Adobe Photoshop CS6 Public Beta – 6 Sneak Peeks – 5 Gurus' 6 Favorite Features

Adobe Photoshop CS6 Public Beta is now available as a free download.
Download it here today.
You can use it to get used to the new interface and features and decide whether/when to upgrade.You don’t need a lot of reasons to upgrade, you only need one, significantly better shadow and highlight rendition during Raw conversion.
Plus see some of the new magic in these 6 Sneak Peeks and 5 Gurus’ 6 Favorite Features.
I’ve collected all 11 videos in this post.

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Output Sharpening


Image source, frequency of detail, subject, personal preference, output device, substrate or presentation device, and presentation size all play a role in sharpening.The art of sharpening gives you precise control over various image characteristics—contrast, saturation, contour (halo and line), texture and noise. It's best applied in three stages: capture, creative and output.

While there's an art to sharpening, which provides extraordinary creative freedoms, some aspects of sharpening are best automated, such as output sharpening.

Output sharpening is used to compensate for the softening of detail that a specific device produces. Ink on paper, whether applied with an offset press or an inkjet printer, is notably susceptible to this. When drops of ink hit paper, they deform on impact and spread more or less based on the absorption characteristics of the substrate. This is called dot gain; the dots gain size. Dot gain varies with the type of printer, ink and substrate used. It also can be impacted by environmental factors such as humidity. Output sharpening typically also factors in file resolution and the scale of the final product, which is used to determine an ideal viewing distance—though the actual viewing distance is usually variable.


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Chris Orwig's 8 Favorite Quotes



Chris Orwig shares 8 of his favorite quotes.
This one’s my favorite from his selection.
“When the artist is alive in any person, whatever kind of work it may be, he becomes inventive, searching, daring, self-expressive, and creative. He becomes interesting to other people. He disturbs, upsets, enlightens, and opens ways for a better understanding. Where those who are not artists are trying to close the book, he opens it and shows that there are more pages possible.” – Robert Henri
Which is your favorite?
Read all 8 quotes here.
Read Chris’s Q&A and view his TEDx talks here.
Visit Chris Orwig’s website here.
Find more photographer’s favorite quotes here.

Magically Change The Proportion Of Your Photographs With The App 'Liquid Scale'


You can use the app Liquid Scale to distort the frame of an image without distorting key elements in it. Like Adobe Photoshop’s Content Aware Scale, this software identifies image elements that are most likely to be more important than others and distorts other areas, typically areas that are smooth or randomly textured. There are limits to how far you can go before less distorted image elements begin to look unnatural, which are largely image dependent. In some cases, you can go so far as to convincingly turn a vertical image into a horizontal image. It’s magic.
This app will do more than change your images, it will change the way you see.
Read more and see more on The Huffington Post.
Plus find more app reviews.

12 Reasons To Use Colorbyte's Image Print RIP


Colorbyte’s ImagePrint RIP’s isn’t for everyone. It costs roughly half the cost of a printer. But for many it’s a trusted ally that helps them achieve great print quality with a minimum of effort. ImagePrint simplifies printer color management without sacrificing quality for those who aren’t experts and increases productivity for high volume printers, like service bureaus.
Here are 10 reasons to use ImagePrint.
1 – Easier color management (auto sets media type with selection of profile, auto resamples)
2 – Custom profiles and ink recipes for third party substrates
3 – Consistent color (no System, Adobe, Epson variances) – particularly important for service bureaus
4 – True postscript for sharper vector graphics and text
5 – No upper length limit
6 – Light temperature specific profiles
7 – Useful Saturation rendering intent
8 – Cross toning for black and white images with improved separation routines for better dmax, greater longevity, lower metamerism
9 – Auto device dependent resampling to get to perfect resolution (360) without additional sharpening
10 – Better shadow detail control
11 – Drive multiple printers simultaneously
12 – Print from multiple networked computers
13 – Page layouts (but you could use Lightroom)
Is ImagePrint right for you?
If these 10 reasons justify the cost for you.
If you’re tempted to use it try it in its free demo mode or purchase it with their 30 day money back guarantee.
Learn more about ImagePrint here.

Save 10% On Dane Creek Folio Covers


Get 10% off all Dane Creek products with this code is INSIGHTS.
Looking for a simple, affordable, yet elegant solution to presenting a set of your loose prints? Neil Enns of Dane Creek has a solution.
“Dane Creek Folio Covers provide an elegant and inexpensive way to package your favorite images. They are great for fine art photographs, wedding packages, and gifts for friends and family.
Dane Creek Folios began in the spring of 2009 when we couldn’t find an existing source for folio covers after seeing Brooks Jensen talk about them in LensWork magazine. We started out with a single color: charcoal. As our customer base grew we listened to their requests to expand the range of color options. Eclipse Black, Haute Red, Chocolate Truffle, Natural White, and Midnight Blue joined the original Charcoal line. Our covers are designed to hold 10 sheets of high-quality 8.5×11″ photo paper. Each cover comes with a piece of matboard to add stiffness and finish the inside, as well as a clear plastic bag to protect your completed folio.”  –  Neil Enns
Find out more about Dane Creek here.
Learn more about Neil here.
(Neil is also a member of my Next Step Alumni.)

Printing 101 Notebook – Ron Martinsen


“Ron Martinsen is an internationally renowned commercial photographer who has educated over 800,000 visitors on his popular Photography and Photoshop blog. His printing series last year was a huge hit, but there was so much great information to share that his loyal readers asked for a book. Printing 101 Notebook: An Introduction to Fine Art Photography Printing is an eBook that is designed to help frustrated ink jet printer users get the most out of their investment by educating them on everything they will need to make great prints.”
Ron Martinsen’s ebook Printing 101 is packed with digital printing tips and tricks, peppered with links to more resources. In a casual personal tone he offers advice based on his real world experience. While the book is applicable to photographers using any inkjet printer, it offers more information on Canon printers than any other source I’ve encountered. The supporting interviews with industry leaders in printing offer even more information from a diverse group of individuals.
Find out more about Ron Martinsen here.
Get your copy of the Printing 101 Notebook at Flatbooks.
Learn more with my free digital printing ebooks.
Learn more in my digital printing workshops.

Only 2 Spaces Left In My Point Lobos Boutique Workshop


Just days ago I offered a new really intimate workshop format for only 4 people – semi-private. For 3 intense days, we’ll move as one – staying in the same location, sharing all meals, traveling, photographing, and making images together. I’m centering the location at Point Lobos, California (and the nearby coastline down to Big Sur), an area made famous by so many photographers (including Ansel Adams and Edward Weston), which I’ve know very well since I was a child. Great local accommodations, photography galleries, photographers, food and wine will make the experience even richer. (The price is all inclusive.)
The first session sold out in 2 hours, so I scheduled a second, in which there are only 2 spaces left.
Find out more about this special digital photography workshop here.