Category: Digital Tools

The Macintosh ColorSync Utility

November 20, 2011

I try to have no operating system bias. I teach all the time on both Windows and Mac and have several of both for use in training. While I use a Mac at my desk, my wife uses Windows, and my children use either depending which is free to use, or what they are sitting [...]

Cool fx and Photo fx

November 19, 2011

I wrote about the convergence of mediums early. Convergence has affected both hardware and software, and digital photographers now have a tremendous number of options. Mid-range cameras, traditionally designed for the amateur, now capture not only professional-quality photos but shoot video as well. There’s a flip side to that story too. The lower-end point-and-shoot camera [...]

Xara Xtreme

November 18, 2011

So, you’d like an image editor that you can use to manipulate both web-resolution and print-resolution photos, to work with vector shapes and text, to create and manipulate 3D type, and to create web pages with Flash animations—and you want all that for under $100. Well, the answer to your wishes might be Xara Xtreme, [...]

Knoll Light Factory

November 17, 2011

When I teach Photoshop, I only discuss the features that are installed with the software. But when I use Photoshop to work on my own photography, I get to play with some interesting third-party tools that act as digital filters within Photoshop. I’m especially a great fan of filters that enhance photographs or help accomplish [...]

VueScan

November 15, 2011

Like so many others with older scanners, my slide scanner was orphaned when the company that made it went out of business. I liked the scanner and it did a great job, but the software only worked on an old operating system. I actually have an old computer kicking around for such uses, but scanning [...]

ZIP Compression

November 14, 2011

Let’s begin with a bit of software that, if you own a fairly recent computer, you have built in to your operating system, whether you use Windows or Mac. Windows users may be more familiar with ZIP compression because the capability to compress files in ZIP format has been around for a long time. Mac [...]