I know I don't usually post about Photography, mostly just on video things, but I am also a photographer and I use Lightroom. So Usman Dawood has an awesome article exploring the differences of Canon Raw Files in Lightroom and Capture One.
So I opened Adobe's updates today and low and behold, they have updated a great swatch of apps, but even worse they have updated the icons so that applications in the same category are the same color. Sure it means you can tell this years apps from earlier versions, but now it is easier to confuse different apps for each other as all the video apps are now the same damn color, WTF! And this will get even worse when they release next years versions with the same damn app icon (why can't they put some versioning in the icon?).These are the swath of Adobe Apps I keep in my Dock, and without dragging over them with a cursor it is a pain in the ass to tell them apart (and yes I need the different versions as some companies I work with run older versions because of stability issues).Hell even the beta icons are changing already, though at least they will let me keep breaking up the appsI guess at least this year for individual apps it will be easier, but what about when the previous 2 versions have the same damn icon, and they are all the same color?For a company that makes applications for designers they sure have a shitty sense of design!
The Loop has the story.Since iPhoto is being replaced with Photos in Yosemite, they are killing Aperture. Looks like Adobe Lightroom (always the better program) is the only solution, but it loses the great integration that iPhoto had with Aperture.Seems pros have less to trust in Apple. Is Logic next to go? Will Apple kill FCP X after that? I wouldn't mind that, but for a company that has killed so many great Pro Apps, they are making less trust for Pro users. They already killed Shake and Final Cut Pro 7. What is next?I love Apple computers and OS X, but I don't trust them. The new MacPro is powerful, but not expandable enough. Are they pushing pros to Windows? Or do they want us to make Hackintoshes?
Maximum PC takes a look at the newly released Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 Beta. And goes through new features, like the improved healing brush, the upright tool, the radial gradient tool, and a few others.I will download if and when I have some time (could be unlikely with a 12 hour a day job coming up soon) as I find Lightroom the best tool to deal with Camera RAW (and yes I have tried Aperature and other than it's interoperability with iPhoto it is just not as good).
Photoshop Support has the news on the newly announced Perfect Photo Suite 7.5, which will be free to current users, $199.95 for the Premium Edition and $99.95 for the Lightroom and Aperature Edition.I see this as a must have plug in for all photographers and photoshop users. They give upgrades for large updates and the program is always reasonably priced!
onOne software has announced it's new Perfect Photo Suite 7. A revamp of their already awesome photoshop and lightroom plug-ins, with new versions of Perfect B&W, Perfect Protrait 2, Perfect Layers 3, Perfect Effects 4 and Perfect Resize 7.5 Pro and older version of Perfect Mask 5 and Focal Point 2. This is an awesome company too. They gave all their 64 bit upgrades free for their users, so that has created some serious loyalty at least with me. It ships in Late October.You can read all about it at their web site.
Yes, Perfect Layers 2 is now free.Create and edit multi-layered files without PhotoshopCombine images directly from Adobe Lightroom or Apple Aperture into a new layered fileCreate layer masks and build compositesAdd Color Fill Layers for photographic effects
Adobe has upgraded Lightroom to version 4.0 and dropped the price to $149 for the full software or $79 for an upgrade. Of course this will also now be part of the Adobe Creative Cloud released later this year, so many might be waiting for that to come out even though from the beta it is a vast improvement over the previous version. This is worth the upgrade for the superior image technology alone which we saw a beta of recently that blows the old versions out of the water.New Features Include:Highlight and shadow recoveryBring out all the important detail that your camera can capture. New technology brings in more image detail from dark shadows and bright highlights than ever before. Now you've got more power to create great images in challenging lighting conditions.Photo book creationCreate beautiful photo books from your images with a variety of easy-to-use templates included in Lightroom. Upload your book for printing with just a few clicks. Receive 20% off from Blurb on your first book created using Lightroom 4 software.*Location-based organizationFind and group images by location, easily assign locations to images, or plot a photo journey. Automatically display location data from GPS-enabled cameras and camera phones.White balance brushGet more consistent color across your image in scenes with mixed lighting sources. A flexible brush lets you refine and adjust white balance in targeted areas of your shot.Additional editing brushesExpand your creative control by targeting particular areas of your images using new local editing brushes for noise reduction and moiré removal.Extended video supportOrganize, view, and make adjustments to video clips. Play and trim clips, extract still images from them, or adjust clips with the Quick Develop tool.Video publishingEasily share video clips in HD format on Facebook and Flickr. Or save HD clips formatted for phones, tablets, TV, and more.1Soft-proofingSave time and ink and ensure your prints meet your expectations. Soft-proofing lets you preview how an image will look when printed with color-managed printers.Enhanced online sharing integrationEasily post images to social media and photo sharing sites like Facebook and Flickr®. With selected sites, online comments about your images are visible within Lightroom.1Emailing within LightroomEmail images directly from Lightroom using the email account of your choice.Import of other librariesBring the power and elegance of Lightroom to all your images, new and old. Easily import photos from other applications.