Portraiture 2 is a new version of Imagenomic’s skin retouching plugin for Adobe Photoshop. “Portraiture 2 is the state-of-the-art software for digital skin retouching, and represents the next generation for workflow performance and finishing effects for the photographic, creative, and advertising communities,” said David McDonell, co-founder and CEO of Imagenomic. Portraiture 2 supports both Mac OSX and Windows XP/Vista operating systems and is fully compatible with Photoshop Elements 4/5/6/7, and Photoshop CS/CS2/CS3/CS4 (including both 32 and 64-bit versions), as well as Creative Suite Extended. New pricing of $199.95 for Portraiture 2 will go into effect on January 2nd 2009.

ProShow Producer 4 is a new version of Photodex’s photo and video slide show software for professionals. “Producer 4.0 has simple-to-use, one-click features, that allow users to achieve professional results in less time and with less work. Combined with an all-new interface the path to professional slide shows is much simpler and more powerful.” said Paul Schmidt, President and Founder of Photodex Corporation. ProShow Producer 4 features the new Slide Styles feature, pre-made effects that can be easily applied to any slide in a show, plus the ability to add Adjustment Layers. ProShow Producer 4 is available now for $249.95.

ContrastMaster, a plugin for effective contrast enhancement, is now available for MacOS X. ContrastMaster can also create dramatic contrast looks, photorealistic paintings and HDR-like effects and works with 8bit and 16bit RGB images. ContrastMaster sells at $69.95 (Regular License) or $39.95 (Academic/Educational License). A demo version can also be downloaded.

AKVIS Sketch 8.5 converts photos to pencil drawings and watercolor paintings. Version 8.5 offers a new tab Text, which allows adding a signature or a greeting to your drawing. AKVIS Sketch 8.5 is available as a stand-alone application, as well as a plugin to a photo editor. AKVIS Sketch 8.5 Home License costs $129 USD / 99 Euros.

Nikon have released a new version, 2.1.1, of Capture NX. Version 2.1.1 includes support for RAW images taken with the new D3X DSLR, and Mac OSX 10.5.5.

Website: Nikon Capture NX 2.1.1 (Windows)

Website: Nikon Capture NX 2.1.1 (Mac)

Nikon have released a new version, 2.4.0, of Camera Control Pro. This software allows photographers to control a camera remotely from a computer using either a wired or a wireless connection. Changes in this version:

- Support for the D3X has been added.
- Windows 2000 is no longer supported.
- In some rare cases, when images with file sizes of 14 MB or larger were transferred, the transferred images were corrupted.  This issue has been resolved.

Website: Nikon Camera Control Pro 2.4.0 (Windows)

Website: Nikon Camera Control Pro 2.4.0 (Mac)

ToonIt! from Digital Anarchy is a Photoshop plug-in that creates cartoon-like images from photographs. ToonIt! analyzes photographs and then creates flat regions of color and outlines that produce a cel-shaded cartoon look. Jim Tierney, CEO of Digital Anarchy, said, “ToonIt! has been incredibly popular for video applications. The photographers and print designers who’ve seen it have asked us repeatedly when it will be available for Photoshop. We’re excited to finally release the product for still images because there’s no better way of creating cartoon images.” Regularly priced at $159, ToonIt! Photo 2.0 will be available for $129 until December 31st 2008.

Fluid Mask 3 image extraction software has been reduced in price by almost 40% to $149.  “One of the most complicated techniques for photographers, whether professionals or hobbyists, is extracting images from their backgrounds. We are excited to be in a position to be able to offer this new pricing for Fluid Mask 3, which will make the software more accessible than ever to photographers of all experience levels.” said James Carr-Jones, president and CEO of Vertus. A fully functional free trial of Fluid Mask 3 is also available.

Photoforms is a new software program that creates true stereoscopic 3D images from a 2D picture. Photoforms works in conjunction with free stereoscopic 3D driver software that supports windowed 3D viewing. “Photoforms lets you transform any 2D picture into a true, stereoscopic image.  The process requires the artful eye of the user. Using simple built-in tools, you manipulate the image in a real-time 3D environment with the help of 2D image depth cues and easy mouse control.  The end result is a stereoscopic image that is as breathtaking as you want it to be” explained Hill Thompson, Photoforms’ author.

The latest version of SilverFast adds improved support for Canon scanners. Version 6.6.0r4 offers a significant quality boost while delivering much faster scans. SilverFast Multi-Exposure increases dynamic range of Canon scanners significantly, and this new release dramatically reduces the effective time for scans with dust and scratch removal function.

Adobe has announced plans to reduce its workforce by 600 full-time positions worldwide. The shortfall in fourth quarter revenue was mainly caused by weaker-than-expected sales of Creative Suite 4. “The global economic crisis significantly impacted our revenue during the fourth quarter,” said Shantanu Narayen, president and chief executive officer. “We have taken action to reduce our operating costs and fine-tune the focus of our resources on key strategic priorities.”

Jalbum Widgets are a free and simple way to display images on any web site. You can now incorporate face detection and tagging, build conversations around images, monitor popularity and enable any viewer to spread the word. “Our users trust Jalbum to continuously leap-frog static photo sharing tools,” said David Ekholm, Jalbum Founder and CTO. “The widgets we release today are a reflection of the Jalbum community’s desire to challenge the frontiers of digital image display.” Over four million downloads of Jalbum software have been recorded.

CorrectPhoto 3.2 is the latest version of PictoColor’s easy to use digital photo editor. Version 3.2 now features PictoColor’s proprietary AutoRez Crop to Fit technology, which retains the resolution of the original image after cropping. CorrectPhoto costs $39.95 as a software download. A free trial version of CorrectPhoto 3.2 is also available.

DxO Optics Pro 5.3.1 adds support for the new Canon EOS 50D and Nikon D90 DSLR cameras. In addition, a 33% discount is available on all DxO Optics Pro editions and upgrades until December 31st 2008, up to 90 € in savings. All customers who purchased DxO Optics Pro since August 1, 2007 are entitled to a free upgrade to version 5.

DxO FilmPack 2 adds new films, color filters and interface improvements. FilmPack simulates silver halide films, allowing you to recreate in one click the “magic” look of film on your digital images. Among the 27 new film profiles added to DxO FilmPack v2, 7 simulate Instant film profiles (Polaroid and Fuji) and 3 Infrared film profiles (Kodak and Rollei). DxO are also offering an introductory discount of 47 € (instead of 79 €), representing a 32 € discount, valid until December 31st 2008.

Geotate has upgraded its GPS Web-Service for adding location tags to digital images. “This upgrade of our Internet-based web-service coincides with the first Geotate technology-enabled products using our technology, being used by photographers.  It represents another step in our ability to engineer innovative technology into market leading products,” said CTO Chris Marshall. Geotate’s software is used in JOBO’s photoGPS, amongst other products, and it allows you to record and discover the location where you took your pictures and videos.

The RAW converter software Silkypix Developer Studio now supports the Sony A900, Pentax K-m / K2000, Casio EX-FH20, Panasonic DMC-G1 and Canon PowerShot G10 cameras. Version 3.0.26.1 is available as a free upgrade for registered users. Silkypix Developer Studio 3.0 costs $149.00 and a free trial version is available.

Website: Silkypix Developer Studio 3.0.26.1

Corel is giving away a free Gorillapod camera tripod worth nearly £20 with Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate. This offer runs until 31st January 2009, and included countries are the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands. Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate costs £79 / €89.

GPhotospace is a free photo-sharing Firefox extension for Mac and PC that offers upload speeds up to 5x faster than Flickr. GPhotospace uses Gmail for storage, providing up to 8GB of storage for your photos which you can then share with friends, family, or whoever you choose. “This is really the best of both worlds for those wanting quick private sharing,” says GPhotospace CTO John Harley. “For Gmail users, the familiar interface will have them sharing photo albums in seconds.”

Blubox has been selected by Tesco Photo to power Tesco Picture Viewer. Blubox optimises images for more efficient storage and high speed sharing online. Tesco Picture Viewer is distributed free with every photo-CD dispatched. “We are very pleased to be working with the premier retail partner whose ethos is to provide its customers with the highest standard of service possible” says Peter Boswell, CEO at Blubox Software. “From February 2009, Blubox will contribute to the overall customer experience when they develop film and digital photographs with Tesco”