Press Release: When it comes to reproducing the highest level of shadow detail and mid-range gray values as quantified by optical density (OD), Epson scanners outperformed competitors in a recent National Software Testing Labs (NSTL) study.

At a New York event, Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer launches Vista, Office 2007 to businesses.

Source: PC World
Written by Elizabeth Montalbano, IDG News Service

After five years and numerous delays, customers can now get their hands on the final version of the Windows Vista operating system.

Source: CNET
Written by Stephen Shankland

If you want to learn about digital photography but have had your fill of redeye reduction tips and unsharp mask tutorials, a new book by Stephen Johnson is worth a look.

On Digital Photography (O’Reilly 2006, $40) has plenty of pointers on color correction and tonal balance, but what sets it apart is Johnson’s enthusiasm for the history and mechanics of digital photography–and the abundant landscape pictures that serve as inspiration.

Just getting Fido to look up as you shoot is not all there is to making a great dog portrait.

Source: Toronto Star
Written by Jennifer Brown

The National Association of Photoshop Professionals Announces Call for Entries for Photoshop User Awards

Press Release: TAMPA, Fla.–The National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) today announced its call for entries to the second annual Photoshop User Awards – the only worldwide competition exclusively for Adobe® Photoshop® users.

Press Release: Paris, France – November 28, 2006 – DxO Labs today announces the immediate availability of DxO Analyzer version 3, adding groundbreaking innovations to the product’s image quality evaluation and analysis capabilities.

Source: CNET
Written by Joris Evers

Apple Computer on Tuesday released a security update for Mac OS X to repair 31 vulnerabilities, including a zero-day Wi-Fi hijack flaw.

Geotagging hobbyists organize pictures using maps to create a new kind of digital photo album.

Source: StarTribune via NY Times
Written by Ian Austen

Kathleen Bennett recently bought a device that keeps track of her location with help from the satellites of the Global Positioning System. But the Seattle woman is not using it to find her way through the wilderness.
Instead, the gadget is for Bennett’s personal passion, photography. She is one of many people who have taken up “geotagging,” the practice of posting photos online that are linked to Web-based maps, showing just where in the world the shutter was pressed.

Adobe has posted new white papers and primers available as PDF downloads. The PDFs are available from the Digital Imaging Solutions for Pro Photographers page (scroll to the bottom) and from the More Papers and Primers page.

Press Release: AKVIS LLC announces the release of AKVIS Sketch plug-in v.2.1 for Windows and Macintosh. The revolutionary algorithm allows converting a photo into a pencil sketch in a few mouse clicks.

George Jardine by Jeff Schewe

George Jardine, Pro Photography Evangelist of Adobe has posted a new iTunes Podcast about Adobe Lightroom with Richard Benson and Thomas Palmer.

The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom book By Martin Evening has been updated to include Adobe Photoshop Lightroom version Beta 4.

Peachpit & Adobe Press will be publishing the book in the final printed form (estimated release date is February, 2007) but the Rough Cut version of the complete book–the book in “beta” form–is available now as a 304 page version, updated for Beta 4.

Through special arrangement with Martin and his publisher, PhotoshopNews has a free PDF download of Chapter 1. (click HERE to download-4.32MB PDF)

The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book describes Lightroom’s features in detail and with photographers in mind. Photographers who routinely work with raw (and even jpg & tiff) images will find Lightroom–and The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book–an indispensable tool in their digital darkroom.

Press Release: REALVIZ®, a leader in image processing software development, is pleased to announce the availability of Stitcher® Unlimited 5.5 DS (”Double Shot”), which offers the ability to automatically stitch 2-shot fisheye photos. Stitcher Unlimited DS delivers the most versatile and accessible solution for a wide variety of industries, for the creation of stunning panoramas from horizontally and vertically stitched photos, and fisheye shots.

The Adobe® Design Achievement Awards celebrate student achievement reflecting the powerful convergence of technology and the creative arts.

The competition, which showcases individual and group projects created with industry-leading Adobe creative software, honors the most talented and promising student graphic designers, photographers, illustrators, animators, digital filmmakers, and computer artists from the world’s top institutions of higher education.

Source: AP via Business Week

Shares of Adobe Systems Inc. rose to a 52-week high Tuesday, after an analyst predicted strong demand for the software maker’s Creative Suite 3, which includes Adobe’s flagship Photoshop and Illustrator graphic design programs.

The San Jose, Calif.-based company’s stock rose $1.08, or 2.6 percent, to $42.39 in morning trading on the Nasdaq after rising as high as $42.75 earlier in the session. The stock hit its previous 52-week high last week, and has traded as low as $25.98 in the last year.

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As noted in DIGIT, Photoshop is once again In the Movies.

“So what’s product placement got to do with Digit? Well, there was one piece of — I’m guessing — unpaid product placement for the software at the core of every creative’s lives: Photoshop.

I’d say it’s unpaid as after one of Bond’s spy chums has framed a policeman with a doctored photo, he pops out the line: “it’s amazing what you can do in Photoshop“.

Now, while it would be wonderful if Adobe did one of those traditional Bond tie-in adverts, with copy reading ‘the next time you need to frame a public official to further your own ends, make sure you turn to Photoshop’, it’s rather implausible.”

Scientists who worked on the Archimedes Palimpsest are using modern imaging technologies to digitally restore a 700-year-old palm-leaf manuscript containing the essence of Hindu philosophy.

Source: CNET
Written by Stephen Shankland

Adobe promotes its Digital Negative (DNG) format as a replacement for the profusion of useful–but proprietary–image formats of today’s high-end cameras. The San Jose, Calif.-based company believes the industry and consumers would benefit from a unified format.

Press Release: Light Crafts, Inc., a Palo Alto (CA) based photo editing software company, ushers in a new generation of integrated digital workflow tool, LightZone 2.0. LightZone 2.0  is a new intuitive tool which extends the capabilities of professional and amateur photographers, based on Ansel Adam’s Zone System.  LightZone provides photographers with precise control over exposure, contrast and color, in a straightforward interface that streamlines workflow and dramatically saves time. With LightZone, photographers regain the use of their intuition in processing their images.

Restores Film Grain Effects in Digital Images and Automates Labor-Intensive Retouching with Single-Click Ease

Newly Enhanced Noiseware Plug-in version 4.1 also Released

Press Release: Imagenomic, an independent software vendor specializing in high-performance software tools for digital photography, has announced the release of two new Plug-in products to complement its award-winning NoisewareTM portfolio. Imagenomic’s Noiseware Plug-ins have also been updated to version 4.1, with new enhancements such as a faster preview mode, an undo/redo feature, and other improvements.

kuler is a new hosted application for creating, exploring and sharing color harmonies.

Source: Business 2.0
Written by Jon Fortt

A few days ago, two of the brightest minds from Adobe Systems (ADBE) dropped by my office to give me a rare and exciting look at what the software maker is cooking up in its imaging labs.

In the couple of hours we spent together, I learned that Adobe doesn’t just want to revolutionize photo editing. It wants to revolutionize cameras.

As Seen on Adobe Photoshop TV, Episode 54, November 13

Scott Kelby, has just released his first-ever Gonzo Holiday Gadget Gift Guide and made it available as a free PDF download at http://www.layersmagazine.com.

This ultimate gift guide is filled with 21 of the coolest, must-have gadgets and photographic accessories for the Photoshop or digital photography freak on your holiday list.

“Instead of just listing a bunch of items I have no real attachment to, I only included gear that I’m totally hooked on. Stuff that I use every day, and that within the past year or so I’ve fallen so deeply and hopelessly in love with that I can’t live without them,” says Scott Kelby, host of the wildly popular weekly series Adobe® Photoshop® TV (http://www.photoshoptv.com) and editor and publisher of Layers and Photoshop User magazines.

BEIJING (AFP) – A chubby-faced Shanghai gas station intern known as “Little Fatty” has vaulted to the top of Internet fame in China thanks to cheeky Photoshop artists who are turning the plump youth into a pop icon.

It all started three years ago when Qian Zhijun, then a 16-year-old high school student, was attending a traffic safety class and someone snapped a picture of his rotund, rosy-cheeked face.

His suspicious-looking sideways glance at the camera soon made its way on to the Internet.

Photoshop product manager John Nack posted a note on his Adobe blog that quotes Macworld’s benchmarks on Rosetta performance improvements with Mac OS X 10.4.8. John indicated an approximate 35% improvement running Photoshop CS2 on an Intel-based Mac system with the 10.4.8 update.