image editing

Adobe Photoshop CS6 only strengthens the benchmark software's existing position as the unrivaled production suite and an indispensable tool for old and new generation creative minds: graphic designers, web developers, video editors, you name it.

Let's start with the interface: dark is good. Photoshop CS6 brings a darker, more focused default work environment, with menus and toolbars painted in dark grays and blacks. Of course, if you're itching for a brighter look, CS6 gives users lighter-colored interfaces, reminiscent of previous versions. Tools are more streamlined thanks to Adobe's continuing move towards collapsible menus, while leaving the … Read more

Adobe Systems has released Lightroom 4.4 with support for two mainstream SLRs, Nikon's new D7100 and Canon's Rebel SL1, and with better image quality for a Fujifilm cameras with unusual sensors.

Lightroom is designed for editing and cataloging photos, especially those shot in cameras' proprietary raw image formats that offer higher quality but impose an image-processing burden on photographers. Adobe periodically updates the software to support new cameras -- and in the case of version 4.4 to fix problems with existing cameras such as the Fujifilm models.

Fujifilm's X-Trans and EXR sensors each vary from … Read more

Photo enthusiasts already pleased with the iPhone's generally superior camera can be forgiven for getting excited about the possibility of shooting photos in the higher-end raw file format.

Cypress Innovations on Wednesday released a new app called Digital Negative that might raise that very hope by offering a way to take photos that are stored in Adobe Systems' DNG format for raw photos. Alas, although the app does store uncompressed image data, it doesn't actually store the raw data taken straight from the sensor.

The Digital Negative app collects the uncompressed red, green, and blue color information for … Read more

It's taken the company a lot longer than I'd expected, but Adobe has finally rolled out a version of its tablet-based Photoshop Touch for even smaller screens, Photoshop Touch for phone.

The most surprising aspect is that it's a feature-identical version of the tablet software; I'm not sure we need such a complete editor on anything even as big as a Galaxy S3. But if you have a yen to composite up to 16 layers (or 3 layers at the maximum file size of 12 megapixels), you'll be able to do so on any Android (… Read more

Google, which controls both ends of the Internet connection for a significant fraction of online activity, has a lot of power over the Internet. A little image-format tweak to one of its Web sites shows just how much.

Few others have expressed much enthusiasm for its WebP image format, an offshoot of the WebM project to promote a royalty-free video codec. Google asserts that its smaller file sizes would unburden networks and help Web pages load faster, but as Mozilla likes to point out when grappling with such matters, adding a new format to the Web means adding a requirement … Read more

With the release of its raw compatibility update 4.04, Apple software now can handle raw-format photos from two hot new cameras, the Nikon D5200 SLR and the high-end compact Sony RX1.

The D5200 is a relatively inexpensive SLR whose 24-megapixel sensor looks to have promisingly high performance -- the top rating for an APS-C-sized sensor, according to DxO Labs' DxOMark test results. The $2,800 RX1 has an even larger full-frame sensor, also with a 24-megapixel resolution, but its design uses a fixed 35mm lens.

Also supported in the Apple update is support for raw photos from Pentax's … Read more

Need a way to organize your photo library? Even better, do you need tools for tweaking your photos, tools that go beyond what the typical entry-level image editor (I'm looking at you, Picasa) has to offer?

Through tomorrow, our very own CNET is offering Cyberlink PhotoDirector 3 (Windows) absolutely free. It normally sells for $149.95.

That's a mighty big freebie, so you're no doubt wondering what the catch is. No catch! You'll need to supply your e-mail address so you can receive your license key, and then you'll need to enter that license key … Read more

No doubt you heard earlier this week that Adobe is giving away Creative Suite 2, an older version of its popular (and pricey) image-editing and design bundle.

Then it turned out that, no, the software wasn't free; Adobe's Don Isaacs wrote that the company was merely "terminating the activation servers for CS2," and that the download page was only for those who already owned licenses for the product.

Ah, but it was too late: the story had gone viral (big time), and it appears Adobe has decided not to try stuffing the genie back into the … Read more

Adobe Systems released Lightroom 4.3 today, adding support for MacBook Pros' high-resolution Retina displays and for raw images from 20 new cameras.

The list of supported cameras includes three higher-end compact PowerShot models from Canon, the small S110, the more flexible G15, and the ultrazoom SX50 HS; the new Nikon 1 V2 compact interchangeable-lens model and lower-priced full-frame Nikon D600 SLR; and competing models from Olympus, Panasonic, Sony, and Pentax. However, the D600 support is only preliminary, according to a blog post by Sharad Mangalick.

The Retina support, available only in Lightroom's library and develop modules, means that … Read more