News, Reviews, Contests & Tutorials

6/30/2006 "Shootout final Part 3: Iview Media Pro 3 vs. Extensis Portfolio 8" by Veit Irtenkauf

The leading professional photo organizers today are Extensis Portfolio 8 and Iview Media Pro 3 (bought by Microsoft). Veit compares these two software packages.

6/29/2006 Mac OS X 10.4.7 released, fixes Photoshop 9.0.1 printing issue (Source PhotoshopNews)

We are on the road right now but will check it once we are back.

6/28/2006 Microsoft acquires iView (Source Rob Galbraith)

This is a week of acquisitions.

6/27/2006 Adobe acquired the technology assets of Pixmantec

From the press release: "...By combining Pixmantec's raw processing technology and expertise with our own, we're continuing to deliver on the promise that even your existing raw files can be processed with increasing quality as our software technology evolves...In preparation for this integration, the Pixmantec RawShooter Premium product is being discontinued, though the free RawShooter Essentials product will continue to be available until the Lightroom public beta program is completed...".

6/26/2006 Nikon Capture NX: Nik Software U Point Technology

Nikon Capture NX is one of the first raw converters that features selective tone and color corrections. This is implemented by using the entirely new Nik Software U Point technology. We had a first look at this new approach to selective image corrections. Note: Nikon Capture NX is not only of interest for Nikon shooters.

6/24/2006 "The next generation of inkjet papers" (source booksmartstudio.com)

Review of Hahnemuhle Pearl, Innova F-Type Gloss& Museo Silver Rag by Eric T. Kunsman. This is a solid review. We can say so because we have used all three papers on quite a few prints. As Eric mentions this is just the beginning and we will see more exciting papers soon (actually we have some new samples already :-) ). But there is not need to wait. Find out your favorite paper and print (hard to get them though right now). The existence of these new papers also makes printing with Epson printers more fun as it reduces the need to switch the black inks.

6/23/2006 Bibble Labs Releases 4.8 version

Bibble 4.8 features Advanced Lens Correction and B&W / Spot Color Plugin.

6/23/2006 Portfolio Invitation #016: Trees #2 (submissions open till 7/15/2006 8am PST)

6/22/2006 Canon PROGRAPH iPF5000 review by Michael Reichmann (Source Luminous Landscape)

This is a first review of this interesting printer. We hope to review a unit in July.

6/22/2006 Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 Hands-on Preview (Source DPReview)

6/21/2006 Visualize OBAs with the BabelColor White Target

6/21/2006 Workflow essay #100: Dodge & Burn Fine-tuning using LightZone

We are proud to present the #100 essay in our main Workflow series. We recommend that you (re)visit the many other articles in this core series.

6/19/2006 From our news group: Print bug in PS 9.01 with Tiger

We could confirm the bug on our machine. There is fortunately also a workaround available (published by Ian Lyons). Note: We reverted to Photoshop 9.0.

6/18/2006 Fotoespresso #2 in 2006

This new issues features:

• Pantone/Gretagmacbeth Huey monitor profiling
• Photoshop Color Management settings
• Softproofing and gamut warning
• Softproofing for B&W
• Installing and uninstalling profiles

6/16/2006 "The Challenge Of Digital Black And White: Part 3: Dodge, Burn and Sharpening" by George Barr

6/14/2006 Lightroom Public Beta 3.0 for Mac Now Available

As far as we know the Windows version will be available later this summer. Because we are currently on a photo trip we cannot check the new version before the following weekend. Stay tuned.

6/13/2006 "Shootout Part 2: Iview Media Pro 3 vs. Extensis Portfolio 8" by Veit Irtenkauf

The leading professional photo organizers today are Extensis Portfolio 8 and Iview Media Pro 3. Veit compares these two software packages.

6/11/2006 Leica M lenses coding for digital (source DPReview)

The planned Leica Digital M could become one of the most exciting cameras in 2006. We hope Leica ships soon after Photokina 2006.

6/10/2006 Portfolio Invitation #015: Urban Abstracts B&W #1 (Submissions open till 6/15/2006 8am PST)

6/9/2006 Photomatix Pro 2.2 for Mac OS X released

Some of the updates mentioned are not yet available on the Windows platform. FYI: you can still buy Photomatix as a discount clicking on the button in the top banner strip.

6/9/2006 B&W Workflow with Adobe Lightroom

We present a way to use Adobe Lightroom for a "pure" B&W workflow.

6/8/2006 "Use a flatbed scanner as a camera" by Vincent de Groot

6/7/2006 A Note on OBA (Optical Brightening Agents)

Inks (mainl pigmented inks) and papers have reached a longevity rating that is going beyond 100 years. One of the more critical factors is clearly the use of OBAs.

6/6/2006 Sony Alpha DSLR-A100, hands-on preview (source DPReview)

6/6/2006 "Editing Your Image: Note on ACR vs. RAW Developer added" by George Barr

George added a note about his personal view on RAW Developer vs. ACR.

6/6/2006 Gallery "California Dunes" updated

We present now 28 portfolio photos in this gallery.

6/6/2006 Kingston announced new 8 GB Elite Pro CF card

6/5/2006 Sony Alpha 100 unofficial specs (source LetsGoDigital)

At 10.2 MP clearly a camera to watch. Features we look to check out:

• Anti-dust protection system
• Anti Shake sensor (which proved to work in the Minolta cameras)
• Zeiss lenses
• Dynamic Range Optimizer (??)
• Estinated price $1000

Be aware that these are all unoffcial specs!

6/5/2006 "Shootout Part 1: Iview Media Pro 3 vs. Extensis Portfolio 8" by Veit Irtenkau

The leading professional photo organizers today are Extensis Portfolio 8 and Iview Media Pro 3. Veit compares these two software packages.

6/5/2006 New series: "Organizing Photos"

We opened up a new series about photo organization and added links to all our relevant articles. All future articles on this topic will be found there.

6/2/2006 D2Xs replaces D2X as Nikon's flagship digital SLR (Source Rob Galbraith)

6/1/2006 "The Challenge Of Digital Black And White: Part 2: Editing Your Image" by George Barr

6/1/2006 Portfolio Invitation #014: Beach #1 (poll closed and final results shown)