Adobe gobbles up Pixmantec, plans to integrate RawShooter into Lightroom
Amber Maitland
26 June 2006
Adobe's Lightroom application has been in development for quite some time, with 3 Mac beta versions having been released so far.
The process of development is set to speed up considerably with Adobe's recent acquisition of Pixmantec.
Pixmantec's RawShooter products, which includes the free essentials program as well as the Premium product garnered rave reviewers from professional photographers for its simplicity, powerful tools, and reasonable pricetag.
"With high-quality digital cameras now within reach of every photographer, customers are gravitating to raw file formats that allow them to get more control over final results", said John Loiacono, senior vice president of Creative Solutions at Adobe.
"By combining Pixmantec's raw processing technology and expertise with our own, we're continuing to deliver on the promise that even your existing raw files can be processed with increasing quality as our software technology evolves."
RawShooter Premium is now being discontinued to prepare for its integration with Lightroom, although essentials will still be available until the Lightroom beta is finished.
Current Pixmantec customers will continue to be supported by Adobe.
Because the Lightroom beta is not yet complete, no pricing information has been released. Pixmantec RawShooter Premium had a pricetag of $99, which was remarkably low for such a powerful piece of software.
Source: http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news.php?newsId=3760
Adobe offers another test version of Lightroom
Amber Maitland
19 June 2006
Adobe is still unready to release its Lightroom imaging workflow solution, and has instead offered a third Beta version.
From feedback generated by beta testers, Adobe has implemented some tweaks to improve the test version.
Beta 3 adds features to give greater control over export size and resolution, refine metadata selection with print output and RGB value readouts for greater editing precision.
New features include Before and After preview tools and a History that allows users to preview and track changes.
A dedicated Web module provides web content editing and live previews of HTML and Flash output.
An additional Straighten tool helps to correct camera angle issues, while Auto Import or Hot Folder support lets users automatically add images to the Library from a specified directory.
Additional RAW support has been added so that 120 files can now be manipulated in Lightroom.
The Beta version is a canny way for Adobe to tap in to a knowledgebase of photographers with real imaging workflow needs that can't fully be understood by engineers and developers in the early stages of creating image software.
Source: http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news.php?newsId=3677
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