Software Reviews

I’ve been using PortraitPro since the first edition and now the company behind this popular retouching software, Anthropics Technology, has released Version 12, which includes a variety of updates, both major and minor. PortraitPro 12 can operate as a stand-alone and a Photoshop/Lightroom/Aperture plug-in. To get started in PortraitPro 12 (PP12), you open an image with one or several people in it and the software automatically analyzes and outlines each face. The software then magically goes about retouching the faces one at a time.

The multi-device image management service known as Mylio made quite a splash when it launched at the PhotoPlus Expo show last fall. Spearheaded by former Microsoft Chief Technical Officer David Vaskevitch, Mylio stands for “My Life Is Organized,” which is a cute way of saying that most of our lives are really a complete digital mess. Even non-photographers like, for instance, my mom, capture way too many photos on cameras and smartphones and iPads, which they have no idea what do with or how to find.

Adobe announced Photoshop Elements 13 and Premiere Elements 13. Both have cool new features. If you’re a user of version 12, should you upgrade? The answer is: it all depends. Here’s the advice I give my friends.

If you’re looking for a way to power up Photoshop, you might want to consider Perfect Photo Suite 9, a plug-ins package unveiled today by onOne Software. We reviewed Perfect Photo Suite 8.5, last month and liked this photo editing and effects app quite a bit. Version 9 of the Suite, which will be available in late October 2014, adds a number of new features and upgrades including faster Raw image previews, re-editable image files, and improved selection tools.

Whether you need to add special effects and edges, perfect a portrait, enlarge a small file for a big print, erase an unsightly sign, pump up detail, add lens blur, or simply make basic color and tonal corrections quickly, Perfect Photo Suite 8 (PPS8) from onOne Software has an incredible number of tricks up its sleeve. What’s more, it works as a stand-alone with layers and masks if you seek these more advanced options. With eight modules and hundreds of one-click presets, the tools in PPS8 for automated and manual enhancements help you to correct, stylize, and retouch images in a layered workflow.

DxO Optics Pro is a Raw converter that keeps pace with the ever-growing, ever-changing world of digital photography. The newest version—DxO Optics Pro 9 (for Mac or Windows)—focuses on one of digital imaging’s most troubling artifacts: digital noise. Whether you’re shooting at high ISOs or bringing out blocked shadow detail in a seriously underexposed image or an HDR photo, digital noise (luminance and chrominance) can rear its ugly head. And now we can finally deliver a knockout punch to this culprit. But before you get in the ring, there are a few things you should know.

It all began back in 1990 with a shareware program called Paint Shop. Debuting the same year as Adobe PhotoShop 1.0, comparison to that legendary product has been inescapable. Paint Shop, known as PaintShop Pro X6 Ultimate in its current incarnation, has always been associated with three characteristics: extreme affordability, sufficient power for most photo enthusiasts, and Windows-only compatibility. PaintShop Pro has continued to evolve and improve, and today offers many significant enhancements, including the ability to run smoothly on Macs using a Windows emulation program.