Don’t Write Scanners Off Just Yet
By: Editor
August 01, 2007
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Dina Goldwasser, Product Communications Manager, Scanners, Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group, wrote an article on scanning and (Kodak --her observations apply to all scanning applications and devices) the use of scanners in the 21st century.
When the so-called ‘digital revolution’ started 20 years ago, it was fashionable to view its progress in terms of waves (some readers may recall the Third and Fourth Waves). Succeeding waves swept away technologies and solutions which had outlived their usefulness; initially analog equipment such as repro cameras and ‘wet proofing’ systems, and then even such digital solutions as dedicated typesetting systems and electronic page composition (EPC) systems.
A current misconception is that scanners have shared a similar fate. However, while all-digital workflows, and especially the adoption of digital cameras, have certainly impacted on scanner installations in the graphic arts, a look outside the sector reveals a very different picture. Elsewhere installations are buoyant, driven by factors ranging from the need to digitize millions of ‘legacy analog images’ to the continued preference of a significant number of professional photographers for medium- and large-format, non-digital cameras. As a result, the number of worldwide installations of professional colour scanners is still growing.
Using the ColorEyes Gelcard to Neutralise a Camera
By: Erik Vlietinck
July 29, 2007
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Gelcards are Integrated Color’s grey balancing tools. They’re sturdy cards in two sizes, one to take with you, the other for studio work or wherever there’s more room to put them. They are made of what looks like a sturdy plastic and they carry a large neutral grey patch, three warmer and three colder grey tones.
ExpoDisc 95mm Available
By: Erik Vlietinck
July 25, 2007
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ExpoImaging, the makers of the ExpoDisc and the ExpoAperture depth of field guide, have just recently released their newest ExpoDisc, an ExpoDisc for lenses of 95mm. The new ExpoDisc has a spring-mechanism that will hold the disc onto the lens while creating the custom white balance.
Like all ExpoDiscs, the new 95mm comes with a pouch, a chord to hang it around your neck, and a calibration certificate card. ExpoDiscs are 18% grey for best custom white balance setting. The new 95mm will suit Hasselblad and other medium-format camera lenses.
Report Analyses 4 Camera RAW Conversion Applications
By: Erik Vlietinck
July 21, 2007
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IT Enquirer has just released the results of an in-depth report comparing some of the most important functionality in 4 Camera RAW applications --Apple Aperture, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, Phase One’s Capture One Pro, and DxO Labs DxO Optics Pro-- focusing in particular on productivity, efficiency, and image quality. The 24-page report focuses on a RAW workflow and measures the time taken for identical tasks to be performed in each application, and makes an assessment of the qualitative differences between the 4 applications.
The report is available as a free PDF download to Subscribers. Registration is free. If you are a member already, please log in to download your report.
In desktop publishing as well as web and other publishing environments, images play a crucial role. And most images are not drawn or painted, but they are photographed. Photograph or image management software therefore is at the core of any publishing workflow, be it DTP or other. Prior to Apple’s release of Aperture 1.0, dedicated photo management applications were rare. Instead, photographers relied on Digital Asset Management software which not only handles photographs, but also any other digital content file format. Or they used applications such as Capture One, which is strong at RAW conversion and tethered image recording.
The Right Tool for Masking Difficult Images: Fluid Mask 3
By: Erik Vlietinck
July 15, 2007
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Creating cut-outs for magazines or for the web is not an easy thing to do when the object you’re trying to cut out has hair or has details that interfere with a background (tree branches, for example). There are a number of cut-out help tools out there, that all make life a little easier, but if you want to get on with your life and not spend a whole afternoon making that mask perfect, you should give Fluid Mask 3 a try.
Fluid Mask 3 Released
By: Erik Vlietinck
July 12, 2007
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Vertus, the graphics and imaging software division of Heligon, a technology business specializing in image data interpretation, today announced the official launch of its much-anticipated Fluid Mask 3 masking software. Previously available only as a public BETA in Windows, the new version of Vertus’ award-winning image editing software is the professionals’ choice for rapid, powerful and intuitive masking and high-quality image blending.
Addressing the pressing challenge of quickly and easily separating problem images, such as human hair and tree leaves, Fluid Mask 3 leverages a more effective edge detection system, along with the improved “Smart Blending” capability unique to the software. Fluid Mask 3 presents a slider which enables the user to seamlessly switch between “Smart Blending” and standard feather blending. Next, within focused areas, the user may invoke complex edge and special hair blending algorithms, which, for the first time, automatically cut out tricky edges and difficult hair such as highlights and hair with wide color differences (e.g. black hair next to white hair against a grey background).
Printing Photos The Right Way
By: Erik Vlietinck
July 10, 2007
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Ever wondered how much ink a regular printer driver of a photo or large format inkjet printer throws on the page? With the environment increasingly being a crucial factor in our decision-making, you should. Given a photo inkjet with the four colours Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (light hues included), the answer to that question is: as much as the paper will absorb.
DxO Now Supporting Fujifilm FinePix S5 Pro and FinePix S3 Pro as well as the Pentax K10D
By: Erik Vlietinck
May 23, 2007
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DxO Labs announces today that the award-winning DxO Optics Pro v4.2 software now supports the Fujifilm FinePix S5 Pro and FinePix S3 Pro as well as the Pentax K10D Digital Single-Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras. Support for these three new cameras and their associated lens correction modules are available in the DxO Optics Pro v4.2 Standard and Elite editions. Upgrades to this latest version of the software, including support for this new set of digital cameras, is free for all DxO Optics Pro v4.x users (Standard and Elite editions).
DxO’s image scientists paid particular attention during the development of the new software to the processing of RAW files produced by the Fujifilm Super CCD sensor technology featured in both the FinePix S5 Pro and the FinePix S3 Pro digital cameras. DxO’s proprietary demosaicing algorithms were fine-tuned to maximize image detail while avoiding unwanted artifacts when processing files from these Fujifilm DSLRs.
Thanks to advanced features such as DxO Lighting (exposure optimization) and Automatic Highlight Recovery, DxO Optics Pro is able to fully utilize and optimize the dynamic range captured by the Fujifilm Super CCD sensor technology. DxO Optics Pro intelligently blends images from both layers of the sensor to produce optimal results.
DxO Partners With OnOne Software
By: Erik Vlietinck
May 16, 2007
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DxO FilmPack, a software application that automatically gives digital images the style of the most celebrated conventional films – the colors and the grain of over 20 film types, and onOne Software’s new Plug-In Suite 3 for Photoshop that combines full versions of four essential software tools – Genuine Fractals 5, PhotoFrame Pro 3.1, Mask Pro 4.1 and Intellihance Pro 4.2, are now available together for a limited time at a significant savings exclusively from the online store of onOne Software (http://www.ononesoftware.com).
“Bundling DxO FilmPack with onOne Software’s Plug-In Suite 3 provides photographers with a wonderful combination of both aesthetic and technical tools for their demanding digital imaging needs,” says Luc Marin, vice president of the Photography Business at DxO Labs.
Calibrating a Camera with DxO Optics Pro 4.x
By: Erik Vlietinck
May 06, 2007
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Calibrating or rather, profiling, a camera for colour management is quite difficult to do with Adobe Camera RAW. Let’s just say you need a script that performs some complicated tricks and you need to shoot a GretagMacbeth or other colour chart. It can be a lot more simple, though. DxO Optics Pro has a nifty “Export for ICC Profile” feature.
That feature, which you access from the File menu, has two settings: Linear RAW or DxO Realistic. The first is meant to give you a TIFF file that has an accurate, as raw as possible ICC profile for your camera, while the second gives you a TIFF that has been processed with the DxO Realistic Colour Rendition Profile (that means with the greatest possible color fidelity to the source) . Both TIFF files serve as the basis for your profile, which you’ll create in ProfileMaker Pro or some other colour profiling application.
SanDisk Extreme IV, Currently The Fastest CompactFlash Cards For Power Cameras
By: Erik Vlietinck
May 02, 2007
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When SanDisk released the Extreme III cards, they were touted to be the fastest around, with additionally the sturdiness and flexibility regarding usage (temperature, etc) that professional photographers need. Today, SanDisk has the Extreme IV card rated at 40 MB/sec throughput. Competitor Lexar has the UDMA CompactFlash, rated at 45 MB/sec, while Sony is entering this arena with 20 MB/sec rated CompactFlash cards.
Capture One Pro, More Than Just RAW Conversion
By: Erik Vlietinck
May 01, 2007
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Phase One develops camera backs and a RAW conversion tool, called Capture One Pro. Capture One Pro is especially suitable for converting RAW files directly from a Phase One camera back, but it also works well with other supported RAW formats such as those from Canon, Nikon, etc. And Capture One adds a bit of functionality not found in other RAW converters.
I tested Capture One Pro with the Sony Alpha 100. The RAW files were recognised without any problem. A hot folder in your Pictures folder can serve as a centralised hub for processing RAW files with Capture One Pro. Just drag the RAW files from the flash card to the folder and when you start Capture One Pro, you’ll be able to process those files which will be waiting in the Captures folder in the application. Because of the folder structure and the possibility to rate photos in order to archive your images, it is tempting to compare Capture One Pro to Adobe Lightroom or Apple Aperture, but that would be a mistake: Capture One Pro is not an asset catalogue first and for all --it’s a workflow tool.
