Imaging Software - Stills

Dynamic Photo HDR

From the developers web site 11-Feb-2012

What's New in DPHDR 5
    Guide how to run v.5 on MAC
    Pseudo part from DPHDR is now on iPad and iPhone
    New Fusion process for realistic looking photography
    HDR Fusion combines fusion and HDR tonemapping
    Improved anti-ghosting (Fusion, HDR Fusion)
    Automatic Anti-Ghosting (Fusion, HDR Fusion)
    Improved Aligning
    Experimental Video Mode - add Tonemapped look to your videos

From the developers 19-Jul-2009 -

Dynamic Photo HDR 4 is now faster with real-time feedback and has even more of everything: adjustments, manipulation and effects.

• Easy to understand software with super fast preview
• Powerful Auto-Aligning, Manual or Auto-Assist Aligning of images with an innovative Pin Warping that can correct all types of misalignment, including camera roll, pitch or yaw
• Anti-ghosting mask that can completely eliminate ghosting of moving objects
• Various tone mapping procedures that can create a whole range of images - from smooth photographic tone mapping to very dramatic images
• Load and save HDR files
• Works with most RAW camera formats
• Support for 360 Panoramic images
• Batch Processing to add images to queue and then process them all at once
• Live HDR preview during various steps, you can see tonemapped image preview even before you create HDR!
• Real-Time Preview - as you move the sliders you see the changes in real-time.
• Paint the tone-mapping strength where you want it with a brush
• Version 4 has all the image adjustments you will need: White Balance, Levels, Gamma, Hue, Chromatic Aberration, Barrel and Pincushion correction, Perspective correction and more.
• Dynamic Photo HDR has already few very interesting build-in filters for Orton Effect or to create eye-catching B/W photos.
• You can use Pseudo-HDR process on a single 8-bit source
• Our new real-time Light Tuner will let you change the Tone-Mapped effect and see the feedback result immediately as you move the Light Orb, without any calculation
   

Topaz Adjust

From the developers web site 11-Feb-2012

The new Topaz Adjust 5 features productivity-increasing tools which allow you to be more effective, while streamlining your workflow. With the new local adjustment brush you can selectively enhance, taper or remove adjustments from any part of your image. You also have the ability to reduce the overall strength of your adjustments and stack effects - for a more comprehensive workflow.

NEW Adjust 5 Highlights
    107 new presets for an even faster and more creative workflow.
    Edge-aware selective brush used to dodge, burn, smooth and brush out effects.
    Ability to stack presets and effects via the new "Apply" button.
    Transparency Slider which controls overall strength of applied effects.
    Preset Collections which organizes default presets; includes a user collection.
    Integration of the new histogram and curve tools.
    Finishing Touches Tab with tools for diffusion, grain, borders, vignettes, tone adjustments and more.

From the developers 12-Mar-2009 -

Topaz Adjust v3 for Windows released as a free upgrade for existing Topaz Adjust owners. Topaz Adjust v3.0 has just been released for Windows and is a significant free upgrade to the popular Photoshop creative exposure plug-in Topaz Adjust.

We focused this release to address some of the key issues taken from the feedback of our user community:

• Usability: we developed a complete new user's interface, which includes a customizable color scheme, shortcut keys, adjustable preset preview, and convenient settings snapshots
• Image processing: We added a new details processing mode which gives you more control over the final output by providing the option to separate exposure and details enhancement. This can greatly reduce noise amplification in certain images and provides more flexibility.
• Performance. Topaz Adjust v3 now uses less RAM and runs faster. You may now process larger images without difficulty.

Topaz Adjust v3 uses a different license key than v2 which will be provided to existing customers for free through email. To download the upgrade and obtain your license key, please visit: www.topazlabs.com/updates/topazadjust.html Note - the current version of Topaz Adjust is 3.2, released on 2 April 2009 for Windows and 14 April 2009 for Mac.

From the developers 4-Nov-2008 -

Topaz Adjust V2.5 our popular creative exposure Photoshop plug-in, has just been released for both Windows and Intel-based Mac. All our Topaz Adjust customers are entitled to upgrade to this new version free of charge.

Even since Topaz Adjust's initial release, we have received a tremendously enthusiastic reaction and amazing feedback from all of you. Only with your help could we improve this product at such a fast pace. With this release we addressed more major requests from users like you:

• Included the newest "Topaz DeNoise" technology to remove noise while maintaining details. It is especially useful when creating highly detailed images since noise also tends to be amplified in this case.
• Improved adaptive exposure algorithm for more range of creative adjustment.
• Included full support for Photoshop CS4 64-bit processing (64-bit Windows only) that will help when processing extremely large photographs.
• Added "smart filter" functionality to support non-destructive editing.
• Three new presets and better preset sharing. Each preset is now saved as a single file, which you can easily email and share with friends.
• Improved usability and stability. For example, Topaz Adjust will now remember its size and location for the next time you call the filter. You can also now directly type in parameters instead of just dragging the sliders.
• The Windows installer now automatically installs for Photoshop 7/CS/CS2/CS3/CS4 and Photoshop Elements 1 to 7. The Mac installer now automatically installs for Photoshop CS3, CS4, Elements 6 and Elements 7.
• Fixed some bugs and stability issues.

To upgrade to this new release, please click: www.topazlabs.com/updates/topazadjust.html

If you have not gotten a chance to learn about the Topaz Adjust Photoshop plug-in, one quick and easy way to see what it can accomplish is to browse the Topaz Adjust flickr group created by a customer. Some of the pictures there are simply astounding! Or visit the Topaz Adjust product page
 

Photomatix Pro

From the developers web site 11-Feb-2012

Photomatix Pro 4.1 Standalone program for HDR image creation and processing:
› Merge to HDR and Tone Mapping
› Exposure Fusion
› Automatic alignment of hand-held photos
› Selective Deghosting tool
› Options for reduction of noise and chromatic aberrations
› Automation with powerful Batch Processing
› Lightroom plugin

From the developers 13-Jul-2009 -

Summary of main updates in Photomatix Pro Version v3.2

• Multi-threading support for Tone Compressor and parts of Details Enhancer
• Details Enhancer settings improvements: New mode offering finer control for Smoothing setting (i.e. the setting that controls "natural" vs "artificial" look) and improved effect of Highlights Smoothness (i.e. the setting that preserves "clean" skies)
• Ability to tag saved images with keyword
• Built-in presets for Details Enhancer
• More robust alignment for "by matching features" method.
• Batch processing advanced options: automatic detection of bracketed photos and ability to process a sub-set of each bracketed set.

From the developers 4-Dec-2008 -

If you have ever photographed a high contrast scene, you know that even the best exposure will typically have blown out highlights and flat shadows. Photomatix offers two ways to solve this problem:

• Exposure Blending: Merge differently exposed photographs into one image with increased dynamic range
• Tone Mapping: Reveal highlight and shadow details in an HDR image created from multiple exposures. The tone mapped image is ready for printing while showing the complete dynamic range captured.

Photomatix Pro is a stand-alone program that runs on Mac OS X and Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/Vista. One Tone Mapping method is also available as a plugin of Photoshop CS2/CS3/CS4.

Topaz Simplify

From the developers web site 11-Feb-2012

Simplify 3 Highlights
    Advanced size-based technology allows you to suppress / eliminate select details.
    Color management for color removal and color enhancement.
    Generate or reduce lines, edges and shading.
    Edge detection for control over edge reduction and enhancement.
    Separate control over image base and image edges for complete creative control.

From the developers 13-Dec-2008 -

Artistic simplification Photoshop filter Topaz Simplify is now available for Intel Mac and Windows.
Topaz Simplify is finally officially released and available for download for both Mac and Windows! For those who have been waiting, all the details are here: www.topazlabs.com/topazsimplify

If you haven't heard of Topaz Simplify yet, it's a creative photo simplification tool that transforms ordinary photos into the extraordinary.

From the developers 4-Dec-2008 -

Topaz Simplify employs some recent advances in morphological and scale-space processing to create interesting and sometimes surprising effects. It has always our belief that technologies should serve your creative purpose, not the other way around, so your early participation is critical to the usefulness of this tool. With your help we hope we can put this promising technology to use in a way that will maximize your creativity.