Posted 09/24/09 at 04:49:45 PM by Mark Edward Soper

This week, Adobe announced its eighth generation of Photoshop Elements for both PC and Mac, and this time Mac users need to wait only a month for the latest version.

Photoshop Elements 8 for Windows and MacOS includes a number of new photo-editing goodies including Photomerge Exposure,  Recompose, and better quick fixes for common photo problems. For more about what's new, why MacOS users won't mind waiting a bit longer for their version, and how to try PSE8 for free, join us after the jump.

Adobe's new Photoshop Elements 8 for Windows adds a number of features for easier photo editing, including:

Photomerge Exposure, which builds upon the powerful Photomerge feature in earlier versions of PE to enable you to combine the properly-exposed areas in two otherwise-identical photos into a "single, perfectly-lit photo." The example Adobe demonstrates uses two photos of friends posing in front of a floodlit building, one with and without flash. It'll be interesting to see how Photomerge Exposure does with a pair of RAW images optimized for bright and dark areas.

Recompose, which allows you to intelligently stretch a photo to fit in a particular frame without distorting the main subject. The example Adobe uses converts a landscape-format photo into a square photo, but inquiring minds (like mine) are wondering about converting 4:3 photos into 16:9 photos (and vice-versa).

Smarter, faster quick fixes for exposure, teeth whitening, bluer skies, contrast, and more with better previews.

Read on to find out what else is new in Elements 8.

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Posted 09/19/08 at 04:06:05 PM by Mark Edward Soper

Windows Live has come a long way since it was first introduced as a Microsoft brand in 2006. The first wave bolted Hotmail, Messenger, and Spaces into a single download. In last year's second wave, tools like SkyDrive,  Events, Photo Gallery, LiveWriter, Calendar, and Family Safety joined the family, along with support for mobile devices. This week, Microsoft rolled out its third wave, adding a new member to the Windows Live family (Movie Maker) and new features to several existing programs (Messenger, Photo Gallery, Writer, Toolbar, and more). We've already told you about the new features in Hotmail, so join us after the jump to find out what's new and improved.

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Posted 07/15/08 at 12:48:05 PM by Mark Edward Soper

645 (6x4.5cm) film cameras have long been a favorite of medium format photographers, and now Denmark-based Phase One has become the first company to achieve a full-frame digital version of the popular 645 format. Featuring a 60.5MP resolution, Phase One's new P 65+ provides over 10MP more resolution than rival Hasselblad's new H3DII-50 model, along with a 180MB image size.

To find out more about the technology behind Phase One's breakthrough, and to learn more about the flexibility of the Phase One system, join us after the jump.

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Posted 03/05/08 at 07:24:31 PM by Gordon Mah Ung

Does the DSLR still kick the point and shoot's ass?

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