Software News

Boris FX Optics 2021 is a gourmet buffet of creative effects Photoshop plug-ins that span the entire spectrum from caviar to corndogs, from ketchup meatloaf to filet mignon with shaved truffles. In other words, these dynamic, fast-operating filters do the normal mundane operations like color correction—and also do highly imaginative manipulations that will dazzle you. There are 160 plug-in filters and each has dozens of presets—and more importantly, each preset has dozens of adjustable parameters. Additionally, Boris FX Optics 2021 can be used as a standalone special effects editor. All at an amazing price, too.

With products like the recently announced Connect Station CS100 network storage device, Canon has been trying to show photographers it does more than just make cameras, lenses, and printers. Now the company has added another imaging wrinkle to its product portfolio: Canon-produced photo albums.

Capture One Pro stands as the Raw converter and digital asset manager of choice among many pro photographers, notably those using Phase One backs. But this software also supports many, many other cameras, with profiles for over 250 models plus a wide range of lenses. Version 7 (V7) has some new features of note, so I checked it out to see if an upgrade from 6 is advisable, and if it might tempt users of Adobe Lightroom/ACR. For this test I ran Capture One Pro 7 on a 27” iMac under OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, with 8GB of RAM.

The number one multi-platform photo workflow software, AfterShot Pro 2 provides you with the ultimate in creative freedom with powerful RAW conversion, photo editing and adjustment, and photo management features. Use AfterShot Pro 2 on the platform of your choice – Windows, Mac and Linux. Load, edit and adjust thousands of RAW photos, faster than ever. Refine an unlimited number of photos while preserving the originals with non-destructive photo adjustment. Finish projects and create stunning output with this total workflow photo software.

Corel recently introduced the new Painter 2016, the latest version of their pro digital paint program. While Corel's Painter software is often used by fine artists and commercial designers, more and more photographers have been using the software to add artistic effects to their images.

For years, anyone serious about photography has viewed Corel Paint Shop Pro (PSP) as the low cost alternative to Adobe Photoshop. Originally developed by a tiny company in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Paint Shop has grown up into a full-featured photo workflow tool with a built-in photo organizer that includes tagging options and fast previewing, an advanced image editor, and handy integration with Flickr and Facebook.

For $70, PaintShop Photo Pro X3 Ultimate is a smart addition to a virtual photo toolbox. A few performance problems and some slightly questionable editing capabilities puts PSP in the uncomfortable position of still being in the tall shadow of Adobe. That said, if you want to skip the $700 purchase price, PSP is on the right track.