sharpener

Simple sharpener

Full-featured photo-editing suites like Photoshop are all the rage, but they can be cumbersome to launch and use when you just need to make one quick correction. Fortunately, there are plenty of lightweight programs that devote themselves to one photo editing duty, making it easy to get your most common editing tasks taken care of quickly. Moo0 ImageSharpener is one such program; it does exactly what its name implies, and not much more.

Like most Moo0 programs, ImageSharpener has a basic, easy-to-navigate interface. There's a drop-down menu that lets users select whether they want to sharpen or blur their … Read more

Look sharp with the Chef's Choice knife sharpener

An electric knife sharpener is a nice tool to have when you're at home in the kitchen, but what do you do when you're camping out? Try the Chef's Choice Pronto Manual Diamond Hone Sharpener 464. It's a two-stage manual knife sharpener that applies a razor-sharp edge to straight and serrated knives in just seconds.

Its compact size makes the Pronto an ideal choice for backpackers. And don't think you have to sacrifice quality when you're in the wilderness. The Pronto uses Criss-Cross technology, 100 percent diamond abrasives, and precise bevel angle control to … Read more

Hone your knives at home

A dull knife can be frustrating, especially when you only have a few minutes to sharpen it. The AccuSharp 001 Knife Sharpener is able to sharpen your knives quickly and easily--you can make sure your knife is sharp enough to make dinner even if you only have a minute. The sharpener uses diamond-honed tungsten carbide to put a fresh edge on your blades, inside a safety hand grip that will keep your fingers safe during the sharpening process.

The AccuSharp 001 Knife Sharpener works equally well with a wide variety of blades, sharpening both straight and serrated blades easily. It … Read more

DxO revamps photo editing tools for Vista

LAS VEGAS--DxO has updated two photography programs, releasing DxO Optics Pro 4.2 with Windows Vista support and adding new options to its FilmPack 1.1.

DxO Optics Pro is a stand-alone application or Adobe Photoshop plug-in that lets users adjust color, correct lens geometry problems, reduce noise. The new version 4.2 is compatible with Windows Vista and adds a feature called SmartVibrancy that increases color vividness without throwing skin tones out of whack. The company announced the moves at the Photo Marketing Association trade show here on Thursday.

The company also is working on a DxO plug-in to … Read more

A tool for sharp art

A Manhattan artist friend recently asked me if I knew of any "cool portable electric pencil sharpener gadgets." Someone actually has use for an electric pencil sharpener? Isn't that like using an electric can opener, when the hand crank is faster?

Actually, no. While in the zone, artists don't want to have to stop to sharpen pencils, I was informed. That would make them lose their groove. They just want a quick dunk to sharpen up so that they can go right on back to sketching.

This one may work for you, my friend. The iSharpener, … Read more