LAS VEGAS--Adobe Systems has released the final version of Lightroom 2.3, its photo-editing and cataloging software, along with its close relative, the Camera Raw 5.3 plug-in to let Photoshop CS4 edit raw images from higher-end cameras.

The new software (available as a download for Windows and Mac OS X) supports Nikon's top-end D3X, an $8,000, 24.5-megapixel machine whose owners likely will usually prefer raw files for their flexibility and quality advantages over JPEG. Also supported is Olympus' new midrange E-30.

The Lightroom 2.3 update also fixed a number of bugs and adds support for … Read more

LAS VEGAS--A company called Geotate hopes to use an Internet service to lower a significant barrier to the technologically challenging practice of geotagging.

Geotagging, which uses a global positioning system to attach location data to photos to build in more descriptive data, is at present a difficult and largely manual process appealing mostly to serious photo enthusiasts. That's largely because it's too hard right now to build GPS directly into a camera for automated geotagging, so photographers must carry a separate GPS device and then marry the location data to the photos after the fact.

But Geotate, which … Read more

LAS VEGAS--In a departure from how it handled its Windows release, DxO Labs plans to begin a public beta testing for the Mac OS X version of its DxO Optics Pro software used to convert raw files from higher-end cameras.

DxO Labs released DxO Optics Pro version 5 for Windows last year, saying it hoped to release the Mac OS X version in November. However, the Mac version of the software now is scheduled for release on Feb. 22, said Luc Marin, DxO's director of marketing for photography, at the Photo Marketing Association trade show here.

The company hopes … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Nik Software on Wednesday announced a new variant of its photo-editing software that will run as a plug-in to Adobe Systems' Photoshop.

The company's Viveza plug-in brings the "U Point" editing method, already available in Nik's Capture NX software, to Photoshop. The software functions as a Photoshop smart filter, which means it can be applied nondestructively and updated later.

Viveza will ship in the first quarter for Windows and Mac OS X and cost about $250, Nik said at the Photo Marketing Association trade show here.

The U Point system is an attempt to … Read more