The Plugin Site Press Release 23/03/04

March 23, 2004 - The Plugin Site (www.thepluginsite.com) has just released Photo Galaxy 2300. Photo Galaxy 2300 is a collection of more than 950 royalty-free digital photos on CD-ROM sorted into 118 different categories. The photos mainly consist of photo textures that were selected from a pool of a several thousand photos to ensure high quality. The photos can be used for a lot of different purposes, e.g. as material for graphics artwork or multimedia projects, as decoration for web sites, brochures, flyers or other print products, as desktop backgrounds and many other things.

Why Photo Galaxy is different
Photo collections usually provide thousands of almost unusable low-resolution photos or with very few high-resolution photos at a high price. Photo Galaxy is different in two aspects. Unlike other photo collections it offers a wide range of high-resolution photos at an affordable price. Secondly, it is allowed to use the photos on a royalty-free basis, which means that the photos can be used for commercial purposes at no additional costs.

Fred Miranda is about to release a new Photoshop plug-in for converting colour images to black and white. No word on price or availability yet.

“The BW Workflow Pro Plugin - Taking black and white conversion to the next level.

This workflow is not like any other plugin available. There are tons of options, features, and endless possibilities for creating your masterpiece. In addition to manual modes, and custom tweak options, I have packed this plugin full of carefully designed preset options to help you get the best image quality out of your files. You have 8 preset filter selections, 32 duotone presets, 18 tritone presets, 6 quadtone presets, 3 film grain presets and 4 dynamic range presets. Everything you do, can be easily previewed as you work on your image. High quality B&W has never been easier to achieve.”

Website: Fred Miranda - BW Workflow Pro Plugin

Serif (Europe) Ltd Press Release 15/03/04

SERIF LAUNCHES ‘MEDIAPLUS 2’

New version of media file management software with greatly enhanced features for improved flexibility and control.

Serif (Europe) Ltd - the UK’s leading independent desktop publishing, design and graphics software developer - today announced the launch of MediaPlus 2, the latest version of their media file management program.

MediaPlus 2 (Price ?59.99) is Serif’s superb one-stop solution for the organisation and handling of media files. The intuitive customisable interface makes it easy for everyone to create thumbnail albums from files located anywhere on the PC. Plus, a bevy of powerful new features have been introduced to further enhance the flexibility of this indispensable program, without compromise on price.

Serif Press Release

SERIF LAUNCHES ‘PHOTOPLUS 9’

New version of acclaimed digital image-editing package now boasts Adobe Photoshop? Import and Export

Serif (Europe) Ltd - the UK’s leading independent desktop publishing, design and graphics software developer - today announced the launch of PhotoPlus 9, the latest version of their award-winning digital image-editing program.

PhotoPlus 9 (Price ?79.99) is Serif’s most comprehensive photo-editing package to date, offering advanced level tools that allow everyday users, enthusiasts and digital-imaging professionals to easily import, manipulate and export image files. Combining easy-to-use professional features with an exceptional price tag, PhotoPlus 9 is clearly set to become the number one choice when working with photographs and images for the Web, multimedia and the printed page.

New Photoshop? (.PSD) Import and Export now allows PhotoPlus 9 to maintain most layer types and effects from imported Adobe Photoshop files and translate them into editable PhotoPlus layers and effects. Fully integrated PDF Export adds further flexibility for sharing digital image creations.

Winferno Press Release

Winferno’s SnapZip is First to Compress and E-mail Photos With Ease

Zip and e-mail any file or photo format including JPEGs, easy for anyone to use, and fully compatible with other compression programs

BOSTON - February 17, 2004 - Everyone likes to take photos and then share them with family, friends and co-workers. A quick way to share photos is to e-mail them. However, as photos are very large files, e-mailing these can cause long delays, they can freeze a computer while trying to send, or even fail to be sent due to the size. Winferno Software announced SnapZip(tm) for users that like to e-mail photos but haven’t found an easy-to-use solution up until now. SnapZip is the only program that allows users to easily zip and e-mail photos with one mouse click, and is compatible with other leading Zip programs.

The most efficient way to send large files is to compress or ‘zip’ them before e-mailing. Up until now, there wasn’t a user-friendly compression program available and of the programs that exist, none can compress photos, and offer compatibility with other Zip programs. For the first time, users don’t have to fuss with complicated programs and have a solution to e-mail photos with ease. SnapZip intelligently uses a combination of “lossless” and “lossy” compression on
photos and documents.

With Winferno Software’s SnapZip, zipping large files reduces the size of the file an average of three to four times. Even multiple photos can be saved in one zipped file and then quickly and easily e-mailed. There is no learning curve to SnapZip. An easy-to-use graphical interface guides the user to simply drag and drop files to zip them. Once the file has been zipped, the program instantly asks the user if they would like to e-mail the zipped file, and then automatically creates an e-mail in the user’s default e-mail program with the files attached.

The About Graphics Software website has a handy list of software applications that all claim to be able to effectively remove noise from digital photos or to reduce or removing artifacts from too much JPEG compression. Some of the names are familiar - Noise Ninja, Neat Image - some of them aren’t, but if you’re wondering which one to try first, the last link on the page is to Michael Almond’s Noise Reduction Tool Comparison. Michael has compared no less than 18 different software packages so that you don’t have to.

Website: About Graphics Software - Noise, Grain, Artifact Reduction Tools

Website: Michael Almond’s Noise Reduction Tool Comparison

Digital Outback Photo have reviewed a new PC-only plugin by Kevin Dobson that sharpens your digital photos in a simple way without creating too many sharpening artifacts. There’s a trial version available to download (which leaves a watermark on the image) and if you like what you see you can order it from the Digital Outback Photo website.

Website: Digital Outback Photo - Simple Sharpening Review

“Breeze Systems Press Release”

Breeze Systems’ PSRemote Supports the new Canon PowerShot Pro1, A75, S500, S410 and SD110 Cameras

5th March, 2004: Breeze Systems today announced Breeze PSRemote Version 1.2 software supports Canon?s new PowerShot Pro1 camera, as well as the PowerShot A75, S500, S410 and SD110 announced by Canon at PMA in February.

Chris Breeze explained, “PSRemote has been designed to learn the settings of PowerShot cameras when the camera is first connected. This usually enables the program to support new PowerShot models without modification.”

Luminous Landscape have today reviewed Noise Ninja from PictureCode Software. This software package claims to effectively remove noise from digital camera and scanned images. Does Michael Reichmann agree? Find out in his review…

Website: Luminous Landscape - Noise Ninja Review

Website: Noise Ninja

Roxio Press Release 01/03/04

Roxio introduces exciting new look to the packaging of its next generation of digital media products

London, UK - March 1, 2004 - Roxio, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROXI), The Digital Media Company?, provider of the best selling digital media software in the world, today unveil an exciting new brand image for their new digital media software range, including the next generation of the UK’s best selling* utility software, Roxio Creator 7. The new packaging has been designed to communicate quality, scale and value.

Roxio Creator 7 revolutionises digital media management and defines an entirely new software category by bringing together Roxio’s complete line of next generation, full-featured photo, video, music, burning, and authoring brands; PhotoSuite, VideoWave, Napster and Easy CD & DVD in the first truly integrated Digital Media Suite for the PC.

Phase One Press Release 27/02/04

Capture One version 3.1.2 for Mac OS X and Windows plus C1 DSLR version 1.2.3 for Mac OS X and C1 DSLR version 1.3.1 for Windows are now released.

This is a maintenance release and therefore it does not add new camera support or new features to the applications.

News and additions in Capture One v. 3.1.2 and C1 DSLR PRO/SE v. 1.2.3 for Mac OS X:
- Fixes a number of problems with the IPTC editor.
- Improved stability when processing a batch of files.
- Process history menu is now properly updated.
- When switching to custom crop, the aspect ratio is now properly unlocked.
- Totally black images are no longer rejected as genuine raw files.
- All existing Canon Film curves are reset to the state of the C1 DSLR version 1.2.1 in order to restore backwards compatibility.
- “Film Curve high contrast” added for all supported Canon cameras (same as Film Standard in the 1.2.2 release).
- C1 can now be used to view Canon 1D/1Ds files processed using Adobe raw converter.
- Workaround implemented: Canon 1D and 1Ds TIFs can now be opened and saved with Photoshop 7 without becoming invalid.
- All Color sync profiles are now available to users without administrator privileges

Supported Cameras C1 PRO/SE v. 1.2.3:
Canon EOS 1D, -1Ds, -D30, -D60, -10D, and -300D.

Supported Cameras Capture One v. 3.1.2:
Phase One H 5, H 10, H 101, H 20, H 25, and LightPhase.
Canon EOS 1D, -1Ds, -D30, -D60, -10D, and -300D.

News and additions in Capture One v. 3.1.2 and C1 DSLR PRO/SE/LE/Rebel v.1.3.1 for Windows:
- Support for rotating images continuously 90?.
- Tagged previews are now always on top (when group switch is on).
- The order of the previews when sorting by date has been swapped.
- Automatic web update implemented (can be accessed from the ?Help? menu).
- Viewing of special jpg files enabled (e.g. from SONY Cybershot).
- Fixes a problem that caused C1 to unexpectedly quit while using the crop tool.
- All existing Canon Film curves are reset to the state of the C1 DSLR version 1.2 in order to restore backwards compatibility.
- “Film Curve high contrast” added for all supported Canon cameras (same as Film Standard in the 1.3 release).
- Problem with sorting Canon 1D/1Ds images fixed.
- ICC profile ‘Canon EOS-10D Generic.icm’ reset to the state of the C1 DSLR
version 1.2.
- The description field in the Color Editor is now applied correctly to the ICC profile
file.
- Support for Portrait coupling with C1 PRO.

Supported Cameras C1 Pro/SE:
Canon EOS 1D, -1Ds, -D30, -D60, -10D, and -300D
Nikon D1X and D100

Supported Cameras C1 LE:
Canon EOS D30, -D60, -10D, and -300D
Nikon D100

Supported Cameras C1 Rebel:
Canon EOS 300D

Availability:
Capture One v. 3.1.2 for Mac OS X and Windows will ship with all Phase One camera backs and are available in the download section of www.phaseone.com C1 DSLR for Mac OS X and Windows are available in the Phase One e-shop at: www.phaseone.com/eshop/

Picasa, Inc. Press Release 23/02/04

For Second Consecutive Year Picasa’s Hello Chosen by Industry Experts as an Influence
on the Future of Digital Imaging

Pasadena, CA—February 23, 2004—Picasa, Inc.(tm), the leading developer of software which enables photographers to effortlessly organize, manage and share digital photos, has been awarded the prestigious 2004 “DIMA Innovative Digital Product Award” for the second consecutive year. This year the award went to Picasa’s Hello, an instant photo sharing application that enables users to share images securely over a peer-to-peer network and chat about them in real time. Last year the honor went to the company’s flagship photo organizing software, Picasa

LAS VEGAS, Feb.—Eastman Kodak Company introduced the new PROSHOTS Basics Software that simplifies the image-ordering process for photographers and professional labs.

The software, free to photographers and available as a download at http://www.kodak.com/proshots/basicsinfo, allows photographers to more easily select and organize images, proof and complete prints, and submit orders over the Internet or by CD to their lab,. It also connects photographers to Pro Labs and makes the image-ordering process easier.

“Customers told us they needed an easy-to-use solution that simplified the image-ordering process and supports the Mac platform we incorporated that feedback into our KODAK PROSHOTS Basics Software,” said John Blake, World Wide General Manager Pro Output Division Eastman Kodak Company. “It improves capture to output workflows so that professional photographers and Pro Labs can take on additional business and expand their client base. Additionally, because it is Macintosh compatible, KODAK PROSHOTS Basics expands Kodak’s reach to the estimated one third of Professional Photographers who are MAC users. Increasing the market potential by 50% for KODAK PROSHOTS also drives incremental printing volumes which is great news for KODAK PROSHOTS Participating Labs.”

“The Power Mac G5, Apple’s beautiful Cinema Displays and Mac OS X with its breakthrough in innovation, ease of use and reliability are a perfect fit for photographers and professional labs,” said Ron Okamoto, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. “With the new KODAK PROSHOTS Basic Software, labs and photographers can now benefit from an easy and simplified workflow while taking advantage of the superfast Power Mac G5.”

The Plugin Site Press Release 16/02/04

February 16, 2004 - The Plugin Site (http://www.ThePluginSite.com) is proud to announce Version 3.0 of Harry’s Filters for Windows. Harry’s Filters 3.0 is a free Photoshop-compatible plug-in containing 69 useful image effects. Harry’s Filters can be used with dozens of different image editing applications, e.g. Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, Photo-Paint, PhotoImpact and many others.

What’s New in Version 3.0
Harry’s Filters 3 includes 14 new filter effects, 30 new presets, a new blending feature with 20 blending modes and a new brightness slider. The preview was enlarged by 200% and several of the old filters have been improved. An incompatibility, which kept the previous version from fully working in Paint Shop Pro 8, has also been fixed.

The most intriguing enhancement in the new version is the Play feature, which displays animations in the preview. After pressing the Play button the current effect will be animated with random slider values. To make better use of this feature there are two combo boxes for choosing a frame-per-second value and one of five possible speeds. While the animation is displayed in the preview you can still use all controls, e.g. change the zoom, change a slider value, choose another effect and so on.

Lexar Media Press Release 12/02/04

Lexar Media Announces Exclusive Retail Distribution Agreement For Camera Bits’ Popular Photo Mechanic Software

Las Vegas, February 12, 2004 (PMA Booth H100—Lexar Media, Inc. (Nasdaq: LEXR), a leading manufacturer and marketer of high-performance digital media and accessories, today announced an exclusive distribution agreement with Camera Bits, Inc., maker of the popular image management software Photo Mechanic. With shipments beginning next month, Lexar will be the exclusive retail distributor of Photo Mechanic and Photo Mechanic LE, offering the software to its extensive network of photographic retailers and distributors.

Photo Mechanic software is a digital camera image browser commonly used by professional photographers to easily view, organize and process digital images on a computer. The software offers batch captioning, image renaming, speedy browsing, and automatic collection of meta-data, with an easy-to-use interface that has made it the image management software of choice for thousands of photojournalists and professional photographers worldwide.

Adobe Press Release 12/02/04

SAN JOSE, Calif.—(Business Wire)—Feb. 12, 2004 Updated Camera Raw Plug-in Adds Support for Broad Range of New Digital Cameras from Fujifilm, Kodak, Leaf, Leica, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax and Sony

Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced a new Camera Raw plug-in for Photoshop(R) CS, extending raw file support to 14 additional digital camera models. Available as a free download from Adobe’s Web site, the plug-in builds on the raw file functionality integrated in Photoshop CS, adding new support for digital cameras from leading manufacturers such as, Fujifilm, Kodak, Leaf, Leica, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax and Sony.

Extensis Meets the Demands of Pro Photographers and Creative Professionals with the Release of Portfolio 7

LAS VEGAS—(Business Wire)—Feb. 12, 2004 Major Upgrade Includes Revolutionary NetPublish Module for Seamless Delivery of Image Catalogs to the Web

Extensis Inc. today announced Portfolio 7—a dramatic upgrade of the industry-leading, digital asset management (DAM) solution for organizing digital photos, illustrations, page layouts and presentations into visual catalogs that can be shared by workgroups or published to the Web with unprecedented ease of use.

The Portfolio 7 upgrade includes dozens of new features, many targeted at streamlining the process of importing, organizing, and distributing digital photos. The new features include built-in CD burning, batch image conversion, and the ability to embed IPTC metadata, such as captions and copyright information, directly into image files.

“This is industrial-strength asset management—the kind needed by pro photographers who generate hundreds of thousands of images,” said Joseph Schorr, senior product manager at Extensis. “With Portfolio, photographers can do more than simply browse photos. They can embed critical metadata, spin off low-resolution proofs for customers, burn archive CDs and publish them to the Web with just a few clicks.”

Foveon Press Release 12/02/04

FOVEON X3F RAW FILE FORMAT NOW SUPPORTED IN ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CS

LAS VEGAS, Nevada, February 10, 2004 - Foveon Inc., a technology leader in high-quality digital capture products, announced today that Adobe Systems Incorporated will provide Foveon X3F raw file format support in the Photoshop CS Camera Raw plug-in. Foveon X3F files are the raw format files from digital cameras that incorporate the Foveon X3 direct image sensor. Foveon X3 direct image sensors are the only image sensors that directly capture color in three layers, just like color film.

“Adobe’s Photoshop software is the core of virtually every digital image editing system used on personal computers today. Their decision to support our raw file format reflects the market’s growing desire to use the complete color capture provided by Foveon X3 based digital cameras,” said Federico Faggin, Foveon’s CEO.

Konica Minolta Press Release 12/02/04

Konica Minolta DiMAGE Capture: Application Software for DiMAGE A2

Langenhagen, February, 2004

Konica Minolta introduces DiMAGE Capture, remote-imaging software for Konica Minolta’s new DiMAGE A2, 8 megapixel digital camera. It allows users to control the DiMAGE A2 from a connected computer with a Windows operating system, monitoring the live, preview and recorded images on the screen. Images can be transferred quickly to the computer’s hard drive via USB 2.0 interface.

Phase One Press Release 12/02/04

PMA CONVENTION, LAS VEGAS, NV, February 12, 2004 - Phase One, the world leader in professional digital imaging camera backs and software, is pleased to announce its critically-acclaimed C1 RAW Workflow software now supports the full Canon line of DSLRs on both Windows and Macintosh platforms.

This new major release adds support for the Canon 300D Digital Rebel to all Windows versions as well as the Canon, 10D, D60 and D30 to all Macintosh versions, in addition to the 1Ds and 1D.

Fuji, Nikon, and Olympus shooters can soon join as well
In May, C1 will support Nikon D2h/D70/D1h/D1x/D100 as well as Fuji S2 on both Win and Mac platforms. Current C1 Windows versions already offer support for Nikon 1Dx (PRO/SE) and D100 (PRO/SE/LE). Phase One has received many requests about adding camera support from photographers using Nikon, Fuji, and Olympus DSLRs. From May (Olympus soon after), these shooters can benefit from the superior image quality and unique workflow efficiency C1 provides.