(Credit:
Alien Skin)
Whether it's rescuing a photo mucked up by a camera's image processing or boosting interest in an otherwise stale photo, Alien Skin's Snap Art 2 plug-in for Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements aims to let users quickly turn mouse clicks into brush strokes.
The software announced and made available Monday gives users 10 natural media, hundreds of styles (oil paint, watercolor, pencil , pastels, etc.), and several canvas textures. The example above was done using the Impasto selection, giving it the look of thick paint, which would be great for hiding photo flaws. There are more than 700 presets that can be tweaked, and this version allows for greater control over detail retention than the last did.
Plus, this update leverages computers with multicore processors as well as multiprocessor systems, cutting down on rendering times and making work on larger prints possible.
The plug-in is available now for $199 or a $99 upgrade for users of the first version. (The upgrade is free if you bought version 1 after the end of March 2009.)
Lastly, I'm in the process of writing reviews for the latest versions of Alien Skin's plug-ins, including Snap Art 2. Look for them soon here on Crave.
Corel's WinDVD 9 software handles Blu-ray, HD DVD, and standard DVD discs.
(Credit: Corel)The HD format war may be over, but don't tell Corel. The company's WinDVD 9 software plays both Blu-ray and the now-defunct HD DVD format--perfect for those few Windows PCs with HD combo drives, such as the HP Pavilion Slimline S3330f. The software supports the full range of features for both formats, including their next-gen audio soundtracks (Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD), Blu-ray Profile 1.1 (picture-in-picture commentaries), and--while it lasts--Web-enabled "In Movie Experience" features on HD DVDs.
WinDVD 9 is available Tuesday in three versions. The entry-level version ($50) handles standard DVD movies, along with QuickTime and DivX files. WinDVD 9 Plus ($80) adds better surround audio support and Corel's "All2HD" upscaling, which aims to sharpen detail on low-resolution video. It also includes the ability to play back AVCHD files--ideal for anybody with an HD camcorder. The $100 version of the software is the one you want for playing Blu-ray or HD DVD movies. Owners of WinDVD 6, 7, or 8 can upgrade to that flagship version of the software for just $60.
As discs slowly succumb to the portable drive, rippers and burners have been forced to diversify. Merely ripping and burning well will lead to crashing and burning badly: customers want to see something tech-relevant. Corel's DVD Copy 6 focuses heavily on file format conversion, and for $50 it offers a wide range of source and target compatibility including iPods and PSPs.
... Read more
Corel MediaOne Plus
(Credit: Corel Corporation)Today, multimedia software publisher Corel released Corel MediaOne Plus--a brand-new software program designed to let you organize, edit, share, and create projects with your digital photos and videos. The software provides users with an all-in-one solution for managing their digital photos, all the way from their cameras to finished projects like greeting cards or scrapbooks. It also lets users combine photos, videos, and music into what are called "shows," or video compilations.
The main MediaOnePlus interface consists of a large viewing and editing area on the right, with four-pronged navigation on the left: Home provides the organizational features; Enhance includes basic image editing and effects; Show lets you combine photos, videos, and music into your own remixed creations; and Create offers a variety of photo products like collages, albums, and magazine covers.
A photo-tray feature on the bottom of the interface lets you create on-the-fly media lists of photos and videos for easy access and editing. The trays are placed in a tabbed interface, and you can create as many sets of media as you'd like. You can also select multiple photos or videos from any photo tray and add them to a "storyboard," the playlist component that creates the Corel Shows. ... Read more
Update 9/6/07: Okay, I got the version names confused--two years ago the "X" in the product name meant "10," then was switched to mean "X." As a result, I miscalculated the product cycle. Corel actually shipped a new version last year. So please ignore my attempt at a clever lead-in.
It's been three years since Corel acquired Jasc Software, and about two years since its last major release of Paint Shop Pro; that's a couple of lifetimes in the consumer software market. Today Corel finally announced and shipped a new version, Paint Shop Pro Photo X2. It offers a handful of oddly random new features that I suspect won't wow the program's existing fan base, and that doesn't really provide a compelling alternative to competitors such as Adobe Photoshop Elements or even Corel's own PhotoImpact 12.
In addition to the new tools enumerated in the accompanying slideshow--Express Lab, a gray interface skin, HDR Photo Merge and Visible Watermarking--designed for photographers, Corel adds some work-flow tools targeted at the more business-oriented crowd. These include a Save for Office and Copy Special, which allows you to resize images at save and copy; Crop as New Image for dealing with batch scans; and dynamic language switching.
Features aside, however, I found PSPX2's interface annoyingly sluggish. File operations, such as loading and saving, were fine, but screen redraws for operations like effects previews aren't as snappy as I like. (Performance didn't make the list of enhancements for this version.)
Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 is available now for $99 (full version) or $59 (upgrade).
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