AI makes latest PortraitPro deal worth having

We’ve been testing, reviewing and occasionally using this software for years now – occasionally because portraits are not mainstream for your editor, most faces are in editorial contexts where no modification is acceptable (even when it’s just a royal jumper). But for those who must keep family or paying clients happy, in this era of completely modified selfies and altered perceptions of what a portrait should be, the latest AI version has real value.

You can get maximum download discount of 50% plus an extra 10% by using Cameracraft‘s code CCV245

If badly out of focus faces within a group can be recovered, reflections removed from glasses, and smiles improved without the £10k my dentist suggests is necessary to replace teeth you can’t even see… take a look at this full info. – David Kilpatrick

  • Key New Features
  • Mouth Inpainting & Teeth Replacer
  • Glasses Reflection Remover
  • Face Recovery
  • Skin and Hair masks
  • Improved workflow
  • New gender and age detector

This is Face Recovery, though the lass has become a bit long in the tooth – the AI teeth are more realistic than any amount of focus retrieval and sharpening plus retouching could achieve in a few minutes.

This is Mouth Inpainting.

And this is Glasses Reflection removal, which again is a task not to be relished in Photoshop, and the top end version of PortraitPro (Studio Max) can handle in groups, in a series of shots where it’s having a similar effect.

This pair shows a cumulative but very subtle effect from the improved workflow, and it clearly compensates for failings in the colour management and lighting. It’s impressive to note that PortraitPro started life being a very obvious process, and our advice was always to turn the default sliders down rather than up. It has matured considerably. The new workflow has improved gender and age detection, and Studio Max is well-tuned to Apple Silicon to make optimum use of CPU, GPU and RAM.

PortraitPro 24 Editions

PortraitPro Standard is standalone software for photographers working with JPG or 24-bit TIFF files.

PortraitPro Studio is for photographers who work directly with RAW files or want the higher quality of 48-bit colour files, supports conversion between different color spaces, and provides JPEG/TIFF embedded color profile support. Offers Batch Dialog.  

PortraitPro Studio Max For professional photographers or those working with a large number of images. Full Batch Mode to speed workflow greatly.

Compare the different editions: anthropics.com/portraitpro/editions

Availability and Pricing

PortraitPro 24 editions are available from: anthropics.com/portraitpro

Remember to use Cameracraft’s code CCV245 for maximum discount! This can also be used for PortraitPro Body, Landscape Pro and the user-recipe Smart Photo Editor.

Portrait perfection is just a few clicks away

PortraitPro 19’s Artificial Intelligence cuts retouching time – and right now it’s at 50%+20% off!

It’s the season for outdoor portraits and you want to make them studio-perfect. There’s never been a better time to invest in PortraitPro, used by professionals everywhere for the best looking skin, eyes, mouth, hair and more.

Outdoor light can be great but may not be kind to complexions. PortraitPro 19 auto retouches without needing complicated layers, frequency separation or cloning whether as a plug-in or stand alone. It’s fast, not memory or disk space hungry, and runs on Windows or Mac OS without needing the latest updates.

In parks and gardens sunshine on grass and light through trees can put a green cast on to skin tones. It’s hard to fix – but see how PortraitPro 19 does it effortlessly.

“Thanks to AI face detection, PortraitPro 19 is quicker and easier to use than previous versions and makes it possible to apply realistic effects in a matter of minutes, which which would otherwise take hours to do manually. For the portrait photographer who enjoys shooting more than editing, this could be essential software.” – DSLR Photography 

SPONSORED WEB CONTENT – SAVE USING CAMERACRAFT’S CODE:
Code valid on any Anthropics software (PortraitPro, PortraitPro Body, LandscapePro or Smart Photo Editor), new editions, upgrades, or bundles. Download your free trial today! 50% OFF sale now on + for an EXTRA 20% OFF use the code CC8B (ends Monday, August 17, 2020).

READ Cameracraft’s original November/December 2019 review of PortraitPro 19 on ISSUU –
https://issuu.com/iconpublications/docs/ccnovdec2019/10

LandscapePro – changing your world

If they want to fake a Mars colony story, a video version of British software developer Anthropics’ LandscapePro could be useful. It’s from the same team who created PortraitPro, and it allows you to change almost any landscape beyond recognition. It also allows subtle and careful modifications, or essential commercial fixes like a better sky in place of blank white.

One September weekend, a visit to a local restored mansion and park (The Haining, Selkirk, in the Scottish Borders) was rewarding because the Moving Image Makers’ Collective had video art installations running in the house.

Above is a film with dual projectors using the corner of a room (by Jason Moyes, with power making its way from hydro-electric dams to lonely wires and pylons).

Outside things were not as inspiring.

Of course the components of a closer shot, using the ‘quay’ as a foreground, perhaps in black and white, are there. But from this view as I walked past, not really photogenic.

Here’s where LandscapePro can perform any number of tricks, some familiar from sets of actions or presets like a sepia vignetted contrast-boosted vintage look. But it’s the tools which let you mask off different areas, named in the control menus, that give the program (whether plug-in or stand alone studio edition) its power.

This is a screen shot during progress of auto-painting the masks by dragging the named tags on to various parts of the image. You can then refine them by expanding any part. It’s pretty difficult to mask complex tree horizons as on the right, and some post-process work in Photoshop may be needed. My not-serious rework here is a quick job. You could spend an hour or two setting up the masks for an important image. Even so, the program handles a Sony A7RII 42 megapixel JPEG well enough and most actions are as fast as you can shift the cursor

My idea here was make the scene look like a frosty morning sunrise. The sky is one of my other shots, not a LandscapePro stock sky (the program comes with a good selection but I prefer to keep all parts of an image my own work). The post-pro includes a method for getting rid of a white outline on the woods – you use the Healing Brush tool in Photoshop, set it to Darken, choose a source point in the sky above the horizon, and paint. A similar technique using the Brush tool set to darken with a sampled colour from the lake fixes original tones showing between the reeds. I find the Clone, Brush and Healing Brush tools very useful when combined with Darken or Lighten and controlled flow; I don’t retouch using Layers but have always worked ‘fast and clever’ on the background (single layer), after doing most of the image control and adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw which gives me an .XML sidecar saved non-destructive edit as complex as I need. Mostly, I don’t have to retouch at all in Photoshop. Both PortraitPro and LandscapePro suit me well as they are very fast to use and non-destructive; generally, you can’t see they have been used, especially PortraitPro, because I only use it when needed and then pick specific controls. It is easy to go over the top with these programs as this example shows, but this does not detract from their serious value for careful work.

For this image I also copied the sunset/rise area, flipped it vertically, and used the Clone tool to overpaint from the flipped version down into the lake to give a reflected sun glow. Colour changes have also been made to the trees.

Above you can see, close up, a detailed section with the original top and the processed version bottom. This should demonstrate that the program is not just a gimmick. I used to work with UltiMatte, Mask Pro and other programs which allow painted masking but the multiple different mask zones of LandscapePro take this a step further. Needless to say it’s a godsend for architectural photographers as the clean edges in most architectural shots allow rapid perfect masking and then each face of a building, ground area, sky and landscaping can be adjusted separately. You can work from raw files or from open images in Photoshop (as I did here – it’s not really a JPEG until saved).

You can try LandscapePro at www.landscapepro.pics, and get a 10% discount by using the coupon code F278. If you want to try Anthropics’ PortraitPro visit www.portraitprofessional.com, again we have a discount code – F2910.

UPDATE: August 2020 – until August 17th, use code CC8B on current 50% off deals to get a further 20% off any edition or upgrade of both programs. Visit this link.

– David Kilpatrick

 

Free software and a cut-price lens

You have until November 3rd to grab a free download of a truly excellent utility for Mac OSX, created by DxO Optics Pro software team – DxO Perspective. It normally costs $19.95 (or local equivalent) as an Apple App store download, but they have made it free for a few days. It’s a fully working, standard version with no time limit.

Download link for DxO Perspective from Apple iTunes, free until November 3rd

Here’s what they say:

“DxO Perspective corrects all kinds of perspective problems, even the most complex. Using its Rectangle tool, when a photo contains two perspective flaws, DxO Perspective’s Rectangle tool immediately reestablishes a full-frontal view of the object — essential when shooting a photo of a poster or painting! In 8-point correction mode, DxO Perspective handles even more complex perspectives: the independent placing of horizontal and vertical guidelines provides highly precise corrections on multiple planes.”

We can vouch for that. Here’s the software window with a straight shot, uncorrected, Sigma 12-24mm zoom on Alpha 99 at 12mm.

perspective-addpoints

Now on this example, you have a choice of adding points to correct both vertical and horizontal perspective (four indexes clicked/moved) which I have done if you examine the faint blue lines, and this will produce an extreme result:

perspective-extreme

However, for this example, you would normally onle correct the verticals and omit the four-square connections. This produces a natural result relative to any other correction method:

perspective-final

This is a 100% correction. DxO Perspective lets you reduce the degree of correction. Here is what they describe as a ‘natural’ look, 75% strength:

perspective-natural75percent

I preferred the result between 90 and 95% correction.

Midi-Pyrenees

You may ask how this differs from Adobe Camera Raw lens correction perspective control, or similar functions within Photoshop (without using special plug-ins). First, DxO Perspective is a stand alone program and does not need Photoshop, it only requires a JPEG to select and work on. Secondly, here’s the result from ACR/LR type correction, kept slightly on the ‘natural’ side of :

Midi-Pyrenees

The greatest difference is that DxO Perspective makes automatic corrections to the vertical aspect and retains the sense of height, at the same time ensuring that the sky is not compressed.

So, enjoy this free download until November 3rd 2013.

At the same time, from 12.00 midnight Eastern Standard Time on October 31st, B&H in New York announced a drop in the price of the Bower (aka Samyang) 8mm f/3.5 fisheye lens for NEX, MicroFourThirds, Samsung NX, Nikon, Canon EOS, Pentax and Alpha mounts – down to as little as $209 for Alpha or NEX:

Bower 8mm fisheye for NEX – but see below!

Bower 8mm f/3.5 lenses from $209

Buy through this link and you support Photoclubalpha in a small way without paying anything extra yourself (indeed, buy any other B&H item after following this link and it will help us).

Here is some advice. The NEX model is basically an Alpha mount optical assembly with a permanently built in extension tube. We advise you to buy the Alpha version, as this is a manual focus manual aperture unchipped lens – use a NEX to Alpha adaptor, doesn’t have to be the expensive official LA-EA1 as this lens uses none of the connections. Then you have a lens which can be used on two systems.

DxO Perspective does not offer a de-fishing function but we’d make a guess that this would be a likely upgrade to the program in the near future and that’s why they are giving it away. DxO Optics Pro software itself is, after all, famous for the inclusion of lens profiles before any of the other programs (or cameras) got this facility.

– David Kilpatrick

 

Image Data Converter v4 – download now

Sony’s Image Data Converter latest version – 4.0 – will handle all Alpha raw files from A100 to A77, and all NEX raw files. It offers improvements in performance and stability, but it also eliminates the need for the Lightbox application (found in v3) as a separate item. You simply browse for a folder of images, and IDC now shows a regular thumbnail browser with image information not unlike Adobe Bridge.

Double-clicking the thumb opens the image as expected in the raw editor. This has all the features of v3 are a bit more, but at least on a latest MacBook Pro with 2GB memory it seemed to crash and quit (normally after processing the file) rather too often.

One new feature, found when you save the file and not in the main processing controls, is a crop with Inclination Control and a grid:

Testing Alpha 77 raw files on the new software, the Bayer conversion seemed to be incredibly noisy and the noise reduction left fine detail heavily smeared much the same as for in-camera JPEGs, but the colour styles, DRO settings and some other aspects read from camera EXIF data are retained. It can not be recommended as a main choice for raw conversion, and certainly not for high ISO images, but it’s available and is a fairly small application to install on laptops or less powerful machines.

Download links:

Mac OSX .dmg installer

PC/Windows .exe installer

– DK

Free preview download – Perfect Layers

onOne Software have announced that a Public Preview of Perfect Layers is now available to download and try out, free of charge.

Perfect Layers is a standalone application that works on its own allowing you to create and edit layered Photoshop files. If you use Lightroom or Aperture and you’ve ever wanted to or wished you had the ability to create a layered file, then this is definitely for you.

Being able to take two or more files and combining them into a single layered file or taking a single image and duplicating it to create multiple layers and use blending modes to enhance them is very powerful and opens up all kinds of creative things you can do.

onOne have been working closely with Scott Kelby from the National Association of Photoshop Professionals on Perfect Layers to refine the feature set and get great ideas in general on Lightroom users need. Scott has been playing with early development builds of Perfect Layers and he (and the rest of his team including Matt Kloskowski and RC Concepcion) are very excited about the possibilities that Perfect Layers will bring to Lightroom users.

The Perfect Layers Public Preview will expire on June 30th, 2011. The final version, 1.0, will be available for purchase in mid-2011. At that time, Perfect Photo Suite 5.5 owners will receive a free product update that will include Perfect Layers 1.0. Suite owners and anyone interested in Perfect Layers can download the free public preview now.

Perfect Layers – free trial download

onOne Software are announcing that a Public Preview of Perfect Layers is now available to download and try out, free of charge.

Perfect Layers is a standalone application that works on its own allowing you to create and edit layered Photoshop files. If you use Lightroom or Aperture and you’ve ever wanted to or wished you had the ability to create a layered file, then this is definitely for you.

Being able to take two or more files and combining them into a single layered file or taking a single image and duplicating it to create multiple layers and use blending modes to enhance them is very powerful and opens up all kinds of creative things you can do.

onOne have been working closely with Scott Kelby from the National Association of Photoshop Professionals on Perfect Layers to refine the feature set and get great ideas in general on Lightroom users need. Scott has been playing with early development builds of Perfect Layers and he (and the rest of his team including Matt Kloskowski and RC Concepcion) are very excited about the possibilities that Perfect Layers will bring to Lightroom users.

The Perfect Layers Public Preview will expire on June 30th, 2011. The final version, 1.0, will be available for purchase in mid-2011. At that time, Perfect Photo Suite 5.5 owners will receive a free product update that will include Perfect Layers 1.0. Suite owners and anyone interested in Perfect Layers can download the free public preview now.

DxO for Mac and Alpha 230-380 – plus discount deal

December 2, 2009 – DxO Labs is pleased to announce the immediate availability of DxO Optics Pro v5.3.6 for Mac bringing full compatibility with Apple’s latest operating system Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard, and adding RAW support for 15 new cameras:

Canon EOS 7D and PowerShot G11;
Nikon D300s and D3000;
Olympus E3 (Elite edition only), E-30, E-410, E-420, E-450, E-510, E-520 and E-620;
Sony A230, A330 and A380.
This new version for Mac also offers support for 255 new DxO Optics Modules, covering 46 cameras.
Availability and holiday season price
DxO Optics Pro v5.3.6 for Mac, both Standard and Elite editions, are immediately available from both DxO Labs’ e-store and selected resellers at an exceptional 30% discount until December 31, 2009:
Standard edition: £ 69 instead of £ 99 (or a savings of £ 30)
Elite edition: £ 139 instead of £ 199 (or a savings of £ 60)
DxO Optics Pro 6 for Mac is scheduled for release during the first quarter of 2010 and will be available as a free upgrade to customers who purchased version 5 after June 1, 2009.
www.dxo.com

Adobe Lightroom 3 Beta now available

London. — October 22, 2009 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today introduced Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® 3 beta software for Macintosh and Windows®, a public preview of new and improved functionality to be delivered in the next major release. Lightroom is the essential digital photography workflow solution, helping serious amateur and professional photographers quickly import, manage, enhance, and showcase all their images from one application. Available as a free download on Adobe Labs, Lightroom 3 beta delivers a preview of new tools that will be in Lightroom 3, including more intuitive importing, unparalleled noise reduction and sharpening tools and enhanced slideshow capabilities.. Adobe encourages photographers to test this early selection of new features and provide the product team with their feedback.

Continue reading »

Lightroom 3 Beta released

London. — October 22, 2009 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today introduced Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® 3 beta software for Macintosh and Windows®, a public preview of new and improved functionality to be delivered in the next major release. Lightroom is the essential digital photography workflow solution, helping serious amateur and professional photographers quickly import, manage, enhance, and showcase all their images from one application. Available as a free download on Adobe Labs, Lightroom 3 beta delivers a preview of new tools that will be in Lightroom 3, including more intuitive importing, unparalleled noise reduction and sharpening tools and enhanced slideshow capabilities.. Adobe encourages photographers to test this early selection of new features and provide the product team with their feedback.
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