Software News

Many photographers use visible watermarks on the images they post online or license through stock photo agencies as a means of protecting their copyrights and preventing the unauthorized use of their work. Yet in a newly released blog post, researchers at Google say that automated algorithms can erase this protection and provide unfettered access to watermarked images.

This morning Adobe announced an update to their popular Lightroom Mobile app that lets your smartphone do things previously possible only with a true digital camera. Key to the update is a new HDR Raw capture mode enabling mobile photographers to achieve dynamic range on their mobile device rivaling that of a DSLR or mirrorless camera.

I’ve worked with all the popular film emulators and black-and-white conversion plug-ins, looking for the one that met my workflow and esthetic requirements. After countless hours, I’m still not fully convinced of their efficacy as such. Still, they are fun to use and do fill a niche. So far, I’ve found Alien Skin’s Exposure X2 does the most convincing job so that I feel comfortable enough within my own alien skin—see what I did there?—that I’ll continue to use it, so to speak.

Some trends just won’t go away: Billboard magazine notes that U.S. vinyl album sales are up 53 percent, generating $416 million in sales. Stereophile, our sister publication, reviews new analog audio equipment and you can purchase new Nikon F6 or Leica M-A film cameras from Shutterbug advertisers. Ferrania is back making film and the Japan Camera Hunter website is making their own film, a discontinued Agfa emulsion they’re calling JCH StreetPan 400. Amazon’s top-selling photo item is Fuji’s Instax Mini Instant Film. There’s even a new twin-lens instant camera, Mint’s InstantFlex TL70, and yes, I gotta get me one of those.

Back in 1987, the Knoll brothers created a program they called “Display” that was intended for creating special effects in films. A year later they renamed the product “Photoshop,” and after showing it to Adobe the iconic brand was born.

We all like free stuff, right? Well, all it takes is a quick click of your mouse to download Auto FX Free and get 10 full-version Photoshop plug-is at no cost. The free collection works with Mac and Windows and includes two effects each from five popular Auto FX software suites.