Corel release Painter IX update.

Corel have released Painter IX.5, an update to their excellent natural media digital art application Painter IX. This update which is available for free to registered users of Painter IX requires the prior installation of IX 9.1 before you can update.

Corel list the follwing new enhancements to Painter:
- Photo Painting Palettes - The new Photo Painting Palettes, including the Underpainting, Auto-Painting, and Restoration palettes, work together to help users kick-start the process of creating a beautiful hand-painted work of art from a photograph
- Support for Rosetta running on Intel-based Macs - Customers running the latest hardware from Apple can enjoy working with Corel Painter and their Wacom® pen tablet, including support for the Wacom Intuos® 3 and the 6D Art Pen
- Eraser Tool - Conveniently located in the toolbox, the new Eraser tool erases any medium on the canvas
- Rubber Stamp Tool - The Rubber Stamp tool makes it easy for users to set up point-to-point cloning. Located in the toolbox, this tool lets users set a source and destination reference point, enabling them to clone within an image file or between different areas of separate image files
- Cloner Tool - Conveniently located in the toolbox, the Cloner tool provides immediate access to the last-used Cloner brush and brush variant.
- Corel® Paint Shop™ Pro Support for Windows users - Users can now open Corel Paint Shop Pro files (versions 9 and X)
- Send to Corel® Photo Album™ for Windows users - New integration makes it easy to send files to Corel Photo Album, helping customers manage their images and paintings
- In addition, new customers purchasing Corel Painter IX.5 will also receive 11 hours of lynda.com training videos on 2 CDs

Corel Painter IX.5 also incorporates all the enhancements introduced in the Corel Painter IX 9.1 update including the Art Pen Brush Pack, which leverages Wacom 6D Art Pen technology, and dual monitor support on Windows.

Update your Painter today ... if you dont already own it and are an artist working digitally you should think about getting it today.

Visit Corel for more info...

PMA 2006 coverage

This years PMA is now up and running and as usual, the coverage of announcements, technologies and products is coming hard and fast from many of the Digital Imaging and Photography sites. Some of the best coverage is coming from the following sites:
DPReview - read more here.
Steves Digicams - read more here.
Imaging Resource - read more here.
Luminous Landscape is taking a more personal approach reporting only on stuff which catches his interest - read more here.

Canon Announce New Printers

Canon has introduced two affordable, new photo printers aimed at professional photographers and advanced amateurs . They are the PIXMA Pro9000 a 13 x 19 inch printer featuring a 6,144-nozzle producing 2 picolitre drops and using 8 dye-based ChromaLife100 inks and the PIXMA Pro9500 which is also a 13 x 19 inch printer. the Pro9500 uses Canon Lucia pigmented inks for maximum print life. There are 10 colours in all, including three neutral inks - Photo Black, Matte Black and Gray - as well as Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Photo Cyan, Photo Magenta, Red and Green. Visit Canon for more info on these printers.

Canon also announced the large format "imagePROGRAF IPF5000". This A2 (17-inch) desktop printer combines a high-density twin print head and FINE (Full Photolithography Inkjet Nozzle Engineering) technology designed to produce professional-style prints at unparalleled speeds with outstanding archival image quality. Visit Canon for more info.

Epson Announce 2 New Pro Scanners

Epson Epson announced the Perfection V700 Photo and Epson Perfection V750-M Pro scanners. The usints are billed as the first scanners for photo studio applications that offer capabilities typically found in high-end commercial lab scanners but at an affordable price. The also both feature Dual Lens System. The Pro version also features a new fluid mount accessory which allows photographers to perform wet scans on a flatbed scanner, which is especially valuable for enhanced scratch removal and grain reduction from black and white film.

The Epson Perfection V700 Photo and Epson Perfection V750-M Pro both incorporate the Epson Dual Lens System, which enables super resolution (6400 dpi) scanning of 35mm, 2 ¼”, and 4”x 5” medium format film. The other lens allows for 4800 dpi scanning and allows for high resolution transparency and reflective scanning.

“These scanner models deliver the kind of quality that typically could only be found on commercial lab scanners for a much higher cost. We’ve included these advanced features so that photographers have both maximum control and the ability to get the best results in-house, at a very affordable price.”

The Epson Perfection V700 Photo has many of the same impressive features as the Epson Perfection V750-M Pro including super resolution 6400 dpi film scanning, the Epson Dual Lens System, and 4.0 Dmax. This scanner is ideal for anyone who has relied on a dedicated 35mm film scanner, but wants greater flexibility for scanning larger film formats. With the Epson Perfection V700 Photo, customers can scan 35mm, 2 ¼” and 4”x 5” medium format film with a built-in 8” x 10” transparency unit, as well as prints and documents. Customers also get a wide variety of high quality film scanning capabilities for well below the cost of a dedicated film scanner.

The Epson Perfection V750-M Pro is the flagship scanner at the top of the Epson Perfection line with up to 6400 dpi optical resolution and its unique fluid mount accessory. For many years, wet mount film scanning has been a professionally recognized method for reducing scratches, grain and optical artifacts such as Newton Rings. Wet mount scanning is especially valuable for black and white film, since other scratch removal technologies, including Digital ICE, are not effective on monochrome film. By offering this unique accessory with the Epson Perfection V750-M Pro, customers can now achieve wet scan results with a flatbed scanner.

In addition to the fluid mount accessory, the Epson Perfection V-750M Pro also features new High Pass Optics that further optimize image quality by using anti-reflective coatings on the CCD lens and a new high reflection mirror. Another valuable time- and cost-saving feature offered with both scanners is Digital ICE™ Technologies, a powerful tool for automatic removal of scratches and dust from film, and many surface defects from reflective prints. Both scanner models can achieve an optical density (Dmax) of 4.0, allowing for high dynamic range imaging and the ability to capture fine shadow details. They also feature Hi-Speed USB 2.0 and FireWire connectivity for fast data transmission.

My thinking is that we've now got capabilities with our home and studio system configurations which would have cost hundreds of thousands, 10 years or so ago ... crazy but great. For more info on these scanners visit Epson.

Samsung announce 3 new cameras

Samsung introduced three new cameras yesterday, the first one is the GX-1L, which is a D-SLR which is basically just a rebadged Pentax *ist DL. This follows suit with the anouncement several weeks back of their GX-1S, which is the is a rebadged *ist DS2.
The second digicam is the fixed-lens Digimax L85 and is the first camera on the market to support HDMI (which is a method of connecting to a HDTV set). The third model is the compact Digimax L60. for more information visit Samsung USA.

Nikon announce Capture NX

Capture NX is the first software release from Nikon featuring Nik Software, Inc.’s patented U Point technology. As a successor to the previously released Nikon Capture 4 software, it provides the digital photographer with more powerful tools for exploring and working with NEF, JPEG and TIFF files. The new software is scheduled for delivery during Spring 2006.

New products from Canon and Nikon

This has been a busy week so far with plenty of new products from Canon and Nikon. Canon have announced many new models today. The Canon EOS 30D is first with its 8.2 megapixel sensor and many feature which come from its full frame bigger brother the 5D. It features a large 2.5 inch display and also supports the EFs lenses which it bigger brothers don't. Also announced are 2 new lenses and the PowerShot S3 IS and the PowerShot SD700 IS, PowerShot SD600 and SD630, PowerShot A700 and A540 all of which feature 6 megapixels. The 4 megapixel PowerShot A420, A430 and A530 complete Canons new product announcements.

Nikon announced 7 new digital compacts, including the ultra-slim Coolpix S5 and S6, both of which feature 6 megapixels, the Coolpix P3 and P4 which feature 8.1 megapixels and Nikon’s VR (Vibration Reduction) capability. The Coopix L2, L3 and L4 complete the line up and 6, 5 and 4 megapixels, respectively and all feature a 3x optical zoom and 2.0-inch screens. Nikon have alos announced the AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED lens the world’s first macro lens to offer reproduction ratios of up to 1:1.

PMA looks like its going to be an interesting time...

Corel announce Paint Shop Pro X offer

Corel Corporation today announced an amazing 20% discount on Corel Paint Shop Pro X. This offer will run for one month from 15 February to 15 March 2006. Customers can purchase Corel Paint Shop Pro X and receive 20% off the standard SRP (£85) or 10% off the upgrade SRP (£41) - all prices exclude VAT.

This offer will also be showcased as part of their presence at the Focus on Imaging show in Birmingham from 26 February to 1 March 2006. If you are attending the show visit Corel at stand S7 to learn more about Paint Shop Pro X and its capabilities. For more info on the offer visit Corel.

Nik Software and Nikon Announce Collaboration

Nik Software, Inc. and Nikon have entered in a relationship which includes an investment by Nikon in Nik Software and technological collaboration between the two companies to develop and distribute digital photographic software and imaging technologies. It should be interesting to see how this develops and at what level NIKs tools will be associated with Nikons product lines. For more information please read the press releases from Nikon Corporation and Nik Software.

ACDSee Pro Discount Offer

After my recent review of ACDSee Pro at kickstartnews.com, ACDSee were kind enough to offer readers of my review 15% off the purchase price. To take advantage of this offer, follow this link to digital river and download a discounted version of ACDSee Pro today.

Adobe Release Lightroom Public Beta 2

Adobe has posted the Lightroom Public Beta 2 for Mac this is Adobes RAW Photography and workflow and application for professional photographers. This public Beta is a Universal Binary, which means it contains it will run natively in on Macs running PowerPC or Intel processors. You can get Lightroom here.

Imagine Publishing Acquires Digital Photographer

Imagine Publishing issued a press release announcing their acquisition of Digital Photographer and 19 other titles from the Receivers of Highbury Entertainment. I was recently distressed at the apparent disappearance of a title which I thought was one of the best digital photography magazines on the market. So I did some digging, after getting no joy from my emails and phone calls, I came across this press release from Imagine which cleared a few things up.

Imagine Publishing was formed by some of the former staff of Paragon Publishing who Highbury acquired in 2002. The titles in Imagines acquisition include Digital Photographer, Advanced Photoshop, Play, Powerstation, Games, iCreate, X360, Digital Camera Buyer, PDA Essentials, Web Designer and Windows XP made Easy.

I look forward to seeing what they do with Digital Photographer and Advanced Photoshop. For more information visit Imagine Publishing.

Update: Imagine publish a press release detailing their plans to honour existing subscribers of the titles they intend to publish ... more detailed information can be found in this press release.

Nik Multimedia, Inc. becomes Nik Software, Inc.

Nik Multimedia, Inc. producer of the excellent plug-ins Nik Sharpener and Color Efex Prof have announced that the company has changed its name to Nik Software, Inc. Nik has unveiled its new corporate identity keeping the familiar “Nik” and replacing “Multimedia” with “Software” to reflect the company’s focus on software development for the digital imaging market. Read More...

The Week That Was - 12-02-2006

Fuiji Film cuts 5000 jobs
After a series of cut-back announcements from many of the film companies due to the shrinking market in film, Fuji are the latest company to announce staff reductions. For more information check out the press release here

Lexmark to cut 500 UK jobs
Lexmark have announced the phased closure of their Rosyth plant in Scotland. The phased closure is expected to begin april with approximately 500 redundancies and completed by year end 2006. Lexmark employs approximately 700 people at this facility.

The closure of the facility is attributed to redundant capacity, higher running costs in comparison to Lexmark’s other facilities, and fact that to maintain the facility there would have to be an expensive cycle of investment in new technologies.

iView MediaPro updated to v3.0.2
iView MediaPro for Windows and Mac has been updated to v3.0.2. The new version adds RAW support for cameras and backs from Panasonic, Leica, Sinar and Mamiya. The update also fixes a number of bugs and features speed improvements in scrolling and searching larger catalogs. For more info and to download the update visit iview-multimedia.com.

Photo Mechanic updated and updated again.
Camera Bits has posted Photo Mechanic 4.4.1.1 for Windows and Mac, a maintenance release of the pro photo browser that fixes bugs which caused crashing in v4.4.1 released earlier this week. Visit camerabits.com for the update and more info.

Have you visited the OpenRAW Survey?

So you might be wondering why I ask, well, you see it's like this ... I, like you, love photography and digital imaging. The problem with RAW is that it as a format suffers from being tied to the manufacturers survival. What OpenRAW is about is an initiative to make us as photographers less dependent on the manufacturers and to provide us with open standards and the tools we need to be able to access the images we have taken with our cameras for now and in the future. With film, we weren't tied to the manufacturer and we could mostly take our films anywhere to get them developed, however, with RAW, we could be held hostage by the whims of the manufacturer or worse still if the manufacturer goes belly up or decides to stop support, lose access to our images in future OS's due to the failure. So, if you care about your photos for now and in the future, add your voice and make your opinion count by completing the OpenRAW Survey.

Alien Skin releases Exposure

Have you ever wanted an easy way to correct or modify your photos so that they look like the kind of photos produced using different kinds of film. Have you ever wanted to recreate the look of Kodachrome®, the range of Ektachrome® or even the Rich colours of Velvia®. Alien Skins latest release, Exposure, does that and a whole lot more besides. With exposure you can apply the look and feel of many real world photographic effects and characteristics found using specific film types.

In their own words "Foremost a film simulator, Exposure is based on the detailed analysis of real world film stocks. A photographer can now quickly and easily evoke the vivid colors of Velvia®, the rich blacks of Kodachrome®, or the sensitivity of Ektachrome®. Exposure includes presets that emulate the warmth, softness, and realistic grain of dozens of real world film stocks, both color and black and white. Plus, any preset can be the starting point for a signature look, adjusted to suit a particular subject, or applied to a batch of images using Photoshop Actions. Exposure adds realistic grain separately to the shadows, mid-tones, and highlights of an image. Unlike other digital products, Exposure does not add simple, harsh noise to an image. Instead, Exposure models the size, shape, and color of real world grain. Exposure can even mimic the pronounced grain of films such as Ilford® 3200 Delta, as well as the discontinued Ektachrome EES and GAF® 500."

"Collecting color, dynamic range, softness, and grain controls in one plug-in, Exposure simplifies workflow. Photographers can now master one easy-to-use tool. Streamlined color and saturation controls warm/cool with a single slider while preserving skin tones or preventing oversaturated reds. Exposure makes gamma correction and contrast changes less intimidating by adding high level contrast, highlight and shadow controls to curves editing."

"Exposure includes several, additional features that address the needs of photographers. Exposure reproduces key studio and darkroom effects such as cross processing, push processing, and glamour portrait softening. Exposure encourages non-destructive editing, allowing users to render an adjusted image as a new layer in Photoshop. Exposure's advanced preview system includes an optional, split screen preview in addition to a before/after button. Exposure pairs unlimited undo/redo with fast rendering and lets photographers zoom and pan using Photoshop style keyboard shortcuts."

This looks to be a great addition to the toolkit of many a digital photographer and I'm going to get my hands on this to try it out, I'll be interested in seeing how it compares to Nik Multimedia's Color Efex Pro and DFT's 55mm ... I'll report back on the results. Visit Exposure at Alien Skin for more information.

Digital Film Tools Releases Snap for Photoshop.

Digital Film Tools have released Snap for Photoshop. Snap is an easy to use interactive image cutout tool which uses a coarse to fine editing approach that first looseley cuts out an object and then allows you to refine the boundary by a more selective process. The extracted object can then be combined with another image or manipulated in Adobe Photoshop. Snap provides instant visual feedback by snapping an editable curve to an object's boundary by using unique graph-cutting and segmentation algorithms. DFT calims that accurate results are achieved in a shorter amount of time than using existing tools and techniques. Visit DFT at their website for more info.