Digital photography

Yahoo has changed its Flickr Pro premium service into a subscription plan, a modest but reasonable change that I hope presages bigger adjustments to compete better against new photo-sharing rivals.

Flickr, a fixture in online photography, has lost luster as alternatives such as Facebook, Google+, Instagram, and 500px have advanced the state of the art and attracted millions of users. Flickr is shucking old baggage as part of a promise of new vitality in 2012, though. And although the new Flickr Pro pricing scheme is hardly a dramatic new course, at least it shows somebody's at the tiller.

With … Read more

Watch out, Facebook, because Google+ just got the feature that will wipe you off the social-network map.

I'm talking about a LOLcat text generator.

"Today we're rolling out a feature that makes it easier to add big, bold text on top of your photos," programmer Colin McMillen said in a Google+ post today. "To try it out, drop a photo into the sharebox on Google+, then click the "Add text" button underneath the photo. Type in something funny, then share and enjoy."

OK, so maybe it won't dent Facebook's dominance, … Read more

Editing photos to get the most out of them can be brutal if you don't have the right tools. Depending on what you want to do, those tools can be quite pricey.

There are cheaper alternatives, as we have covered in the past, but Analog still left a lot to be desired in way of additional options and flexibility. Thankfully Snapseed, a popular iOS photo-editing app, is now available on OS X and it isn't terribly expensive.

To edit a photo, you can either drag and drop one onto the apps icon in your dock, or you can … Read more

Creating collages with your images is easier than ever on your iPhone, and--with the right app--you can make great looking projects in minutes and share them immediately.

Are you old enough to remember making collages with a glue stick and poster board? These days anyone can create a collage (without all the mess) using digital photos and any photo layout program on a desktop computer. But some recent apps for iPhone make it even easier with intuitive touch-screen controls and other extras that put the old glue-stick-and-photo method to shame.… Read more

No longer is video such a second-class citizen with Adobe Systems' release of the first beta version of Photoshop Lightroom 4.

Today's Lightroom 3 understands videos in the same way a typical baseball fan understands cricket: poorly. Lightroom 4 advances several steps with video, but stops well short of taking over as a full-fledged video editor.

The new beta, downloadable from Adobe Labs, also has a host of other features, according to Tom Hogarty, principal program manager for the software:

• New editing controls to better balance changes to highlights and shadows. • The ability to geotag photos by using a … Read more

If you are running Adobe CS5 or CS5.5 and have updated to OS X Lion, you may encounter an error with the Adobe Extensions Manager utility in which you cannot install any new extensions.

This issue was found in early December by a number of Adobe CS5 users who had upgraded to OS X Lion, and after investigating the issue, Adobe issued a patch to the software that should allow the Extensions Manager to work properly again. The update has been available in Adobe's Update Manager, so if you regularly update your Adobe software, then you should be … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Windows multimedia mainstay Corel today introduces AfterShot Pro, a powerful photography workflow program tailor-made for professionals and high-level enthusiasts.

Positioned as a competitor to the popular Adobe Photoshop Lightroom program and the less popular ACDSee Pro, AfterShot Pro offers a full raw workflow and nondestructive editing environment based on the core technology of Bibble Labs, Corel's latest acquisition.

One unique aspect of AfterShot is its flexible asset management. While many other programs ask you to import files in order to open them up, AfterShot Pro lets you view, edit, and process images without having to worry about cataloging. … Read more

There are a ton of image-editing apps that add effects to your images, but what about video?

Anyone who uses an iPhone 4 or 4S knows the smartphone takes great-looking video, but your options are limited with the Apple app when it comes to adding effects. Don't underestimate the value of adding effects, either: a good effect can turn a mundane subject into a great video.

This week's collection of iOS apps is all about adding effects to your videos. The first two have social components that let you share your completed videos and follow other users. The last is more specifically for adding effects, but is lacking when it comes to social components (and that may be exactly what you're after).… Read more

Were you lucky enough to receive a new Mac laptop or desktop this holiday season?

Once you've booted up that shiny new Mac for the first time and have had a chance to look around, check out our Best apps for Mac to get the lowdown on great apps you can download. We feature both free and paid software in our collection and there's something from just about every category.

Whether you want a different browser than Safari, want to discover and listen to new music, or just need a multiservice chat client, this collection has got you … Read more