News

Following recent news of Ilford Photo/Harman technology's formation of a subsidiary
company in the USA to handle technical support across North America, the company
has now issued details of a global technical services network.



Heading up Worldwide Technical Services is USA-based Rod Parsons who has been
responsible for technical support in North America for the past 18 years. Parsons
was previously manager of Worldwide Technical and Equipment Services for the previous
Ilford Imaging Group, and technical services manager for black-and-white paper
at the company's manufacturing plant in Mobberley, UK. Given which, he brings
a wide range of knowledge and experience to the position.



In addition, Parsons is chairman of the Board of Advisors to the Image Permanence
Institute based at the Rochester Institute of Technology, and a member of several
international standards committees on image permanence. His activities and contacts
in this area will be invaluable in his new role due to image permanence being
a major attribute of silver gelatin prints and representing an important aspect
of Harman technology's inkjet products development.



The Worldwide Technical Services team includes Terry Bevens, a long-term employee
of Ilford Canada with 28 years' technical service experience dealing directly
with customers across the entire spectrum of Ilford Photo products. Bevens will
continue to handle customer issues as part of the Harman technology company in
Canada while extending his activities to support the US and UK markets.



Full details of Ilford Photo products can be found at www.Ilfordphoto.com
while information on Harman technology is accessed at www.Harmantechnology.com
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Image Trends has announced the Fisheye-Hemi Plug-In. This Adobe Photoshop Plug-in
compatible filter renders an aesthetically pleasing and natural view of people.
Human faces and bodies are natural and undistorted, even on the edges. Fisheye-Hemi
corrects the extreme distortion of people, which is common with rectilinear methods.
Fisheye-Hemi preserves more of the original resolution, displays the intended
composition and framing as seen in the viewfinder, and straightens vertical lines.

Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced its call for entries
to the seventh annual Adobe Design Achievement Awards (ADAA). The program honors
and recognizes the most talented and promising student designers, photographers,
illustrators, animators and digital filmmakers from the world's top design,
film, interactive and Web higher education programs. This year, the competition
will accept entries from 30 participating countries.



Now in its seventh year, this world leading design competition has been expanded
to include more students from across the globe by adding Croatia, Czech Republic,
Hungary, India, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and Turkey. These students are invited
to join students from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway,
Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and the
United States in submitting projects. The nine submission categories include:
animation, digital illustration, digital photography, interactive and Web design,
live action, motion graphics, environmental graphics and packaging, multiple page
print design, and single page print design.



The designers of the 2007 ADAA marketing campaign were a collaboration of winners
and finalists from the 2006 competition. A team of seven submitted the unique
concept "Going Places," which reflects their personal experiences
of the ADAA program. The "Going Places" design will appear on all
ADAA collateral, including competition posters, postcards, and advertisements.



Also new this year, Adobe will be accepting submissions online through April 27,
2007. Entries will be judged digitally in May and semifinalists will be asked
to mail in their entries for the final phase of judging. Students must submit
projects based on the use of Adobe design environments, such as Adobe Creative
Suite, Adobe Production Studio, and Macromedia Studio. Projects are reviewed and
scored by an independent panel of six distinguished judges, including Carole Guevin,
publisher of Netdiver.com; Jan Wilker, co-founder of karlssonwilker inc.; Armin
Vit, founder of UnderConsideration; Sande Scoredos, executive director of Sony
Pictures Imageworks; Andrew Lin, vice president at Paramount Vantage; and Gaby
Brink, co-founder of Templin Brink Design.



Judges will select the winners and finalists, based on originality and effectiveness
in communicating project objectives. Finalists will receive a trip to San Francisco
to participate in the awards ceremony, and an opportunity to showcase their work.
Finalists will also receive a selection of Adobe software products, meet with
leading industry professionals during studio tours, and have the opportunity to
participate in internships such as the 2007 SIGGRAPH Guerilla Studios. Award winners
will be announced at the awards ceremony on August 2, 2007 at the DeYoung Museum
in San Francisco. Each winning entry will receive a US$5,000 cash prize.



Corporate sponsors of this year's competition include Xerox Corporation
for print communications and Toppan Printing Co., America Inc. for printing services.




For additional information about the 2007 Adobe Design Achievement Awards or to
submit an entry, visit www.adobe.com/go/adaa.

Microtek has announced that it is developing the ArtixScan M1, a combined flatbed
and film scanner for 35mm, 6cm, and 4x5-inch film formats that also offers additional
functionality to scan reflective art or prints as large as 8.5 by 14 inches.
Equipped with Microtek's patented Emulsion Direct Imaging Technology (E.D.I.T.),
4800-dpi optical resolution, 16-bit digital output per channel, auto focus,
and new film holders with tension technology, the Microtek ArtixScan M1 is said
to offer extraordinary value to photographers, photo enthusiasts, and graphic
designers in need of high-quality scans.

...

First announced earlier this year, ILFORD HARMAN selenium toner will be available
this November 2006 availability, along with a new leaflet 'Selenium Toner Tips'
in English, French, German or Spanish.

...

Nikon has unveiled its new D40, the latest addition to its line of digital
SLR cameras. Designed to bring the picture performance, excitement and experience
of Nikon's digital SLR cameras to more customers than ever before, the
D40 is an ultra-compact, lightweight 6.1-effective megapixel D-SLR that offers
simplified new features, exceptional speed and a redesigned, visually-intuitive
menu system. The D40 also incorporates handling and performance advantages that
eliminate the frustrations often associated with compact digital cameras, making
it ideal for anyone who wants to capture spectacular digital pictures without
complication.

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Ulead Systems, Inc., a subsidiary of InterVideo Inc. (NASDAQ: IVII), has announced
the release of Ulead PhotoImpact 12, Ulead's flagship image-editing software.
The latest version adds innovative features that allow beginners to immediately
enjoy success in editing their digital photos and sharing images in creative projects.



ExpressFix mode and the SmartGuide task-oriented help system are two high-visibility
enhancements designed to help introduce users to digital photography.



ExpressFix mode is a simplified interface providing commonly-used photo features
as guided and fully automatic tools. Featuring a large preview screen with before
and after views, users can adjust color, exposure and focus using intelligent
one-click presets. Noise reduction and PhotoImpact's unique SmartCurves
tone adjustment are available as fully-automated one-step processes. For photo
portraits, users can remove red-eye effects and enhance the complexion of subjects
with a Beautify Skin option. ExpressFix mode also provides direct links to PhotoImpact
12's enhanced White Balance correction feature as well as options to rotate,
print, and e-mail photos.
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