support site.

The update includes the following enhancements, bug fixes and support for new cameras:

Enhancements

Improved Camera RAW support for selected cameras from Olympus, Panasonic, Phase One, Samsung, and Sony
Better PSD file support
Improved display results when switching workspace color
Additional Camera RAW Support for:

Canon PowerShot S100
Fujifilm FinePix F600EXR
Fujifilm X10
Leica V-LUX 3
Nikon CoolPix P7100
Nikon 1
Olympus E-PL3
Olympus E-PM1
Panasonic DMC-GX1
Panasonic DMC-FZ150
Phase One H 25
Phase One P40
Samsung NX200
Sony NEX-3
Sony NEX-5N
Sony NEX-7
Sony SLT-A65
Sony SLT-A77
Issues Addressed

Facebook access issue
Shortcut keys
Histogram display
Scripts recording issues on 64-bit systems
Overall stability

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Woven app lets you browse all your images in one place

Woven Introduces a Simple yet Powerful Mobile Solution to Gather, View and Rediscover Photos

Boston, MA—May 30, 2012 – Woven by litl announced today its one-of-a-kind, free, mobile app that aggregates and organizes users’ photos from multiple online storage services onto their preferred mobile devices. Everyone from friends reliving memories, dads sharing baby pictures, moms catching up over coffee and grandparents bragging about their grandkids will benefit from anytime, anywhere enjoyment of all their photos with Woven.

For people who snap photos, reliving treasured memories later on is a joyous experience—especially with friends and family. And yet, with personal photo collections increasingly spread across multiple hard drives, phones, tablets and online storage services, just organizing them for viewing can be a headache. New solutions are needed to reduce this burden on families, simplify the rediscovery of special memories, and bring more joy to photography.

Designed with simplicity in mind, Woven’s one-time set-up collects photos from all of a user’s online storage accounts—from Facebook and Instagram to Shutterfly and Picasa among others. Images can also be automatically added from users’ phone or tablet camera rolls for even more convenience. The single, master collection of pictures Woven creates allows users to swipe through its streamlined touch interface, and after initially linking their online accounts, no Internet connection is needed for basic viewing.

Audrey McClelland, well-known blogger and Woven spokesperson, notes, “Before using Woven, my images were scattered across Facebook, Shutterfly and my phone. As a blogger and mom, I know the value of stories, and Woven brought my story together. With a few scrolls of my finger, memories from my childhood, my kids’ lives and cherished family memories are available instantly no matter where I am. Even though the app is free, its value is priceless.”

McClelland’s personal experience is validated by Woven’s recent survey of over 500 moms.* More than half the survey’s respondents reported collections with “thousands” of photos, but only a third described their photos as “extremely” or “well” organized. Lack of time, the sheer number of photos, and the scattering of collections across multiple locations were leading obstacles to getting organized. Despite this apparent chaos, a third of these moms said that treasured photos would be the first material possession they’d grab in the event of a house fire. Tellingly, love, joy, nostalgia, and fun were said to be the most common emotions evoked when viewing special photos.

With over 30,000 downloads to date just shortly after launching, Woven is quickly becoming a popular way to relive special moments, a modern and stress-free take on the classic photo album. Founder and CEO of litl, John Chuang says, “Photos, especially “forgotten” ones, can unlock old memories and trigger powerful emotions when rediscovered. Our vision is to make life’s special moments effortlessly available, so storytelling and reminiscing are fun again. This is just the beginning of what Woven has planned to better reconnect people’s photos, memories, and stories.”

Woven is available immediately for all popular smart phones, tablets, and e-readers, including the Apple iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch (via woventheapp.com/ios), Kindle Fire (via woventheapp.com/kindle), NOOK Tablet and Color (via woventheapp.com/nook), and Android-powered phones and tablets (via woventheapp.com/android). With a free account, a Woven user can effortlessly access their entire photo collection across any and all of these devices.

Survey Methodology

* The referenced survey was conducted online by Zoomerang May 8-9, 2012, and presents findings from a sample of 528 women ages 26 – 65 who have children.

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Adobe launches Photoshop Lightroom 4.1 Release Candidate 2

Adobe has released a second Release Candidate version of Lightroom 4.1, its Raw conversion and asset management software. The latest version adds support for 13 additional cameras, including the Nikon D3200, Olympus E-M5, Pentax K-01, Ricoh GXR A16 24-85mm and the three latest Samsung NXs. Interestingly, it also adds an improved 'defringe' option to reduce axial chromatic aberrations.

The latest release candidate includes a series of bug fixes, that are detailed on Adobe's blog site, in addition to support for 16, 24 and 32-bit HDR TIFF files.

The most interesting update, from our perspective, is the improved ability to remove the purple and green axial CA that can appear on out-of-focus regions, particularly those shot with fast lenses. Adobe's Eric Chan explains the feature in a detailed blog post.

As usual, the Release Candidate tag indicates 'that this update is well tested but would benefit from additional community testing before it is distributed automatically to all of our customers.'

Click here to download Lightroom 4.1 Release Candidate 2 from the Adobe Labs site

Press statement:

New Camera Support in Lightroom 4.1 Release Candidates

Canon EOS 5D Mark III*
Canon EOS 60Da
Fuji FinePix F770EXR
Fuji FinePix F775EXR
Nikon D3200
Olympus OM-D E-5M
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF5
Pentax K-01
RICOH LENS A16 24-85mm F3.5-5.5
Samsung NX20
Samsung NX210
Samsung NX1000
Sony Alpha NEX-VG20
Sony SLT-A57
*Support for the 5D Mark III was also included in the first Lightroom 4.1 Release Candidate

NOTE: The Lightroom and Camera Raw team is well aware of the new X-Pro1 camera from FUJIFILM. We are currently developing raw support for the X-Pro1 and look forward to providing it as soon as support is complete. Thanks for your patience on this topic.

Release Notes

Lightroom 4.1 RC2 now includes the ability to process HDR TIFF files. (16, 24 or 32-bit TIFF files) This can be quite useful if you have merged multiple exposures into a single 32-bit image using Photoshop’s HDR Pro. Using the new basic panel controls can be a very effective and straightforward method of achieving an overall balance across the tonal range.
Additional Color Fringing corrections have been added to Lightroom 4.1 RC2. Please see this blog post for additional details.

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Extreme contrast edits in Lightroom 4 and ACR 7

With the launch of Lightroom 4, Adobe formally introduced a new version of the raw processing engine that powers both Lightroom and Photoshop's Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) 7 plug-in. Known as Process Version (PV) 2012, it represents quite a radical shake up in the way you can now process your Raw (and non-Raw) images.


The new PV 2012 controls offer the ability to create an HDR-ike tonal range from a single image capture.
Adobe has offered several reasons for this change. With earlier process versions - PV 2003 and PV 2010 - there was a degree of overlap between some of the Basic panel tone controls, not to mention confusion among users as to the most effective slider combinations.

In addition, the default tone settings differed for Raw and non-Raw images. Different amounts of adjustments were therefore required depending on whether you were editing a Raw image or a JPEG for example, making it problematic to share settings between the two file types. So on one level PV 2012 is an attempt to make tonal adjustments more straightforward and intuitive to perform.

Above all though, the range of control when editing raw images was becoming somewhat limited by what the PV 2010 (and earlier) adjustment sliders would allow. The sensor performance of today's mirrorless and DSLR cameras make it possible to effectively extract a more extended dynamic range. The thing is, you need the raw processing tools to keep up with these developments. PV 2012 is Adobe's effort to do just that. In this article, we'll compare some of the raw file editing capabilities of PV 2012 against its predecessor, PV 2010.

What's changed in the PV 2012 Basic panel?

In PV 2012, there are still six primary tonal adjustment sliders in the Basic panel, all intended to be used in their order of appearance. But some sliders have been replaced and those that remain have seen changes in functionality. It's important to note that, unlike previous versions, most of the PV 2012 controls are scene adaptive, meaning their behavior - even at default settings - is optimized on a per image basis.


Here you can see PV 2010's
default tonal adjustment
settings for raw files. In PV 2012, the default
value for each tonal
adjustment slider is 0 for
both raw and non-raw files.
The Exposure slider is effectively a combination of PV 2010's Exposure and Brightness sliders. It is used set overall image brightness. The Contrast slider is now scene-dependent, offsetting its operational midpoint slightly depending on whether you are editing a low key or high key image.

Brand new Highlights and Shadows sliders offer separate luminance control for midtone-to-highlight and midtone-to-shadow regions, respectively (although there is a degree of overlap between the two). They work in both positive and negative directions and on an evenly balanced scale. So you can lighten or darken the highlights and shadow areas independently, with a +10 move being similar in strength to a -10 adjustment. The Whites and Blacks sliders are used to adjust the end points for the image's brightest and darkest tones, respectively.

Controlling a high contrast image with PV 2012

In the examples below, we'll take a look at the benefits PV 2012 offers over its predecessor when working on a high contrast raw image that contains a wide dynamic range. Here I'll be using ACR 7, which provides the same PV 2012 adjustments as Lightroom 4.


I shot this image from inside the entrance of a church building. This photo was captured in RAW mode and contains just about enough information in the highlight and shadow areas to show the complete tonal range. The challenge of course is how to process the image to extract this information.
In the image above you can see by the histogram I've overlaid that the highlights are blown out and the shadow details are completely hidden. Because this is a Raw file, however, we can extract some data that would have simply been lost in an 8-bit JPEG.


With a little patience it is possible to recover some highlight and shadow detail using PV 2010. I began by reducing Exposure by nearly 1 stop, to -.95 in an effort to minimize highlight clipping. I set both the Recovery and Fill Light sliders to their maximum values - an extreme move - in order to restore even more detail in the highlights and open up the shadows. The Blacks slider was then increased from its default of +5 to +13 in an effort to regain some of the contrast lost by my extreme Fill Light adjustment. I then lowered Brightness to +40 (from its default of +50) and increased Contrast to +50 (from its default of +25).
While the PV 2010 edits are certainly an improvement over the original image, we are left with a somewhat flat looking image with muddy shadows and relatively little contrast in the background areas of the scene. And you'd be hard pressed, too, to argue that the slider adjustments I've described above are intuitive. Let's take another pass at the same file, but this time using PV 2012.


Using PV 2012 controls I was able to increase Exposure to +45 to brighten the overall image. I also increased Contrast to +36. I used an extreme Highlights adjustment of -100 to eliminate clipping in the clouds and a +100 Shadows adjustment to bring out more detail in the interior shadows. Note that by eliminating highlight and shadow clipping I was then able to actually boost my white point by setting the Whites slider to +10 and lower my black point by moving the Blacks slider to -35. These last steps allowed me retain much more image contrast, which I then increased a bit more throughout the midtone range with a Clarity slider adjustment of +7.
As you can see, the PV 2012 options give me greater control over the tones in the image in a more straightforward, though by by no means dumbed-down manner. In the crops that follow you can see just how much difference there is in using PV 2012 versus PV 2010.


PV 2010 default settings PV 2012 default settings
Notice how much more shadow detail is visible in PV 2012's default settings. This initial rendering obviously provides a better starting point for extracting useful information.


PV 2010 after editing PV 2012 after editing
At first glance the edited results may look very similar. But take a closer look at these crops (click on the thumbnails for a larger view) and you'll see that the PV 2010 image shows distinct halos around the column edges as well as false color in the clouds. Overall, the PV 2012 image offers a much more natural, 'less-processed' looking result.

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Adobe announces Photoshop CS6 and CS6 Extended

London, UK — April 23, 2012 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe® Photoshop® CS6 and Photoshop CS6 Extended software, major releases of the undisputed standard for professional digital imaging. Packed with new features and enhancements, the software includes groundbreaking innovations and unparalleled performance breakthroughs that expand the frontiers of imaging science, and deliver new levels of creativity and increased efficiency. Photoshop CS6 Extended integrates the state-of-the-art editing, compositing, and graphic design capabilities of Photoshop CS6, as well as advanced tools for 3D design*, image and video editing, and quantitative analysis which address the unique needs of the graphic design, video, Web, architecture, medical, manufacturing and engineering industries.

“Creativity is at the very centre of our efforts – both in developing exceptional tools, and enabling our users to create beautiful imagery that stands out from the visual clutter around us,” said Winston Hendrickson, vice president products, Creative Media Solutions, Adobe. “Photoshop CS6 is unrivalled in capabilities and power and – as we have seen from the astonishing reception of our recent public beta – has once again captured the imagination of the worldwide creative community. ‘Photoshop magic’ is alive and well with CS6.”

Since Photoshop CS6 was released as a public beta on March 22 for Mac OS and Microsoft® Windows® platforms, there have been nearly one million downloads of the software worldwide – surpassing any public beta in Adobe’s history. With this launch, Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop CS6 Extended can be purchased as stand-alone applications, key components of the Adobe Creative Suite 6 family (see separate press release), and now as part of Adobe’s revolutionary Creative Cloud™ offering, also announced today (see separate release).

Create with Imaging Innovation and Peak Performance

Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop CS6 Extended deliver unparalleled speed and power combined with the creative tools necessary to perform advanced image manipulation, design, motion‐based content editing, and compositing. The software helps users to patch images with control for exceptional results; edit with real-time interactions and a fluid feel powered by the new Mercury Graphics Engine; easily edit video; perform automatic tone mapping and sharpening; and use improved design tools for better results with fewer steps. Creative customers will be able to take advantage of an efficient, modern UI that puts all focus on images, and sync settings and preferences for consistent workflows across multiple devices via Adobe Creative Cloud.

“Adobe Photoshop CS6 gives Trek powerful design tools to help bring our creative vision to a reality faster and with greater control than ever before. The responsiveness of the new Mercury Graphics Engine is simply breathtaking and being able to see the results instantaneously helps us keep to our extremely tight timelines," said Eric Lynn, creative director, Trek Bicycle. "We often work with large files that include more than 500 layers and being able to search them all – and continue working while saving a large document – is invaluable to our workflow and a huge time saver for us.”
Photoshop CS6 features include:

Content-Aware Patch – Allows greater control by letting users choose the sample area used to create a patch.
Adobe Mercury Graphics Engine – Takes advantage of the graphics processing unit in modern hardware to speed up imaging and editing tasks, and process large images faster.
New and Re-engineered Design Tools – Type styles enable consistent formatting; vector layers apply strokes and add gradients to vector objects; custom strokes and dashed lines are easily created; quick layers search and more.
Intuitive Video Creation – The full range of familiar Photoshop tools and an intuitive set of new video tools to create and enhance any video clip.
Blur Gallery – A simple new interface with on-image and in-context controls allows users to quickly create photographic blur effects including tilt-shift effects, blur everything with one focal point, or vary the blurriness between multiple focal points.
Photoshop CS6 Extended includes all Photoshop CS6 features and:

Mercury Graphics Engine for 3D – Increased power and speed via engine optimised for 3D imaging.
New 3D Controls – UI improvements for more efficient 3D workflows.
New 3D Effects – Reflections and “drag-able” shadows to enhance images.
Adobe Creative Cloud and Digital Imaging

Adobe Creative Cloud gives creative customers a new option for purchasing and experiencing Adobe software innovation, including Adobe Photoshop CS6:

Creative Cloud membership provides designers with access to download and install every new Adobe CS6 application announced today and two new HTML5 products, Adobe Muse™ and Adobe Edge preview.
Creative Cloud powers the integration of creative tablet applications, such as Photoshop Touch, into everyday work – seamlessly synchronising and storing files in the cloud, for sharing and access on any device.
Creative Cloud members will be able to easily deliver mobile apps to iOS and Android marketplaces and publish, manage and host websites.
Adobe Creative Cloud members will receive access to application upgrades, including new Photoshop features – before they are launched as part of a major update, as well as inventive new products and services, as they emerge. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom® 4 will be offered as part of Creative Cloud membership in the future.
Live Streamed Webcast

The launch event for Adobe Creative Cloud and CS6 will be streamed live beginning at 6pm GMT, April 23 at www.adobe.com/special/cs6/launch-event.html and will be available there as a continuous rebroadcast from 7pm – midnight GMT on April 23. An on-demand version will be available at http://tv.adobe.com beginning April 24.

Pricing and Availability

Adobe Photoshop CS6, Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended, Adobe Creative Suite 6 editions and Adobe Creative Cloud are scheduled to be available within 30 days and can be pre-ordered now. Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop CS6 Extended will also be available through Adobe Authorised Resellers, the Adobe Store and Adobe Direct Sales; estimated street price for Photoshop CS6 is £556 (ex. VAT) and £794 (ex. VAT) for Photoshop CS6 Extended.

Upgrade pricing is also available to eligible customers. Subscription pricing for Photoshop CS6 Extended is £14.29 (ex. VAT) per month for an annual contract and £22.23 (ex. VAT) for a month-to-month contract. For more detailed information about features, OS support, system requirements, upgrade policies and pricing, please visit http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/photoshop.html

Adobe Creative Cloud membership for individuals is £38.11 (ex. VAT) per month based on annual membership and £57.17 (ex. VAT) per month based on month-to-month membership and includes access to Photoshop CS6 Extended. A special introductory offer of £22.23 (ex. VAT) per month for CS3, CS4, CS5 and CS5.5 individual customers is also available. Learn more at http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/creativecloud.html

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645 PRO app for iPhone offers access to lossless camera output (but not Raw)

App developer Jag.gr has launched 645 PRO, a flexible photography and processing app that provides access to the lossless output of the iPhone's camera. The company grabs the processed camera output before the phone compresses it, and saves it as a TIFF file. These files, which it slightly optimistically calls 'Developed Raw,' can then be accessed via iTunes. The app also offers a series of features such as spot metering and exposure, focus and white balance lock, as well as a series of film simulation options and aspect ratio options, but it's the uncompressed output that is, as far as we are aware, unique.


As well as uncompressed output, PRO 645 offers a good degree of control over the iPhone's camera.
Until now, the vast majority (if not all) of iPhone apps apply their image processing to images that have already been compressed as a JPEG, with the reduced processing latitude that brings. The processed images produced by most app are then subjected to a second compression step at the end of the process.

PRO 645 intercepts the camera data after it's been initially processed (demosaiced and with processing parameters such as white balance and sharpening applied), but before the phone compresses it. This file can be be saved as a TIFF (presumably 8-bit), alongside a JPEG version with whichever of the app's image manipulations you've chosen to apply. These JPEGs are also much less compressed than the iPhone's default compression, which is usually the starting point for most apps (equivalent to the maximum quality option in Photoshop, the developer claims).

Even without this access to the best-possible quality output from your iPhone, the app also offers a range of useful photographic features such as a live histogram, spot metering and the ability to independently lock exposure, focus and white balance, to give a high level of control over the images you're capturing. The only downside is that the TIFF output has to be accessed via iTunes, but it's still an interesting step forward for occasions when the camera you have with you is your iPhone.

645 PRO is available from the Apple App Store for $2.99, and we're hoping to review it in the coming weeks.

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Corel releases Service Pack 1.0.1 for AfterShot Pro

Corel has announced Service Pack 1.0.1 for AfterShot Pro, the company's photo management, editing and raw processing solution. With this update Corel has added bug fixes, support for 20 new cameras and enhancements such as improved highlight recovery processing and a couple of new plugins.

Press Statement:

Corel Aftershot Pro users can download the Service Pack from Corel's support site.

The update includes the following enhancements, bug fixes and support for new cameras:

Enhancements

Improved Highlight Recovery processing
Two new plugins: Equalizer, for added color correction, and Nostalgia, for black-and-white and color film simulation
Increased the maximum supported JPEG or TIFF image size from 30 megapixels to 40 megapixels
Improved plugin SDK to support more plugins that include features like geo-tagging
Additional Camera RAW Support for:

Canon PowerShot G1 X
Canon PowerShot S100
Canon 5D Mark III
Fuji X100
Leica V-LUX 3
Nikon D4
Nikon D800
Nikon D800e
Panasonic GX1
Panasonic FZ150
Pentax K-01
Samsung NX200
Samsung NX100
Samsung NX5
Samsung NX10
Samsung NX11
Sony NEX-C3
Sony A35
Sony A57
Olympus OM-D E-M5
Issues Addressed

A one-pixel wide or tall image artifact that appeared through the center of some images
Localization issues
Instability when removing Heal/Clone layers
Demosaicing – stability and processing time
Fedora Linux—installation and run issues
Output issue that prevented images from being converted to the correct color space
No Label – fixed menu bar issue

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Unified Color adds Lightroom 4 compatibility to HDR software

The High Dynamic Range Imaging Experts Offer Full Range of Lightroom® Supported Products

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA – April 10, 2012 – Unified Color Technologies announced that its range of award-winning HDR software offerings now support the recently-released Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® 4. Users of the existing lineup of Unified Color Technologies’ true-color HDR solutions can now download the free updates ensuring a seamless roundtrip workflow from Lightroom® 4 to HDR Expose 2 and HDR Express. To download the free updates, users of the respective applications can simply choose the, “Check for updates,” option under the in-program, “Help,” menu.

The engineers at Unified Color have updated HDR Expose 2 and HDR Express to support Lightroom® 4 and tested for full compatibility. HDR Expose 2, a fully-featured 32-bit color editing HDR solution offers batch processing capabilities, user definable presets, and color neutral dodge and burn tools. The entry-level HDR Express automates key aspects of the HDR production process, such as automatic tone mapping and halo elimination to provide a streamlined and very easy-to-follow workflow.

Both HDR Expose 2 and HDR Express also offer complete functionality with Apple’s Aperture software. For more information on Unified Color offerings, to download a trial version or purchase any of the applications, please visit http://www.unifiedcolor.com.

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DxO Optics Pro 7.2.2 gains Nikon D4 support in Elite edition

More than 500 modules added to the library since the end of February

April 11, 2012 - DxO Labs announces the immediate availability of DxO Optics Pro v7.2.2 for Mac and Windows, its image processing software of reference for all serious photographers. DxO Optics Pro v7.2.2 now offers support for the new Nikon D4, as well as for the Olympus XZ-1 and Olympus Pen E-P1 digital compacts, thus covering all Olympus micro 4/3 models currently available.

Recently tested on DxOMark, DxO Labs’ dedicated site for digital camera image quality measurements, the Nikon D4’s score of 89 points outclasses the Nikon D3x and puts it in second place for full frame cameras behind the Nikon D800 (95 points). (For more information, see the review on our dxomark.com website.)

DxO Optics Pro v7.2.2 benefits from the continuous addition of DxO Optics Modules. More than 500 new camera-lens combinations were added to the DxO Optics Module library during the past several weeks, crossing the milestone of 6,000 available modules. This means that DxO Optics Pro v7.2.2 now supports additional Canon, Minolta, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax, Samyang, Sigma, Tamron, Tokina and Zeiss lenses for numerous Canon, Fuji, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Panasonic, Samsung and Sony cameras.

AVAILABILITY AND PRICES

The Standard and Elite editions of DxO Optics Pro 7 for Windows and Mac are available in the DxO Labs online boutique (www.dxo.com) and at photo resellers, at the following prices:

DxO Optics Pro 7 Standard Edition: $169
DxO Optics Pro 7 Elite Edition: $299
EUR: (Suggested retail prices, including VAT)

DxO Optics Pro 7 Standard Edition: 149 €
DxO Optics Pro 7 Elite Edition: 299 €
GBP: (Suggested retail prices, including VAT)

DxO Optics Pro 7 Standard Edition: £135
DxO Optics Pro 7 Elite Edition: £269
This upgrade is free for all owners of DxO Optics Pro 7 as well as for photographers who acquired a license for DxO Optics Pro 6 on or after September 1, 2011.

A fully-functional trial version of DxO Optics Pro v7.2.2, good for one month, is available on the DxO Labs website (http://www.dxo.com/intl/photo/free_trial_version).

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Instagram app arrives for Android

Today, we’re excited to bring you Instagram for AndroidTM. We’ve already seen more than 30 million people join Instagram to create and share beautiful photos on their iOS devices, and now we’re thrilled to offer a way for Android users to join their iOS friends on Instagram to share their photos with the world.

We’ve been working tirelessly to make this new Android app a first-class mobile photo-sharing experience. We’ve been meticulous about translating the Instagram experience to the Android platform. The Android app offers an extremely familiar Instagram experience when compared to the iOS app. You’ll find all the same exact filters and community as our iOS version.

For the over 30 million people already using Instagram, this is a big step forward for the community as a whole. When we started working on Instagram, we tried to imagine what the world would be like if every single person on earth could share the world around them through the lens on their phones. With the release of Instagram for Android, we’re one step closer to making that goal a reality. Now, more of your friends and family can share their lives, and follow yours, through a series of beautiful images.

We’re so excited to welcome Android users to what has become an inspiring and thriving community. We’ve worked hard to bring you the best photo-sharing experience on Android, and look forward to seeing your photos and hearing your feedback. Enjoy!

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