MetaTools has announced “MakingFaces”, which allows every iPhone/iPod Touch owner to alter and animate their favourite photographs, and also launched a photography contest. You can take or import photos and literally put a smile on anyone’s face, lift their eyebrows, pinch their nose and a host of other imaginative treatments, all in real time. With Making Faces, taking a photo with an iPhone camera or importing an image from a library is a snap. Once a photo is selected, it’s easy to zoom in and out, rotate the photo to the perfect angle and finally crop the desired portion of the image. Making Faces always works on a copy of an image, so the original image is saved separately. You can even enter your creations in the Just GOO it contest for a chance to witn $1000 USD in cash or one of a number of other prizes. The contest is already open and submissions are accepted through August 31, 2009. Make sure to read the rules before entering. Making Faces is available for download now for $2.99 via iPhone.

X-Rite have released a new software update for the ColorMunki calibration device. Version 1.1 has been expanded to work with more popular desin packages (Adobe InDesign CS4, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4 & QuarkXPress 8), and offers advancements such as user-defined ambient light levels, user-defined profile naming, optimised display luminance, an optimised display brightness and contrast workflow, and more precise control of display luminance. ColorMunki Photo version 1.1 also contains the end-user license agreement to install and run ColorMunki Photo software on an unlimited number of computers, allowing for a greater degree of flexibility to color manage multiple computers typically owned by photographers.

Ohanaware, specialists in photo editing software, announced the immediate availability of an update to their flagship product “Funtastic Photos”.  Funtastic Photos is allegedly a user-friendly photo editor for the Macintosh platform, with advanced effects engine and sharing capabilities. This update, which is free to existing customers, features a multitude of bug fixes and more built-in creativity, Ohanaware claims. Funtastic Photos, which requires requires a Power Macintosh G5 or Intel based Macintosh computer, running Mac OS X v 10.4 or later, is available today for the price of $34.99 USD before taxes.

Light Crafts today announced several updates to Aurora, its photo editing, organising, sharing and storing software, including the availability of Aurora for Mac users - and as a summer gift, offers it for free for 24 hours only.  Consumers can download and own Aurora permanently, for free, by visiting www.lightcrafts.com/aurora, selecting “Buy Now,” and entering FREE24 at check-out. The 24-hour promotion begins on Wednesday, July 15, 2009 at 9:15 a.m. EST and ends on Thursday, July 16, 2009 at 9:15 a.m. EST. Following the free promotion, Aurora for Mac and PC will be available for $19.95. For existing customers, the latest version is a free update.

Please note: The 24-hour offer has expired. You can still buy Aurora for $19.95.

We’ve teamed up with BluBox Software to offer you BluBox, the worlds most advanced software application for the compression and encryption of digital images…completely free of charge!

BluBox dramatically improves the digital photo sharing experience and ensures the protection of personal information at all times. BluBox allows the digital camera user to email and upload multiple, hi-resolution photographs and even entire photo albums without compromising picture quality.

BluBox uses the latest image compression techniques to reduce digital photographs and other image formats by up to 95% without resizing or sacrificing quality. At the touch of a button, files can be extracted back to their original format.

BluBox protects your photographs and other files using secure 256-bit AES encryption making it virtually impossible for anyone to access them without your express permission. Simply drag and drop your photos into BluBox and in seconds your data will be secure and protected.

Simply visit the following website to claim your free download version of BluBox.

Website: BluBox for Free!

Zipix Lite is a new iPhone app that allows consumers to instantly and automatically enhance their photos. Available exclusively from the iPhone Application Store, the new edition of Zipix Lite provides a variety of features that make it easy to improve photo quality on-the-go. Some of these include the automatic correction of over- or underexposure, contrast adjustments, cropping and comparison of the enhanced photo with the original so that you can decide which one you would like to keep. Zipix Lite is available free for a limited time only. The program can be found under the Photography category in the Free Applications section of the iPhone App Store. Zipix Lite is compatible with the original iPhone 3G and the new iPhone 3GS.

Topaz Labs have released Aperture-friendly Topaz Fusion Express for Mac, which allows Topaz Photoshop plug-ins to be imported into Aperture, allegedly providing Aperture users with the same image-editing capabilities and features that Photoshop users currently enjoy.“ Previously, Aperture users have not been able to use Topaz plug-ins, or have had to go through the process of exporting images into Photoshop to edit them, then import them back into Aperture,” says Eric Yang, Marketing Manager of Topaz Labs. “With Fusion Express, Aperture users can now run their Topaz plug-ins in Aperture without interrupting their workflow.”

Website: Topaz Labs

The Plugin Site (thepluginsite.com) has jsut released version 2 of Plugin Galaxy for MacOS X. Plugin Galaxy 2 is a plugin for creating special effects and enhancing images with the help of more than 160 basic effects. It works in various graphics applications including Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Fireworks, Photoline, GraphicConverter and Illustrator. It is now available as an universal binary that works natively on Intel-Macs. It offers all effects in a new resizable dialog and renders more than two times faster. The new Layers and Blend features lets you apply multiple effects to the image in one session and create sophisticated effect combinations that were not possible before. The new batch processing option applies the same effect to hundreds of images with a few clicks. Plugin Galaxy 2 sells at $69.95 (Regular License) or $39.95 (Academic/Educational License).

Website: Plugin Galaxy

PhotographyBB has released their latest Photoshop Action package, the Pro-Sharpening Action Pack - and if you buy it today, 10 July 2009, until midnight EST, you get 30% off with a special discount code. Pro-Sharpening Actions from PhotographyBB perform advanced sharpening enhancements to digital photos using complex built in functionality within Photoshop. Pro-Sharpening will work with Photoshop versions CS, CS2, CS3, and CS4 on both PC and Mac platforms. First day buyers enjoy a 30% discount on this action pack (and all existing action packs) by using the COUPON CODE: 30SHARP at the website below.

Website: PhotographyBB Actions

Pix Remix helps iPhone users combine pictures and captions into a short slideshow, animated collage, or Ken Burns-style narrative in 2 minutes or less. The creators of the application say, “There are plenty of apps for manipulating a single image or posting a bunch of photos. And you can spend hours in current programs making the perfect movie or multimedia extravaganza out of your photos. What Pix Remix does is help you quickly curate your photos and turn them into a multi-faceted show.” You can then share these creations between iPhones or via email, Twitter, or Facebook. The Pix Remix app is available at the website below.

Website: Pix Remix for iPhone

MyPhotoAlbum Inc. has announced a new way to save and share photos on the Internet. The MyPhotoAlbum App for Facebook is a seamless complement to Facebook, working with Facebook’s existing photo albums. MyPhotoAlbum allows users to save original full-size images and the ability to share photos with the huge Facebook network. The App copies photos directly to Facebook photo albums, not an obscure tab or a “new” type of album. Copied photos also appear in the “news feed,” and profile tab just as they would if the user uploaded to Facebook directly.

Mystical Tint Tone and Color 2.0 is a suite of 60 production oriented filters that enhance the look and feel of a photo. Mystical Tint Tone and Color 2.0 includes unique Portrait Filters that improve skin colour, eliminate wrinkles and skin blemishes, enhance eyes, lips and hair and reshape facial features to accentuate natural attributes. New lens filters simulate graduated filters and polarisers. Mystical Tint Tone and Color 2.0 is available for Mac OS and Windows from autofx.com. The downloadable version costs $249, while the complete retail version is $269.

Iridient Digital have released RAW Developer 1.8.4, which adds support for new digital cameras including the Olympus E-P1 and the Pentax K-7. Other newly supported models include the Canon EOS 500D, the Kodak Z980, the Nikon D5000, the Olympus E-450, the Sony A230, A330 and A380, the Panasonic GH1 and the Phase One 40+. Furthermore, the program can now handle DNG files generated by scanners. The new release also boasts a number of improvements over the previous version, plus a couple of bug fixes related to Hasselblad and Leaf images. Note that RAW Developer is a Mac only application.

Website: Iridient RAW Developer Release Notes

BenVista have announced the new version of their specialised digital image enlargement software: PhotoZoom Pro 3. Over the past ten years, the BenVista PhotoZoom series has competed at the highest level of image enlarging, thanks to its patentend S-Spline technology. With PhotoZoom Pro 3, BenVista introduces the latest generation of their technology, called S-Spline Max. Furthermore, multi-processor support is added to increase speed, and PhotoZoom Pro 3 can be used not only as a standalone application, but also as an Adobe Photoshop compatible Automation plug-in and Export plug-in. Designed for both Mac and Windows platforms, PhotoZoom Pro 3 is available as of today. Free demo versions of PhotoZoom Pro 3, for both Mac and Windows platforms, can be downloaded directly from the BenVista website.

Website: BenVista

LaserSoft Imaging has announced the new SilverFast 6.6.1, billed as “the first software in the world to perfectly capture raw data from photographs and slides”. To effectively, quickly and thoroughly protect valuable memories against decay and destruction, the Kiel-based software company has developed a format that contains not only all image information, but also the dust and scratch information derived from the scanner’s infrared channel (provided it has one): the 64-bit HDRi format. The new 64-bit HDRi format by LaserSoft Imaging registers all the information of the original in its entirety while simultaneously embedding all the correction information in the image file. Instead of directly guiding the scanner, SilverFast HDRi enables the user to read the raw data at maximum speed and process it as though he had direct access to scanner images, LaserSoft claims. Note that because the HDRi feature needs information from the infrared channel of the scanner, it is necessary to make sure that iSRD is available and supported for your scanner model.

Website: SilverFast

Brushed Pixel Software has released Catapult, a plugin for Apple’s Aperture photo management software that allows Aperture users to integrate Adobe Camera Raw or Nikon Capture into their RAW workflows. Catapult automates the process of exporting RAW files for editing and importing converted JPEG or TIFF files, while stacking the versions together to keep projects organised. To support non-destructive editing, when importing Catapult can archive the associated XMP sidecar file produced by Adobe Camera Raw, or a settings file exported from Nikon Capture. Catapult is now available for $49 CAD, and a trial version can be downloaded from Brushed Pixel’s website.

Website: Brushed Pixel

Picmeta Systems have released version 5.2 of their Picture Information Extractor, which includes numerous new features such as batch editing of IPTC metadata. The new PIE 5.2 is allegedly the smallest photo browser and viewer available that integrates an editor for IPTC data with batch editing capabilities. Editing of metadata now works with all RAW formats. Many formats allow EXIF and IPTC metadata to be written directly into the file, thus no external database or sidecar file is required. The EXIFcare technology ensures that all information contained in the file is maintained. A free evaluation version of PIE 5.2 can be downloaded from the Picmeta Website. The software runs on Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP and Vista. The full version costs US$ 35. Licensed users are entitled to lifetime free updates.

Website Picture Information Extractor

Bits&Coffee, the creators of batch image converter program BatchPhoto, have launched an online application designed to perform common image processing operations on pictures.  The tool is designed to be easy to use and easily accessible from any computer connected to the Internet. This is a free, no-frills service offered by Bits&Coffee as a complement to its commercial image converter program, BatchPhoto.

Website: online.batchphoto.com

VSO Software has released PhotoDVD 3, a major new version of its award-winning DVD slideshow software. With a new design, playlist management, menu and chapter creation PhotoDVD 3 offers features like a wizard-style interface to guide user through the steps of slideshow creation, photo enhancement tools, transitions, panning and zooming effects, three channels of text and music and a live preview to see the slideshow during creation. The software creates a DVD-like video of your pictures and music, with a menu complete with chapters, audio and subtitles selection. The complete version costs $25.99.

Website: VSO Software

Olympus has issued updates to its Olympus Master and Olympus Studio software packages. Versions 2.2 and 2.3 (respectively) bring about the following improvements: E-P1 raw support, art filter options for raw images, improved use of e-Portrait and Beauty Fix through possible function and level selection later on a computer, and a novel Video Editor.

Website: Olympus Software Downloads