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Softwaretion device was prohibitive. These days
it’s more expensive notto calibrate,
since these tools quickly pay for them-
selves in saved paper and ink. The
major brands work pretty much the
same way: a device, connected to your
computer, suction-cups itself to a CRT
monitor or dangles before an LCD,
while you run software that creates an
ICC color profile for your screen.
We tested Pantone ColorVision’s
SpyderPRO and got a good result—
perfect for the desktop printer who
wants a marked improvement in color
matching. The SpyderPROoffers more
flexibility with more sophisticated
software than the lower-cost Spyder,
but uses the same basic device.
And, for the more dedicated user,
there are two good options:
X-Rite’s MonacoOPTIX and Gretag
Macbeth’s Eye-One Display.
●SPYDER & SPYDERPRO:
$140 & $230; www.color-
vision.com, 800-554-8688
●OPTIX: $270; www.mona-
cosys.com, 800-248-9748
●EYE-ONE: $250;
www.i1color.com, 845-565-7660
$169 (PHOTOSHOP
UPGRADE ALONE)
$1,229 (FULL PREMIUM
CREATIVE SUITE)
www.adobe.com
800-833-6687
Photoshop’s super-
sophisticated system of
layers, masks, and
blending modes makes
it possible to do subtle
(yet monumental) cor-
rections and detailed composite work
that’s impossible (or at least way too
tricky) to do in almost any other pro-
gram. Add to the mix features that are
nonexistent in most other editors: total
color management (so you can work in
all those color spaces your DSLR
shoots in), near-full functionality with 16-
bit images (so you don’t waste the infor-
mation your film scanner provides), sup-
port for the RAW file formats of the
major camera manufacturers….We
could go on. But the fact is this: Adobe
Extensis Portfolio 7$99.95 to upgrade$199.95 for full version
www.extensis.com 800-796-9798If you’re using Photoshop to edit your
images, you won’t need an organizer
padded with features for fixing them.
Instead you’ll need one that’s dedi-
cated to cataloging. Extensis Portfolio
7 is an excellent solution. Create
catalogs and search by your own
keywords or organize it all using EXIF
data. The program can even be
trained to classify your pictures. Link
a folder with a set of keywords and
each picture you add to the folder will
be tagged accordingly. Portfolio does
most of the complicat-
ed work for you, free-
ing you up to do more
shooting and less
searching. REVIEWE D
OCTOBER 2004
SOFTWARE: ANYTHING IS POSS IBLE✚If you’ve made a commitment to shooting with a digital SLR or if you
scan your film and print from your desktop, without Adobe Photoshop CS,
you probably aren’t using your technology to the fullest. It is, as everyone
who uses the program’s name as a verb knows, the mother of all image-
editing programs. With the host of other software to complement it, you can
do almost anything. Of course, Photoshop’s the most expensive. Is it worth
it? Absolutely. But with this caveat: if you don’t want to learn to make it sing,
save your Benjamins.
PLUG-INS
nik Color EfexPro 2.0 $100, Standard edition$100, Dfine
www.nikmulti-media.com 888-289-4085MysticalLighting $180 streetwww.autofx.com800-839-2008GenuineFractals Pro$50,LE edition$300, Print Pro
www.lizardtech.com 206-652-5211pxl SmartScale$200 streetwww.extensis.com800-796-9798Plug-ins are add-ons to
image editors. They do
not, for the most part, exist to do
things that image editors can’t, but
instead to do specific things better
and faster than image-editors need to.
Whatever you want to do, if you’re
using Photoshop, there’s probably a
solution you could hammer out, but if
that takes a lot of time and know-how,
and you’re short on both, try a plug-in.
So, say, if you’ve been trying to
figure out how to mix channels to
convert color to black-and-white (a
process that can be both tedious and
boring), nik’s Color Efex Pro filter set
including the black-and-white con-
verter could be the answer. Or if you
need to make poster-sized images,
you might try a superscaler like
Genuine Fractals Pro or Extensis’
SmartScale. If you shoot a lot in low
light, a noise-reducer like nik’s Dfine
could be just the thing. Maybe you
often have to simulate lighting effects
or alter the mood of an image; Auto
FX’s Mystical Lighting could come to
the rescue. These are just a few that
are out there. Because if you can
imagine it, chances are there’s a plug-
in that can do it.
Photoshop has been and remains
the image-editing standard. It is the
finest precision tool for the photog-
rapher who is ready to take full
control and produce the best images
possible. REVIEWED MARCH 2004
Adobe
Photoshop CS
$
▲
REALLY INTO IT!
GEAR GUIDE 2005
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