• Artbeats - Free Footage Plus Save 20% on any Order - Artbeats is world renowned for their extensive library of royalty-free stock footage that encompasses thousands of high quality clips in NTSC, PAL, and High Definition.
• ColorVision - Save up to 45% - ColorVision, Inc, delivers solutions that control and create affordable tools for color management that assure consistent, accurate, reliable color in today's digital darkroom across multiple monitors and printers for every market from consumer to professional.
• Graphicxtras.com plug-ins - Save 25% - Do you want to add pizzazz to your designs with creative patterns, brushes, and styles? It's easy using Graphicxtras.com plug-ins for Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Corel Painter, and Corel Paint Shop Pro. From now through March 31, 2006 you'll save 25% on the entire Graphicxtras.com product line.
• PhotoSpin.com - Free Stock Photography - Download any 3 images from PhotoSpin.com, FREE ($389.85 USD Value) Choose from photos, illustrations, fonts, audio or video clips in the size and file format that suits you best. PhotoSpin offers the only royalty free subscription service with photos AND illustrations, fonts, audio and video.
• PatternMaker - Free Plug-in - Download the free PatternMaker plug-in for Adobe InDesign courtesy of Teacup Software. This plug-in designed by page layout guru David Blatner, brings high quality PostScript patterns to InDesign. Fill any frame with one of three patterns, then modify, tweak and reinvent each pattern into unlimited variations!
• BarcodeMaker and PatternPack - Save 20% - From now through March 31, 2006 you'll save 20% off a combined purchase of BarcodeMaker and PatternPack.

A link to the downloads will appear on your online confirmation page, or in your confirmation e-mail when placing an order by phone. Visit Total Training for more details.

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New Adobe Lightroom Podcasts From George Jardine

PhotoshopNews reports that Adobe Pro Photography Evangelist George Jardine has posted two new iTunes Podcasts that cover Adobe Lightroom. Here's a summary of the shows from PhotoshopNews:

"In Adobe Lightroom Beta Podcast Episode 1, Kevin Tieskoetter (Lightroom engineer), Mark Hamburg (Lightroom 'Founder') and Jeff Schewe (photographer) talk about some of the background of Adobe Lightroom, printing from Lightroom and where Mark sees Lightroom features going. In Episode 2, Bruce Fraser, author of Real World Camera Raw, Tom Fors, the author of the original ACR Calibrator script and Jeff answer Lightroom users call-in questions."

You can find the podcasts by launching iTunes, clicking on Podcasts, and then doing a search for Lightroom. Or you can subscribe via RSS.

For more on Lightroom, see our Lightroom Resource Center.
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Digital Photography Tips: To Stitch or Not To Stitch

Ben Long has a great article about stitching posted at creativepro.com. From the intro:

"It's easy to stitch separate images into one seamless panorama, and doing so helps you work around the scarcity of extremely wide-angle lenses. However, the easy way isn't always the best way. The more difficult art of collaging can produce images that are less realistic but more intriguing.

"With modern stitching software (see next post below), digital photographers have a capability that film photographers never dreamed of: they can shoot multiple images and stitch them into seamless wholes. However, though stitching is a great way to create big panoramas, it's easy to forget about more traditional collage-work. As you'll see in this short article, following in the footsteps of your pre-digital forebears might lead you to a more interesting image."

Read "Digital Photography Tips: To Stitch or Not To Stitch" by Ben Long.

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Launch At Multimedia Photo Image Show Of RealViz Stitcher 5.1 And New Dedicated Stitcher Site

(Press Release) REALVIZ has confirmed that version 5.1 of their multi award-winning panorama software Stitcher is now available. With version 5.1 Stitcher now also becomes available in German, in addition to English and French. The release of version 5.1 also accompanies the launch of a brand-new website dedicated to the REALVIZ stitching products, Stitcher & Stitcher Express. The REALVIZ Team will be demonstrating Stitcher 5.1 along with Stitcher Express and new product, VTour on the DIGIT'ACCESS booth at this week's Multimédia Photo Image Show, from 16.-20. March 2006 at the Porte de Versailles Exhibition Center in Paris.

REALVIZ Stitcher is a professional-level application used by thousands of professional photographers, architects, multimedia and 3D artists worldwide, and enables the creation of superb wide-angle panoramas for the Web, film, print, and 3D. This latest release of the software includes a number of significant new features, including:

• SENSOR SHIFT: Stitcher 5.1 now incorporates additional parameters to automatically correct the misalignment of the sensor with the center of the lens, for greater accuracy when aligning images, leading to sharper rendered panoramas.
• EXTERNAL BLENDING: Stitcher 5.1 incorporates external blending software, such as 'Enblend', which drastically improves the rendering of parallax and misalignment errors.
• MOVIE EXPORT: Stitcher 5.1 also enables users to create a movie from their panorama. Users are able to interactively define as many key positions as required in their scene to represent the camera viewpoints. Direction, orientation and zoom can also be tweaked and adjusted as required. The final animation can be played in real-time within Stitcher, then checked and adjusted where necessary, before the final render as a .mov or .avi movie file in any format (from PAL, NTSC to HD and more).
• BATCH RENDER: Stitcher 5.1 introduces a simple graphical batch utility. In order to increase productivity when creating multiple panoramas, it is now possible to render multiple projects successively in batch mode. Thus, multiple renders can be carried out during the night, for example, from the same or different projects.

The new site is the new official home of Stitcher & Stitcher Express, as well as the Stitcher User Gallery and Showcase sections. The site also offers a selection of books and other photography-related products for sale. An open marketplace for the sale of panoramic photography is also scheduled for late 2006.

Stitcher 5.1 is now available in English, French and German for Macintosh & Windows, and is available free of charge to all existing owners of Stitcher 5. Existing owners of Stitcher 4 may upgrade to version 5.1 for 210 Euros/250 US Dollars, whilst owners of earlier versions of Stitcher may also trade-up to Stitcher 5 for 250 Euros/290 US Dollars. First-time buyers may also purchase the software at a price point of 499 Euros/580 US Dollars.

posted by Jennifer Apple | permalink | send comments

Photoshop CS5 & Photoshop CS5 Extended - Best Deals From Adobe
Adobe Photoshop CS5 delivers breakthrough capabilities to help you create images with impact. Refine your images with reengineered photography tools for removing noise, adding grain, and creating high dynamic range (HDR) images. Get precise results when making complex selections. Remove any image element and see the space fill in almost magically. Paint with naturally textured brushstrokes and realistic color blends. Learn more about Photoshop CS5.

Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended software helps you create the ultimate images for print, the web, and video. Enjoy all the state-of-the-art editing, compositing, and painting capabilities in industry-standard Photoshop CS5, and experience fast performance thanks to cross-platform 64-bit support. Also create 3D extrusions for logos, artwork, and motion graphics; edit 3D objects with advanced tools; and create and enhance motion-based content. Learn more about Photoshop CS5 Extended.

Find CS5 upgrade options and Creative Suite 5 deals at the Adobe Store. See CS5 pricing in UK currency at the Adobe UK Store. Visit the Adobe Special Offers page to find the latest deals. Save 80% on Adobe Student Editions. Try before you buy — download a free Photoshop CS5 trial.

Adobe Creative Suite 5 Design Premium
Adobe Creative Suite 5 Design Premium software gives you fresh new creative tools, along with the ability to deliver ideas faster in print and create interactive content without writing code. Plus Design Premium integrates with Adobe CS Live online services to maximize your design time by streamlining critical nondesign tasks.

Adobe Creative Suite 5 Design Premium combines Adobe InDesign CS5, Photoshop CS5 Extended, Illustrator CS5, Flash CS5 Professional, Dreamweaver CS5, Fireworks CS5, and Acrobat Pro with additional tools and services. Download a free CS5 Design Premium 30 day trial.

Photoshop CS5 Tutorials & CS5 Resources
See our Photoshop CS5 Resource Center for Free Photoshop CS5 Tutorials, and the Free Photoshop CS5 Trial Download. See our Photoshop CS4 Resource Center for Free Photoshop CS4 Tutorials.

Exclusive onOne Software 15% Instant Discount Coupon

Enter our exclusive discount coupon code - PSSPPT06 - during the checkout process at onOne Software for an instant 15% discount on any onOne product. This includes Genuine Fractals and their amazing Photoshop Plug-In Suite.

OnOne’s new Plug-In Suite solves six of the most frequent problems photographers will encounter in Photoshop. This suite has been granted American Photos Magazine’s Editor’s Choice award for Top Image Editing Software. The Plugin Suite includes:

Genuine Fractals Pro is renowned by both photographers and printers for its finesse at increasing images to more than ten times their original size while maintaining the sharpness and detail you started with. Think of this as the industry standard for image resizing.

Mask Pro is used to remove the tough stuff — such as hair, smoke and glass — while retaining the fine detail. You choose what colors to keep, then paint away what you don’t need.

PhotoTools Pro packs hundreds of high-calibre photographic effects into one user-friendly plug-in. It’s fast and easy to use. Gives your photos that pro quality look.

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Nik Software 15% Instant Discount - Exclusive 15% Coupon

Enter our exclusive discount coupon code - NIKPSS - during the checkout process at Nik Software for an instant 15% discount on any Nik Software product. This exclusive discount coupon code can be applied to all the latest Nik Software Photoshop plugins, including Silver Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, Viveza, Sharpener Pro, and Dfine.

Color Efex Pro
52 photographic filters with over 250 effects for professional quality images. Completely Original. Completely Indispensable.

Nik Software Color Efex Pro filters are the leading photographic filters for digital photography. The award-winning Color Efex Pro filters are widely used by many of today's professional photographers around the world to save time and get professional level results. Whether you choose the Complete Edition, Select Edition, or Standard Edition, you’ll get traditional and stylizing filters that offer virtually endless possibilities to enhance and transform images quickly and easily.

Patented U Point technology provides the ultimate control to selectively apply enhancements without the need for any complicated masks, layers or selections. Control color, light and tonality in your images and create unique enhancements with professional results. With 52 filters and over 250 effects found in Color Efex Pro, you can perform high quality retouching, color correction, and endless creative enhancements to your photographs. Download a free Trial version.

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The most powerful tool to selectively control color and light in photographic images without the need for complicated selections or layer masks.

Two of the most important factors in creating great photography are color and light. Mastering the art of selectively correcting or enhancing each of these is now possible for every photographer without the need for complicated masks or selections, or expert-level knowledge of Photoshop. Integrating award-winning U Point technology, Viveza is the most powerful and precise tool available to control light and color in photographic images.

U Point powered Color Control Points, placed directly on colors or objects in an image (such as sky, skin, grass, etc.), reveal easy-to-use controls that photographers can use to quickly adjust brightness, contrast or color in a fraction of the time needed by other tools. With Viveza you’ll spend more time shooting photographs and save hours of image editing. Download a free Trial version.

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Silver Efex Pro from Nik Software is the most powerful tool for creating professional quality black and white images from your photographs. For the first time, all the advanced power and control required for professional results have been brought together in one convenient tool.

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Topaz Adjust
Deliver stunning and dynamic images with this uniquely powerful plug-in that features HDR-like abilities and enhances exposure, color and detail.
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A three-level detail adjustment plug-in that specializes in micro-contrast enhancements and sharpening with no artifacts.
Topaz ReMask
The fastest and most effective masking and extraction program with one-click mask refining.
Topaz DeNoise
Highest-quality noise reduction plug-in that removes the most noise and color noise while preserving the most image detail.
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Provides creative simplification, art effects, and line accentuation for easy one-of-a-kind art.
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Take control of the detail depth of your images with extensive smoothing, texture control and edge enhancement tools.
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Drastically improves the quality of web images and other compressed photos.

Learn more about the Topaz Photoshop Plugins Bundle. Download a free trial version.

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The 4 1/2 out of 5 star review of Fluid Mask at MacWorld begins by saying that this "Photoshop plug-in takes the pain out of extracting backgrounds," and goes on to recommend the latest version, stating that "Fluid Mask is a very effective tool for separating objects from their backgrounds. It offers a variety of useful features for tackling almost any difficult image, from wispy hair to complex foliage. Online video tutorials and live training sessions help ease the learning curve."

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Fluid Mask is designed for photographers, image editors, graphic designers and all those who take digital image editing seriously. In a streamlined interface and workflow, Fluid Mask instantly shows key edges in the image and provides comprehensive easy to use tools that work with difficult-to-see edges and tricky areas like trees & lattices. Fluid Mask will also preserve all-important edge information for a professional quality cut out. Go to our Fluid Mask page for more info.

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Did You Know You Could Create An Entire Website In Photoshop?
SiteGrinder Photoshop Plugin - Create Websites Instantly

There often seems to be a strict division of labor within the world of web design and development. Creative professionals tend to stick to the Photoshop domain, while those well-versed in scripting are left to the task of implementing their work. Indeed, the two realms are quite different from each other, to which any of us even vaguely familiar with either can easily attest.

Essentially, Photoshop is a no-holds-barred design studio, offering the artist a seemingly endless array of creative options. On the other hand, HTML, CSS, Java and the like follow strict rules of engagement, requiring the developer to take any number of esoteric concerns into consideration in order to ensure that designs are properly displayed on the web.

Turn Photoshop Into A Complete Web Design Tool
SiteGrinder seeks to bridge this gap between design and development. Basically, SiteGrinder turns Photoshop into an easy-to-use and fully functional web design tool. With SiteGrinder, designers will now have the freedom to totally let their creativity loose and then, without skipping a beat, transfer their designs to the web. Bringing esthetic concerns together with more practical considerations, SiteGrinder is an amazingly powerful tool that would make a fantastic addition to any web designer's bag of tricks. Mac OS X and Windows versions of the SiteGrinder unlockable demo are available now via download.

Photoshop CS4 Essential Skills - By Mark Galer And Philip Andrews

Brimming with beautiful pictures, Photoshop CS4 Essential Skills guides you through a project-based, progressive curriculum so that you can build all the essential skills to enhance photographs creatively and professionally with Photoshop CS4. If you are an aspiring professional or a student learning photography, digital imaging, or design graphics, you'll be amazed at the stunning results you can achieve. A DVD is included free.

The Essential Skills Photography Series from Focal Press uniquely offers a structured learning experience for photographers of all ages, with both the underlying theory and loads of invaluable 'how to' and real-life practice projects - all from the most talented photography practitioners/educators in the world.

Read 2 free sample chapters:
Skin Retouching Tips In Photoshop CS4
Transforming Smart Objects In Photoshop CS4
Find more Photoshop CS4 tutorials on our Photoshop CS4 Tutorials Page.

Read 2 free sample chapters from the Adobe Photoshop CS3 version:
Adjusting Exposure in Adobe Camera Raw CS3
Photoshop CS3 Tutorial High Dynamic Range

Find More Adobe Photoshop Books at Amazon.com
Find all the latest bestselling Photoshop books at discount prices at Amazon.com.