Viewbook Portfolio is a free portfolio app for the Apple iPad. The program integrates seamlessly with Viewbook’s online portfolio service and has an intuitive interface which is clean, simple and refined. Note that while the app itself is free, you do need a Viewbook account to be able to use it (this can be a free trial account). Viewbook Portfolio for iPad is available now on iTunes.

Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 7 and Xara Designer Pro 7 both offer a single application for every type of creative or artistic document creation, including photo editing, graphics creation, illustration and page design. “Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 7 is ideal for any graphics enthusiast, small company or academic user that requires a single general purpose photo and graphics design tool,” the developers say. “Xara Designer Pro 7 includes all the same features, but adds a range of advanced Website design features, plus support for tools that might typically be required by professional designers.” Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 7 costs £69/$89/€69, while Xara Designer Pro 7 is available for £249/$299/€279.

SeeFile Software has just unveiled the fifth generation of its easy-to-install, Web-based Digital Asset Management (DAM) solution. Known as one of the first entirely Web-based DAMs, the software provides easy access to your photos, videos and entire media bank from any standard Web browser. Version 5.0 makes full use of HTML5 capabilities and comes with a new user interface. It also offers features like smart filters based on dates, approval and comments to improve production, easy navigation in different folders and collections, quick annotations on images and multipage PDFs to improve collaboration and reviewing, and more. The SeeFile DAM webserver software is retail priced from US$699 to US$6,795, depending on number of users. For customers who don’t have a Mac available to act as the server, SeeFile and its distributors provide bundles with Mac Mini hardware. Cloud-based service is also available in North America at the website below.

Datacolor’s SpyderGallery is a new free app for the Apple iPad. The app provides an easy-to-use calibration utility for Spyder3 owners to create a custom colour profile on their iPad. Using the Spyder3, the app will measure and profile colour on the iPad and then apply colour correction to images displayed through the SpyderGallery. Viewing images through the colour-managed viewer will allow for more accurate colours and provide users with a closer match to desktop monitors and other colour-managed displays. SpyderGallery for iPad is available as a free download from the App Store.

Adobe has released version 3.4.1 of Lightroom and version 6.4.1 of Adobe Camera Raw (ACR). The update comes after a revelation by Adobe that there’s a “potentially severe bug” in Lightroom 3.4 and ACR 6.4. The newly released versions contain a fix for this bug.

Website: ACR 6.4.1 for Mac | ACR 6.4.1 for Windows
Website: Lightroom 3.4.1 for Mac | Lightroom 3.4.1 for Windows

Dreamix Studios have updated their Album App to version 2.0.  The app lets you scale, rotate and move photos with a single touch, add pages to your album and get creative with the layout or use one of the 30+ predefined templates. With only a single tap you select a photo from your photo library and it will auto position on the spot you tapped on. Version 2.0 brings a range of new features to edit albums and share pages on Facebook or Twitter, and the ability to e-mail complete albums. Album App 2.0 is $1.99 on iTunes.

ACDSee Pro 4 is now available for purchase. Featuring patent-pending LCE (Lighting and Contrast Enhancement) technology, ACDSee incorporates single-exposure HDR imaging algorithms that work on raw image files, allowing photos to more accurately reflect the subject.  Lighting and exposure problems, including high contrast and backlit scenes, insufficient flash, dull images, and under and overexposure are corrected in seconds, the company claims. ACDSee Pro 4 is billed as a complete solution that offers raw conversion, photo editing, file management and easy photo sharing in a single product. The program is available now at $239.99. Those who own an ACDSee product can upgrade for $167.99

Leaf today announced that its latest release of Leaf Capture software delivers a newly designed touch screen GUI (Graphic User Interface). Designed with the needs of professional photographers in mind, it offers improved workflow processes and quicker access to important tools through its new menu. The new Leaf GUI’s outdoor theme also makes exterior shooting much easier by improving visibility in high glare and reflection situations. The new Leaf GUI is available for all models in the Leaf Aptus-II series.

NoiseControl is a new noise filtering application released by The Plugin Site. Currently available as a plugin to IrfanView, Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, Corel Paint Shop Pro, Photo-Paint and PhotoImpact (and many other pieces of software), NoiseControl will also be sold as a standalone product. This software solution can be used to reduce noise in photos captured with digital cameras as well as grain and grain aliasing artefacts present in film scans. NoiseControl is presently available for Windows only, but a Mac OS X version is in the making, The Plugin Site says. The plugin is available for $49.95.

Ohanaware has updated its HDRtist Pro software to version 1.0.2. HDRtist Pro is an advanced HDR imaging tool that is able to wield and manipulate 128-bit floating-point images and can work with multiple exposures as well as single raw image files. The new version fixes two display issues that some customers were having, adds support for 16-Bit Photoshop files, fixes a bug with dragging in HDRP files, and brings a couple of other improvements. HDRtist Pro 1.0.2 is a free update for all customers, for new customers HDRtist Pro is $29.99 / £19.99.

Corel has announced CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5 Limited Edition, a graphics collection that combines four design essentials to expand the user’s creative toolbox. The package includes the full CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5 plus Corel Painter 11, a selection of high-quality and royalty free stock photos and vector images from Fotolia’s vast collection and a Wacom Intuos 4 small tablet. CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5 Limited Edition is available now in English, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, Polish, Czech and Russian at the SRP of £618 for full version and £366 for upgrade customers. All prices include VAT.

Apple has issued a Camera RAW compatibility update to add support for five - mostly - new digital cameras. These include the following models:

Fujifilm FinePix X100
Nikon D5100
Olympus E-PL2
Olympus XZ-1 (pictured)
Samsung GX-1S

These and all previously added digital cameras benefit from system-level raw file support in Mac OS X v10.6.

Website: Mac OS X v10.6: Supported digital camera RAW formats

GeoPhoto 2.0 is an iPad app that lets users virtually travel around the world by finding geotagged pictures. It’s just a matter of selecting an area of the world map and clicking the search button. Shortly afterwards the screen will be filled with the best images found in that area. Version 2.0, which adds a brand new user interface and sharing options, is available on iTunes for $0.99.

Akvis has updated its ArtSuite to version 7.0. ArtSuite is a collection of versatile effects for decorating photos. The effects are grouped in two categories - Frames and Artistic Effects. Version 7.0 adds 105 new patterns to the Pattern Library, for use with the Classic Frame. A new frame pack - the Sports Pack - and support for raw image files have also been added. The new version also includes an OS File dialog for loading and saving files. The standalone version of Akvis ArtSuite sells for $69, while the plug-in retails for $49. Registered users of earlier versions can upgrade to version 7 for free. The Sports Pack is available for $19.

Adva-Soft has announced that its TouchRetouch app will be released for Android devices at the end of this month. Already available for iOS, ToucRetouch allows users to remove objects from freshly captured or saved photographs easily, without affecting any other elements of the picture. Featuring in-app video tutorials, unlimited Undo actions and an easy-to-use interface, the Android version of the app will retail for $0.99.

Carousel 1.0 b Mobelux is a third-party Instagram app that allows Mac users to view their feed, popular photos, photos they posted, photos taken at a location and save their photos. “All of us at Mobelux are huge Instagram fans and while we love posting photos and checking our feed on the go, we also wanted a way to explore Instagram while we were working throughout the day on our Macs.” said Jeff Rock, co-founder of Mobelux. “We feel like we’ve come up with a wonderful way to do that while taking up a minimal desktop footprint.” Carousel is available immediately for an introductory price of $4.99 at the Carousel website.

onOne Software has released a free public preview of its new Perfect Layers application. Inspired by and designed with Scott Kelby, Perfect Layers supports the creation of layered files that can be opened and edited by Adobe Photoshop and can be used directly from within Lightroom and Bridge. The Perfect Layers Public Preview release is available immediately at the website below. This is a time limited release that expires on 30th June. The shipping version will be available, with additional features including Apple Aperture support, by mid-2011.

Luxipics is an affordable, subscription-based service that allows photographers to present and sell their photos online. No web skills are needed and photographers can be selling their work as digital downloads or prints within minutes of signing up, the company says. The latest version is now available on a monthly subscription model, with the pro service starting at £7.99 per month. Luxipics software even provides a built-in shopping cart allowing customers to buy photos, downloads or even book studio time using all major credit cards securely via PayPal.

Website: Luxipics

app4cam has released version 6 of its gps4cam app for the Apple iPhone. This program allows iPhone users to geotag pictures taken with any digital camera. The app doesn’t need to connect to a network to be used, and doesn’t require the user to manually synchronise the time and date between his iPhone and his camera, thanks to the use of a QR-Code generated by the app itself. This last version brings ease-of.use improvements such as the addition of an on-board guided tour and an integrated FAQ. gps4cam is now available for $2.99 on iTunes.

Phase One today released Media Pro, a new version of the digital asset management program once known as Microsoft Expression Media. Phase One acquired this software product a year ago. This new release brings seamless integration with Capture One, meaning photos and adjustments made in Capture One are updated in Media Pro and the two applications offer integrated exchange of the metadata that describe images, and convey ownership and licensing information. Media Pro is available now via download for €139 / $199 through Phase One’s Online Store. Current Expression Media 2 customers can upgrade to Media Pro for €39 / $59.