October 2009 - Digital Group Meeting - Adobe Software

Meeting Notes March 2009 to 2018.
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spb
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Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2008 7:04 pm

October 2009 - Digital Group Meeting - Adobe Software

Post by spb » Mon Oct 19, 2009 4:07 pm

Good to see many new members amongst the 30-strong audience.

NEWS

Over the summer three camera launches caught my eye;
- The Panasonic GF1 is the latest in what may prove to be a popular new camera format - Micro Four Thirds. This sits between the Single Lens Reflex (SLR) and the compact and combines a range of interchangeable lenses with bodies that do not have the mirror-box or prism. The result is a system with all the flexibility of an SLR but in a very compact size. The sensor size is larger than a typical compact and picture quality should be good. At the moment the range of lenses and bodies from Olympus and Panasonic is small and expensive but by throwing away the 35mm film legacy, this format has great potential for the future.

- The Canon G11 is the latest in the respected G-series of enthusiast compact cameras. However it is notable because G1 to G10 had sensors with an ever-increasing pixel count, culminating in the excessive 15 Mpx G10. The G11 offers just 10Mpx and this is a laudable reversal of the pixel arms race which has resulted in cameras producing images with burnt-out highlights and low-light noise problems. 8 Mpx is all that we need for top quality A3 prints, including some cropping.

- The Nikon S1000pj is a compact camera with a built-in projector - fascinating idea. Who will be the first member to buy one?

IMAGE BROWSING SOFTWARE

See the notes of the April 2009 meeting for discussion of image cataloguing and browsing software. My conclusion was that most of us just need a good image browser and I identified Faststone and XnView as candidates. Having used these over the summer I have changed my preference to XnView. This is free to download and does everything that I have asked of it including browsing, slideshows, searching, picking, converting, re-sizing, screenshots, contact sheets etc etc. Raw files open quickly and judging by the high rate of ongoing development and I would guess that new camera support is being added regularly. There are Windows, Mac and Linux versions.

Highly recommended - I'd be interested in your feedback. However, be aware that this is not a substitute for My Computer/Windows Explorer as it is an image browser only.

PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 7 AND 8 - NEW FEATURES

Having last purchased Elements 6, I have been catching up with the changes in 7 and 8;

- Recompose Tool. This can do an impressive job in reducing the width and/or height of an image by removing non-essential detail. However like all automated tools it depends on the particular image and it can do a poor job on images with hard edges and diagonal lines. Areas can be protected or marked for removal.

- Smart Brush Tool. This attempts to make colour, tone or creative changes to areas of the image that you roughly mark with a brush. So long as the required area is well separated by colour or tone this can be effective but the subsequent control over the effect is more limited than with a manual approach.

- Photomerge. This range of tools for multiple images has been extended to include Photomerge Exposure which combines several images with a range of exposures. This could be regarded as a simplistic High Dynamic Range (HDR) tool. Much more control can be achieved by commercial programs such as Photomatix. There is also a Photomerge Scene Cleaner which helps you to take the best bits out of a series of photos of the same subject.

- Other improvements are automatic face recognition and tagging of images in the Organizer, improved previews in Quick Edit, an Action player in Guided Edit, a new Surface Blur filter. The Tab key now clears the screen of palettes and menus for an uncluttered view of your image.

All in all, I would say that Adobe have not added much of great significance to Elements in recent years and they are concentrating on adding automation tools aimed at traditional subjects such as views and family photos. Annoyingly they continue to mess with the user interface, moving commands, buttons and palettes around unnecessarily. There is little here to justify the upgrade price of around £50.

ADOBE PRODUCT RANGE

Adobe now have an unparalleled range of software to manipulate, organise, and edit images;

- Photoshop
- Photoshop Elements
- Photoshop Elements Organizer
- Bridge
- Lightroom
- Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)
- Photoshop Album (recently discontinued)

The distinction between these is becoming increasingly blurred as the packaging combinations and the feature sets evolve. Simple automated adjustments are being added to most of them and Elements contains 90% of the useful functionality of Photoshop at 10% of the price. The image browser Bridge is only available with Photoshop in Windows but bundled with Elements on the Mac. ACR and Lightroom now contain simple gesture-based adjustments and Elements contains three different adjustment interfaces. As a product range, it's a mess and high time for some rationalisation.

'OFF THE WALL' EXHIBITION

Being pictorial in nature, internal competitions favour images depicting scenery, natural history and people. In the past, club photography was wider. In the 1980s and early 90's I can remember macro and microscope photographs, alternative processes, photojournalist, abstracts and architectural photography. Other branches that we rarely, if ever, see include industrial, scientific, experimental, social commentary, food and drink.

In an attempt to widen our photographic horizons I propose an informal exhibition of prints at the back of the room on a Monday night. No rules, no judges - it will be truly 'Open' but I would expect the subject matter to be outside of the norm for club competition.

Having pitched this to the Digital Group, I already have a dozen names signed up. If you would like to participate please contact me and I'll put you on the list. Everyone's input is welcome. There is a topic on the APS Forum for further discussion.

NEXT MEETING

Remember, remember, Thursday 5th November in the Small Hall.

Cheers, Steve Brabner.

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