Software News

At first glance you might think that Alien Skin’s Exposure 3 ($249 at www.alienskin.com/store or $99 upgrade from Exposure 1 or 2; a free trial is available on their website as well) is a push-button solution to image manipulation.

Anthropics Technology Ltd recently launched PortraitPro v15—a major release of its fast and easy-to-use pro portrait retouching software. PortraitPro 15 offers a wide variety of new features (many requested by photographers) including: realistic makeup controls, wide angle (selfie) lens distortion correction, enhanced Child mode, advanced skin coloring and tone correction, improved feature detection, and support for ultra-high resolution displays. PortraitPro 15’s technology allows for expanded creativity and retouching efficiency, while preserving natural-looking results and ease of use.

Aperture 3 is an amazingly powerful workflow aid for any photographer. An improved interface that promotes a “work the way you want” aesthetic makes it easy to learn and use.

PhotoStudio 6 is a feature-rich application in its own right; for instance, you can create layers for image editing, paint on the image with a variety of brushes, and apply artistic effects.

As more photos are made on more types of devices, there’s a need for resultant images that aren’t just “OK” but as good as they can be. And part of the need, it would seem, is that some folks don’t want to spend a lot of time learning complex programs to get the image results they want. Companies like Athentech Imaging aim to make it a one-click affair.

I first looked at Auto FX Software’s DreamSuite Series One in the January, 2006, issue of Shutterbug. Since then, Auto FX has gone on to create DreamSuite Series Two and DreamSuite Gel. Now, Auto FX has released upgraded versions of all of these filter sets, plus an additional 12 new filters in a collection it calls DreamSuite Ultimate.

Mystical Focus builds on the success of the Auto FX “Mystical” series of plug-ins, which includes Mystical Lighting and Mystical Tint, Tone, and Color.