Software News

The following is something people tell me when I suggest using a plug-in or specialized software for enhancing or retouching portraits: “But you can do that in Photoshop!” That’s because when it comes to software for wedding, portrait, and boudoir photographs, everyone has an opinion—sometimes a strong one—even if they’re wrong.

Capture One Pro is a top-echelon Raw image processor and editor, courtesy of the people behind Phase One cameras and backs. For this software review, I tried Capture One Pro, which is now on Version 11, on images shot with various cameras, ranging from Nikon to Canon to Phase One.

A couple months ago we reported that DXO Labs had acquired the very popular Nik Collection of imaging-editing software from Google. That news was greeting enthusiastically by users of the popular Nik plugins for Photoshop and Lightroom, because Google had earlier said they no longer planned to support or update the seven-plugin package.

I have been using Epson’s Advanced B&W Photo printing mode for many years in a series of the company’s desktop printers but always wished the print software offered a way to see my image adjustments in real time. So, when Epson announced their new Print Layout software, which offers a “live preview” (among other controls) in Advanced B&W Photo mode, I contacted them to give it a whirl. 

Back in June, photographers were dismayed to learn that Google was no longer planning to support or update their popular Nik Collection of free image-editing software. This morning, however, DXO Labs announced they have acquired the widely used suite of Photoshop and Lightroom plugins, with an update to be forthcoming in mid-2018.

Adobe is hoping you’ll take the latest version of its popular Lightroom photography software everywhere. Called, simply, Lightroom CC, the new cloud-based app is designed to let you edit and organize full resolution versions of your images from your mobile phone to your iPad, laptop and desktop computers. (And, if you’re like most photographers these days, you probably have all those devices.)

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.