Image-editing rethought from the ground up.

Source: PopPhoto
Written by Debbie Grossman

Ever wonder what an image-editing program would be like if Adobe Photoshop had never existed?

The new Nikon Capture NX software is probably the closest thing. A co-project of Nikon and the similarly named (but unrelated) Nik Software company, this program uses what they’re calling U Point technology to allow you to make quick adjustments to the zones of influence you choose. That means you can saturate certain areas, desaturate others, and color-correct in the places that need it, all without painstakingly selecting them. The other good news: None of these changes are permanent. They all happen as a list of deletable and modifiable steps that leave your original alone.

Press Release: iView Multimedia has released iView MediaPro 3.1, an upgrade of its award-winning, cross-platform digital asset management application. MediaPro is now a Universal application and runs natively on Intel-based Macs. Version 3.1 also features the new Notepad tool, designed to enable communication between creative professionals and their clients.

Press Release: Paris, France, May 17, 2006 – DxO Labs announces today that DxO Optics Pro v3.55 Digital SLR and lens automatic image quality enhancement software now supports the recently released Canon EOS 30D Digital Single-lens Reflex (SLR) camera. Existing users of either DxO Optics Pro Elite or Standard versions can add support for the Canon EOS 30D free of charge from the DxO Optics Pro Web site.

Camera Bits has released Photo Mechanic 4.4.3. Formerly available in beta, the final version is now available for download.

The update is free to registered users.

Source: ars technica
Written by Dave Girard

It is no secret that I wasn’t a fan of Aperture 1.0. From the outright broken things like 8-bit TIFF export and EXIF data stripping on output to the Zen take on a manual (there is no documentation”), everything about Aperture 1.0 pointed to an unrealistic deadline and a QA department with their monitors off. While the EXIF bug was fixed with the OS X 10.4.6 update, the problems I saw in Aperture 1.0 were sadly only the tip of the iceberg and eventually users’ different workflows exposed numerous additional flaws, some nastier than others. After inconsistent responses to some angry customers who wanted their money back, the whole thing got even uglier.

Source: Macworld
Written By Jim Dalrymple

Apple on Thursday responded to rumors that the company has asked the engineering team for its professional photography workflow application Aperture to leave. The rumors, which started late last week, are completely false, according to Apple.

“The reports of Apple reducing their commitment to Aperture are totally false,” Kirk Paulsen, Apple’s Senior Director Pro Applications Marketing, told Macworld. “In fact, we’ve got more people working on Aperture right now than ever before.

Press Release: VICTORIA, British Columbia – April. 27, 2006 – ACD Systems International Inc. (TSX: ASA), today announced updates to its two flagship products, ACDSee 8 Photo Manager and ACDSee Pro Photo Manager. The enhancements are designed to improve speed, performance and productivity, and include advanced support for RAW formats that meet and exceed industry demands.

Press Release: Palo Alto, CA—April 17, 2006—Light Crafts, Inc., today announced that the suggested retail price for it’s award-winning software LightZone is now $149.95. Designed and built from the ground up for professionals and other serious photographers, LightZone is available for computers running Windows and Mac OS X. The new Universal version runs natively on both PowerPC- and Intel-based Mac computers. Version 1.3 is now available to all current owners of LightZone as a free software update and offers increased performance and camera compatibility.

Source: Aperture 1.1 Update Page

Developed in consultation with pro photographers, Aperture 1.1 — available now for $299 and as a free Software Update for current owners of Aperture 1.0 — offers increased computer and camera compatibility. The first Universal version of Aperture, the upgrade allows photographers to run Aperture on both PowerPC-based and the new Intel-based Macintosh computers, including MacBook Pro.

Free update includes added RAW camera and MS Office support for digital asset management needs.

Press Release: Portland, Ore. – April, 12th, 2006 – Extensis, a division of Celartem Inc., today released two free updates to Portfolio 8 – the leading Digital Asset Management (DAM) solution for creative professionals. These updates include two file format support filters, which add support for Microsoft Office allowing users to catalog, find and view files from Microsoft Word and Excel on the Windows platform. Additionally, Extensis has added support for 22 new camera Raw formats on both Mac and Windows versions of Portfolio. Registered owners of Portfolio 8 are eligible to receive the free upgrades immediately through the Extensis website at http://www.extensis.com/portfolio

Capture rate speeds up with new Capture One 3.7.4 on Intel-based Macs and Windows – Updated RAW workflow software supports all Phase One P Series digital camera backs, the new Canon EOS 30D, Pentax *ist series and Sony DSC-R1

Press Release: April 11th 2006, Copenhagen, Denmark: Phase One®, the world leader in professional digital imaging solutions, has updated Capture One™ RAW Workflow to support more cameras, more RAW file formats and Intel-based Macs. Capture One is the most efficient, fully color-managed RAW Workflow image-processing solution and delivers the highest possible image quality from the new generation of digital SLRs and Phase One digital camera backs.

Press Release: WPPI 2006 Las Vegas, NV (April 7th, 2006) – Bibble Labs, Inc. today announced immediate availability of version 4.7 of its popular Raw Workflow software. Building upon the recent seamless integration of Noise Ninja technology, Bibble 4.7 fully integrates Athentech’s DIMA Award winning Perfectly Clear® automatic image correction technology into the raw workflow. Perfectly Clear® is new, award winning technology, invented for the digital world, modeled on the physics principles of light.

New DxO Optics Pro V3.55a Provides Significant Refinements As Well As Support For Three New Advanced Digicams

Press Release: Paris, France (March 30, 2006) – DxO Labs announces today the immediate availability of DxO Optics Pro v3.55a software, a free upgrade to DxO Optics Pro v3.5. Version 3.55a of DxO Labs’ flagship product for automatic image quality enhancement contains a number of significant refinements which will improve users’ experience when using DxO Optics Pro.

Press Release: Aperture 1.1—the first Universal version of Aperture—offers increased computer and camera compatibility. The upgrade allows photographers to run Aperture on both PowerPC-based and the new Intel-based Macintosh computers, including MacBook Pro. Developed in consultation with pro photographers, Aperture 1.1—scheduled for release in March—will be available for $499. Current owners of Aperture 1.0 can upgrade to Aperture 1.1 via Software Update. In addition to enhanced compatibility, Aperture 1.1 also provides a variety of significant performance and feature enhancements.

Press Release: Sophia Antipolis, France – REALVIZ, a leader in image processing software development, has confirmed, that version 5.1 of their multi award-winning panorama software, Stitcher is now available. With version 5.1 Stitcher now also becomes available in German, in addition to English and French. The release of version 5.1 also accompanies the launch of a brand-new website (http://stitcher.realviz.com), dedicated to the REALVIZ stitching products, Stitcher & Stitcher Express.

Source: BetaNews
Written by Nate Mook

In the two years since it began as a senior project, Paint.NET has surged in popularity around the world and its developers continue the open source work from their new jobs at Microsoft. BetaNews sat down with project lead Rick Brewster to gain insight into Paint.NET, which he calls “Photoshop for everyone.”

Press Release: Orlando, FL. – Pixmantec, a leading manufacturer of digital imaging software, continues to provide photographers at all levels of experience and expertise with the latest in RAW Workflow management technology with the introduction of RawShooter | essentials 2006, RawShooter | premium 2006 V1.02 and RawShooter | Color Engine V1.1, all being FREE updates.

Bibble Labs releases 4.6 update with Noise Ninja Technology and Intel Macintosh Support – Other improvements include revised user interface

Press Release: PMA 2006 Orlando, FL – Bibble Labs, Inc. announced today the immediate availability of version 4.6 of its popular Raw Workflow software. Bibble 4.6 offers a major breakthrough via the direct integration of Noise Ninja Technology from Picture Code, LLC. High ISO noise and digital artifacts are one of the more challenging aspects of today’s digital workflow. Historically photographers have had to use 3rd party tools and extra post processing steps to deal with this noise “After the fact”. By directly merging Noise Ninja technology into Bibble’s already blazing fast workflow, better results can now be achieved in shorter amounts of time.

Source: RobGalbraith.com
Written by Rob Galbraith

Apple has revealed that the next release of Aperture, the company’s pro photo workflow application, will be about more than just support for Macs using Intel processors. During a press briefing yesterday at the PMA 2006 trade show in Orlando, Florida, Aperture product manager Joe Schorr showed off numerous refinements in the upcoming v1.1, including what appears to be much-improved processing of RAW files, as well as greater control over contrast, sharpening and noise reduction during the RAW conversion.

High Speed and Versatile Performance with Image Management and Browsing to speed up and improve the professional digital workflow – Compatible with Capture NX and other Software.

Press Release: TOKYO — Nikon Corporation is pleased to introduce the versatile new Nikon View Pro software. The new Nikon View Pro is designed to make viewing and handling of large quantities of images faster, and with versatility to make the professional workflow more productive. As digital files grow in size and quality, professional photographers will appreciate Nikon View Pro’s enhanced image display, faster browsing of NEF RAW files, and the ease of editing IPTC information, all in a conveniently fast workflow.

Nikon Capture NX – Advancing full-scale digital image processing and editing

Press Release: TOKYO – Nikon Corporation announces the new digital image editing software, Capture NX, featuring Nik Software, Inc.’s patented U Point™ technology. This new product, evolving from previously released Nikon Capture 4 software, gives digital photographers more powerful tools complimented by simple and visual operation for exploring NEF, JPEG and TIFF files potential for optimizing images. The new software is scheduled for delivery during Spring 2006.

State-of-the-art noise reduction technology to be included in Bibble RAW processing software

Press Release: Austin, TX – Bibble Labs Inc has reached an agreement with PictureCode LLC, developer of the best-of-breed Noise Ninja image noise reduction software application. Forthcoming versions of Bibble Labs’ awardwinning RAW workflow software will feature fully integrated versions of Picturecode’s patent pending noise reduction technology. This will enable a new level of image quality in the raw workflow, especially for high-ISO images.

New cross-licensing and co-marketing agreement creates workflow improvements for imaging professionals

Press Release: ORLANDO, Eastman Kodak Company and Bibble Labs announced a cross-licensing and co-marketing agreement that will allow both companies to offer new, improved products to imaging professionals that further strengthens Kodak’s ‘Connect with Pro Quality’ products and programs.

Camera Bits, the developer of Photo Mechanic has shipped version 4.4.1 which includes a Universal Binary version of the application optimized to run on both PPC and Mac-Intel based CPUs. Photo Mechanic is optimized for Mac OS X and Windows XP/2000.

Source: pdn online
Written by David Schloss

As we have previously reported here and in the PDNOnline forums, Apple has worked with PDN closely on our reviews of Aperture, the professional photographic workflow program released at the PhotoPlus trade show in October. We have reported on many of the positive aspects of the cutting-edge program, while pointing out that some photographers are concerned about the Aperture conversion of RAW images. While our testing shows that many of these issues revolve around a mis-understanding of the default settings in both Aperture and ACR (many are comparing auto-adjusted images in ACR to non-adjusted images in Aperture) we’ve still seen instances where Aperture’s processing indicates that this is a first generation product, and that improvements are in order.