ON1 today announced a new version of ON1 Photo RAW coming at the end of the month. Key new features will include HDR exposure blending with automatic frame alignment, pano stitching, a number of new masking tools, selective noise reduction, an updated and more modern graphical user interface, and more. The free free ON1 Photo for Mobile app enables users to take their best photographs with them on the go in order to help them share their portfolios. It can also sync new photos taken on phones back to the desktop so those photos are ready for editing. THe developers have also added support for the Nikon D850, Olympus EM-10 III and Panasonic DMC-G85 cameras, plus a number of new lenses. ON1 Photo RAW 2018 will be available for download as a free public beta on 6th October. The final version can be pre-ordered for $119.99. Previous owners of any ON1 app (or ON1 plug-in) can upgrade for $79.99.

Digital Film Tools have launched two new Android apps for photographers. Rays allows users to easily create stunning and realistic light ray effects in any creative project. Known as volumetric lighting in computer graphics, or crepuscular rays in atmospheric optics, this dramatic effect adds polish and style. reFine offers artists a new tool and technique for performing selective sharpening, detail enhancement, and edge-aware smoothing. The new apps are available now in the Google Play store for $0.99 each.

Hasselblad have announced Phocus 3.3, the latest version of their image processing software. Thanks to extended GPU acceleration based on Metal/OpenCL on Mac/PC, Phocus 3.3 is now faster than ever, allowing users to export images quickly and easily while offering a quicker viewing experience when zoomed to 100% and above. In addition to the improved performance, the update also includes integrated control of WiFi-enabled broncolor flash equipment via Phocus 3.3 with the touch of the left or right cursor key.

Timelapse+ have launched their new Timelapse Workflow plugin for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. The plugin allows photographers to group photos by time-lapse, automatically create keyframes, blend settings between keyframes and preview your time-lapse -- all without leaving Lightroom. “After meeting in person with a customer to walk them through post-processing, I realized that for many people, if they’re not already familiar with the process, it can be complicated and it’s easy to mess up and get disappointing

results while working.” Said Elijah Parker, Founder of Timelapse+, “If you're doing any kind of day-to-night or night-to-day, this plugin becomes essential for blending changes in white balance or exposure across a series of frames. Get great results with a minimal learning curve.” The TImelapse Workflow Plugin is free for anyone who owns the Timelapse VIEW intervalometer.

Magix have released a new update of Photostory Deluxe, offering a significant performance upgrade over the previous version. High-resolution image material is now processed up to five times faster, whilst advanced full image editing enables precise photo optimisationdirectly within the program. A fully reworked workflow with 16-bit colour precision enables more creative freedom during effects editing and prevents image artifacts in colour transitions. Over 1,500 intros/outros, transitions, background noise and songs for popular themes such as vacation and travel have been completely redesigned in a clear new layout. The popular Photostory Wizard now has an optimized interface and can now be used for quick photo import. Fullscreen editing is now more advanced and can also be used in the main interface. Photostory Deluxe is now available for € 69,99 / $69.99 / £59.99.

Magix have released a free version of Fastcut, a video editor optimised for action cams and smartphones. Living up to its name, Fastcut 

is easy to use, intuitive and fast. Users simply need to select the required video clips, choose a soundtrack from the in-app library, click "Create video" and the program will create a finished video in seconds. Magix still offer a paid version, Fastcut Plus, which includes features like post-capture image stabilisation and advanced editing tools. Fastcut is free, while Fastcut Plus is available for £39.99.

Jessops now offers a 30-day Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan membership with selected purchases including all cameras, camcorders, lenses, drones and Jessops Academy courses. Jessops Academy aims to help you get the most out of your camera and offer you a range of photographic opportunities through a selection of courses, workshops, experiences and trips. The Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan is a subscription-based service that gives users access to the latest versions of Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom as well as the Adobe Spark web app and a number of mobile apps and services.

The Zoner Photo Studio X autumn update offers a unique retouching brush whose abilities highly surpass other editors´ similar tools. This brush is the first in the World to enable combining multiple masks as well as multiple strokes within one mask. Each individual stroke, meanwhile can be edited or deleted at any time without reducing the image’s quality. The Editor module has also gained new features. Users can now apply basic edits to colours, overall exposure, and exposure levels and curves within separate adjustment layers that they can then edit at any time. The autumn update also adds a new Video tool plus pressure support for graphics tablets.

Adobe has revealed advancements to its industry-leading Adobe Creative Cloud video tools and services to be showcased at IBC 2017. 

The company will highlight the latest innovations in virtual reality, animation, motion graphics, editing, collaboration and Adobe Stock - all available later this year. The new capabilities coming later this year to Adobe Creative Cloud for video include motion graphics templates, Character Animator, VR video creation, Team Projects and Adobe Audition. Many of these features are powered by Adobe Sensei, the company’s artificial intelligence and machine learning framework. Adobe will preview these advancements at Stand 7.G27 in the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center and at 140 partner booths from September 15-19 at IBC.

Magix has released an updated version of Movie Edit Pro, which promises up to 5x faster video editing, smoother display for up to 4K resolution and a comprehensive range of effects. Additionally, users can now work with 4 of the most-requested plug-ins: NewBlue ColorFast 2, NewBlue Elements Overlay, iZotope RX Elements & HitFilm Movie Essentials. The latest effect plug-ins are included in the Premium version and are available in the two other versions at a special price. Also included are picture-in-picture effects, split screens, high-quality sound optimisation and original film effects. Movie Edit Pro is now available online and in stores worldwide, priced from £59.99.

Alien Skin Software have announced the upcoming release of Exposure X3, the latest version of their non-destructive raw photo editor and organiser. This edition will bring new colour and B&W toning enhancements that give photographers greater control over their image adjustments. Powerful new organising tools include virtual copies for editing multiple variations of a single photo, without taking up additional disk space. Exposure’s intuitive keywords interface enables photographers to add descriptive metadata to their photo, making it easy to organize photos around themes and to create keyword sets. The advanced collections tools help them quickly and easily group their images, no matter where they appear on their computer. Exposure X3 will be released in Q3 of 2017, priced at $149.

Akvis have updated their ArtSuite application to Version 12.0. This release adds a new Passe-Partout frame, a Presets panel with ready-to-use Akvis frame presets, an improved Halftone effect, and some bug fixes. The standalone version also adds support for a number of new raw image file formats.

Fujifilm X Raw Studio is a brand new RAW conversion system. Fujifilm X Raw Studio enables users to quickly and easily convert RAW files with outstanding image quality. Exceptional image quality is retained, as the X Raw Studio system utilizes the X Processor Pro in the camera instead of the CPU in the computer. This new software is due to be available from late November 2017.

Version 2.6.9 of the GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) has just been released. This update brings various performance, usability and configurability improvements, better Hi-DPI support, a host of new blending modes, a new Handle Transform tool, a faster Warp Transform tool, an enhanced Free Selection tool, a preloaded Raw Therapee plug-in, and much more. Do note that this is officially an "unstable developer version." For the time being, GIMP 2.8.22 remains the latest stable release.

Corel have released Pinnacle Studio 21 Ultimate, the latest version of their flagship video editing software that's been redesigned to offer an easier-to-use and more creative video editing environment. New features include a redesigned graphical user interface, wide-angle lens correction, Paint Effects, Morph Transitions, a 3D title editor and a host of premium video effects from NewBlueFX, including selective focus, colour, and tint. "With a smarter and beautifully redesigned UI, Pinnacle Studio 21 Ultimate offers a unique video editing environment where professional-inspired tools don't need to be complicated or hard to learn. If you're looking for a more powerful video editor where you can grow your skills, Pinnacle Studio takes you closer to pro, without the expense or complications. And if you're already familiar with the Pinnacle Studio environment, you'll be blown away by the speed, simplicity, and control of your new workflow," said Michel Yavercovski, Senior Director of Product Management for Pinnacle. Pinnacle Studio 21 Ultimate is available now in Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish. The suggested retail price of Pinnacle Studio 21 Ultimate is $129.95 / €129.95 / £114.95.

Macphun today announced the upcoming release of Aurora HDR 2018, a one-stop solution for HDR photography. Aurora HDR, co-developed with the renowned HDR photo grapher Trey Ratcliff, Aurora HDR became the industry standard for HDR photo editing on Mac and reached 1.7 million downloads since its launch in November 2015. In less than 2 years over 100 million photos have been edited in Aurora HDR and 72% of current users have made Aurora HDR their primary HDR photo editor, switching from other software. “Since the launch of Aurora HDR, Macphun has released more than 10 updates containing tons of new features and improved performance, ” commented Trey Ratcliff. “Today, I'm very excited to announce the launch of Aurora HDR 2018. It's completely new, significantly faster and has even more powerful tools. Plus the BIG news is that it's now available for Microsoft Windows as well.” New features in Aurora 2018 include a Lens Correction filter, an improved graphical user interface, significant speed enhancements, and much more. Interested readers are encouraged to pay a visit to the application's home page.

Corel today released PaintShop Pro 2018, a complete photo editing and graphic design suite that promises more speed, flexibility, and creativity than ever before. This latest version offers shorter launch times, a simplified graphical user interface with a new Dual Workspace Environment, customisable toolbars, improved Crop, Text, Selection, Clone Brush, Gradient Fill, Eraser and Dropper tools, ten new colour palettes, thirty new brushes, thirty new gradients, thirty new textures and fifteen new patterns. Choose PaintShop Pro 2018 Ultimate includes a collection of add-ons including Painter Essentials 5, Perfectly Clear 3 SE and After Shot 3. Also introduced today, the Photo Video Bundle brings together PaintShop Pro 2018 and VideoStudio Pro X10 for a complete photo, design, and video editing package. PaintShop Pro 2018 & PaintShop Pro 2018 Ultimate are available now in English, German, French, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Traditional Chinese, and Japanese. Suggested retail pricing (SRP) for PaintShop Pro 2018 is $79.99 / €69.99 / £69.99 / $99 AUD. SRP for PaintShop Pro 2018 Ultimate is $99.99 / €89.99 / £89.99/ $129 AUD. SRP for PaintShop Pro 2018 and Video Studio X10 bundle is $159.99 / €139.99 / £139.99/ $199 AUD.

Cascable, an iOS-based remote control app that works with a number of Wi-Fi capable cameras, has just been updated to version 3.0. This update includes support for nearly 50 new camera models from Fujifilm and Panasonic on top of the Canon, Nikon, Sony and Olympus models already available. In addition, Cascable now contains a set of geotagging tools which enable photographs to be geotagged without a GPS-enabled camera, alongside numerous optimisations and workflow improvements. The app is available from the iOS App Store. Cascable's Pro features come with a free trial when subscribing from $2 per month, or can be unlocked with a one-time $29.99 purchase.

QuikStories are a new feature in the GoPro app that pulls footage from your HERO5 and creates a polished video on your phone, automatically. Complete with music, effects and transitions, your QuikStory is ready to share immediately or can be customised with text and titles, speed effects and more. “QuikStories is our biggest leap forward since the invention of the GoPro itself,” says GoPro founder and CEO, Nicholas Woodman.  “QuikStories is the simple storytelling solution our customers have been dreaming about for years.  It’s an absolute game changer.” QuikStories is now available for HERO5 Black and HERO5 Session users. To get started, download the new GoPro app from the Apple App Store or Google Play.

Today, PolarPro announced availability for their newest software offering, the Helios Cinematic Light Effects. With effects ranging from light leaks and lens flares to light transitions, Helios offers a variety of colours, styles and looks that can easily fit the mood of any video edit. As with the recently launched Aurora Cinematic Color Presets, the new Helios effects are compatible with most popular video editing platforms including Adobe products such as Premiere 9.0 or later, After Effects CC or later, as well as Apple Final Cut Pro 7 or later, and the Avid Media Composer. These simple-to-use effects can easily be dropped into any video composition to help streamline your post-production workflow.. Retailing for $29.99, the Helios Cinematic Light Effects are currently available at the website below.