CorrectPhoto 3.1 now allows you to to create black and white and sepia tone photos with a single mouse click. “CorrectPhoto is an extremely easy-to-use program that really simplifies working with digital photos.  It is especially useful for beginners and those who do not want to spend a lot of time editing photos or learning a complicated photo editing program ,” said Craig Huelskoetter, president. CorrectPhoto with ImageTitler costs $39.95 as a software download. A free trial version is also available.

The RAW converter software Silkypix Developer Studio now supports the Canon Digital Rebel XS / EOS 1000D, Ricoh GX200 and Fujifilm FinePix S100FS cameras. Version 3.0.22.2 is available as a free upgrade for registered users. Silkypix Developer Studio 3.0 costs $149.00 and a free trial version is available.

Website: Silkypix Developer Studio 3.0.22.2

Nikon has released a new version of its RAW codec, which lets you view NEF files within Windows. Version 1.4.0 principally adds support for the new D700 DSLR camera.

Ver.1.4.0 changes
  * Supports NEF (RAW) images taken with the D700.
  * Reflects the effects of optional Picture Controls.
  * Reflects the effects ISO sensitivity settings below ISO 200 (LO 0.3–LO 1.0).
  * Reflects the effects of the TN-A2 NEF (RAW) color filter in Capture NX.

Website: Nikon RAW Codec 1.4.0

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 features dual-monitor support, non-destructive localised image correction, and streamlined search capabilities. Lightroom 2 is Adobe’s first application to support 64-bit for Mac OS Microsoft Windows Vista operating systems, and also provides improved memory performance for dealing with large scale images. The new Local Adjustment Brush lets photographers fine-tune specific areas of an image to precisely adjust colour, exposure and tonal range without affecting other areas of the image. Adobe Lightroom 2 is available now, priced at £175 / $299 for new users, with an upgrade price of £69 / $99.

Portrait Professional 8 is the world’s first intelligent portrait airbrushing software that has been ‘trained’ in human beauty. The latest version of Portrait Professional is now Mac compatible and has been enhanced by further training in human appearance, particularly on the 3/4 views, in order to achieve the most realistic results possible. Portrait Professional 8 contains over 80 beautifying controls to give the user fine control over the appearance of the face and hair. The software is available in two versions: Portrait Professional 8 works on JPEG and Tiff files (priced at £39.95 or US $79.95), and Portrait Professional 8 Studio which also works directly on 16 bit Camera RAW files (priced at £69.95 or US $119.95).

LightBox is a completely free image editing program for Windows. With an emphasis on image quality and ease-of-use, LightBox is great for beginners and experienced users alike. Lightbox performs all actions in 16-bits-per-channel to achieve high-end quality, supporting 48-bit tiff and 48-bit RAW files, in addition to standard jpeg images. LightBox Free Image Editor never expires, has no adware or spyware, and is not crippled in any manner.

Color Efex Pro 3.1 adds support for Aperture 2.1 and Capture NX 2 and compatibility with Photoshop Smart Filters. “With Color Efex Pro 3.1 we are extending compatibility with leading photo editing solutions, including Photoshop, Aperture and Capture NX 2,” said Michael J. Slater, president and CEO of Nik Software. “This update gives our customers the benefit of being able to use their favorite Color Efex Pro filters in their application of choice.” Color Efex Pro 3.1 is available in two editions, Color Efex Pro 3.1 Complete Edition (52 filters total) for $299.95, and Color Efex Pro 3.1 Select Edition (35 filters total) for $159.95.

ACDSee are now offering 40% off the price of ACDSee 10 Photo Manager, the latest version of the popular photo organization and sharing software. This special time-limited offer lowers the price of ACDSee 10 to $29.99. The offer expires on August 26, 2008 and the product is available by download only.

Website: 40% Off ACDSee 10

Olympus Studio 2.2 is a new version of Olympus’ professional workflow software. Olympus Studio 2.2 includes the following improvements:

- Support for Portuguese (Brazilian).
- Improved the display speed in Preview Area in “RAW Development” and “Image Edit” windows.
- Added the functions to narrow down, sort, and delete files in Thumbnail Area of all windows.
- Added the function to clear Cache.

Website: Olympus Studio 2.2 (MAC)

Silver Efex Pro from Nik Software is a new software plug-in for Photoshop and Aperture for creating powerful black-and-white images. It incorporates U Point Technology for precise selective tonal and contrast control. “Silver Efex Pro is truly a comprehensive and easy to use software product that is specifically designed to address the challenges that photographers face when converting images to black-and-white.” said Michael J. Slater president and CEO of Nik Software. The suggested retail price of Silver Efex Pro is $199.95.

DxO Optics Pro 5.2 features a new RAW converter that dramatically improves noise reduction in ultra-high ISO images, plus support for three new camera bodies. The Pentax K20D, Sony-A350 and Sony-A700 DSLRs are now supported, and it also inlcudes the DxO Optics Pro Import plug-in for Adobe Photoshop. New lens correction modules have also been added for the Samsung GX20 and the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi. To celebrate the release of DxO Optics Pro v5.2, DxO Labs is extending the special DxO FilmPack free license offer until July 31, 2008.

Adobe are offering 50% off Photoshop CS3 to all licensed users of Photoshop Elements. This special offer begins on 1 July, 2008 and ends at 11:59 p.m. 31 July, 2008. It’s available only to licensed users of Photoshop Elements 1.0 - 6.0 and Adobe Photoshop Elements plus Adobe Premiere Elements bundle who purchase the full version of Photoshop CS3 directly from Adobe. the discount is available from the Adobe.com store and by calling 0800 0280148 (press Option 1 and mention the promotion code: 3HAE) and is valid in the United Kingdom only.

Apple have released a maintenance update, OS X 10.5.4, for the Mac operating system. Version 10.5.4 includes additional RAW image support for several cameras (not yet listed), and resolves an issue with saving and reopening Adobe Creative Suite 3 ?les on a remote server.

Website: Mac OS X 10.5.4 Update

Sinar eXposure is a new ICC-based application for capturing, processing and exporting images shot with Sinar digital camera backs. Bringing together Jenoptik’s Eyelike Capture Pro and Sinar CaptureShop, Sinar eXposure uses the Adobe DNG format, allowing processing of the raw data in third-party software packages. The first release of Sinar eXposure supports the Sinarback eMotion family - the Sinarback eMotion 75 and 75 LV, eMotion 54 LV, and eMotion 22 with all camera/shutter systems supported by these Sinarbacks. Sinar eXposure and its future updates can be downloaded for free from the Sinar website after registration.

AKVIS Magnifier 1.0 is a new software application that resizes images without any noticeable loss in quality. If you attempt to blow up a picture (increase its resolution) using the standard Resize command of a photo editor, you will notice that the resulting photo is blurred and pixelated. The reason is that the input photo didn’t contain enough information for the new size. AKVIS Magnifier copes with this problem and delivers better results. AKVIS Magnifier 1.0 is currently available as a standalone application, with a plugin version coming soon. AKVIS Magnifier 1.0 costs $129 / €99. All registered users who have bought at least one AKVIS plug-in get a 20% discount on AKVIS Magnifier. The customers who have purchased all AKVIS plug-ins get a 50% discount. This offer is valid till August 31, 2008.

Adobe have released a release candidate version of Camera Raw 4.5 for both Windows and Mac platforms. Version 4.5 includes the following changes:

- Newly supported camera models include:
  * Olympus E 420
  * Olympus E 520

Website: Adobe Camera Raw 4.5 (Windows)
Website: Adobe Camera Raw 4.5 (MAC)

Adobe Creative Suite 3.3 now incorporates Acrobat 9 Pro, and is available in Design Premium, Design Standard, Web Premium, and Master Collection editions. Acrobat 9 Pro allows you to combine documents, video, audio, and other file types into easy-to-distribute PDF Portfolios, complete with customisable interactive navigation. Thanks to new native support for the Adobe Flash format, PDF files can now incorporate and smoothly play back video, audio, and application files created in Adobe Flash for richer and more engaging experiences. Adobe CS3.3 is available at a at 10% discount compared to CS3 Design Premium in the UK. Creative Suite 3 users can upgrade to Creative Suite 3.3 from £135.

onOne Software’s Plug-In Suite 4 combines full versions of six software tools to make your images look their best. Plug-In Suite 4 includes Genuine Fractals 5 Print Pro, PhotoTools 1.0, PhotoFrame 3.1, Mask Pro 4.1, PhotoTune 2.2 and FocalPoint 1.0. The new Plug-In Suite 4 is available now to new users for $499.95 - a savings of $799.75 if purchased separately.  In the UK, Colour Confidence are distributing Plug-In Suite 4 for £320/€469 – a saving of £497/€748 on purchasing all six separately. Existing users of Plug-in Suite version 1, 2 or 3 can upgrade to Plug-In Suite 4 for $199.95 / £125 / €187.

KoffeePhoto Premium is a new online photo backup service featuring unlimited online backup of pictures. KoffeePhoto Premium provides fully automated backup and restoration of all digital picture files. KoffeePhoto Premium is priced at 39,99 € a year ($59,99).

RansenScan is a new software utility speeds up the scanning of photo and postcard collections. It uses automatic image extraction, so that you can place several photos on a scanner and RansenScan will extract each image in a single scan. RansenScan also offers has immediate printing functions included - you can print the images directly from the program, without going to any intermediate software. RansenScan works with any Twain-compatible scanner, and is available now at $29.95.