Shutterbug Staff

Pictage has unveiled their Album Designer 2.0, the latest version of its online
album designer tool. The Pictage Album Designer 2.0 will be available to all professional
photographers partnered with Pictage. A.D. 2.0 is an online application requiring
absolutely no downloading; and, since it was created using the latest AJAX technology,
it's compatible across multiple platforms.
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Canon's new compact photo printer, the SELPHY CP-400 allows you to make 4
x 6-inch postcards or photographs in approximately 81 seconds, four seconds
faster than previous Canon models.

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UMAX Technologies, Inc. has announced the availability of SilverFast HDR and SilverFast
HDR Studio for its full line of UMAX scanners. SilverFast HDR enables users to
process images at 48-bit full dynamic range.



The four upgrade and purchase options are:



1. SilverFast Ai upgrade to SilverFast HDR: This offer is only good for existing
SilverFast Ai UMAX users and is available for $199.00.

2. SilverFast SE upgrade to SilverFast HDR: This offer is only good for existing
SilverFast SE UMAX users and is available for $250.00.

3. SilverFast HDR full version new purchase: Retail is $299.00.

4. SilverFast HDR Studio full version new purchase: Retail is $499.00 and comes
with IT8 color calibration and pocket target



Prior to SilverFast HDR, many of today's scanners did not allow the ability to
write the full dynamic range into TIFF-data, making the reduction to 24-bit RGB
obsolete. Scanners with only 30- or 36-bit capability save up to their maximum
output, but today's leading scanning software, such as PhotoShop, saves
images down to a 24-bit file, discarding the extra information supplied from the
scanner. SilverFast HDR and HDR Studio software gives users the ability to save
and edit 'raw' files in full 48-bit resolution. 48-bit editing opens up a whole
new workflow, enabling images to be scanned and archived into digital format,
and then accessed later without any loss of quality.



SilverFast HDR and HDR Studio allow for raw data processing enables color corrections
in 48-bit. In this extremely large color space no significant shade is lost during
image corrections. When all corrections are done the image can be saved into 48-bit
again and further corrections can be done later.Instead of driving the scanner
directly, SilverFast HDR enables the user to read these raw files and process
the data as if they had access to the original image on the scanner. SilverFast
Scan Type (Image Type in HDR) offers 48-bit Color and 16-bit Grayscale. While
48-bit HDR color scans into an uncorrected 48-bit raw data file (only gamma correction
and ICC-matching can be applied), 48-bit Color or 16-bit Grayscale allows users
to save all corrections into the raw data file (48- or 16-bit Tiff file). It is
also possible to scan directly into Photoshop using the image corrected in high
bit mode.



SilverFast also offers a full set of tools including the ability to define output
size, Auto-Adjust, Histogram, Gradation curves, Selective Color Correction, Unsharp
Masking, Color Separation, and CMYK-Preview.



SilverFast accelerates the processing of large files in real-time, even greater
than 500MB, without delay. Files that have been scanned with SilverFast Ai and
subsequently opened in HDR will have the HiRePP functionality (High Resolution
Picture Performance). SilverFast HDR Studio is an enhanced version of SilverFast
HDR and adds even more power by including Auto Adaptive Contrast Optimization,
SilverFast PhotoProof, a cloning tool, unsharp mask Plus, automatic image import
with renaming functions, conversion of RAW data and JPEG 2000 support.



Additionally, free copies of Taz Tally's Official Guide to SilverFast Ai
6.0 will be included with any upgrade or purchase from UMAX.com for the first
30 days from today.



http://www.umax.com.
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The 8GB SanDisk Ultra II CompactFlash card satisfies the need of those using
high-megapixel digital SLRs, those producing large files with every shot. Ultra
II cards offer a minimum sustained write speed of 9MB/sec and a read speed of
10MB/sec. SanDisk also produces their Extreme III CompactFlash lineup, which
has about double the read/write speed, but because the Extreme III uses a different
type of NAND flash memory the maximum capacity of that lineup is 4GB. In tests
with a variety of digital SLRs the Ultra II performed flawlessly, and it sure
was handy having that amount of memory on trips where lots of images were made
during the day's shoot. For Raw images with an 8MP camera we could get
almost 600 images on a card. Retail price for the 8GB card is $999.99, about
what a 1GB CompactFlash card cost three years ago.

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