2006 - A Recap, Of Sorts...

This has been another eventful year, like 2005 we have had our encounters with nature in the form of storms, droughts and general insanity from many of the worlds nations and political leaders. North Korea tested a nuke, Saddam Hussein was executed, Israel and Hamas went to war in Lebanon and Pluto was demoted to a planetoid.

For the world of digital imaging we have seen a new trend in Public Beta releases of software from many of the long standing players in Camera RAW software solutions and from Adobe with Photoshop CS3 and Lightroom. Konica/Minolta stopped making cameras, Pentax merged with Hoya and The DSLR dropped below the US$500 threshold. Anti-shake/Image Stabilization became the newest feature of choice and Leica released their M8 Digital Rangefinder Camera.

We also lost several of our leading personalities, including; Slim Aarons, Tom Abercrombie, Ruth Bernhard, Warren Bolster, Peter Borsari, Roland Boyes, Bob Carlos Clarke, Raul Corrales, James Fee, Bruce Fraser, Leonard Freed, William Garnett, William Gottlieb, Masumi Hayashi, Heinrich Heidersberger, Robert Heinecken, James Hinton, Tana Hoban, Martha Holmes, Philip Hyde, Frank Lennon, Catherine Leroy, Jim Murray, Arnold Newman, K Kenneth Paik, Gordon Parks, Michael Richard, Joe Rosenthal, Anthony James Ryan, Arnie Sachs, Bill Strode, Mpozi Tolbert, Seema Aissen Weatherwax and Volkmar Kurt Wentzel.

The biggest technological news was the emergence of the Intel based Mac. With Mac OS running on a platform which can also run Windows, it's going to be interesting to see what the future has to hold for creatives looking at upgrading their hardware.

That's all for now ... enjoy yourselves, keep safe and have a happy new year.

Adobe Icon Scrabble

I had a brilliant idea yesterday, lets take the new adobe icons (or are they glyphs?), and use them to make words out of ... a kind of Adobe scrabble if you like. I can just imagine designers using these icons to spell things out on their desktops and the application bar.

So no surprise, when I check out some of the blogs today and I find other people have had a similar idea. Ok, so maybe it's not so brilliant but it certainly could be entertaining to see who could come up with the longest word or the rudest. The first one that came to me, and I'm not alone, was FLAW. I can just see it now ... someone out there (maybe even Adobe themselves will put these icons on magnets and we can have hours, or is it maybe minutes, of fun on our fridges. All I can say is have fun, but don't forget to enjoy the holidays...

Photoshop CS3 Features - Wow Factor

The whole Photoshop CS3 Icon issue aside, I'm very impressed with what Adobe have done with this latest incarnation of what is really quite a wonderful application. This Public Beta is very usable. I've already utilized it for several non critical projects. I like many of the new features and have used it for several images already. The improvements go quite beyond what I was exposed to, when I was working with Adobe on a UI project last year, well done...

Many of the features they were experimenting with have made their way into the product and even more have appeared, with a definite and overwhelming nod from many beta respondents and reviewers as being both intuitive and real time savers.

I am especially a fan of the new drop down presets in many of the dialogs (I guess I'm greedy, as I'd like to see more presets) and also the other enhancements to capabilities like the new Curves and Black and White conversion dialogs, both of which are extremely powerful.

There have been improvements in the performance of the application with faster start ups, better support of the Intel based Macs with the addition of Universal Binary Support. A new UI and vastly improved printing capabilities, are only some of the many reasons to want to upgrade, when it is finally released.

Other feature enhancements for Photoshop CS3 include improvements in Camera Raw, the versatile and powerful Quick Selection Tool, Improved Cloning and Healing and the smart filter capability.

I especially like the Refine Edges feature, which affords you even more control over the selection capabilities. With this new feature you can further refine any selections made by simply tweaking a slider and some settings. Quick, easy and painless.

They've even added the capability for in document notation, which will make any art director and editing team extremely happy. Even better is the capability to add audio notes ... reminder to oneself to warn you about the possibilities for abuse with this feature, instruct your staff not to leave rude or obnoxious messages or noises here...

The new interface design is the biggest change, with differences jumping out at you immediately upon opening the app. A tools palette which can change from double to single column modes. Palettes which are tabbed and dockable and which are easily accessed through a quick button click and afford you more flexibility over how you access the many powerful features in Photoshop CS3.

The upgrade of Adobe Camera RAW and Bridge make this new version more versatile and powerful and in many ways echo many of the features found in the new Lightroom product.
The inclusion of a histogram in the curves dialog is a much sought after and often requested feature. As is the inclusion of a presets drop down in this dialog. I especially like the fact that you can see the individuals curves for each colour channel once you've made adjustments.

The Black and White adjustment Dialog is a beauty offering you many ways to modify your image to better affect how you image is converted to Black and White.

Another excellent enhancement is the clone source palette which is a welcome addition and allows you to accurately overlay image so that you can more easily clone elements for image repairs and other uses. You can now select the source layer from which to work which greatly enhance its usefulness.

On a final note, the history pallette, also logs the time spent on a project ... an extremely useful feature for logging whats billable and doing productivity assessments.

All told there are many excellent improvements to an already powerful application and all of which will be well worth the cost of the upgrade. The combination of Photoshop CS3, Bridge 2.0 and Adobe Camera RAW 4.0 will leave you itching to get your hands on the final versions.

Photoshop CS3 Icon Storm

One of the issues, many designers are polarized on with the new version, is not actually a functional issue, but, an aesthetic one. There is a storm brewing which in my mind is almost as big an issue as the faux pas Quark created when they re-branded last year.

The issue has actually to do with the new look of the Adobe Product icons. As a long time designer of icons for applications and as a creative whose been involved in the process of creating software, I am deeply troubled by this new look, which on the surface looks like nothing more than a couple of letters on a button.

For me the creation of an icon for identifying an application has to be considerate of functional, aesthetic and practical considerations. It must both be immediately identifiable and also in the case of a product which sits within a suite of products, look like it is part of a family.

When I first saw the new icon I wrongly assumed (like many others) that it was a placeholder for a later and more visually exciting design. An assumption which I was quickly disabused of by none other than John Nack ... and rightly so too, that'll teach me to open my gob, before I finish reading and looking into the facts. The color wheel below was shown on the Adobe site as an indicator of the thinking behind the colour values assigned to the icons and also an indicator at how the new look was mapped onto their products.

As you can see above, most of the icons are very simple buttons with a two letter label ... pretty boring if you ask me, even if they are functional. If this is the direction chosen, then I'm more than a little disappointed at what has up to now been a very inspiring and explorative approach to application identity.

So why am I being so critical ... truth to be said I am a fan of simplicity, and if like in the case of the existing Macromedia icons for Flash and Dreamweaver, Adobe had used a very distinctive looking font or character type, then the approach could perhaps be forgiven.

However, the typeface selected for this application is in my mind, very nondescript, and as a result, is in danger of falling into being somewhat ineffectual. These icons have a Homogeneity which much like political correctness and which should, in my thinking, be avoided at all costs.

The whole look reminds many who have commented, of a periodic table type concept mapped onto a colour wheel, and whilst the approach is cute, it is far from creative in it's current incarnation. Cute but no cigar...

Adobe, please create a look and feel that makes the icons look unique and immediately able to stand out from the crowd rather than one which looks like an afterthought. I personally want more effort put into the applications I use, rather than just being represented by lettered buttons.

All this aside ... it's only a tiny issue when you consider just how awesome this new version of their top application actually is. Too bad if this is what you’re settling for ... raise the bar please. I know your in-house creatives are more than capable of a lot more.

As I suggested on the Adobe forums whilst simplicity is one of the stylistic approaches you can take when designing icons, it is not necessarily the most communicative. Iconography is largely about communication and whilst these icons do have a distinctive look, that look is in danger of being nothing more than a textual label on a button.

Give me something which is evocative, something which cries creativitity and echos some of the products traditional roots, rather than a perceivably bland button. The Application is awesome, let the icon live up to that...

Visit the following sites for several threads on the subject; Jason Santa Maria dislikes the look whilst Veerle Pieters Veerle Pieters, likes them. John Nacks blog on Adobe, also has several threads worth visiting this thread introduced the question, and this one took the issue further.

Update 25/12/2006 - Another issue where the new icons/glyphs will run into trouble, and it's a big one, is in the area of localization. What are adobe going to do for other languages. In the case of western languages this wont be too big a problem but what about arabic, CJK (Chinese- Japanese-Korean), Hebrew, Greek or Cyrillic. Icons should have some kind of link to functionality, English Text labels unfortunately do nothing for users whose language is soemthing which doesnt use latin glyphs. This has always been one of the most fundamental lessons that I've taught many of my students and junior designers.

Bruce Fraser - 1954 - 2006

After a long battle with lung cancer, Colour Guru, Bruce Fraser passed away on Saturday December 16th. Bruce was a highly influential and respected member of the international photoshop community. Author of several books, consultant and contributor to creativepro.com, co-founder of Pixel Genius, colour expert and quiet luminary.

Bruce passed away at home in his own bed, he was surrounded by his family and friends. He is survived by his wife Angela. Our thoughts are with you.

Andromeda Creates Special Holday Bundles

Andromeda Software have release a couple of bundles featuring several of their cool Photoshop plug-ins. Featuring a festive theme, their offers are presented in the form of two "Platters", one of which features their Shadow and Scatterlight Plug-ins for $119 US, and the other, Perspective, Cutline, Red Eye Pro and Varifocus for $149 US. Not a bad deal if you ask me ... for more information, pop on over to Andromeda Software Inc.

Nik Software Christmas Offer

Nik Software are offering a Christmas special to registered users of their products. One offer consists of a 20% discount on Nik Color Efex Pro 2.0 Select Edition which comes with 45 digital filters. The other offer will give you a free camera profile with the purchase of Dfine 1.0, their fast and professional noise reduction plug-in. Visit the profiles page for a list of available profiles.
For more information on the offer visit http://www.niksoftware.com/xmas.

Colour Guru, Bruce Fraser Gravely Ill

I just came across the news that Bruce Fraser, long time colour guru and one of the founders of Pixel Genius LLC, is gravely ill. I'm certain that many of us offer our support and best wishes to Bruce and his Family.

Bruce has just this week been awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Association of Photoshop Professionals in recognition of a Lifetime of Contributions to the Development, Advancement and Education of the Digital Imaging Community. Without a doubt he's had a singularly significant influence on shaping the way we work with colour today.

Photoshopuser Launch Photoshop CS3 Support Centre.

To coincide with the release of the Public Beta of Photoshop CS3, NAPP/Photoshop user have launched the CS3 Learning Center which offers users tutorials, new feature overviews and exclusive interviews. The video tutorials are immensely useful and well worth the time. Pop on over to PhotoshopUser and explore to your hearts content.

Photoshop CS3 Public Beta Launched

The rumours of a public beta of Photoshop CS3 have been proven to be true ... I downloaded and installed mine last night and I must say, I'm quite impressed overall, many of the features and proposed changes I saw whilst working with Adobe, have made it into the Beta.

The download for the Photoshop CS3 Beta is available here. The beta will only run for 2 days without a serial number. In order to qualify for a non-trial version you must have an existing and registered licence of Photoshop CS2, Creative Suite 2, Creative Suite Production Studio, Design Bundle, Web Bundle or Video Bundle serial number. Use your CS2 serial number to get your CS3 beta serial number here.

In addition to Universal Binary Support for Intel based Macs, a new UI and a vastly improved Bridge and Printing capabilities, other feature enhancements for Photoshop CS3 include improvements in Camera Raw, the Quick Selection Tool, Curves Capabilities, Black and White conversion control, Improved Cloning and Healing and a really useful smart filter capability, which is not unlike Smart Objects, but even more useful. I really liked the Refine Edges feature, which affords you even more control over the selection capabilities in PSCS3.

They've also improved the panoramic picture creation capabilities with an enhanced Auto Align and Auto Blend feature.

System Requirements
For Adobe Photoshop CS3 beta,
recommended system requirements are as follows. For Macintosh: Mac OSX 10.4.8 or
10.5, 1 GHz PowerPC® G4 or G5 processor, Intel based Macintosh. For Windows:
Intel® Xeon® , Xeon Dual, Centrino® or Pentium® 4 processor, Microsoft Windows
XP with Service Pack 2 or higher, Microsoft Windows Vista. Both platforms
require 512 MB RAM and a 1024x769 resolution screen. Photoshop CS3 beta will
expire soon after the launch of Photoshop CS3 in Spring 2007. Details on final
pricing, system requirements and availability have yet to be
determined.

For more in depth coverage visit photoshopuser, where Scott Kelby has produced a good article on Photoshop CS3. The article covers these new features, in much more depth. To read the full press release from Adobe, follow this link.

Photoshop CS3 Beta Rumours

AppleInsider are reporting that Adobe might be releasing a Public Beta of Photoshop CS3 this coming Friday. If this is true then Adobes servers will be inundated for the next few weeks. I can tell you this ... if this is the case, I'll be hitting the servers to download my copy of the Beta as soon as possible. As with all these rumours it's best to take a wait and see posture. The original post at Appleinsider can be found here.

Focal Press Release Paint Shop Pro Photo XI for Photographers

Focal Press, a division of Elsevier, have announce the release of Paint Shop Pro Photo XI for Photographers by Ken McMahon. Paintshop Pro has been around for many years and as a tool for editing photos, it is something to be seriously considered when making decisions for purchasing imaging tools. This book from Focal Press, promises to open up this powerful tool so that you can more effectively use it in your day to day imaging work. This beautifully produced book, introduces you to Corel’s Paint Shop Pro Photo XI and provides coverage of all the tools and features needed to edit and enhance your digital photographs.

Having played with PSP XI, I can tell you that for many users, it more than covers the features needed for digital imaging. With this book, Ken McMahon provides "real life workflow projects with clear, step-by-step tutorials, eye-catching visuals and numerous tips and tricks to get users up and running fast." Ken also covers all the new features and advanced tools available in PSP XI, including Camera Raw and PSP XI's other workflow and special enhancements.

For more information on Paint Shop Pro Photo XI for Photographers visit the product page at Focal Press.

Alien Skin Blow-up

A while back, I announced the release of Alien Skin BlowUp. A short time later, I was sent a copy of the software by the folks at Alien Skin and whilst I had played with it for quite a while. It wasn't until I actually had to use it to work on an image from a cell phone that I really appreciated the features of this excellent utility.

The image itself was of a child that recently died in a traffic accident and the only recent images the parents had were those taken on their Cell phones. The image was barely VGA quality and suffered from a lot of artifacting (blocking), due to heavy JPEG compression. So I decided to try BlowUp and see if I could get a decent sized image out of this picture. I tried using it on its own and found that although I could resize the image fine the results were less that acceptable because of the heavy artifacting.

I then went back to the original image and used an image recovery utility to eliminate the blocky artifacts. Once I was happy with the corrected image, I then used BlowUp to resize the image with excellent results.

What really helped, were the photo grain controls contained within BlowUp, as these controls help to add an organic feel back into your images. I was able to take a very poor 640x480 image and turn it into a fairly respectable photo.

The bereaved family were very happy to have the resulting photo, and I was happy to have brought some light into what was a very dark time for the family of the poor child. Based upon my experiences with it, the only suggestion I can make to Alien Skin for improving what is already an impressive tool, is to add the capability for removing compression artifacts directly into BlowUp.

For more information on Alien Skin BlowUp visit the product page here. BlowUp retails for US $199.00 although, if you happen to be the owner of another Alien Skin product, you can also purchase an upgrade package for US $99.00.

John Nack on New Adobe Photo Guides

John Nack has posted on his blog about several very informative PDF files that have been published by Adobe. The article is well worth a visit, as is his blog. The guides cover several digital imaging techniques and technology issues and should be downloaded.

Kuler Colour

OK, I'm a little late releasing this bit of news ... Adobe have released a cool web-based application called Kuler. Kuler is a technology preview of a Web-hosted application that allows users to quickly create and share harmonious color themes over the Web. I came across the info on Designorati which happens to be one of my favourite websites for creative info. Check out Kuler here.

Art, Design and Photography Emags

I've been finding a lot of free art, design and photography emags lately. Some of which you can download and some which are browser based. The beauty of these emagazines is that they use no paper and that they are really easy to use. I've been able to use mags in chinese without too much difficulty. Only frustration is that you need a computer to view them ... roll on umpc (Ultra Mobile PC).

Some of these mags, even emulate the whole page turning experience. I think however, that as cute as this is, it's only going to be a shortlived feature ... I soon grew tired of "turning" pages. I much prefer clicking in the corner or on a button. Check out 08SHOW, it's in chinese but should be fairly easy to follow.

Once I started exploring the site, I also came across a link to a photoshop weblog in German where there were some really cool articles. It's well worth exploring so here's the link.

onOne Ships Mask Pro 4.0

onOne Software, Inc. has announced that Mask Pro 4 is now shipping. Mask Pro 4 is one of the leading productivity tools that tackles the most challenging masking jobs. And this new version focuses on teaching the user how to best use this powerful tools. Visit the Mask Pro 4 product page for more info.

Martin Evening on Tethered Shooting with Lightroom

Whilst reading Prodig I came across a posting which talks about a substantial introduction on how to shoot via a tethered connection using Lightroom. The article in question actually appears on PhotoshopNews and makes for interesting reading.

Photo Centre Europe Launches Directory

Photography Centre Europe have launched a new online directory dedicated to photography and photographers. The Photo Directory is highly optimized to be search engine friendly, a very useful feature to promote your sites. I'm off to add myself right now. If you have a Photography related web site then pop on over to Photo Centre Directory and register. Visit Photography Centre Europe

Alien Skin Announce Snap Art

According to the press release "Snap Art creates beautiful, natural media artwork in a single step." This plug in consists of 10 Photoshop compatible plug-in filters, each of which creates a very distinctive effect. Effects include; oil paint, pencil sketch, pen and ink, comics watercolour and others. It is very similar in the range of effects it creates, to some of the styles found in other artistic effects emulation plug-ins. Having played with it, I can tell you that although it won't turn you into an artist, it is very good and the results are much more effective and configurable than several other plug-ins I've used. Alien skin have done their usual excellent job with this delightful tool, and I look forward to reviewing it for you in the next few days. Snap Art sells for US $149.00, however a discount is available for owners of other Alien Skin products. For more information please visit the Snap Art product page.

CEIVA Announce New Digital Photo Frames

CEIVA announced its new line of digital frames which are designed to display digital photos in a full-color slideshow and which can can automatically receive and display new photos sent from anywhere in the world via a phone line or broadband connection. The frames, which look very cool and include a built-in card reader, begin at US $149. From the looks of things they are trying to push their picture hosting solutions with the frames. Please visit CEIVA for more information.

Akvis Announce Decorator V.1.1

Akvis have announced the release of version 1.1 of Decorator. This plug-in applies textures and recolours elements in photographs. It follows the elements or objects contours, making the texture or colour appear natural, following folds, creases and planes. It's well worth a look. Visit Akvis for more information.

Akvis Sketch plug-in v.2.1

Akvis have announced the release of version 2.1 of their Sketch plug-in. This plug-in, is perfect for the photoshop user who wants to create artistic interpretations of their photos. Sketch converts photos into images that look very much like pencil sketches and watercolor art. The images produced with Akvis Sketch make it well worth exploring as a tool for extending the marketability of your photos. The full product sells for $72 for Home use and $94 for a business version, however, a 10 day evaluation version is also available at the Akvis Website.

The Art of RAW Conversion

Authors: Uwe Steinmüller and Jürgen Gulbins,
ISBN: 0596100833
Reviewed by: Mario Georgiou, November 2006
Published by: No Starch Press
Requires: N/A, sample chapter "Introduction to RAW Files or Digital Negatives" available here
MSRP: US$39.95 USD, UK£28.50, CAD$55.99

Uwe Steinmüller and Jürgen Gulbins are well known for professional work in their respective fields, so when they came together to produce this book it was no surprise that it would become one of the better volumes available on the subject of RAW Image handling and workflow. Steinmüller is a well known photographer and digital workflow specialist; Gulbins is a prolific author and technical translator.

Steinmüller is also the founder of the Digital Outback Photo webzine, which has become one of the sites to visit for information on digital image workflow, RAW processing, and printing. He is also an accomplished photographer whose work has been exhibited worldwide. Gulbins' books include technical references and manuals on a variety of subjects, including CAD, UNIX, DTP, typography, Internet, document management, Linux, and Digital Photography.

The Art of RAW Conversion deals with the creation and manipulation of RAW images from digital cameras .RAW images are conceptually similar to exposed film negatives in that they contain the photographic data just as it has been captured by the digital camera sensor. The beauty of RAW is that you always have the unprocessed file to work and experiment to your heart's desire. RAW files are a pleasure to work with, but also have their pitfalls. The necessity for asset management become crucial when dealing with these files.

The book is delightful to behold. The choice of type, images, layout and even the media are all top class. The use of well chosen images and screen shots throughout, helps to illustrate individual topics very effectively. Each chapter and topic is well handled. With coverage of areas such as color management, RAW workflow, batch processing, digital negatives, metadata and camera profiling, and RAW conversion, configuration and calibration, you really can't go wrong.

The book takes you through basic concepts and then introduces you to a sampling of the available RAW solutions (digital image editing and processing programs which offer handling of RAW files). The selection of programs is excellent, with one categorical omission—there is little coverage of Linux-based solutions. The only weak area in the whole book is that the coverage of each digital image editing and processing program is a little on the short side. Given that the Art of RAW Conversion is not meant to be a reference manual for each of the featured programs, I can't really complain. Coverage includes Adobe Lightroom, the latest offering from the company which brought you Photoshop.

The final chapter is dedicated to the process of effectively converting color RAW files into black & white images. Although the process is covered briefly, taking you through the process with each of the featured programs, I actually found this last chapter a little on the weak side as the process is still not quite perfect. The chapter is however a good starting point.

Cons: Little or no coverage of Linux based solutions. Some programs need better coverage.

Pros: Beautifully laid out. Easy to follow. Broad coverage of many key issues. The Art of RAW conversion is a work of art in itself, beautifully designed and well written. The coverage of each topic is well handled and easy to follow. If you are looking for in-depth tutorials for your favorite digital imaging software then you need to look elsewhere. However, if you want an excellent introduction to RAW image handling and to many of the concepts involved, this is an excellent book with which to get started. It's well worth adding to your digital imaging and photography library. Highly Recommended.

This review is republished in it entirety from kickstartnews.

Apple Update Boosts Rosetta Performance

I came across an article on Rob Galbraiths DPI site which announced Photoshop performance enhancements through the latest OSX update. OS X 10.4.8 will apparrently give an increase in performance of up to 36%. Well worth investigating is this article on the Macworld website.

Luminous Landscape Receives Facelift

Michael Reichman and crew have given a face lift to their excellent site, Luminous Landscape. The makeover is largely excellent with a cleaner look, whilst still maintaining some of the feel of its previous incarnation ... I like continuity. Even better I've checked on a whole bunch of the links and they've maintained the heirarchy and physical locations of the old articles ... good thinking guys.

DFT Release 55mm 7.0

This latest update to Digital Film Tools 55mm includes several new filters including; Chromatic Aberration, Color Infrared, Cool Mist, Defringe, Double Fog, Edge Glow, Old Photo, Pencil, Split Tone, X-Ray, and the new Two Strip and Three Strip filters. For more details on the plug-ins new filters read below. I look forward to trying these out.

NEW PLUG-INS
- Chromatic Aberration: Chromatic aberration is caused by a lens having a different refractive index for different wavelengths of light and is seen as fringes of color around the edges of the image. This fringing is removed by un-distorting the individual color channels.
- Color Infrared: Color Infrared simulates infrared filters used in conjunction with infrared sensitive film or sensors to produce very interesting false-color images with a dreamlike or sometimes lurid appearance.
- Cool Mist: The Cool Mist filter creates atmosphere by reducing contrast and glowing highlights in combination with a cooling filter.
- Defringe: Purple or blue fringing around overexposed areas is a result of sensor overloading in video as well as digital still cameras. Defringe isolates and removes the various types of color fringing.
- Edge Glow: Edge Glow isolates lines and edges in an image and then adds glow only to these areas resulting in a stylized look.
- Fog: The Fog filter creates a soft, misty atmosphere over the image and glows highlights.
- Old Photo: Images are treated to look like a variety of historical photographic processes including Cyanotype, Kallitype, Light Cyan, Palladium, Platinum, Sepia, Silver, Silver Gelatin and Van Dyck.
- Pencil: Pencil converts your image to a pencil sketch.
- Split Tone: Shadows, midtones and highlights can be individually tinted with the Split tone filter.
- Three Strip: Known and celebrated for it ultra-realistic, saturated levels of color, the Technicolor Three Strip process was commonly used for musicals, costume pictures and animated films. It was created by photographing three black and white strips of film each passing through red, green and blue filters on the camera lens and then recombining them in the printing process. Our Three Strip filter was created under the direction of Academy Award Winning Visual Effects Supervisor Rob Legato.
- Two Strip: The Technicolor Two Strip process was the first stab at producing color motion pictures and consisted of simultaneously photographing two black and white images using red and green filters. This look creates an odd but pleasing hand-painted look where faces appear normal and green takes on a blue-green quality, while the sky and all things blue appear cyan. Our Two Strip filter was created under the direction of Academy Award Winning Visual Effects Supervisor Rob Legato
- X-Ray: Simulates the look of X-Ray images.

Having worked with earlier versions of this great plug-in suite, I can vouch for the usefulness of many of the existing filters. 55mm 7.0 is available in both Video (
Adobe After Effects and compatible programs, Apple's Final Cut Pro and Motion and Avid Editing Systems.)and Photoshop compatible plug-in versions. Visit DFT for more information on 55mm 7.0.

News for the week ending November 18th

There have been some quite innovative and exciting products announced this week. many of them have surface from the rumour mill and some have been genuine surprises...

Think Tank Photo Belt/Back Pack

Santa Rosa based Think Tank Photo have announced the release of an innovative beltpack/backpack based camera bag. The Rotation360° consists of two components which come a belt pack which slots into a backpack to form a docked unit. The beauty of this configuration, is that this product, actively deals with a complaint many photographers have about back packs, which is, easy access.

You can use the belt pack, to store the most commonly used camera components, and then simply swing the belt pack around to the front from its docked position, in order to quickly access the bits you want. Nice Eh? For more information visit Think Tank Photo or the product site at http://www.rotation360.com/.

Tivity Announce Pixtivity
Pixtivity is a software solution designed to allow users the ability to create beautiful looking slideshows with their photos. I havent had the chance to try it yet but will do so and get back to you with a more in depth report. The press release indicates that "Pixtivity includes hundreds of creative presentations and unique layouts." For more information, visit the Pixtivity Web site.

LightZone 2.0 Released
http://www.lightcrafts.com/ has finally announced the release of LightZone 2.0, which has been available as a beta for several months already. I'm looking forward to trying it out as it promises a unique approach to the whole game of image enhancement using techniques and principles from Ansel Adams' Zone System. It certainly looks like an interesting product.

Apple Update Camera Raw Support
Apple has posted updated versions of its installers for the Digital Camera RAW Support Update which they released earlier this month. The v1.0.1 update adds support to Aperture, iPhoto and Preview for RAW files from the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi/400D, Nikon D80 and Pentax *ist DS.

DPReview posts New Review/Preview
DPReview have posted an excellent review of the Canon PowerShot G7 and a hands-on preview of a production Nikon D40.

Nikon D40 Officially Announced

So the rumours going around the digital photography sites have proven to be right, Nikon officially announced the release of their new D40 D-SLR. This 6 megapixel plus baby is supposed be the smallest, lightest, easiest DSLR Nikon have made to date. Featuring In-Camera Editing, a 2.5 inch display, SD Card compatible and bundled with an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor lens, it'll be worth checking out. At US$599 it could be on many shopping lists this Christmas.

Vaja Ivolution Silver for iPod video

For those of you who use your Ipod for storing your photos and other media, I've just received notification from Vaja Cases about their new Ivolution Silver, leather case for the Ipod Video. All I have to say is, wow, what a perfect gift for Christmas. Vaja have been making cases for all sorts of devices for a few years now, and in my opinion, they are one of the finest examples of someone understanding their customers needs and desires, that I've come across.


Their sites are well designed and well worth the time exploring. Visit Vaja Cases for their standard products and Vaja Choice for their customized lines. The latter site is an excellent example of what is possible in presenting products which offer custom features.

Imagenomic Release RealGrain™ & Portraiture Plug-ins

Portraiture and RealGrain are two new plug-ins from Imagenomic which are designed to enhance your photographs.

RealGrain allows the user to emulate photographic grain from different film types in images using a Photoshop plug-in. It allows the user to dynamically scale grain based upon image dimensions, it also features controls for grain balance, tonal and colour fine-tuning and comes preloaded with a range of predefined film type libraries.

Portraiture is a plug-in designed to make the tedious process of retouching portraits and glamour shots an easy task. "It intelligently smoothens and removes imperfections while preserving skin texture and other important portrait details such as hair, eyebrows, eyelashes etc." The controls allow the user to finely refine the way in which this is done and also limit the areas affected through the use of an auto-mask feature.

From the looks of things these plug-ins look like they have had a lot of work done to them. I'll get back to you with a more in-depth review of them once I've had a chance to try them. Imagenomic also make a plug-in and standalone app called Noiseware which eliminates unwanted noise and artifacts from digital images.

Kata T214 Sling Pack Camera Bag

I came across a couple of products which I think would make an excellent solution for carrying your camera and a couple of lenses on short jaunts. The Kata T212 and the new T214 Sling Pack Camera Bag. The bags themselves look beautifully made and feature a heavy utility look that makes them look armoured. the beauty of these Torso Packs as they have been decribe is that they allow you to sling them over your shoulder and swing them around to quickly access your equipment. Visit http://www.kata-bags.com/ for more information on their products. Well worth a look.

Plustek OpticFilm 7200i

Reviewed by: Mario Georgiou, November 2006
Published by: Plustek
Requires: Windows 98SE, Me, 2000 or XP, Pentium II CPU or faster, 1 available USB port, 256MB RAM, 300MB free hard disk space, High Color graphics card (VGA or higher)
MSRP: US$369.95, UK£249.99


Amateur photographers and enthusiasts rejoice. All those negatives and slides need no longer sit in the dark like mushrooms. Bring them out, start scanning, and who knows what gems you'll discover and what memories will come to life. The Plustek OpticFilm is a solution which at first glance seems built for the pro and amateur alike. Boasting a high resolution and dust & scratch removal, it seems too good to pass up. So how good is it and does it live up to the demands of transporting your valuable images and memories into the digital realm?

At such a low price point, I expected to be let down. However I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the unit was to install and how well designed the 7200i actually is. Scanning with it is a breeze—the software is well designed and straightforward to use. The Infrared Smart Removal of Defect (iSRD) feature is a pleasant surprise in that regard. The feature is a combination of hardware and software which is designed eliminate minor flaws such as dust and scratches by using infrared in the scanning process to detect and identify flaws.

SilverFast Ai software is bundled with the scanner, easy to use, and fully supports the built-in dust and scratch removal. Although relatively fast for scanning clean negatives and slides, the moment you up the ante and try using the iSRD feature on damaged or dirty negs and slides, the scanning times go way up. The scan results are pretty good, although I did find that the final scans were somewhat softer when using the software-based dust and scratch removal.

I like the ability to select the type of films being scanned, although the range was not quite so complete as I would have liked. I had to guess on a couple of OEM film brands and their ideal profiles, but found through trial & error that the available profiles were adequate.

The negative strip and slide carriers are simply designed and easy to use, although I think I'd feel more comfortable with a tighter fit in the scanner. I would also have been happy to find orientation indicators on the carriers for placing negatives. Nonetheless, there were no issues related to the carrier in the resulting scans.

At this price point I shouldn't be surprised to find that sharpness at 7200 dpi isn't quite there. With detail in the highlights and shadows somewhat blown out, I wouldn't recommend this scanner for the professional who needs extreme detail and dynamic range. But the results were more than usable for the enthusiast and semi-pro. That being stated, for the price conscious photographer this unit is a real steal. Dedicated film scanners with similar capabilities can cost much, much, more.

Cons: Dynamic Range is not quite as good as needed for professional work. Refinement needed in the film profiles and format support. Slow scanning in high resolution. iSRD makes it crawl. Windows only.

Pros: Easy to set up and use. Small footprint. SilverFast Ai software and built-in dust & scratch removal is good. High optical resolution and good detail. Surprisingly low price. For the amateur photographer who wants easy access to their family memories or to their photographic work which exists in negative and slide form, this unit is a dream. It is easy to install and even easier to use. For the professional who has a requirement for a scanner with solid dynamic range, extensive media support and high resolution, you need to look farther afield. I recommend the Plustek OpticFilm 7200i for the amateur photographer and enthusiast.

This review has been reposted in its entirety from http://www.kickstartnews.com/.

More Raw Profile Updates

The last week has seen updates from many RAW Image software vendors, Apple and Adobe aside. Updates have been announced by DxO Labs, Phase One and Breeze Systems. DxO Labs.

DxO Labs announced that DxO Optics Pro v4 for Windows will support RAW files from the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi/400D and Nikon D80. Support for the enhanced optical correction functions will be limited to a few lenses for each model, but this list will be added to in short order. A Mac version of DxO Optics Pro v4 should be available in late November 2006.

Phase One has updated its suite of Capture One applications for Windows and Mac to v3.7.6. The major digital SLR-related change in the PRO and LE versions is revamped colour processing for RAW files from the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi/400D, Leica M8, Nikon D80 and Sony Alpha DSLR-A100.

Breeze Systems have added RAW support in BreezeBrowser Pro v1.6.2 for Windows, for three additional digital SLR cameras; the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi/400D, Nikon D2Xs and Nikon D80.

Apple Releases Aperture 1.5.1

Apple releases version 1.5.1 of Aperture. This new version features over 100 fixes for reliability and performance across the board. The update addresses "numerous issues related to overall reliability and performance in all areas of the application." These include:

Keywords
Loupe
Cropping
Previews
Metadata presets
Versions
File renaming
iPhoto Library import
Watermarks

Registered users can download version 1.5.1 from the Aperture product download pages.

News for the week ending November 5th

Nik Color Efex Pro 2.0 and iView MediaPro 3.0 Bundle
Nik Software announce an arrangement to bundle Nik Color Efex Pro 2.0 Select Edition and iView MediaPro 3.0. iView Multimedia Ltd., is a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp. Nik Colour Efex is one of my favourite plug-ins and a tool I highly recommend for any imageer and photographer.

OnOne Announce Mask Pro 4.0
onOne Software has announced the release of Mask Pro 4. This upgrade to their powerful digital image masking plug-in Mask Pro 3 looks like a decent upgrade, with enhancements in many areas. Features include Wacom Tablet support, usability improvements and enhanced video tutorials should improve this already excellent tools stock with many imageers and photographers. Mask Pro should begin shipping on November 18, 2006. For more information, visit onOne Software

Fisheye-Hemi Plug-In Corrects Fisheye Distortion in Photos
Image Trends, announces the release of the Fisheye-Hemi Plug-In. It is an Adobe® Photoshop® compatible Plug-in which corrects the extreme distortions found in photos shot with a Fisheye Lens. You can obtain more information and download a demo of the plug-in at the Image Trends website.

Digital Foci announces new Image Moments Digital Photo Frame.
Digital Foci, Inc. announced last week the new redesigned “Image Moments” digital photo album frame. This new frame allows you to display and share photos directly from digital camera memory cards. Simply insert any digital camera card, with JPEG images on it, into Image Moments and the images will play back on the 8-inch LCD screen. It also supports mp3 and MPEG files. For more info visit Digital Foci.

Lowepro Shows Off the Slingshot 300 AW Camera Bag at the PhotoPlus Expo
At this year's PhotoPlus Expo, Lowepro came prepared to satisfy the wishes of the professional photographer. Joining two smaller models, they added a new Slingshot 300 AW sling backpack to accomodate larger professional camera bodies with an attached long zoom lens.

ACDSee adds Updated RAW Support to ACDSee Pro.
ACDSee Pro has been updated with RAW file support for many new models of Digital Camera. The update can be found at ACD See.

DFT Announce EZ Mask 1.0

Digital Film tools have EZ Mask 1.0, a tool which is designed to make extracting practically any object from a background. The tool works by allowing you to sample the areas you want to keep and those you don't. Once these areas are selected EZ Mask then calculates a transparency value for every pixel in the image allowing EZ Mask to efficiently remove the unwanted areas. EZ Mask makes the process of removing unwanted backgrounds pretty painless. It retails for $150 and DFT has special pricing available for existing DFT plug-ins owners. Visit the EZ Mask home page for more info.

Photokina 2006

The bi-annual Photokina show is in full swing in the city of Cologne in Germany. For Photographers and Digital Imageers in Europe this is the photo centric event. There are about 1600 suppliers represented at the show with about 160,000 visitors expected to attend. There have been new products aplenty both released and announced to coincide with the show.

Hardware wise, new cameras, tools and accessories to make any chance you had of wanting to save money, a tough task indeed. The best of the crop in my mind to date are the new Leica M8 and The Hasselblad H3D 48mm full frame DSLR. The Leica M8 with its 10+ megapixel sensor and compatibility with existing glass will make this a very popular model with many photographers who have already invested in Leica based rangefinder cameras and glass. The Hasselblad H3D looks like a really sexy piece of kit and most like something which would cost as much as a decent car. Not for the casual photographer unless you happen to have won a lottery or are loaded.

Other cool gear included a new wooden bodied compact camera from Olympus, which look like it was style by a child of the 60's. On the memory card front we have seen 12Gb and 16GB CF Cards and external storage solutions aplenty.

Software wise, one of the big things that seems to be the focus of software companies from all over, has been the abundance of solutions for RAW image handling and workflow. Adobe and Apple lead the pack with releases of their RAW based software solutions. Apple announced Aperture 1.5 which should be out this week. Seeing as I don't have a Mac I can really comment, but the new features look promising. Adobe have also fired several volleys this week with the release of Beta 4 of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop Elements 5 and Adobe Camera RAW 3.5.

Software from other companies includes; Capture One PRO, DxO Optics Pro, Bibble 4.9 and Lightzone 2.0. Other offerings include image editing and processing solutions like Corel PaintShop Pro XI, Ulead PhotoImpact 12 and ACDSee 9 Photo Manager.

Other products include: iPod accessories, portable image storage and viewing solutions, specialised image correction software of all kinds. high resolution webcams, digital photo frames, DLP projectors, camera bags, printers, scanners and tripods.

For the most comprehensive coverage of Photokina go to Photokina Show from Lets Go Digital.

Other coverage can be found at the following sites: DPReview, Rob Galbraith, Digital Camera Info and Imaging Resource

Digital Outback Photo Preview Lightzone Public Beta.

Lightzone is a RAW converter with a difference. LightZone is based on photographic principles and on Ansel Adams' Zone System. Lightzone works via a unique visual approach that focuses on what you want to do with your photos. It allows you to retouch your photos in a simple and natural way. The new Beta is being made available to the public in a growing trend of public beta programs aimed at getting real world feedback. The new features look interesting and it's worth a visit to DOP to see what they have to say. DOP are also acting as advisors to Light Crafts Inc. in the development of LightZone 2.0. Visit DOP to take a look at Lightzone 2.0.

Canon Updates DPP and Other Digital Photo Apps

Canon has released updaters for both the Mac and Windows versions of their Digital Photo Professional which update the program to version 2.2. Other updates include ImageBrowser 5.7.2 for Mac, ZoomBrowser EX 5.7.0 for Windows, EOS Utility 1.1 for both Mac & Windows and CameraWindow DSLR 5.3.2 for Windows.

Bibble Labs release Bibble 4.9

Bibble 4.9 has been released in both Pro and Lite editions. These updated versions, which run on Windows, Mac, and Linux introduce a Clone/Spot Healing tool and adds support for the Sony DSLR-A100, the Nikon D80, and the Canon 400D (Rebel XTi). Bibble 4.9 cost US$129 for the Pro edition and US$69 for the Lite edition, they are free upgrades for existing owners of Bibble 4.XX. Visit Bibble Labs for more info.

Bibble Labs have also announced that development has commenced on Bibble 5, which will be the company's next major release. No availability date has been stated.

Nik Software Announce Nik Professional Suite

For folks who are familiar with Nik Software's products and who have wanted to pick up some of their plug-ins, Nik Software have created Nik Professional Suite, which bundles complete versions of their award-winning Nik Color Efex Pro™ 2.0, Nik Sharpener Pro™ 2.0 and Dfine® 1.0. All of these products should be an essential part of an imageers arsenal. Nik Software will be presenting this Suite for the first time at photokina in Cologne. Visit their stand in hall 4.1, booth E-011/F-019, between the 26th September and the 1st October 2006.

Nik Color Efex Pro™ 2.0 Complete Edition:
The award-winning Nik Color Efex Pro 2.0 photographic filters offer features and functionality that are designed to make creative digital photographic enhancements and digital photography not only easier, but better. Recognized as the leader in digital photographic filters, Nik Color Efex Pro 2.0 provides photographers with a wide range of 75 filters and effects that make enhancing and transforming digital images better than ever. More

Nik Sharpener Pro™ 2.0 Complete Edition:
Nik Sharpener Pro 2.0 provides the easiest way for photographers and digital artists to optimally sharpen their digital images and achieve the best possible detail in their final prints. Each part of a photo can be sharpened selectively. Nik Sharpener Pro 2.0 takes into consideration all of the key elements of a printed image in order to provide photographers with optimal sharpening. More

Dfine® 1.0:
Dfine 1.0 provides a wide range of options for reducing noise and optimizing detail in digital images. Using an easy-to-use four-step process, users can choose to reduce varying types of noise and artefacts including luminance noise, chrominance noise, and JPEG artefacts. A professional plug-in for photographers who attach greatest importance to image details. More

The Suite offers saving of about 41%, and at a price of €499,00 it is a great deal. For more info visit the Nik Professional Suite newsletter page.

Adobe Announce Camera RAW 3.5

Adobe have announced the latest version of their Adobe Camera Raw plug-in for Photoshop CS2 or Photoshop Elements 3.0 - 5.0. They have also announced an update to their DNG Converter utility, which converts Raw files into their 'universal' DNG format. New cameras supported by Adobe Camera Raw 3.5 plug-in and DNG Converter include; Nikon D2Xs, Kodak EasyShare P712, Panasonic DMC-FZ50 and DMC-L1, and Sony A100. The DNG Converter is also available as a Mac OS X Universal Binary. For more infoand to download visit the Adobe Camera Raw download page.

Zigview Announce S2

After my post regarding the Proview yesterday, I was pleased to get a release on the Zigview S2 ... although it is not a wireless solution it appears to be far superior to the proview in terms of design and function. I would really like to get hold of both units to do a comparison. The unit comes in three different configurations and features a 2.5inch 230,000 pixel display.

Zigview S2 has a programmable motion detector sensor and intervalometer allowing you to control the shutter over a period of up to 999 days with exposure intervals of between ½ second and 99 days. It also features an NTSC/PAL Video Output jack. The display can rotate 300° and can flip up or down 180° for easy viewing at any angle. The image can be flipped 180° to enhance viewing ease. The S2 should be avaialble at the beginning next month, for a price of US$466 or £249.99. For more info visit either Intro2020, Argraph or Climax Digital

New Leicas Announced

Leica are a company that many photographers swear by. Their cameras are well known for their quality and performance. They also exude style. Earlier this week I was doing some searching to see what new models they had on the market and found nothing within the last six months. This left me wondering; sure enough a few days later they announce several new models for photokina 2006. The three new consumer/prosumer models, which are based on Panasonic technology, are the DIGILUX 3, the DSLR like V-LUX 1 and the D-LUX 3.

The DIGILUX 3 is based on Panasonic's DMC-L1 and features a 7.5 megapixel sensor. The "LiveMOS" based 4:3 DSLR also features an optical image stabilized lens, a supersonic dust filter and a 2.5-inch LCD. The V-LUX 1, which looks like a DSLR and is based on the DMC-FZ50, features a 10 megapixel CCD, a 12x optically image stabilized zoom lens, and a 2-inch LCD. Leica's D-LUX 3 takes on the ultra-compact styling of the DMC-LX2, and features a 10.2 megapixel 16:9 format CCD. It also features a 2.8-inch LCD, and optical image stabilisation.

The biggest news has to be about the Leica M8 rangefinder based, 10.3 megapixel digicam. This baby, which has an enormous £3,000+ price tag, will attract a lot of interest, but may be more of a curiosity for many photographers than it is a practicality. Still, Leica are known for their glass and I have seen many photographers preferring to use them with all their supposed disadvantages, over using SLR based cameras. The Lens encoding support plus the ease of focusing are going to be big draws to many existing Leica users.

DPreview have produced some excellent previews of these cameras, so please visit them at dpreview for more info.

Pentax Announce The K10

Pentax, the company who created my first SLR, have announced their first high-end digital SLR. This camera is a compact but high-quality model well suited for use by serious amateurs, art photographers, semi-pros, and professionals.

The new camera is called the K10 "D" and features a 10.2-megapixel CCD APS-C-sized sensor with an FOV Crop of 1.5x. Features include: 22-bit A/D conversion which is the highest of all existing DSLRs. Native support for DNG RAW files which allows the shooting of up to 9 Adobe DNG RAW images at 3 images per second or an unlimited number of JPEGs at the same speed.

Full weatherproofing with seventy-two weather seals and gaskets in the body, which effectively make the camera virtually waterproof. A Built-in Shake Reduction (SR) System and combatibility with all Pentax lenses, including all manual-focus lenses. There is also a removeable battery grip: The D-BG2 battery grip doubles the life of the camera’s rechargeable lithium-ion battery. It is also weatherproof like the camera, and, features full vertical-hold controls: a vertical shutter-release button, preview lever, two control dials, AE-lock button and the green button which enables instant return to program mode from aperture- or shutter-priority, as well as instant return to a metered setting while in metered-manual mode.

The Dual dust-elimination system, uses both a vapor-deposited fluorine compound coating on the sensor to repel dust, and high-speed physical vibration of the sensor itself to shake off the offending particles. The large glass pentaprism provides Ninety-five percent coverage and .95X magnification, there is also a diopter adjustment.

Other features include a stainless-steel body, 11-point autofocusing, and sensitivity to ISO 1600. There's also a dedicated button which allows you to toggle between RAW and standard modes. The K10 weighs 28 oz. loaded with battery and a card and should retail for US $900 in a body only package or for $1000 with a kit lens. The battery grip should cost US $190.

Pro-View - a remote viewfinder.

Pro-View has announced the launch of their wireless remote display for DSLR Cameras. The Pro-View Wireless Remote Display (WRD) uses a micro-color video camera and a 2.4 GHz transmitter in a custom enclosure that slips over the viewfinders eye cup.
This is similar in concept to the zigview but designed for remote as opposed to on camera viewing. I can see that with some kind of movable remote mount this would be great even for the purpose of surveillance. Wildlife photographers would definitely benefit from using the Pro-View WRD and with a remote release they'd be completely out of sight of the wildlife. Pro-View appear to have taken a page out of Zigviews book and are even using very similar language in their marketing. I do hope that the images of the product are based on a prototype, as they need to have some serious industrial design work done on the casing, because it is really ugly. At US $475, here's hoping ... visit http://www.proviewsite.com/ for more details.

Adobe Elements 5 and Paint Shop Pro XI announced

This week both Corel and Adobe announce new digital imaging solutions, Paint Shop Pro XI and Elements 5, which would both appear to be aimed at the consumer. I haven't had the chance to play with Elements 5, but I did get a tour of PSPXI. OK I'm going to be honest here, Corel have released their latest version of Paint Shop Pro, and Version XI is quite user friendly with lots of power, but it is more than just a consumer centric application. There are many pros, who could look at this solution, as a viable alternative to Photoshop. I've even installed it on my machine and taken it for a spin and I can tell you it's no lightweight. The application has been upgraded with some excellent new features and the integration with their new imaging platform, Snapfire, is something to explore.

The best new features are the powerful integrated organizer, the powerful and easy to use Color-Changer Tool, the Depth of Field and Skin Smoothing tools as well as the new film based Time Machine and the Film and Filters tools. Time machine was cool because it provides the user a simple and effective way to stylize their images using effects which are based on historical photographic techniques.

I plan to take a look at Elements in the next week or so, but look for a more in-depth review of PSPXI real soon...

Digital Heritage - Review

Digital Heritage, edited by Lindsay W. MacDonald,
ISBN: 0-7506-6183-6
Reviewed by: Mario Georgiou, September 2006
Published by: Butterworth-Heinemann/Elsevier
Requires: N/A
MSRP: US$110.00, UK£69.99, EUR 102.50

As a designer and digital imaging consultant, the range of technologies I deal with during the course of my work has been constantly changing. The need to keep up with change has meant that the time available for sitting back and resting is in very short supply. Asset management is one of the biggest issues confronting everyone working with large amounts of digital media. But what if your collections, archives or working research materials consist of old books, documents or even ancient artifacts? How do digital technologies affect the way in which we catalog and archive such assets?

Digital Heritage from Butterworth-Heinemann (an Elsevier imprint), explores the issues and technologies which surround the world of our heritage. The book is a reference work aimed at professionals whose job it is to preserve our past and present. The book contains a lot of valuable information and many project-centric case studies. It's organized in three distinct sections: User Requirements, Technology and Applications.

User Requirements looks at specific types of media and how they are handled, digitized, archived and accessed. The chapters in this section look at the way the Victoria & Albert Museum, Octavo, and The British library, amongst other archives, each deal with their specific asset types and workflows.

The Technology section takes a qualitative look at the technologies involved in the world of digital heritage. This includes image capture technologies, image handling, color management, file compression and image quality management. The issue of color management in particular is one which has become increasingly important because of the need for fidelity throughout the entire workflow—from acquisition through archiving and into printing. The presence of this information reaffirms the serious responsibilities borne by professional archivists in the course of establishing and maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the artifacts they are trying to preserve.

The use of TIFF and JPG files is detailed in many cases as standards to follow. The coverage of JPEG 2000 was an eye opener due to the qualitative comparisons demonstrated in the pictured examples. I found it disappointing that there is poor coverage of one area of contention in current digital imaging workflows: the issue of Camera RAW, where images are captured and recorded in a digital camera's native format. The issue exists because each camera manufacturer has their own flavor of RAW, so the potential exists to create a file format mess, especially if a manufacturer either goes out of business or discontinues support for a proprietary format. You could be left with data which will become inaccessible on future computer systems.

Section three, Applications, details specific uses for the technologies and how unique combinations of technologies are helping to bring our historical artifacts and structures to virtual life. Particularly interesting was the use of removal algorithms to digitally erase the bars, screens and metal mesh used to protect stained glass windows. There's no way to avoid capturing the protective bars, screens and mesh during photography sessions, so preservation experts have developed sophisticated techniques to carefully analyze the main subject while accurately removing digital traces of the protective barriers invariably recorded during the imaging process.

Of interest also were the formulas present in the book. They're invaluable to scientists involved in this field and certainly lend to the completeness of some of the information presented in the book. I especially enjoyed reading the chapters dealing with recording architectural and dimensional artifacts as I've had exposure to some of these recording methods and devices. Other essential coverage includes the concept of file naming conventions and the use of off-site storage and redundant backups of data.

Overall, I was impressed by how well everything was presented and by the comprehensive level of detail throughout most the book. I did find several figures in the book which could have benefited from a little more attention with respect to presentation.

Cons: Little coverage of the issues surrounding camera RAW. Text heavy and some of the illustrations needed a little more clarification.

Pros: Professional coverage of specific applications throughout. Well written. Comprehensive. Highly technical and excellent reference listings. Digital Heritage is thought provoking, and is the kind of book in which any digital imaging professional concerned with asset management and digital archiving, should invest. It's a comprehensive look at the specific needs of the archivist, conservator and heritage professional. This is a book which all libraries, art schools and museums should have in their archive. Overall, the book is excellent. Highly recommended.

This review has been reproduced in its entirety from Kickstartnews.com

Digital Collage and Painting - Review

Digital Collage and Painting: Using Photoshop and Painter to Create Fine Art, by Susan Ruddick Bloom
ISBN: 0-240-80705-7
Reviewed by: Mario Georgiou, September 2006
Published by: Focal Press/Elsevier
Requires: N/A
MSRP: US$49.95, UK£27.99

Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter IX are programs that you always leave with the feeling that you're just scratching the surface of their capabilities. This book does an excellent job of showing just what these powerful programs are capable of when you've got a specific creative project in mind. The creation of digital collages and paintings are very artistic applications of Photoshop's capabilities and something to which Painter, as a natural media emulation tool, is dedicated.
At over 600 pages, "Digital Collage and Painting: Using Photoshop and Painter to Create Fine Art" is a hefty volume which is bursting with hints, tips, case studies and example based projects. It also features coverage of several third party plug-ins and tools including Nik Color Efex and the AutoFX range which augment the already powerful features of both Photoshop and Painter.

Susan Bloom is well qualified to author this book, being a Professor of Art and Chair of the Department of Art & Art History at McDaniel College in Maryland. She teaches respected courses on the subjects covered by this book and is also a very capable photographer. The book consists of 13 chapters organized into 3 distinct sections. To attempt to cover each chapter in detail is beyond the scope of this review, so I've chosen to focus mainly on how well each section achieves its goals.

In section one, Planning and Inspiration, the reader is taken through concepts, factors for consideration and then through inspirational examples provided by the contributing artists selected for the book. The short introductory chapters are light and easy to follow and only serve to cover the basics. The inspirational sections feature and impressive list of digital artists such as Julieanne Kost, Stephen M. Burns and Audrey S. Bernstein, all of whose work I am familiar with, and as well as many others who are well chosen for their ability to showcase the creative possibilities inherent in Photoshop and Painter. Each artist discusses their equipment, history and their creative process and takes readers through the process of creating one of the selected projects.

The second section deals with the process of working with the featured tools. First a chapter on painting with Photoshop and then one with Painter and then chapters on creating collages with both tools respectively. In all chapters the use of brushes, filters and layering techniques help to build a picture of the very powerful capabilities to be found in both these programs. The chapters also provide some very useful tips on how to create your own edge effects, creating background textures, hand tinting photos and on creating grid based photo-collages.

The final chapter in this section covers the creation of panoramic images, which until I came across this book, I must admit I never really thought of in the context of being collages. The coverage is quite comprehensive and also discusses and provides tips on a whole range of issues that artists and photographers producing panoramas will very definitely encounter.

The final section deals rather grandly with artistic considerations and looks first at the use of filters and effects in your projects. The coverage, even though it is not comprehensive, does succeed in showing what can be achieved with the judicious application of both stock and third party plug-ins. The chapter on experimentation however, was actually one which I enjoyed the most because of its coverage of output techniques and media. The suggestions for paper types were something which I had considered, but now formed a reminder for me to rediscover. The last few chapters are dedicated to exercises you can explore by yourself. The lack of a tutorial CD is disappointing, though the projects can be found via the Focal Press web site.

Cons: No tutorial CD.

Pros: Digital Collage and Painting is yet another reason why Focal Press have become one of my favored publishing imprints. Excellent coverage of Photoshop and Painter. Contributing authors and their featured projects are well selected. Well written. Excellent examples. The book is well written and researched and it provides a wealth of information which is both relevant and useful. The range of projects showcased and each artist's insights are something we can all benefit from. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. For anyone interested in digital painting or creating digital collages, this one is highly recommended.

This review has been reproduced in its entirety from Kickstartnews.com

DMax and Dynamic Range.

A few weeks back I was asked some questions about particular scanners and their capabilities. One feature mentioned was Dynamic Range (DR) and the DMax specification. I'd promised I'd get back in short order with a post discussing DMax, DMin and the whole dynamic Range issue. This is a tough nut to crack mind you, therefore, I've decided, I would try to keep it simple.

DMax relates to the Maximum Readable Density or the maximum "opacity" achievable in a given medium.
DMin equates to the Minimum Density or a films maximum "transparency".

It has been suggested that the DMin value should reflect the density reading where the detail is still retained in the light areas of an image. Whereas DMax has been described as the darkest area of an image that a scanner can still discern detail from.

Back when I was pulling film for typesetting and printing, we would try to ensure our films were all checked by densitometer and that the darkest areas were kept around a DMax of 4.0.

The ideal range for scanners would be to be a DMin of 0 and a DMax of 4.0 giving a DR of 4. One thing to bear in mind, the capture of dynamic range varies greatly. Factors like sensor type, colour channel, sensor noise and bit conversion depth all play a part. View all manufacturer specifications, with a prove it to me mind set. Probably the best bit of advice I have to offer is, that you should look to third party reviews for information on how well a scanner performs.

One of the best descriptions of Dynamic Range, that I've come across, can be found at photo.net.

Sigma promises new DSLR for Photokina

With a rather basic and pedestrian presentation, featuring poor typographic treatment, Sigma launched their new teaser website for the SD14 DSLR. I for one am sick of these over produced and rather underwhelming websites which do nothing more than tease (and rather ineffectually at that). I can't wait however to see what they're up to with the new camera, and also to see the specs ... this interest isn't based upon any response to their promtional site but rather, more related to a seeing just how much they've improved on the foveon based technology used in their older DSLRs. No guessing on the specs mind you, I'll wait till the end of the month. Sigma-sd14.com

Bedouin Ventures, release MicroStock Watcher

In the space of one week I get two emails from Marc C. Johnson, the president of Bedouin Ventures LLC. With the release of MicroStock Watcher, Bedouin Ventures, addresses a need which suppliers of Stock images have to be able to track the usage and sales of their products. MicroStock Watcher is a Java-based widget (Yahoo! Konfabulator or OS X Dashboard) and it provides information on stock photography earnings, uploads and downloads for six of the largest microstock websites.

MicroStock Watcher currently supports the following agencies:

Dreamstime
Fotolia
iStockphoto
LuckyOliver
Shutterstock
StockXpert

For more information, visit the MicroStock Watcher product page.

Canon USA Produce a White Paper on their Full Frame CMOS Technology

Rob Galbraith reported that Canon USA has published a new white paper which promotes the benefits of their full frame CMOS sensors used in their EOS-1Ds, EOS-1Ds Mark II and EOS 5D digital SLRs. The Paper which is titled "Canon's Full-Frame CMOS Sensors: The Finest Tools for Digital Photography" is a 30-page document in which Canon takes a look at the advantages of 35mm film frame-size sensors. The White paper is definitely worth a look ... it can be downloaded from following page at Rob Galbraiths Digital Photography Insights:
Canon's Full-Frame CMOS Sensors: The Finest Tools for Digital Photography

DPReview Begin Their Coverage Of Photokina 2006

Ok, so it’s a month away, but things are shaping up for Photokina to be very busy show for folks that are lucky enough to visit. I'm of the mind that digital cameras are not going to be the big news at Photokina. I'm looking for new storage and output technologies, display systems and accessories. That having been said, this is going to definitely going to be the year of Image-stabilization. Visit the Photokina 2006/ page at DPReview to see their coverage. The official Photokina site can be found at http://www.photokina-cologne.com/.

Canon New Products Blitz

It's been quite the week for new product releases, Canon generally announce their products in batches and this week is no different. Canon announced a new consumer D-SLR, several new point and shoots and a couple of lenses in addition to several non photographic products. Their new D-SLR is EOS 400D which is set to replace their successful 350D. I'm personally excited by their new EF lenses, the 50mm F1.2L and the 70-200 mm F4L IS USM lens. For more information please visit DPReview, who have good coverage of many of these new products.

BabelPix™ Keyword Translator

I received an intriguing email from Marc C. Johnson of Bedouin Ventures, LLC. His company has just announced called BabelPix™ a great tool which translates keywords which embedded in images, into foreign languages. It does so, by allowing you to select the image(s) to be translated, and then allow you to specify a target directory into which your translated image(s) will be placed. The product is aimed at photographers and designers who create images for sale through stock agencies and facilitates the easy access to their images in other language markets. It currently supports English to Spanish and back, other languages will follow. BabelPix™ is available in Mac, Windows and Linux versions. For more info on this product, visit the Babelpix homepage.

The theatre of reportage...

One of the most damning bits of disinformation has been the medias handling of events in the middle east ... don't get me wrong, I think that both sides of this war are wrong, with innocents stuck in the middle and paying the price. Thats as far as I'm going on the subject of this war and its reality ... What is a concern is how reporters have allowed themselves to be pawns in a propaganda war and not only obviously, but also in such a callous and underhanded way that the dead bodies of children are being handled with utter disrespect and also to elicit an emotional response that is tainted by the cold blooded calculation with which the events have been managed. From staged photo-ops to extremely badly retouched photography the perversion of the truth is causing a firestorm of consensus from many online bloggers.

I think that reportage should be just that ... any retouching should be kept to a minimum, clean up of dust and removal of corporate logos only. If more is done then a logo should be added which clearly states that the image concerned has been photomanipulated (even better would be to disqualify such imagery from usage in the news media). The press should also endeavour to indicate where the shot has been managed through media handlers, who limit the press representatives access through corralling or by staging a scene, though in reality this is nearly impossible an expectation.

Reportage should be about truth and not about theatre ... if you want theatre watch entertainment ... with the news I want truth. What happens in all cases like this, is a disrespect of the worse kind ... in this case it appears that it is an abuse of the dead, someones children!!!

If your interest has been piqued then visit the Times Online for an intro to a story which upset me almost as much as the war itself.

Nikon Announce 10MP D80 DSLR

Nikon announced their new ten megapixel D80 digital SLR. This new model is the successor to the D70/D70s and has a new look and feel, with improvements to the user interface and a range of new features. New improvements include; a 10.2 mp CCD, a new image processing engine, 3D Color Matrix Metering II, 11-area AF system, configurable Auto ISO and high ISO NR, a larger and brighter viewfinder, in-camera retouching (including red eye reduction and D-Lighting), a multiple exposure feature, a built-in wireless flash commander, SD card storage (with SD-HC support) and it also supports the D200's higher capacity battery. The D80 will go on sale in September with a body only price of $999 in the US/£699 in the UK or as a kit with the new 18-135 mm DX lens for $1299 in the US/£949 in the UK. DPReview have produced an eleven page preview of this camera.

Fujifilm USA announce S3 PRo UVIR for Criminal Investigation

Fujifilm announced a specialized version of their S3 Pro digital SLR. The new S3 PRo UVIR model has been modified to facilitate the taking of photographs which are sensitive in the Ultra Violet and InfraRed parts of the light spectrum. This capability is clearly aimed at users in law enforcement, science, medical and fine art. The S3 Pro UVIR is capable of recording otherwise invisible evidence such as gun shot residue, blood stains and burned writing. This new model which also features a live preview capability will be available from selected dealers as will be priced at $1,799 I'm not certain if the model will be available outside of the US as it is only featured on the Fujifilm USA site. For more info visit the product page at fujifilmusa.com

Espon V750-M Pro Vs Microtek i900

After posting a notice back in february on some new scanners by Epson, I was asked recently if I had any comments on the Espon V750-M Pro and how it compares to the Microtek i900, unfortunately having not seen either scanner in action and having no reference files to compare between the two I really cannot accurately comment.

I can make some assuptions though, and those are, that manufacturers claims on DMax are usually generous. So the difference between the Epson and the Microtek will most probably be small. There is an excellent review of the i900 at The Photography Blog and there is also the factor of resolution the V750-M Pro has a higher optical resolution 6400 vs 3200 and the fluid mount technology which I eagerly await seeing results from reviewers lucky enough to get hold of this unit.

You can also read some interesting comments from Ovidiu Predescu someone who has had experience with the V750-M Pro. One other thing to consider is investing in some third party film holders which allow you to optimize the distance between the scanning head and the film. Better Scanning creates custom film holders for a variety of devices including the V series of scanners.

I was going to post this as a response to one of my earlier posts but I needed to post some links and some information which would have been lost. If you are lucky enough to have a friendly digital technology vendor who carries these models you can perhaps arrange to take or send some samples for scanning. Given the difference in the age of the technologies and the differences in optical resolution I'd take a good look at the Epson, also feel free to contact me directly if you have a more specific question relating to the type of media you are using.

Although these types of flatbeds are quite competent as all round units they are not a replacement for dedicated transparency scanners, some of which like the Minolta Dimage Scan Multi PRO claim a DMax of 4.2. In all cases, it is only when you can accurately compare scanned images side by side, when the true capabilities of a scanner come into play. The Wet scan capability of the Epson looks to be a good capability but I'm wondering how much difference it would actually make in comparison to Microteks E.D.I.T.™ and glassless SnapTrans™ solution.

All manufacturers are notorious for making all sorts of claims about their equipments capabilities and it is best to try the scanners you are interested in, if you've been looking at the Epson and the Microtek also look at the Canon flatbeds and Nikons Transparency Scanners. I'm going to follow this up with an article on DMax and just what it means.

Alien Skin releases Blow Up

Alien Skin Software have released yet another useful tool for photographers and imageers. Blow Up, which is designed to create high quality digital enlargements of your images at up to 1600% (3600% in some cases) without perceivable artifacts. In most cases many of these types of software packages and tools create images which have a liquidy type of look where detail is lost and averaged. Blow Up has a rather nice feature which introduces "grain" or noise to reorganify images so they look more natural. Some of the results I saw in their examples where quite effective. I look forward to trying it out and getting back to you on how it compares to other tools with a similar purpose. For more info please visit the Blow Up page at Alien Skin Software.

Canon Announce New Scanners

Canon have followed Epsons recent scanner announcement with 4 new releases of their own. The new models include the CanoScan 8600F, the LiDE 600F , the CanoScan 4400F and the LiDE 70. The new scanners offer new features and ease of use. The CanoScan 8600F and CanoScan 4400F feature built-in Film Adapter Unit and 3 of the scanner are pdf creation friendly.

Adobe updates digital photography documents

Adobe has updated several of its publicly available white papers and primers relating to digital photography. CS2 centric primers include: Digital Image Integrity, Black and White Conversion Tutorial, About Metadata, A Color Managed Raw Workflow, Making the Transition from Film to Digital, and Highlight Recovery in Adobe Camera Raw. Visit the following pages on Adobe Digital Imaging Solutions and Adobe digital photography white papers and primers to access the downloadable PDFs.

DPReview post Sony Alpha A100 Review

DPReview have just posted their 30 page review of Sony's New Alpha DSLR. As usual they've provided comprehensive coverage of what looks to be an excellent new entry to the DSLR world from Sony. Read the full review starting here.

Extensis Release Universal Binaries for Portfolio.

Extensis have released Universal Binaries of Portfolio, Portfolio Server , Portfolio Server and SQL Connect and Portfolio NetPublish that will run natively on both Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs. Version 8.1 of each Portfolio variant is available for download as a free update to v8.0. For those of you who aren't familiar with portfolio visit http://www.extensis.com/ to familiarise yourself with this excellent asset management solution.

BreezeBrowser Pro 1.5.1 for Windows Released

Breeze Systems has released an updated version of BreezeBrowser Pro for Windows. According to Breeze Systems, new features include:
Adobe XMP metadata support for JPEG, TIFF, PSD, DNG, PNG, JPEG 2000 and RAW files. The program creates a Photoshop-compatible XMP sidecar file to store the XMP information.
New IPTC scene and subject code editors which use the NewsCode XML topicsets.
A new keyword editor.
Improved colour in Nikon D200 RAW conversions.
An option to output either 8 bit or 16 bit Photoshop (PSD) format files when creating proofs or converting RAW files.
Updated lens distortion correction.
The ability to display a frame around a picture in proofs and slideshows. The frame and matte can be chosen from a selection of included ones, or you can create your own.
For more information, pricing and to download the update, visit Breeze Systems.

Epson Announce 2 New Slimline Scanners

Epson have announced the new Perfection V350 Photo and Epson Perfection V100 Photo scanners, both of which are aimed at consumers and feature a new slimline design suited for either portrait or landscape orientation. The lid on these models can be opened up to 180 degrees and is well suited to facilitating the scanning of three-dimensional objects, as well as oversized objects, photos and documents. These scanners offer hardware resolutions up to 4800 x 9600 dpi on the Perfection V350 Photo and up to 3200x 9600 dpi on the Perfection V100 Photo. Both units support 48-bit color scanning and feature a 3.2 dynamic range for high quality scans. The bundled Epson Easy Photo Fix software allows for automatic color restoration and dust removal, providing a complete solution for the consumer. I look forward to reading the reviews. For more information, please visit Epson.

Adobe Release Lightroom Public Beta 3 for Windows

I, like many of you no doubt, have just received a notification from Adobe, indicating that they have released a public Beta of Lightroom for Windows. Visit the Adobe® Lightroom™ beta* Site to download the beta today.

Nikon Release Trial Version of Capture NX

Nikon announced the immediate availability of a trial version of its new image workflow, editing and conversion application, Capture NX. Capture NX is the result of a collaboration between Nik software and Nikon, and should be welcome news for many Nikon owners who have wanted better Nikon raw, NEF, conversion software. Capture NX will available for $149.95 for the full package or $89.95 as an upgrade to registered owners of Nikon capture 4. There is a 30-day trial available for download at http://www.nikonusa.com. An online demo of how Capture NX works is available at http://www.capturenx.com/ or http://www.nikondigital.com/.

Fujifilm unveil new cameras and Logo.

Fujifilm debuts its Face Detection technology in the FinePix S6500fd. The Camera should be available here in the Uk from October onwards and will feature a 10.7x optical zoom lens, TV-quality VGA movie recording at 30 frames per second with sound, Jpeg and RAW file formats, Super CCD HR VI sensor delivering 6 megapixel images and PictBridge™ support.

The second camera which Fujifilm annnounced is the FinePix F20 which shares many of the features the FinePix F30. Its compact design features a 6.3 MegaPixel Super CCD HR sensor and a 2.5-inch LCD display. Another excellent feature a Picture Stabilization feature in the form of a button that boosts ISO sensitivity to as high as 2000 at full resolution. For more info on these cameras visit these FinePix S6500fd, and FinePix F20 pages on the Fujifilm website.


They also unveiled a new Logo which can be seen just above, and which should come into use sometime in October.