Creo Leaf and GretagMacbeth perfect custom color profiling for Leaf digital photographers

PHOTOKINA 2004, COLOGNE, GERMANY—September 28, 2004—Creo Inc. (NASDAQ: CREO; TSX: CRE) announces that Creo Leaf, a leading supplier of digital camera backs, and GretagMacbeth, a worldwide technological leader in color management solutions, have entered into a cooperative agreement to provide Leaf customers the ability to customize ICC color profiles to fit different lighting conditions based on the shooting environment.

Integration for Better Color Management…
The Creo Leaf(r) Capture 10 application provides a complete set of professional tools for the operation of Leaf digital camera backs, including the new Leaf(r) Aptus digital camera back. The application enables image capture through final output. Integrating GretagMacbeth profile creation and editing into the Leaf Capture application ensures accurate, reliable and predictable color even with changing lighting conditions through the creation of customized ICC color profiles.

MAGIX Press Release 27/09/04

MAGIX ANNOUNCES MOVIES ON CD & DVD 2005 HOME DVD CREATION SOFTWARE

One Click Creates Instant DVD Movies

September 27, 2004, Miami Beach, FL - MAGIX, the worldwide leader in video and music editing software1, announced today MAGIX Movies on CD & DVD 2005 home DVD creation software.  MAGIX Movies on CD & DVD 2005 lets anyone create DVDs from their home movies, Internet downloaded movies, VHS library, TV shows, and other footage - all with the click of a button. 

Movies Made Easy
According to the Consumer Electronics Association, over 40 percent of U.S. households now own a digital camcorder.  Many of these camcorder users want to use their footage and create DVD movies but do not want to spend time editing video and authoring discs.  As a result, MAGIX Movies on CD & DVD 2005 now features MovieShow Maker, the essential solution that enables anyone to automatically create themed movies.  Users choose from 12 great template styles and the program does the rest.  Movies are automatically optimized, arranged, and supplied with effects and background music in an assortment of themes, including party, music video, silent movie, vacation, Christmas, and more.

IPIX InfoMedia Press Release 28/09/04

IPIX Interactive Studio Available with REALVIZ Fisheye Plug-in; Partners Deliver Software with Multiple Options for Stitching Fisheye Photography

COLOGNE, Germany—(Business Wire)—Sept. 28, 2004—IPIX InfoMedia, the world leader for the creation of full 360-degree panoramic photography, and REALVIZ(R), the leading developer of imaging software for creating panoramas, today announced the availability of IPIX Interactive Studio with the award-winning REALVIZ fisheye plug-in extension. The combined solution, which begins shipping today, supports a wider variety of shot-capture modes for fisheye photography resulting in higher resolution panoramic images.

In addition to the easy, two-shot setup for capturing full 360-degree images that IPIX traditionally supports, the REALVIZ fisheye plug-in extends support for 3, 4, and 5 shot capture modes of digital SLR cameras used by professional photographers who require the highest resolution panoramic images possible.

“We are pleased to collaborate with IPIX InfoMedia to introduce a new fisheye stitching engine based on of our well-known REALVIZ Stitcher 4.0 solution,” said Dominique Pouliquen, CEO & Co-founder REALVIZ S.A. “Today we are able to offer through IPIX our stitching technology to customers who have waited for years to leverage the simplicity of fisheye-based panoramic photography.”

Thanks to Sanj for sending me the press release.

PhoTags. Inc. Press Release 28/09/04

PHOTAGS 3.0 ACTIVE CAPTIONS ENABLED PHOTO MANAGEMENT SYSTEM DEBUTS AT PHOTOKINA

Upgraded Photo Management Suites Offers Unrivaled Feature Set

Cologne, Germany - September 28, 2004 PhoTags, Inc.,developer of the revolutionary Active Captions photo messaging and management technology will be unveil the latest upgrade of its innovative software at the Photokina World of Imaging Exhibition in Cologne, Germany. Version 3.0 provides consumers with everything expected from a state of the art Digital Photography Software Suite including, acquiring photos from any source, manage and organize photos quickly and easily, the ability to edit and enhance them and share them. The new “Workshop” section features the ability to create Photo Albums that can be viewed, printed or burnt onto a CD for use on PCS and DVD players, and sent to others. The Photo Calendar generator allows users to select an unlimited number of months and years for print out. The Greeting Card and Post Card Creator applications are the only application to use both sides of a 6X4 inch photo card. Post Cards can even be mailed without an envelope. PhoTags 3.0 even allows you to launch any external editing software directly from the application and then returns you back to Photags when you are done.

Extensis Inc. Press Release 27/09/04

Free filter powered by Bibble Labs enables professional photographers to read Raw data from image files of leading digital SLR cameras.

Photokina, Cologne, Germany - September 27, 2004 - Extensis Inc. today announced an update to its Pro Photo Raw Image Filter for Portfolio 7. The updated filter will be a free upgrade for registered owners of Extensis’ digital asset management (DAM) solution for organizing digital photos, illustrations, page layouts and presentations.

With the Pro Photo Raw Image Filter, Portfolio generates high-quality thumbnails and previews from the unprocessed raw image files created by professional digital cameras from Nikon, Olympus, Kodak, Canon, Fuji, Konica-Minolta, Pentax and Imacon. With the Pro Photo Raw Image Filter, Portfolio 7 can extract EXIF metadata and IPTC from the Raw files, create thumbnails for displaying the images in catalogs, and generate high-resolution JPEG previews on the fly for detailed viewing, printing, slideshows and QuickTime movies.

“There have been rapid developments in the digital camera industry since we released our first Raw camera support for Portfolio last year,” said Dan Harlacher, Extensis Portfolio product manager. “With this update, professional photographers now have the Raw camera support they demand for keeping pace with the new camera developments without losing the ability to preview, keyword, organize and sort thousands of images within Portfolio without getting bogged down in a lengthy conversion process.”

Michael Reichmann over at Luminous Landscape has an article about the new Digital Negative format that Adobe unveiled at Photokina earlier today.

“Not such a silly question if you think about it. Almost every raw file format from every camera maker is proprietary, and some are even intentionally encrypted. Many have been reverse engineered, but some haven’t, and in many cases there are still hidden features which no one outside of the manufacturer understands. Without software that can read your raw image files, do you really own them in a meaningful way? How comfortable are you with this?”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Adobe Digital Negative Converter

About.com have just reviewed another contender for the noise-removal software throne, Noiseware Professional.

“Processing of images was fast, taking under 20s on my now rather old computer for a 6Mp jpeg image. The quality of the results using the default filters - default, landscape, night scene, portrait - was generally impressive, and similar to those achieved by the best of the other software available, Noise Ninja and Neat Image (see Related Resources.) It would be hard to pick a winner out of these three programs in terms of results. “

Website: About.com - Noiseware Professional Review

Ulead Press Release

Ulead Introduces New Version of PhotoImpact Image Editing Software

PhotoImpact 10 Brings Image Editing Software up to the Level of Today’s Digital Cameras with Novice-Friendly Professional Quality Tools

TORRANCE,Calif. - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Sept. 27, 2004 - Ulead Systems, Inc., a 15-year, industry-leader in digital media software development, announces Ulead(R) PhotoImpact(R) 10, the newest version of PhotoImpact, Ulead’s flagship PC image editing software. PhotoImpact 10 continues to be the most comprehensive software product under $100 for digital photography, graphic design and Web graphic/page creation. This latest version offers new tools and layouts to make it easier for novices and casual users to navigate the rich feature set within PhotoImpact, while still providing imaging aficionados with sophisticated creative design tools and effects for professional results. Over the years PhotoImpact has garnered notable reviews and awards in a variety of publications including BusinessWeek, CNET, Entrepreneur, PCPhoto, and Technology & Learning.

“Ulead always takes tremendous pride in the sophistication and power of the features we include in our new releases,” says Lewis Liaw, president of Ulead Systems, North America. “We love to deliver plenty of get-up-and-go under the hood. What’s special about PhotoImpact 10 is that we have made equal or even greater strides in making the product easier and more intuitive to use. Digital cameras today are capable of producing images only pros could have just last year. We are very excited to be able to deliver software that lets hobbyists, casual and business users take full advantage of their cameras and achieve professional quality results without having to spend a lot of time or learn complex software.”

Adobe Press Release 27/09/04

Adobe Unifies Raw Photo Formats with Introduction of Digital Negative Specification  
 
Free Converter Tool Kick Starts New Digital Negative File Format by Translating Raw Formats into Easy-to-Use, Archive-Ready Files

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sept. 27, 2004 - Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today introduced the Digital Negative Specification, a new unified public format for raw digital camera files. The company also launched a free software tool, Adobe DNG Converter, which translates many of today’s popular raw photo formats into the new .DNG file format, compliant with the Digital Negative Specification.

Raw files, which contain the original information captured by a camera sensor prior to any in-camera processing, have become popular due to their promise of greater flexibility and image quality. Until today there has been no standard format for these files, which vary between manufacturers and individual cameras. The Digital Negative Specification solves this problem by introducing a single format that can store information from a diverse range of cameras. Technology leaders, major customers, and professional photographers today also endorsed the new specification (see separate quote sheet).

“Professional photographers and other creative professionals are moving to raw camera workflows because of the outstanding creative control they get over digital images,” said Bryan Lamkin, senior vice president of Digital Imaging and Digital Video products at Adobe. “However, clients and publishers have difficulty working with disparate raw file formats and nobody can be sure that today’s raw formats will be supported ten years from now. Adobe customers asked us to work on a unified, public format for raw files and that’s what we’ve delivered with the new Digital Negative Specification.”

Adobe Press Release 27/09/04

Adobe Adds Support for New Digital Negative Specification in Updated Camera Raw Plug-in For Photoshop CS  
 
.DNG Files and Raw Formats from New Batch of Pro Cameras Now Accessible in Photoshop CS

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sept. 27, 2004 - Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced an update to the Camera Raw Plug-in, extending raw file support in Photoshop CS to more than 65 digital camera models and enabling Photoshop CS to handle files in the new .DNG format, also announced today (see separate release). Available as a free download from Adobe’s Web site, the plug-in builds on the raw file functionality already available in Photoshop CS, adding new support for the latest digital cameras from leading manufacturers, such as Canon, Epson, Fujifilm, and Nikon.

Raw files, which contain the original information captured by a camera sensor prior to any in-camera processing, have become popular in recent years, due to their promise of greater flexibility and image quality. Adobe Photoshop pioneered the integration of raw files directly into digital imaging workflows through previous plug-in releases and by integrating raw file functionality into Photoshop CS. The company today also launched a free software tool, the Adobe DNG Converter that translates the raw formats supported by Photoshop CS and the Camera Raw Plug-in into the new .DNG file format (see separate release). Adding .DNG support allows Photoshop CS users to work with files created with the new DNG Converter - giving them a single unified file format in which to archive their raw files.

Adobe Press Release 27/09/04

Adobe Photoshop Services Introduced; Integrates Ofoto Picture Sharing and Printing in Consumer Software Products  
 
Tight Integration With Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 and Adobe Photoshop Album 2.0 Provides Simple Way to Share Pictures and Order Prints and Specialty Photo Products

SAN JOSE, Calif. and COLOGNE, Germany - Sept. 27, 2004 - Two of the world’s leading imaging companies, Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) and Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: EK) today announced Adobe Photoshop Services provided by Ofoto, Inc. - Kodak’s online photo service subsidiary. Adobe Photoshop Services are now integrated into Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 software for Windows and Adobe Photoshop Album 2.0 software for Windows - bringing consumers high-quality KODAK prints, online sharing and photo merchandise directly from the software.

With Adobe Photoshop Services people can save time by placing online orders with Ofoto from within their image editing and organization applications, with just a few clicks. Customers also can create beautiful professionally bound, archival-quality Photo Books within Photoshop Elements 3.0 and Photoshop Album 2.0, and then send the entire project to Ofoto to be printed and delivered to their door, or sent as a gift directly to friends and family.

Adobe Press Release 27/09/04 

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sept. 27, 2004 - Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today introduced the Digital Negative Specification, a new unified public format for raw digital camera files.The company also launched a free software tool, Adobe DNG Converter, that translates many of today’s popular raw photo formats into the new .DNG file format, compliant with the Digital Negative Specification (see separate press release). Technology leaders, major customers and professional photographers today endorsed the new specification.

Companies
“We believe this new Digital Negative Initiative specification from Adobe will help to move the imaging industry forward and enable more efficient digital imaging workflows. We hope to see DNG adopted widely by all major vendors of digital cameras, equipment and imaging software.”—William Radcliffe, director of technology development, Corbis

“Microsoft has long supported technologies that make it easier for our customers to enjoy digital media on the PC. Adobe’s leadership in proposing a universal format for raw digital camera images will do just that. We believe that standards such as DNG are essential to the future growth of digital photography.”—Josh Weisberg, group product manger, Windows digital media group, Microsoft

Adobe Press Release 27/09/04 

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sept. 27, 2004 - Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today introduced the Digital Negative Specification, a new unified public format for raw digital camera files.The company also launched a free software tool, Adobe DNG Converter, that translates many of today’s popular raw photo formats into the new .DNG file format, compliant with the Digital Negative Specification (see separate press release). Technology leaders, major customers and professional photographers today endorsed the new specification.

Companies
“We believe this new Digital Negative Initiative specification from Adobe will help to move the imaging industry forward and enable more efficient digital imaging workflows. We hope to see DNG adopted widely by all major vendors of digital cameras, equipment and imaging software.”—William Radcliffe, director of technology development, Corbis

“Microsoft has long supported technologies that make it easier for our customers to enjoy digital media on the PC. Adobe’s leadership in proposing a universal format for raw digital camera images will do just that. We believe that standards such as DNG are essential to the future growth of digital photography.”—Josh Weisberg, group product manger, Windows digital media group, Microsoft

Breeze Systems have just released a beta version of BreezeBrowser with Canon EOS 20D raw conversion support.

BreezeBrowser 2.11 beta 1 can be downloaded from:

http://www.breezesys.com/BreezeBrowser/support.htm#20D

You need to install Canon’s EOS Viewer Utility v1.1 software for this to work. A full release is planned for early November after Canon have released a new SDK for the 20D.

Microsoft Press Release 22/09/04

Microsoft Announces Canon’s Support of Media Transfer Protocol in Digital Still Cameras

Improved Image Acquisition and Camera Control Capabilities Enable New Possibilities for Digital Imaging Industry

REDMOND, Wash., Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/—Microsoft Corp. today announced that its new Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) will be supported by Canon Inc., a leader in the field of professional and consumer imaging equipment and information systems. Canon, one of the market leaders in adopting and promoting Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP), now plans to incorporate support for MTP into its future digital camera product offerings. This announcement coincides with next week’s 2004 Photokina trade show and signifies a premier industry relationship for Microsoft, introducing one of the most advanced technologies yet for image acquisition to a Windows(R)-based PC.

Based on the popular PTP, MTP enables the transfer of media such as images to and from a broad range of devices, while delivering enhanced device management and significant performance improvements for today’s new classes of portable media devices. MTP over IP (MTP/IP) extends the applicability of this exciting technology to networked and wireless devices. Canon’s adoption of MTP/IP for its future wireless digital cameras will significantly improve the image acquisition experience for both consumers and professionals, enabling ubiquitous, high-performance connectivity. Among its benefits, MTP/IP provides vastly improved support for transferring large quantities of data from a device, while also enabling faster thumbnail viewing for photographers with large storage media in their devices. MTP/IP also eliminates much of the complexity inherent in wireless connectivity for professional photographers and will enable new scenarios for all enthusiasts.

Shortcut Press Release 22/09/04

As of September 28th the start of a fruitful cooperation between Shortcut and Canon Germany is a fact. As a science company Shortcut develops and publishes high-grade graphic software technology. The multiple award winning Shortcut PhotoZoom with its S-Spline technology will be bundled with Canon’s large format printers.

Canon has recently update there line of Large Format, and very determined to become one of the leading players.

Canon will bundle Shortcut’s PhotoZoom Pro with every large format printer W2200 and W6200 sold. PhotoZoom is a revolutionary, patented and awarded technology (including CeBIT award) that offers the best tools available for the enlargement of digital images.

FotoWare Press Release 22/09/04

FotoWare Launch FotoStation Classic, professional media database for Mac OS X.

At Photokina in Cologne, FotoWare a.s celebrate their 10th anniversary by releasing FotoStation Classic, the completely new media database for Mac OS X.  FotoStation Classic is the standard edition in the FotoStation product family, and offers a wealth of solutions for problems created by the ever-increasing flow of digital images.  Version 5.1 Classic for the Mac OS X operating system provides many new features and a unique flexibility which enables the adaptation of the software to the needs of a single user as well as in a corporate environment.

“It was our goal to make FotoStation even more adaptable to the individual needs of a photographer, an editor, or any user who on a daily basis is working with digital images”, commented Norman Milne, Managing Director Fotoware UK.

“The considerable volume of pictures which are taken today by digital cameras can cause great organisational problems for smaller companies.  We have done everything to help the users overcome these problems with a minimum of effort”, Milne continues.

Award Winning How2Share Technologies Launches New Global Imaging Website with Free eCard Photo Card Service

PiXPO picture sharing software enables instant photo sharing, chatting and free web-hosting of shared images

Victoria, British Columbia - September 20, 2004 How2Share Technologies Inc. announced today the launch of a new website to power the PiXPO global picture sharing network, www.PiXPO.com.  The new site features the free PiXPOstcard service, to enable visitors to send customized photo eCards for free, as well as the ability to upload images directly to the PiXPO Global Picture Sharing network.  As a result, www.PiXPO.com now integrates the benefits of all three standard photo sharing methods (photo hosting websites, picture sharing software and e-mail) into one easy-to-use solution.

The new PiXPO website integrates picture sharing functionality, offers free membership to one of the leading digital picture sharing software programs on the market, and provides visitors with simple tutorials on how to share pictures instantly with friends, family or colleagues.  The PiXPO Network and image sharing software combines photo album management, secure photo sharing, and instant messaging to enable fast photo sharing without delays.  With PiXPO, users can send web-hosted invites by e-mail to their friends, family, colleagues and special groups, inviting them to view their sample albums online, or to chat and share their entire photo collections instantly over the PiXPO private network. 

Breeze Systems Press Release 20/09/04

BreezeBrowser v2.10 adds raw conversion for Canon EOS-1D Mark II, PowerShot Pro1 and S60 for US $49.95

20 September 2004: Breeze Systems today announced BreezeBrowser v2.10, latest release of its raw conversion, browsing and web page generation software. This release allows Canon EOS-1D Mark II, PowerShot Pro1 and S60 owners to use BreezeBrowser for raw conversion.
The ability to view, rename and copy Raw+JPEG images is also extended to Canon EOS 1D Mark II, Canon EOS 20D, Nikon D70 and Nikon D2H users in this release.

BreezeBrowser v2.10 supports high quality conversion of raw files from the following Canon EOS cameras: 1D Mark II, 1Ds, 1D, 10D, 300D/Digital Rebel, D60 and D30 and the following Canon Powershot cameras: G5, G3, G2, G1, Pro1, Pro90IS, S60, S50, S45, S40 and S30.

BreezeBrowser is Windows based software developed and sold by Breeze Systems Ltd. Other products include Downloader Pro, DSLR Remote Pro and PSRemote. Breeze Systems’ customers include Getty Images, Reuters and many world class photographers. BreezeBrowser is available from www.breezesys.com for US $49.94 or US $64.90 bundled with Downloader Pro v1.4. The price includes one year’s free upgrades from the date of purchase.

Breeze Systems Limited is based in Hampshire, UK and has been providing innovative IT solutions since 1994. Many thousands of customers worldwide rely on BreezeBrowser.

http://www.breezesys.com/BreezeBrowser/index.htm

Photoshop Elements User have published a great preview of Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 by Scott Kelby.

“This is a much-improved version of an already amazing product, and if your a serious, or even semi-serious user of Elements, you’ll definitely want to upgrade because it just offers so much in so many areas. The downside of all this is that Mac users get a little bit shafted on this release because some of the cool new features in Elements 3 (like the Organizer) didn’t make their way to the Mac version.”

Website: Photoshop Elements User - A First Look at Photoshop Elements 3