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Breathing New Life Into Your Old Mac Pro

Jan 182013

Macpro The Mac Pro (aka “The Cheese Grater”) is Apple’s top end hardware offering aimed at power users with demanding compute needs. Oddly enough, it is one of the most reasonably priced models in the workstation market. Another interesting feature is that the Mac Pro has the constitution of a vending machine. I purchased my Mac Pro in March 2008 and it is still serving me faithfully. However, operating systems progress (my Pro came with OS X Leopard and it is now running Mountain Lion) and place more stringent demands on older hardware (having been designed to take advantage of features found in newer equipment) so perceived performance seems to degrade over the years (which conspiracy theorists attribute to the innate evils of capitalism).

However, the Mac Pro has a feature that no other Mac in the lineup has: easy access to its innards.

Adobe Releases Creative Suite 2 as a Free Download – NOT!

image processing, Industry news, Photo Software No Responses »

Jan 072013

UPDATE – Adobe posting of CS2 Serial Numbers was not an attempt to “give away” their software. They had shut down the activation servers for those versions of the suite and were providing registered users an alternative method to activate their software. Too bad it went viral.

On behalf of Adobe Systems Incorporated … You have heard wrong! Adobe is absolutely not providing free copies of CS2! What is true is that Adobe is terminating the activation servers for CS2 and that for existing licensed users of CS2 who need to reinstall their software, copies of CS2 that don’t require activation but do require valid serial numbers are available. (Special serial numbers are provided on the page for each product download.) See <http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1114930>. You are only legally entitled to download and install with that serial number if you have a valid license to the product! – Dov

Adobe announced today that their Creative Suite v2 will be available as a free download [link is down]. This move is both generous and infuriating as it forces current Mac users to run an old version of the Mac OS in a VM in order to access the software. Creative Suite v2 for Mac runs on PowerPC natively and under the Rosetta emulator on Intel Macs. However, Lion and Mountain Lion users (like me) will have to load up SL on a virtual machine. Running an emulator inside a virtual machine does not bode well for application performance considering that Rosetta was slower than molasses in January to begin with.

Some people will do all kinds of crazy things for free.

Seagate is the First Manufacturer to Break the Capacity Ceiling with a New 4TB GoFlex Desk Drive

Accessories, Industry news, Storage, Technology No Responses »

Sep 072011

CUPERTINO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Seagate (NASDAQ:STX) today announced it is shipping a new 4TB GoFlex® Desk external hard drive – the highest capacity hard drive in the industry. This latest addition to the GoFlex Family of external hard drives showcases Seagate’s new desktop design. The streamlined industrial design delivers a smaller footprint and better reflects the aesthetic of today’s modern offices while still providing all of the benefits of previous generations of the GoFlex drives. The new 4TB GoFlex Desk drive is now available from www.seagate.com and will be available from select online retailers within the month for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $249.99 USD. The entire line of GoFlex Desk products will also adopt the new industrial design in the coming weeks. The GoFlex Desk for Mac external drive featuring both FireWire 800 and USB 2.0 will be available in Apple stores by the end of the month.

UNIFIED COLOR TECHNOLOGIES ANNOUNCES IMMEDIATE AVAILABILITY OF HDR EXPRESS

Photography No Responses »

Dec 062010

South San Francisco – December 6, 2010 – Unified Color Technologies, the experts in high dynamic range imaging (HDR), today announced the immediate availability of HDR Express which is specifically designed to meet the requirements of professional photographers and photo enthusiasts who are new to HDR softwareand looking to create stunning images quickly. With HDR Express, Unified Color has automated some of the most complex aspects of HDR photography and replaced the traditional HDR workflow with a lightning-fast alternative for creating the most realistic HDR renderings possible making this once-complicated process accessible to even the most novice user. The software is available for purchase through Unified Color’s website at www.unifiedcolor.com/hdr-express.

HDR Express automates key aspects of the HDR production process, such as tone mapping and halo elimination, offering a streamlined and very easy-to-follow workflow. After merging the multiple exposures required for the HDR process into a 32-bit image, the simplified user interface presents an animated exposure range preview of the HDR image along with five tone mapping preset options. For the fastest results, users can then choose from a series of color and style presets or create their own presets using the program’s adjustment sliders which manipulate brightness, highlight and shadow recovery, black point, contrast, saturation and white balance. In addition to workflow enhancements, the newly developed processing algorithms in HDR Express enable users to view edits in real-time.

Attention Adobe CS5 Mac users:

Photo Software 6 Responses »

Aug 092010

I have recently discovered that use of the utility application “Clean My Mac” can break CS5′s ability to update itself. Clean My Mac, in it’s default setting, will remove international language files from applications to recover the “wasted” disk space. In most cases, this is action is harmless to the operation of your Mac. However, if you have Adobe CS5 installed (any flavor), the Adobe Updater looks for the language files to update them and bombs out.

The fix is to reinstall Adobe CS5 and reapply all patches. You can simply run the installer on the main disc without first uninstalling/unregistering the existing install. The Installer will overwrite the files and update all plists. The launch the Adobe Updater from within any app in the set and then exit the app to allow the Updater to do it’s job unimpeded. Please make sure all browsers are closed when this action is taking place.

Hasselblad releases Phocus 2.5 for Mac

Cameras, Industry news, Photo Software No Responses »

May 112010

In addition to a range of new photographer-oriented features, Phocus 2.5 for Apple computers allows users to import RAW files from more than 150 DSLR cameras, and features support for most standard image file formats, making Phocus more flexible and powerful than ever before.

Hasselblad today announced the release of Phocus 2.5 for Mac, breaking new ground by adding RAW support for more than 150 third party digital cameras, including cameras from Canon, Nikon, Leica, Sony, Fuji, Olympus, and more, as well as support for the most common file formats such as TIFF, JPEG, DNG, and PNG. This added file support results in a single, comprehensive – and free – solution that will enable all Hasselblad photographers to streamline their work process by working with both Hasselblad images and those captured with their 35mm DSLRs in one and the same application. Phocus 2.5 also contains a number of new and exciting features that improve workflow and image quality, in addition to further enhancing Phocus’s open environment by enabling the photographer to share keywords from Aperture and Lightroom. Photographers who use Leaf digital backs also benefit from this upgrade, with the inclusion of RAW support for Leaf digital backs.

Apple Releases Aperture 3

Industry news, Photo Software, Photography, Technology 1 Response »

Feb 092010

CUPERTINO, Calif., Feb. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple® today introduced Aperture™ 3, the next major release of its powerful photo editing and management software, with over 200 new features including Faces, Places and Brushes. Building on the innovative Faces and Places features introduced in iPhoto® ’09, Aperture 3 makes it even easier and faster to organize large photo libraries. Aperture 3 introduces new tools to refine your photos including Brushes for painting image adjustments onto parts of your photo, and Adjustment Presets for applying professional photo effects with just one click. Stunning new slideshows let you share your work by weaving together photos, audio, text and HD video.

“Millions of people love using iPhoto to organize, edit and share their digital photos,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Aperture 3 is designed for both professionals who edit and manage massive libraries of photos and iPhoto users who want to take their photos further with easy-to-use tools such as Brushes and Adjustment Presets.”

“Aperture 3 gets it right,” said National Geographic photographer, Jim Richardson. “The image editing tools are exactly what I have been asking for, they’re so easy to use and give me a level of control that I never even thought possible.”

“I chose Aperture because it was the most powerful archiving application around, but it’s now an unbelievable imaging tool as well,” said Bill Frakes, Sports Illustrated staff photographer. “I am beyond impressed with the massive changes made in Aperture 3.”

Bibble Labs Releases Bibble 5 Pro

Industry news, Photo Software, Photography, Technology 2 Responses »

Dec 302009

Fifteen months after it was announced, Bibble Labs has released its namesake Bibble 5 Pro. Bibble 5 Pro is the 5th generation of RAW conversion software from Bibble Labs. This version sports many new features including layers, digital asset management (DAM), and a whole new plug-in structure. versions are available for Windows, Mac and Linux. A free trial can be downloaded from Bibble Labs webpage.

Phase One Releases Capture One 5 PRO

Industry news, Photography, Technology No Responses »

Oct 282009

COPENHAGEN, October 28, 2009 — Phase One, the world’s leader in open-platform medium format camera systems and solutions, today released Capture One 5 PRO. Known for rendering superior quality images from a wide range of pro DSLR, Mamiya and Phase One medium format cameras, Capture One PRO is now enhanced with workflow accelerators to handle large volume shoots faster.

Capture One Pro 5 Box_600pixels_72dpi.jpg

Capture One 5 PRO is the RAW converter and workflow application with the broadest tethered shooting support, not only for Phase One digital backs, but also for DSLRs from Canon and Nikon. This version adds support for additional DSLR models and RAW file support for selected Leaf digital backs.

”Today’s pro photographers are shooting with both medium format and DSLR cameras, so having a truly professional quality digital darkroom, that can manage RAW files from both systems, makes life easier,” said Carsten H. Olsen, Phase One product manager for Capture One. “Capture PRO helps photographers reduce the time and effort required to deliver stunning ready-to-use images with excellent color and detail.”

About Capture One 5
Capture One 5’s simple, intuitive interface is designed to achieve superior image quality through easy-to-use tools that match a professional photographer’s daily workflow requirements. Now pros can:

Get an instant view of image focus with the Focus tool and use the Focus Mask for quick selection of images with correct focus;
Perfect the appearance of smooth, soft skin tones with the Skin Tone Enhancer;
Add vignettes to the edges of your images for artistic effect (follows crop);
Adjust individual color channels easily with RGB Levels and Curves;
Access and edit an expanded set of IPTC metadata fields.

For complete product details, please see www.phaseone.com/5.

Pricing and availability
Capture One 5 is available in three versions: Capture One 5, Capture One 5 DB and Capture One 5 PRO; each version is localized for Chinese (simplified), Czech, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and Swedish.

Capture One 5 PRO is available via download for 399 USD and 299 EUR through Phase One’s Online Store www.phaseone.com/store and through leading professional photography dealers worldwide. Capture One 5 is available for 129 USD and 99 EUR.

Existing Capture One 4 PRO customers can upgrade to Capture One 5 PRO for 99 USD and 69 EUR. Existing Capture One 4 customers can upgrade to Capture One 5 PRO for 299 USD and 229 EUR. Please visit Phase One’s Online Store www.phaseone.com/store for other upgrade options and free trials.

For a comparison between Capture One and Capture One PRO please see: www.phaseone.com/comparison.

System Requirements
Capture One 5 for Microsoft® Windows® requires at least an Intel® Pentium® 4 processor, 2 GB of RAM and 10 GB of free hard disk space as well as Windows XP® SP3, Windows Vista® SP2 or Windows 7®.

Capture One 5 for Apple® Macintosh® requires at least an Intel-based Mac, 2 GB of RAM and 10 GB of free hard disk space as well as Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard or Mac OS X 10.5.8.

About Phase One

Phase One is the world’s leader in open-platform based medium format camera systems and solutions. Phase One medium format cameras, digital backs and lenses are designed to deliver superior quality image capture and investment value. Phase One’s Capture One software helps streamline capture and post-production processes for both medium format and DSLR cameras. Phase One products are known for their quality, flexibility and speed enabling pro photographers shooting in a wide range of formats to achieve their creative visions without compromise. For more information about the products, visit the Phase One web site on www.phaseone.com.

Phase One is an employee-owned company based in Copenhagen with offices in New York, London, Tokyo, Cologne and Shanghai.

Phase One and Capture One are registered trademarks of Phase One A/S. All other brand or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Canon Announces Snow Leopard Printer Driver Availability

Industry news, Technology No Responses »

Sep 172009

Canon, who was apparently caught flat-footed by Apple’s release of Snow Leopard, has announced the schedule of availability of printer drivers for it’s ImagePROGRAF line of professional printers.

Model	Release Date (on web server)
iPF5100, iPF6100, iPF6200, iPF8100, iPF9100	October 7, 2009
iPF5000, iPF8000, iPF9000	October 9, 2009
iPF500, iPF600, iPF700	October 9, 2009
iPF6000S, iPF8000S, iPF9000S	October 14, 2009
iPF650, iPF655, iPF750, iPF755	October 17, 2009
iPF510, iPF605, iPF610, iPF710, iPF720, iPF810, iPF820	October 21, 2009
W6400, W8400, W8400D	November 12, 2009

I am currently using a Windows 7 VM under Parallels Desktop 4.0 Mac to host drivers for both my Canon W6400 and HP B9180. Printing in managed by Qimage Studio (64-bit multicore version) software-based RIP. Unless these drivers are totally spectacular, I may continue working this way.

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