April 20, 2010

Camera Raw 5.7, Lightroom 2.7 now available

Lightroom 2.7 (Mac | Win) and Camera Raw 5.7 (Mac | Win) are now available as final releases on Adobe.com and through the update mechanisms available in Photoshop CS4 and Lightroom 2. These updates include camera support for the following models:

• CanonEOS 550D (Digital Rebel T2i/ EOS Kiss X4 Digital)
• Kodak Z981
• Leaf Aptus-II 8
• Leaf Aptus-II 10R
• Mamiya DM40
• Olympus E-PL1
• Panasonic G2
• Panasonic G10
• Sony A450

Release Notes:

• Camera Raw 5.7 includes an updated demosaic algorithm designed to provide compatibility with settings applied in Lightroom 3 beta 2.
• Lightroom 2.7 also includes the same updated demosaic algorithm. The updated demosaic algorithm will appear as a subtle shift in noise characteristics at default values.
• By default Camera Raw will display the image adjustments exactly as performed in the Lightroom 3 beta 2 develop module. However, at this time Camera Raw 5.7 is unable to support further adjustments to the following settings or tools:
  • Highlight Priority and Color Priority post-crop vignette
  • Enhanced Luminance and Color Noise Reduction
  • Grain effects
  • Process Version

To everyone who provided feedback on our Camera Raw 5.7 and Lightroom 2.7 Release Candidates, thanks.

Ask a Creative Suite Pro Your Questions on Thursday

On Thursday Adobe Creative Suite evangelists Greg Rewis (Web), Jason Levine (video/audio), and Terry White (print, photo, etc.) will be hosting a live chat. Terry writes,

This special Q&A session will take place Thursday, April 22th @ 11 AM PDT (2 PM EDT (GMT-4). and it will take place via Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro. Here’s the URL: http://my.adobe.acrobat.com/askcspro

Sign on as a GUEST with your real name. While there is no pre-registration required, this session will be limited to 100 attendees. So it’s first come, first served. I advise you to log in 15 minutes before the 11 AM start time as we plan to start on time.

Just upgraded to CS4, and wondering about CS5?

In case you recently bought CS4 and wonder whether you qualify for a free upgrade to CS5, you might want to consult the Post-Announce Upgrade Frequently Asked Questions document on Adobe.com, or simply call Customer Service (1-800-833-6687 in the US).

Video: Selecting hair with Refine Edge in CS5

Adobe evangelist Terry White has created an excellent 5-minute demo that shows off how easily the rewritten Refine Edge command in Photoshop CS5 can select tricky subject like blowing hair:

Full-screen viewing makes it much easier to see the interface during the demo.

I know it’s easy to knock Photoshop (or any mature tool) by saying, “You guys always just go add new stuff & never fix/improve what’s already there.” In the case of Refine Edge & many other spots within CS5, however, you’ll see that instead of adding something new, we’ve gone back and significantly overhauled what already existed. I think you’ll like the results.