DPNow have reviewed the Kodak Image Enhancement Plugins for Adobe Photoshop, which cover noise reduction, airbrush effect, colour casts and exposure problems.

“One of the things I don’t like about these noise reduction programs is that unless you control things they have a tendency to make your images rather ‘plasticky’ looking, smoothing over texture and detail. The default setting on the Gem plug-in did just this. However, with a few minutes sorting out the controls it was relatively easy to ‘tone’ things down and the clarity sliders helped in this, sharpening things up somewhat.”

Website: DPNow - Kodak Image Enhancement Plugins Review

Adobe Digital Editions 1.0 is a new software program for managing and reading eBooks, digital newspapers, and other digital publications. Adobe Digital Editions already works seamlessly with more than 150,000 commercially published titles. Digital Editions is available now as a free download for Windows and Macintosh systems.

Image Trends PearlyWhites and ShineOff are digital teeth whitener and digital face powder software plugins for Adobe Photoshop. “Harsh direct flash lighting adds unwanted shine to the face and digital cameras tend to yellow teeth making them appear unnatural.  These new cosmetic plug-ins do such a flattering job of beautifying images, that their use becomes addictive.” said Dan Sullivan, president and CEO of Image Trends. Both new plug-ins will be priced at $49.95 U.S, currently available for Windows only.

AKVIS Noise Buster 4, a software plugin that reduce noise in digital images, has been released. New features in Noise Buster 4 include saving user settings as presets, plus compatibility with Windows Vista and Intel Macs. There’s a free 10 day trial, with the full version costing € 39.

CameraTown have just published a review of Snap Art by Alien Skin Software.

“Alien Skin Software’s Snap Art is a photoshop compatible plug-in that converts photographs to look like natural media artwork by mimicking the way a conventional artist works with paint and brushes. The software includes a variety of real-world art filter styles including oil paint, impasto, pastel, pencil sketch, pointillism, watercolor, pen and ink, stylize, color pencil, and comics. The results are probably one of the more realistic ways of converting a photo to hand-painted (or drawn) art - short of using a pressure sensitive tablet with a natural media program like PAINTER and having enough artistic ability to create your own masterpiece. But is Snap Art right for you? Read the review to find out more.”

Website: CameraTown - Snap Art Review

Bibble 4.9.8 adds support for the Canon 1D Mark III, Fujifilm S5 Pro, Nikon D40x, Olympus E-510, E-410, and SP500 UZ and Panasonic FZ8 cameras, plus tethered shooting support for newer Canon cameras and the Fuji S5. Bibble is available in both “Pro” ($129.95) and “Lite” ($69.95) versions for Windows, Macintosh (PPC/Intel as a Universal Binary) and Linux.

Extensis Portfolio Server 8.5 is a significant upgrade to its Portfolio Server digital asset management (DAM) product. Portfolio Server 8.5 includes new features to automate metadata-driven organization, tracking, and distribution of digital assets. Portfolio Project Sync provides a seamless interface with Adobe Creative Suite applications. “We know that creatives work most efficiently in a familiar environment like Adobe CS3. This release of Portfolio Server 8.5 allows creatives to remain in their preferred environment while allowing themselves and the rest of the organization to harness the power of the Portfolio Server database.” said Davin Kluttz, Extensis Product Manager.

The SAA PLUS Packs Calculator is a free open-source software tool from the Stock Artists Alliance. PLUS (the Picture Licensing Universal System) is a multi-industry coalition dedicated to making rights managed stock image licensing easier. “We hope that by SAA making this Calculator freely available, we can spur adoption, especially among smaller and specialist archives, portals and independent photographers who have so much to gain by making RM licensing a more attractive option to more customers.” commented Betsy Reid, SAA’s Executive Director.

Adobe have released Camera Raw 4.1 for both Windows and Mac platforms. Support for the following cameras has been added in this update:

Canon EOS-1D Mark III, Fuji FinePix S5 Pro, Nikon D40x, Olympus E-410, Olympus SP-550 UZ, Sigma SD14, Phase One H 20, Phase One H 25, Phase One P 20, Phase One P 21, Phase One P 25, Phase One P 30, Phase One P 45

Website: Adobe Camera Raw 4.1 (Windows)

Website: Adobe Camera Raw 4.1 (MAC)

LightZone 3.0 is a new version of the image analysis and editing software from Light Crafts. “LightZone 3.0, with its intelligent styles, gives photographers instant access to the most powerful photo editing capabilities available, at a price one third of its closest competitor.” said Georges van Hoegaerden, CEO of Light Crafts. LightZone 3 is available now for $249.95.

Epson Imaging WorkShop is a new workflow application software package for use with pigment ink printers handling A3 and A2 sizes. Imaging WorkShop is a software package designed to greatly enhance the efficiency of the printing workflow of advanced amateur and professional photographers. It supports RAW formats from various DSLR cameras and employs internal 16-bit image processing as well as nondestructive image processing. Imaging WorkShop will be available for purchase as downloadable software at the NewSoft website.

Fluid Mask 3 Beta has several new features, including enhanced blending power for hair and other problem objects and more intuitive workflow capabilities. Users can download a free 30 Day Trial of Fluid Mask 3 Beta. During the beta phase, Fluid Mask 3 will be available for $199 US.

Pentax have released a new version of Remote Assistant for the K10D digital camera. The Pentax Remote Assistant allows you to use your computer to control functions on the K10D camera, while it is connected via USB cable. Firmware version 1.20 or later must be installed on the K10D in order to use Pentax Remote Assistant 3.

Website: Pentax Remote Assistant 3 (Windows)

Website: Pentax Remote Assistant 3 (Mac)

Colour Confidence has just added PictoColor’s iCorrect EditLab ProApp 6 and iCorrect Portrait to its colour correction software range. “We feel the iCorrect range offers an excellent combination of ease of use and sophistication of features. With EditLab or Portrait, photographers can work quickly and efficiently without compromising the quality of their output - something which will appeal to users at all levels”. comments Geoffrey Clements, Managing Director of Colour Confidence. iCorrect EditLab ProApp 6 is priced at £85/€129 ex. VAT, and iCorrect Portrait at £65/€99 ex. VAT, both available now.

Nikon has released several new software updates on its European Support Centre website. An update is available for the wireless connection utility for the WT-2, adding support for Windows Vista and improves support on Intel Macs. Version 1.3.1 of Camera Control Pro is now available for Macintosh Computers only, improving the transferring of images into PictureProject which have been captured using this software. An update for the WT-3 setup utility is also available adding support for Windows Vista and improves support on Intel Macs.

To download the software updates please log in to the European Support Centre: http://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com

The latest version of the SilverFast scanning software can now calibrate a scanner in just 2 clicks. This is the only completely automatic IT8 calibration available. The IT8-Calibration function is available in all 6.5.0r6 (or later) SilverFast Studio versions. SilverFast Ai, HDR and DCPro can be optionally upgraded.

photoDUDS is a commercially-licensed series of DVDs containing products designed to “dress up” your portrait photos from photographer Beth Forester. These graphic elements include backgrounds, brushes, templates, overlays, and embellishments. PhotoDUDS DVDs cost from $125.

The Shozam Web gallery generator automatically creates full-featured Web galleries, allowing photographers to display and sell their work online. “I’ve created Shozam galleries with hundreds of images in under 10 minutes, start to finish. And the results are top notch. We recommend Shozam to our customers, and include it as part of our complete photographic and digital service offering.” said Brooks Clayton, President of Mid South Color, Jackson, TN. The Shozam Business Edition, available now, retails for $299.95, with a special introductory promotion of 35 percent off if purchased by June 8, 2007. The Shozam Lite Edition is free. A free trial version is also available.

REALVIZ Stitcher Unlimited 5.6 introduces Mac Universal compatibility to the photo stitching software, as well as HDR capabilities. Stitcher Unlimited 5.6 will be available as part of the REALVIZ HDR Imaging Studio (1,950 €/ $ 2,580 US), which combines Stitcher, VTour 1.2 HDR and Photomatix Pro. REALVIZ Stitcher Unlimited 5.6 costs 499 €/ $ 580 US.

DxO Optics Pro v4.2 now supports the Fujifilm FinePix S5 Pro, S3 Pro and Pentax K10D DSLR cameras. “With their addition to our library of correction modules, DxO Optics Pro remains an undisputed leader in automatic image enhancement for digital photographers,” says Luc Marin, vice president of the DxO Labs Photography Business unit. DxO Optics Pro software improves the image quality of DSLR cameras and advanced digicams.