Tag: processing software

Panoramic Images of the Ohio River Bridges Project in December 2014

The Panoramic Images of the Ohio River Bridges Project in this post were taken from the eastern side of Spaghetti Junction where I-64 and I-71 connect to I-65. It was a cold afternoon here in Louisville and the sky was filling with clouds in the west when I decided to capture these images.

onOne Software Announces Perfect Photo Suite 8

boxes_3 editions

OnOne Software Announces Perfect Photo Suite 8, a complete photo editor for every workflow. The new Perfect Enhance module, Perfect Eraser, Perfect Batch utility, and re-engineered Perfect Effects module create a complete photo editing solution that seamlessly integrates into any workflow.

OnOne Software, Inc., a leading developer of innovative and timesaving solutions for digital photography, today announced Perfect Photo Suite 8—the photographer’s choice for photo editing. Perfect Photo Suite 8 is a full-featured, standalone photo editor that integrates seamlessly with Adobe® Photoshop®, Lightroom®, Photoshop Elements, and Apple® Aperture® and it includes all the best tools a photographer needs to create extraordinary images. Key new features include the Perfect Enhance module for essential photo adjustments, the Perfect Eraser with content-aware fill technology, the Perfect Batch processing utility for applying workflows to multiple images at once, and a re-engineered Perfect Effects module with twice as many filters, customizable presets, and integrated FocalPoint™ technology.

The new tools and capabilities alongside Perfect Photo Suite 8’s eight modules—Effects, Enhance, B&W, Portrait, Mask, Layers, Resize, and Browse—allow photographers to enhance, retouch, and stylize images in a layered workflow, replace backgrounds, create high-quality enlargements, prepare images for output, and batch process workflows. The modules share a unified interface, each targeting a specific image processing task. Each module provides only the tools necessary to complete the job at hand, eliminating screen clutter and confusion for the user.

We listened intently to the digital photography community about what they wanted for their image processing in today’s world of plug-ins, online apps, and subscriptions,” said Craig Keudell, president of onOne Software. “We made it a priority to respond quickly and design a cohesive new product that continues to focus on photography and is built for photographers of all levels, from enthusiasts to professionals. We’ve leveraged our extensive experience as a plug-in company and evolved the Perfect Photo Suite into a complete and powerful photo editor that, unlike existing plug-in collections, works as one, elegantly designed product that seamlessly integrates into any workflow.”

New in Perfect Photo Suite 8:

• Perfect Enhance module – Perfect Enhance provides essential tools for basic enhancements. Use it to adjust brightness and contrast, remove a color cast, remove dust spots and power lines, and add sharpening and vignettes. It is an ideal module to start with when using Perfect Photo Suite 8 as a standalone application or when quick corrections are needed.

• Perfect Eraser – Using content-aware fill technology and simple brush strokes, the Perfect Eraser removes objects and automatically reconstructs the image with realistic results.

Twice as Many Filters – The Effects module now includes new adjustable filters including: HDR Look, Dynamic Contrast for tonal clarity, Vintage, Grunge, Antique, and more.

Customizable Presets – All built-in presets included in Perfect Photo Suite 8 may be deconstructed by their filter settings and personally customized.

FocalPoint is now in the Effects Module – The best parts of FocalPoint technology to create bokeh, tilt-shift, and selective focus effects after the shot, are now in the Effects module as the

Lens Blur filter.

New Browse module – Images can be browsed and directly accessed from Perfect Photo Suite wherever they are stored—on the computer, an external drive, a connected network, and even on a cloud-based storage service like Dropbox, Google Drive, or Apple’s photo stream.

Perfect Batch Utility – Powerful batch processing of actions from one or multiple modules, including the insertion of a watermark.

Multiple File Handling: As a photo editor, you can now open and work with more than one image at a time. Move between images to edit or copy layers from one file to the next.

Improved Masking Bug: Redesigned Masking Bug in the Effects and Layers modules make mask creation easier and more intuitive.

Higher Quality Effects: Performance enhancements improve effects by minimizing artifacts without sacrificing processing speed.

Improved RAW file handling: Open and process RAW files faster and with better quality. Support for new cameras also added.

Availability and Pricing

The new Perfect Photo Suite 8 will be available November 26, 2013. Pre-orders are available immediately at www.onOnesoftware.com/affiliates/idevaffiliate.php?id=459. Perfect Photo Suite 8 is available in three editions: Premium, Standard, and an edition for Adobe Lightroom & Apple Aperture. The Premium Edition works with Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, Aperture, Photoshop Elements, and as a standalone application. Owners of previous versions of Perfect Photo Suite Premium Edition can upgrade for $99.95. New users may pre-order the Premium Edition for $179.95. For a limited time, pre-orders of Perfect Photo Suite 8 Premium Edition will include a complimentary Essential Video Guide to Perfect Photo Suite 8, which provides a comprehensive collection of getting started training videos for Perfect Photo Suite 8 ($40 value).

Perfect Photo Suite 8 for Adobe Lightroom & Apple Aperture works with Lightroom, Aperture, Photoshop Elements, and as a standalone application. It is available for $129.95 | $79.95 upgrade. The Standard Edition works as a complete standalone photo editor and is available for $79.95. New users who pre-order Perfect Photo Suite 8 will immediately receive a complimentary license for Perfect Photo Suite 7.5. Customers who pre-order Perfect Photo Suite 8 will receive all upcoming Loyalty Rewards that will be delivered monthly to owners of the Perfect Photo Suite 8. For those who have purchased Perfect Photo Suite 7.5 on or after August 1, 2013, onOne Software will issue a complimentary upgrade to Perfect Photo Suite 8 via download when it is available. For more information on Perfect Photo Suite 8, visit http://www.onOnesoftware.com/affiliates/idevaffiliate.php?id=459

About onOne Software

onOne Software, Inc., is a leading developer of innovative software tools and apps for digital photography and offers time-saving software solutions for photographers of all levels, from enthusiasts to professionals. Leveraging its extensive history as successful plug-in developer for Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Photoshop Lightroom, and Apple Aperture, and continued development of cutting-edge technology, onOne publishes unified solutions that offer both full-featured photo editing capabilities and the flexibility of traditional plug-ins.

For additional information, visit OnOne using the link below:

http://www.onOnesoftware.com/affiliates/idevaffiliate.php?id=459

Topaz Clarity vs Topaz Adjust

Kansas Tractor #4 Clarity Version
Kansas Tractor #4 Clarity Version

Click on the image to enlarge it in a new window.

Today I decided to go back to an image I posted a few days ago that I had processed in Topaz Adjust. I have always liked the effect that Topaz Adjust has when applied to these sorts of rusted relics. I usually apply the Spicify preset and then tweak it to achieve the final result. The one thing that I have always struggled with when using that method was the extreme halos that arose when pushing contrast, saturation and definition to enhance the texture in the image.

Topaz Clarity is designed to allow enhancing texture, contrast and saturation while minimizing halos and similar artifacts. The image below shows haloing in the sky and around the edges of the tractor that are almost entirely gone in the Topaz Clarity processed image. From these two images it seems clear that they have accomplished their goal. I was able to open up the shadows and saturate the colors without getting the types of halos that the Topaz Adjust version below exhibits.

Kansas Tractor #3
Kansas Tractor #3

Click on the image to enlarge it in a new window.

From this experiment I can say Topaz Clarity lives up to it’s billing. I’m sure that as I become more familiar with the software I’ll be able to create images that reflect my vision for them while avoiding having to go into additional processing to deal with halos. I think Topaz Clarity is a valuable addition to my processing software and recommend it to anyone looking for a program that will give great control to contrast and color in single frame images.

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Topaz Clarity will retail for $49.99, but will be available at a special reduced price of $29.99 through May 31st with with this promo code: claritynew

Please use the Topaz link below when going to the Topaz Labs site. 

http://www.topazlabs.com/705.html

I’m an affiliate of Topaz Labs and earn a small commission on any sales made through my referral link which helps me offset the cost of producing SpeedDemon2. 

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