December 06, 2010

Photoshop CS5 update (12.0.2) now available

The Adobe Photoshop 12.0.2 update (Mac|Win) speeds up painting performance and fixes a number of problems discovered after Photoshop CS5 was released.  The most significant fixes in the update include the following:

• A number of potential security vulnerabilities have been addressed
• Crashing bugs related to typography & fonts have been addressed
• Performance of various features has been improved
• Crashes related to opening 3D layers, sharpening, color management, and scanning via TWAIN devices have been fixed
• Problems with brush cursors, the histogram progress bar, the display of selection boundaries (“marching ants”), scrolling while using the shift key, and the use of action droplets have been addressed
• Intermittent file format problems have been addressed
• Metadata-related bugs related to focus distance and Orphea Studio JPEGs have been fixed

In addition you can download a TWAIN plug-in update that includes fixes for multiple document scanning, and a that fixes a crash that could occur when attempting a second scan.

Lightroom 3.3, Camera Raw 6.3 now available

Lightroom 3.3 (Mac|Win) and Camera Raw 6.3 (Mac|Win) for CS5 are now available as final releases on Adobe.com and through the update mechanisms available in Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom 3.  These updates include bug fixes, new camera support and new lens profiles. Cameras added:

• Canon         PowerShot G12
• Canon         PowerShot S95
• Nikon          D7000
• Nikon          Coolpix P7000
• Nikon          D3100
• Olympus     E-5
• Panasonic  DMC-GF2
• Panasonic  DMC-GH2
• Pentax        K-5
• Pentax        K-r
• Ricoh          GXR, GR LENS A12 28mm F2.5
• Samsung    NX100
• Samsung    TL350 (WB2000)
• Sony           A560
• Sony           A580

For a complete list of lens profiles added & bugs fixed, please see Tom Hogarty’s post on the Lightroom Journal.

Remember that if you’re using an older version (Lightroom 2.x, Photoshop CS4, etc.), you can use the free DNG Converter (Mac|Win) to save disk space (losslessly compressing your proprietary camera files) while making images compatible with your app.

VueScan 9 goes 64-bit

I haven’t tried it & haven’t seen user feedback, but the new VueScan 9 scanning app promises 64-bit compatibility and the ability to create very large scans.  If you take it for a spin with Photoshop CS5, you’re welcome to post your impressions here. [Via Jeff Tranberry]

(rt) Photography: Ansel does iPad, Mon Calamari, & more

• The work of Ansel Adams has come to iPad. [Via Zalman Stern]
• Heaven & earth:
  • “Skyward“: Patience rewards with a beautiful photo.
  • A neat satellite photo captures the UK & Ireland covered in snow. [Via]
• Photographer John Warner dubbed his father-son photo trip to Ireland “Dad, Lad, & iPad.” I love it.
• Fun with miniatures:
  • “It’s a Frap!!” So nerdy, but right up my alley.
  • Call it “Shirts vs. Tiny Plastic Blouses.”