on1 Perfect Suite 9.5 Released - Video Overview

My friends at on1 Software released the latest version of its popular photo editing suite called Perfect Photo Suite 9.5 at 9:00 AM Pacific today so I decided to give a quick walkthrough of some of the new features that caught my attention. Check it out..

Of course that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Check out the official press release here:

PRESS RELEASE: Introducing Perfect Photo Suite 9.5

We take user feedback seriously. Our team has worked hard the past several months to improve performance and user experience in the latest release of our photo-editing app – Perfect Photo Suite. In this latest release, version 9.5, we’ve improved performance and usability for customers in several areas which include; browsing photos, portrait retouching, processing speed, feature additions, and enhancements.

Browse

Browsing photos is one of the key improvements and one of the most important tasks for photographers. Today, photographers use Perfect Browse as a front end to their workflow with other programs like Adobe® Lightroom® and Photoshop®.

Speed

The biggest reason to adopt this workflow is speed. Browsing photos must be fast, period. Improved speed in viewing photos assists in organizing photo libraries and helps determine what photos you want to work on. Specifically, the ability to view large Raw files in detail can take forever with some apps. Not with Perfect Browse. Users will see up to a 50% increase in speed with the latest version. Quickly seeing all the detail in photos without pixilation allows for faster culling, sorting, and rating. Then send your photos with the ratings intact to Lightroom or other applications, faster than ever before.

Organize

We’ve also added new features to Perfect Browse, which makes it a great standalone option for getting organized. on1 Albums allow you to create a collection of your favorite photos and provide a fast way to view them without searching. Want to drag and drop photos into an album? It’s simple to do right in Perfect Browse. Select the photos you want to add to the album and drag them to the Album Hot Spot. Photos in an on1 album can live anywhere, whether in the cloud or on your computer.

Faster Retouching and Effects

Another area we’ve focused on is improved speed and performance for portrait retouching and filters in Perfect Effects. Perfect Portrait is now faster than ever for auto face detection, and finding the details of the face, eyes, lips, and mouth. With easier to adjust control points and smoother sliders it makes for much quicker portrait edits. Many of the filters in Perfect Effects have been updated to use the computer GPU to make them much faster.

New Features

In addition to all the performance enhancements, Perfect Photo Suite 9.5 also has some great new features. The Line Mask tool allows you to create a straight path for masking sharp edges where brushing is difficult. Luminosity Masks have also been added for users to work on the luminance values or lighter and darker parts of a photo based on a specific selection.

To learn more about Perfect Photo Suite 9.5 and the rest of the new features, availability, and pricing, please CLICK HERE.

Conclusion

I started preaching a while back that this is a viable alternative to Photoshop and Lightroom (webinar video) and it seems each 6 months it gets better and better. The performance and reliability updates of this version make it the best version yet, so it’s definitely worth checking out the free trial when you get a chance!

Where to order

Click here to get a free trial to check it out today. Fortunately it runs side by side with previous versions so there’s no need to fear installing it.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• One Perfect Photo Suite 8 (B&W Products Comparison)
• onOne Perfect Resize 7.5
• Photoshop-Free Editing in Perfect Photo Suite 8 Webinar

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

15% Off All onOne Software Store Products until August 31, 2014

Thanks for attending my onOne Software webinar today!

Click here and enter the coupon code ronmart15 to save 15% off all products in the store including presets and eBooks, so load up your cart!

Here’s an example of how to use the code:

Conclusion

The video for the webinar will be here soon, so stay tuned! In the meantime, download a free trial to play around with the software or purchase using the links above today!

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• onOne Perfect Photo Suite 8 (B&W Products Comparison)
• onOne Perfect Resize 7.5
• Ron’s Recommendations
• Choosing The Right Display Calibration Device
• HDR Software Comparison
• HOW TO: Drastically Improve Your Handheld Shots
• Home Studio on a Budget
• How do I get my kid to look at the darn camera?
• How much is my photo or video worth?
• Noise Reduction Software Roundup Conclusion (DISCOUNTS)
• Photographers Gift Guide / Recommendations
• Things You Need AFTER You Buy Your New Camera - Must Have Photography Accessories
• What Camera Bag should I buy?
• What Photoshop books should I read?
• What camera gear should I bring to Disney, Universal, Six Flags, etc...?
• What plug-ins should I buy? (for Photoshop & Lightroom)
• What tripod Should I Buy? (includes heads & monopods)
• Where should I display and/or sell my pictures online?
• Which Printer Should I Buy? Epson or Canon?
• Which books should I read?
• Which camera should I buy?
• Which lens should I buy?

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

First Thoughts: Perfect Photo Suite 8 Final Release

I’ll be doing a full review soon, but in the meantime here’s my initial thoughts on the main products included…

Perfect Enhance 8

Perfect Enhance is basically like your develop module in Lightroom. It’s the place where you get started with your basic editing as well as where you revisit for your final touches. I love the graphical layout and sharpening panel.

Perfect Effects 8

This module gets a whole lot better thanks to the new Perfect Brush and Gradient Tool. Everything you liked before is there with subtle but powerful user interface enhancements.

Perfect Effects 8 - Dynamic Contrast is similar to Nik's Tonal Contrast
(Red hair is a visible mask painted with the new perfect brush)

Dynamic Contrast is going to be a big hit because it’s similar to what Nik’s Tonal Contrast does but with visual presets and editing aids to help control how much effect is applied using the Detail sliders.

Perfect Portrait 8

Perfect Portrait will feel familiar, but the improved blemish eraser now features content aware fill so it is as effective as Photoshop’s default spot healing brush.

Perfect B&W 8

Perfect B&W doesn’t seem to have changed much feature wise, but it definitely seems more stable. The brushes are helpful now as well.

Perfect Resize 8

No big changes for Perfect Resize, but its integration is seamless.

See my summary at the end for more thoughts…

PRESS RELEASE: onOne Software Announces Availability of Perfect Photo Suite 8

New Perfect Eraser for Content-Aware Fill, Enhance and Browse Modules, Perfect Batch Processor, and Re-imagined Effects Module Evolve Popular Plug-In Into a Complete Photo Editing Solution for Every Workflow

Portland, OR – November 26, 2013 – onOne Software, Inc., a leading developer of innovative digital photography solutions, today announced the availability of Perfect Photo Suite 8—the Photographer’s Choice for Photo Editing. Perfect Photo Suite 8 is a full-featured, standalone photo editor that also integrates seamlessly with Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, Photoshop Elements, and Apple Aperture. It includes all the best tools a photographer needs to create stunning images.

Key new features include the Perfect Eraser, with content-aware fill technology; the Perfect Enhance module for essential photo adjustments; a new Browser that streamlines direct access to images wherever they are located; the Perfect Batch engine that applies presets to multiple images with a single click; and a re-engineered Perfect Effects module, with twice as many adjustable filters, customizable presets, and integrated FocalPoint technology. These new tools and capabilities alongside Perfect Photo Suite 8’s eight modules, one-click presets, tools for automated enhancements, and powerful controls allow photographers to enhance, retouch, and stylize images in a layered workflow, replace backgrounds, create high-quality enlargements, and prepare images for output—giving them the ability to express their creativity and transform their photos quickly and easily.

“We are extremely excited about Perfect Photo Suite 8,” said Craig Keudell, president of onOne Software. “This version is the result of what photographers have been asking for, not only from us but from the industry as a whole. We’re grateful for the contributions and feedback the photography community has invested in our effort and we believe that we’ve created an extraordinarily powerful image editing tool that meets their specific needs in return.”
After a successful public beta program for Perfect Photo Suite 8, many photographers had a chance to try out the new version and give their feedback. “The attention to your user’s needs is unmatched,” said Rebecca Lyyski, owner of Lyyski’s Designs. “As a graphic designer and photographer with an elevated workload, your product has made editing my professional photography a pleasure instead of a chore,” she adds. Greg Lambert, public beta user and onOne Software photo contest winner shared, “Perfect Photo Suite 8 continues to evolve by refining its existing capability, streamlining the interface and providing some new and exciting tools and presets to enable photographers to produce the images they visualize when they press the shutter button.”

The New Perfect Photo Suite 8 Features:

• Eight integrated modules – Effects, Enhance, B&W, Portrait, Mask, Layers, Resize, and Browse. Each module is designed to target a specific image-processing task. Together, they help photographers enhance, retouch, and stylize images in a layered workflow, replace backgrounds, create high-quality enlargements, and prepare images for use in various capacities.
• New Module! Perfect Enhance provides essential tools for basic enhancements, such as brightness and contrast adjustments; colorcast, dust spot, and power line removal; and the addition of vignettes. It is an ideal module to start with when using Perfect Photo Suite 8 as a standalone application or when quick corrections are needed.
• New Module! Browse provides convenient and direct access to image files wherever they are stored—whether they are on a computer, an external drive, a connected network, or on a cloud-based storage service like Dropbox, Google Drive, or Apple’s Photo Stream.
• Reimagined! Perfect Effects – As a cornerstone of Perfect Photo Suite 8, the Effects module has been redesigned by adding adjustable filters and customizable presets, making it the most powerful and versatile image stylization tool available on the market today.

Twice as Many Adjustable Filters to create the most sought-after looks, including:

• Dynamic Contrast – Adds stunning clarity to images and makes them pop by exaggerating the levels of contrast, without sacrificing highlight and shadow detail, creating halos, or affecting saturation.
• Lens Blur – Includes the best parts of FocalPoint technology to create bokeh, tilt-shift, and selective focus effects after the shot.
• HDR – Gives images the edgy look of high dynamic range. Settings are adjustable and create effects that range from subtle to surreal.
• Vintage – Turns photos into a nostalgic memory with retro-style filters.

Powerful brushes provide the right results for specific editing tasks:

• Perfect Eraser removes objects with content-aware fill technology
• Retouch Brush uses spot healing to remove small distractions
• Clone Brush removes unwanted items by replicating and covering specified areas of an image
• Masking Brush reveals underlying layers or selectively applies effects
• Perfect Brush delivers precise edge-detection masking

Hundreds of Customizable Presets are available throughout Perfect Photo Suite 8 that make it easy for any photographer to instantly create an image they love. Presets can also be used as starting points for creativity and efficiency. Presets are included in the Enhance, Effects, B&W, Portrait, and Resize modules.

Improved Masking Bug in the Effects and Layers modules make mask creation easier and more intuitive.

Perfect Batch engine simultaneously applies presets from multiple modules and a watermark to a selected group of images.

Availability and Pricing

The new Perfect Photo Suite 8 is now available at www.ononesoftware.com/store. Perfect Photo Suite 8 is available in three editions: Premium, Standard, and for Adobe Lightroom & Apple Aperture.

The Premium Edition works with Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, Photoshop Elements, Apple Aperture, and as a standalone application. It is priced at $179.95. Owners of previous versions of Perfect Photo Suite Premium Edition can upgrade for $99.95. For a limited time, orders of Perfect Photo Suite 8 Premium Edition will include a special collection of Professional Presets and The Essential Video Guide to Perfect Photo Suite 8, which provides a comprehensive collection of getting started training videos for Perfect Photo Suite 8—for free ($80 value). This offer ends on December 3, 2013.

Perfect Photo Suite 8 for Adobe Lightroom & Apple Aperture works with Lightroom, Aperture, Photoshop Elements, and as a standalone application. It is available for $129.95; upgrades are $79.95. The Standard Edition works as a complete standalone photo editor and is available for $79.95. For more information on Perfect Photo Suite 8, please visit http://www.ononesoftware.com. A 30-day Money Back Guarantee backs all onOne Software products.

About onOne Software

onOne Software, Inc., is a leading developer of innovative software tools and apps for digital photography and offers time-saving software solutions for photographers of all levels, from enthusiasts to professionals. Leveraging its extensive history as successful plug-in developer for Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Photoshop Lightroom, and Apple Aperture, and continued development of cutting-edge technology, onOne publishes unified solutions that offer both full-featured photo editing capabilities and the flexibility of traditional plug-ins. Founded in 2005, onOne Software is a privately held company located in Portland, Oregon. For additional information, visit www.ononesoftware.com.

Conclusion

I wasn’t a big fan of Focal Point and I hated its “bug”, so I’m not too sad to see it go. With the Perfect Brush making masks easy, I find myself using the brush quite often – much like I use U-Point controls in the Nik Collection.

I’m also excited about how fast and reliable this version seems to be, and how the brushes feel as effective and powerful even more so than the one in Lightroom.

With the browse and enhance modules, it’s now very possible to do all your work just in the onOne Suite. The lack of a good noise reduction solution is probably its biggest handicap, but if you aren’t using noise reduction software, then you’ll probably not even notice this issue.

I’ll have more to say in my upcoming full review of the new suite, but my early testing makes it a no brainer upgrade for me. The perfect brush, dynamic contrast, improved performance and better integration make it the most flexible and powerful version yet.

Where to order

Click here to order and learn more.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• onOne Perfect Photo Suite 7 (B&W Products Comparison)
• onOne Perfect Resize 7.5

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

Nik Software Owners: Get onOne Perfect Photo Suite 7 for 50% off

This offer has moved - CLICK HERE to see the latest offer

For a limited time only, owners of Nik plug-ins including the Complete Collection, ColorEfex Pro, Silver Efex Pro, Viveza, or Dfine, can get 50% off onOne Software's Perfect Photo Suite 7 Premium Edition!
Perfect Photo Suite 7 Premium Edition includes seven integrated products that give you more capabilities and more power and than any plug-in collection available. It seamlessly integrates with Photoshop, Lightroom, and Aperture, and unlike other plug-ins, you can also use it as a standalone application with full photo editing capabilities including layers.
When you become an onOne Software owner, you'll have peace of mind knowing that your software 
investment will continue to reap rewards from our ongoing development of new and ground-breaking technologies today and into the distant future.

Ordering Info

Your cart should look like this if you clicked the correct link 

Just click here and order the upgrade of Perfect Photo Suite 7 – no other discounts can be applied (including my coupon code). You can get my thoughts on this great suite at http://www.ronmartblog.com/2012/11/coupon-codereview-onone-perfect-photo.html. This is a great deal that I definitely recommend!

Don’t have a Nik Software Product? Get it here at a discount!

Click here to learn more about how you can get a special deal on the Nik Collection by Google and get both suites for the less than the full price for Perfect Photo Suite!

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission.

onOne Software Announces Perfect Photo Suite 7.5 for Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, and Apple Aperture

New Updates Add Quick View Browser, Red Eye Reduction Tools, and Clone
Brush to Improve Photo Editing Results

Portland, OR - April 17, 2013 - onOne Software, Inc ., the leading developer and provider of photo effects for everyone, today announced Perfect Photo Suite 7.5 for Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Apple Aperture, and as a standalone application. Tackling problems commonly encountered in photo editing, Perfect Photo Suite 7.5 includes new Red Eye reduction tools and a Clone Brush that remove common distractions found in photos. The update also includes a new Quick View Browser—which showcases images and effects in a full-screen gallery view—and support for the newly announced Lightroom 5.

Perfect Photo Suite 7.5 will be available to owners of Perfect Photo Suite 7 as a free update. For a limited time, new users may purchase the Premium Edition for $199.95 or the Lightroom & Aperture Edition for $99.95. Owners of previous versions of Perfect Photo Suite can upgrade to the Perfect Photo Suite 7 Premium Edition for $99.95 or the Lightroom & Aperture Edition for $69.95.

“We are pleased to offer these new updates in Perfect Photo Suite 7.5,” said Craig Keudell, president of onOne Software. “They are part of our continuing efforts to improve the Suite for our customers and help them with their photo editing and stylization needs.’

Two versions of id eye reduction are available with Perfect Photo Suite 7.5. In Perfect Portrait. red eye reduction is built into the automatic face detection feature. In Perfect Layers, the Red Eye Tool is available as a brush, which can be dabbed to remove red eyes caused by flash photography.

The new Clone Brush quickly and effectively removes distractions in photos, such as power lines or people. The brush feather and opacity may be adjusted, and any shape or object may simply be painted over.

The Quick View Browser gives users the ability to see all of their images, effects or presets in a full-screen gallery, making it easy to browse image folders and preview and select effects.

With continued support for Photoshop CS6, CS5 and CS4, Lightroom 4, 3, 2 and the newly announced Lightroom 5, Perfect Photo Suite 7.5 includes:

• Perfect Effects 4 extends the creative power offered by the popular PhotoTools and provides even more ways to create images with impact. Perfect Effects 4 delivers an extended library of professional photographic effects, frames and edges accessible from a flexible browser with keyword search functionality and Favorites selection. Blending modes and paint-in brush effects offer even more creative options for how effects are combined and applied.
• Perfect B&W helps photographers develop stunning black and white images quickly and easily. It includes powerful and intuitive tools that add dramatic, elegant, and classic black and white looks to images instantly and offers users complete creative control to reproduce time-honored black and white processing techniques.
• Perfect Portrait 2 offers simply power portrait retouching. with automated feature detection and enhancement tools to smooth skin, remove blemishes, brighten eyes and teeth, and correct skin color. Fast processing speeds also allow photographers to retouch images quickly for simply stunning portraits.
• Perfect Layers 3 gives photographers the ability to combine images and extend their image editing options in a layered file workflow without Photoshop. Users can create and edit multi-layered files with Perfect Layers directly from Lightroom, Aperture or as a standalone application. Also included are blending modes, textures, borders, PNG file support, and the powerful edge-detecting Perfect Brush.
• Perfect Resize 7.5 is the industry standard for image enlargement. lt is renowned across the photographic and printing industries for its ability to increase image size well over 1000% without the loss of sharpness or detail that is normally expected. Proven Genuine Fractals technology has been applied to algorithms that optimize the clarity and detail of different image types, including mobile snapshots.
• Perfect Mask 5.2 creates high quality masks quickly and easily with automated functionality and powerful tools that make selecting subjects and isolating backgrounds for removal extraordinarily accurate.
• FocalPoint 2: FocalPoint 2 allows photographers to put the focus where they want after the shot. It’s the best way to add the most realistic depth of field and selective focus control to any image after it is photographed. Choose from a selection of lens presets to produce specific bokeh or adjust the amount and kind of blur you want.

Availability

The new Perfect Photo Suite 7.5 will be available in May 2013 to owners of Perfect Photo Suite 7 as a free update at no additional cost. For a limited time, new users may purchase the Premium Edition for $199.95 (Reg. price $249.95) or the Lightroom & Aperture Edition for $99.95 (Reg. price $149.95). Owners of previous versions of Perfect Photo Suite can upgrade to the Perfect Photo Suite 7 Premium Edition for $99.95 (Reg. price $149.95) or the Lightroom & Aperture Edition for $69.95 (Reg. price $79.95). For more information on the Perfect Photo Suite 7.5, please visit http://www.ononesoftware.com.

Save 50% Off ALL onOne Software products if you own the Nik Collection by Google

Save 50% on the Perfect Photo Suite 7 (with a FREE upgrade to 7.5) if you own the Nik Collection by Google

onOne Software Announces First Mobile Photo Editing and Sharing App

Perfect B&W for iPhone and iPad

Perfect B&W for iPhone and iPad gives users the ability to create and share stunning black and white images wherever they are with their mobile devices, with one-tap presets and photo editing tools. The one-tap presets in Perfect B&W for iPhone and iPad let you instantly get the looks of such renowned photographers such as Ansel Adams and Henri Cartier-Bresson, add the clarity and sharpness of HDR images, infuse the romance of vintage Hollywood, and more. They match presets available in onOne Software’s desktop version of Perfect B&W, letting users create the same look for their photos, regardless of the device. For mobile photographers who want finer control, Perfect B&W for iPhone and iPad has advanced options for adding or adjusting glows, sharpening, toners, vignettes and more. Once a user has dialed in that special look, it can be saved as a preset that can be used again and again.

Availability

Perfect B&W for iPhone and iPad will be available on the Apple App Store in mid-April. It will be priced at $1.99.

Where to order

Click here to order directly from onOne Software. Click the banner earlier in this article if you want to upgrade from the Nik Collection by Google.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• onOne Genuine Fractals 6.0 (Aka Perfect Resize)
• onOne Perfect Photo Suite 7
• B&W Products Comparison
• Nik Complete Collection by Google now only $149 (BEFORE discount) – Get the two of the most popular suites in the industry for less than the full price of Perfect PhotoSuite!

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

Discount Coupon Code Changes for onOne and Imagenomic–Act NOW before they drop!

Sorry, these offers have expired

onOne Discount Expires on March 2nd–ORDER NOW

Check out my review for Perfect Photo Suite 7 and decide quickly if you want to get this awesome set of products for super low $36.42 per product ($254.96 total with coupon code RMART20). onOne is retiring their affiliate discount program so this could be the lowest price you’ll see this year!

Here’s all the cool products you’ll get:

Click to read my review

Order Now and Save 15% with Coupon Code RMART20[EXPIRES MARCH 2nd, 2013]

If you don’t have it, you should get this one. If you do, then you definitely should upgrade (it’s only $127.46!!!). It’s that plain and simple as this is a game changing release. It’s dirt cheap too for what you get – especially when you compare how much stuff you’d need to buy (on top of Photoshop) to get the equivalent products.

Click here to order your copy of Perfect Photo Suite 7 or any of its individual products. However, the bundle price is so sweet I recommend just getting the whole thing. With my discount, it’s actually less than I paid for my first copy of Color Efex!!!

What’s more, if you own any Nik Software product you can get the entire suite for 50% (expires February 28th, 2013) . See my article entitled Nik Software Owners: Get onOne Perfect Photo Suite 7 for 50% off for more details.

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. I was also provided with a copy of this product for the purposes of evaluating it for a review.

REVIEW: onOne Perfect Photo Suite 7–Look Out Adobe, Nik, Imagenomic and Anthropics!

onOne Software is one of those companies that just keeps trying harder and harder to be the best and I think they are going to get there (especially if Google blows it with the Nik Software acquisition).

I just got my copy of Perfect Photo Suite 7 recently and I’m super impressed. In fact, I’m so impressed that my original plan to post an article about it in mid-December had to get pushed up so I could share the news with everyone before they blew all of their money on Black Friday & Cyber Monday – ha, ha!

Perfect Effects – Color Efex Killer?

Perfect Photo Suite 7 is fast and powerful – a big improvement over 6!

While the photo editing above is pretty ugly (created to illustrate some points during a quick tour of the UI), what I’m seeing that has me so excited is that there’s even better layers support with blending modes and stacking that feels very Photoshop like. This is a huge win for Lightroom users who don’t own Photoshop, but long for its powerful masks and blending modes.

There’s also the addition of some popular Nik Software Color Efex filters like Tonal Contrast, Green Enhancer (called Foliage in Color Efex) and Golden Hour Enhancer (called Skylight in Color Efex). While I wouldn’t say the default settings are as good as the Color Efex equivalents, the flexibility in the in Effects Options gives you the ability to get there – and do it with only one suite instead of having to buy both Perfect Effects and the Nik Software bundle.

If you use Lightroom/Aperture and don’t have Photoshop, I think onOne just changed the game where you’d be better off owning Perfect Effects than Color Efex. Color Efex is my bread and butter app that I can’t live without so I won’t give it up because I own Photoshop, but what they’ve done in this release is making me give it a closer second look!

Perfect Help (aka Guidance)

Help that’s well, Helpful!

One of the things I really love about this release is that right off the bat you are given very helpful intro help on how to use the products. No more wading through long videos or docs – it just tells you what you need to know now to get going – much like cell phone apps – woohoo!!!

Perfect Resize is Perfect!!!

Oh my God, sometimes things are better than what you can wish for and that’s the case with Perfect Resize 7.5 Pro! I would have never dreamed up the presets that they have for the different papers and iOS devices, but that rocks big time!!!! WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW!!!!!

onOne Software just took the best resizing product ever and made better – I’m floored! If you’ve got to resize images, at a minimum you’ve got to get this upgrade – it’s totally worth it (especially if you do gallery wraps).

Look Out Silver Efex Pro, onOne Software Perfect B&W is coming to get you!

Perfect B&W makes me think of the perfect BMW’s because their slogan is The Ultimate Driving Machine®, but when I use Perfect B&W I start to think it could make a run as the The Ultimate Black & White Plugin. Seriously, they’ve taken all the goodness that I love about Silver Efex Pro 2 (and I REALLY love that product), and one up’d it. Now my workflow with Silver Efex is pretty set and I’ve built my own presets, so it would take me a while to recreate the same exact looks with this product – but just like with Perfect Effects vs Color Efex – the potential to do that is there. You certainly don’t need both products as both are amazingly powerful.

If you buy Perfect Photo Suite, your black and white needs are done – you’ll create excellent B&W processing of your images.

This was huge surprise for me – I didn’t see this coming and I definitely thought it would be a half-hearted attempt. However, this is the real deal – the full monty and more!

It Even Has Insert Image as a Layer Booyeah!!!!

By accident I stumbled across this gem – woohoo!!! You can now throw another image in as another layer and use blend modes (think textures), opacity (think watermarks), masks (think crappy sky replacements) and more. This is another case where onOne Software is really peeing on Adobe’s lawn – seriously!

Perfect Portrait – Say Goodbye to Portrait Professional!

Anthropics Portrait Professional is popular due to its massive advertising and its ability to take some of the tedious work out of portrait retouching. However, I’ve never been super impressed with its results. Honestly I think it’s kind of cumbersome in its own right, and if I’m going to spend that kind of time I can do it better myself.

Perfect Portrait builds on top of the “automatic” features that you find in Portrait Professional and makes things even easier and faster by offering excellent presets and easier to understand tools and UI. I’m probably still biased towards Portraiture for my skin softening, but for everything else portrait-wise this product can really save me a ton of time! I like it, and I’m definitely going to start using it on my portraits!

Conclusion

This product is blazing fast – way faster than Photoshop – and damn near as powerful. The only thing I see it really lacking is a good noise reduction and sharpening product/solution (I’m still not crazy with what it offers). Add those things (done well) and there’s really little reason for most photographers to own Photoshop. This product is that good and comprehensive. It smacks Nik upside the head and says “c’mon punk, I’m coming after you”; it turns its back on Portrait Professional and says “welcome to the new world”; and it flat out puts up a big middle finger to Adobe and says “who needs you anymore”.

Oh yeah, onOne isn’t going to make any friends with this release because they pretty much have given most of the products in my recommended plugins list a run for their money. I think that is a good thing though as it offers a better value to those who can’t afford Photoshop, and it pretty much keeps the rest of the industry on its toes.

Order Now and Save 15% with Coupon Code RMART20 [EXPIRES MARCH 2nd, 2013]

If you don’t have it, you should get this one. If you do, then you definitely should upgrade (it’s only $127.46!!!). It’s that plain and simple as this is a game changing release. It’s dirt cheap too for what you get – especially when you compare how much stuff you’d need to buy (on top of Photoshop) to get the equivalent products.

Click here to order your copy of Perfect Photo Suite 7 or any of its individual products. However, the bundle price is so sweet I recommend just getting the whole thing. With my discount, it’s actually less than I paid for my first copy of Color Efex!!!

What’s more, if you own any Nik Software product you can get the entire suite for 50% (expires February 28th, 2013) . See my article entitled Nik Software Owners: Get onOne Perfect Photo Suite 7 for 50% off for more details.

If that’s still not good enough, then you can try Perfect Effects 4 for free with this offer (not a trial version):

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may enjoy these as well:

• HDR Software Comparison
• Noise Reduction Software Roundup Conclusion (DISCOUNTS)
• Things You Need AFTER You Buy Your New Camera - Must Have Photography Accessories
• What Photoshop books should I read?
• What plug-ins should I buy? (for Photoshop & Lightroom)
• Nik Software Color Efex 4 Video Tutorial (Review)
• Nik Software Dfine 2.0 Review
• Nik Software HDR Efex Pro 2.0 Review
• Nik Software Sharpener Pro 3.0 Review
• Nik Software Silver Efex Pro 2.0 Review
• Nik Software Viveza 2.0 Review
• Nik Software Viveza for Lightroom Review

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. I was also provided with a copy of this product for the purposes of evaluating it for a review.

Ask Ron: What do you think about Pixelmator 2.04?

Aleem Hossain asked me on Google+ what I thought about Pixelmator, so I thought I’d give it a try. This is Mac app that is only available via the App Store with no Windows counterpart. It’s designed to be a Photoshop alternative, but realistically it’s more like a Photoshop Elements alternative.

Since it runs on the Mac OS, it can open any RAW files supported by the system so I had no trouble opening my 5D Mark III and D800 raw files. Now there’s no raw processor so I couldn’t control how that RAW file was opened, but it did seem to be have the same way was you’d see in iPhoto. I did notice that some filters worked fine but others really struggled with these big files, so it supported but didn’t really like RAW files. In my opinion its best to use this product AFTER you’ve done your RAW conversion in Capture NX2 or DPP.

I was also able to open some of my Photoshop file with layers, but others failed. I’m not entirely sure what it didn’t like about some, but the behavior seemed to be on par with what I saw using Perfect Layers in my Perfect Photo Suite review. Perfect Layers is now free, so if you just need layers then this isn’t necessarily a must purchase product.

After using it for about an hour I reached the following conclusions:

• It’s performance is great with JPEG’s, but sluggish with RAW files 
• Fantastic selection of built-in filters
• Layers and content aware healing make it a great tool for those who can’t afford the Adobe alternatives
• I’ll still keep using Photoshop, but this isn’t bad at all

Here’s a little video that I made where I explore some of what’s available in a simple overview.

Play in HD

Some filters like Film Stock seem exciting, but really don’t do much. Others like Bulge & Dent mimic the Liquify filter, but its as nasty to use as spot healing in Lightroom. However, there’s lots of really cool and unusual filters that are decent which you’d usually have to pay extra for in Photoshop.

I didn’t see any way to use my existing Photoshop or Lightroom filter with this product, so you are out of luck there. There’s also key things like the fade feature and channels palette that Photoshop users will likely miss.

Conclusion

If you can afford Photoshop then I still say get it (especially CS6) as it’s still the king with no serious competitor. However, if you are just getting started and don’t have any budget for software then Pixelmator is a great solution for Mac users to get started.

You’ll be able to do basic editing of your image and even some advanced stuff thanks to the content aware healing brush, stamp tool, layers and an excellent array of built in features. It’ll be happiest with your JPEG’s, but it will work on your RAW files with a bit more sluggish behavior.

Snapseed by Nik Software and Perfect Photo Suite are other good Photoshop alternatives, but neither product is as powerful with portrait retouching as Pixelmator. However, those products also have a lot of features that Pixelmator doesn’t have so I’d really call them more complementary than competing products.

At $29.99 at the time of this writing, you can’t go wrong. I’ll still use Photoshop, but I picked this up just for the filters. You are getting a $30 product so set your expectations accordingly, but I still think it’s a no brainer purchase for Mac users just for the filters alone.

Click here to buy Pixelmator on the AppStore. You can also try it for free for 30 days, so you can’t really go wrong.

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may get a commission. Please support this blog by using my links when you are ready to buy your copy of Pixelmator.

onOne Software Perfect Photo Suite 6.1 Sale–Only $199.95 Until May 1st

Just click here and you’ll get the special price while this offer is in effect. It’ll show coupon code STE6 in your cart, so if you don’t see that then the sale is over.

After the sale is over you can save 10% on ALL onOne Software products when you use my onOne Software Coupon Code RMART20 (if not working, check my discount coupon code page for the current code).

Limited Time Until May 1st

Get the entire Perfect Photo Suite for only $199.95 until May 1st! This is an insane deal as several of the products included are totally worth the $199 alone, so to get all these products at this low price (normally about $499) is really great!

Even if you don’t get the suite, you can still get a free copy of  Perfect Effects 3 and Perfect Layers 2 to add layers to your Aperture or Lightroom workflow:

Click the links below to see my onOne Software product reviews:

• onOne Perfect Photo Suite 6
• onOne Software's Photoframe 4.0 Professional
• Mini Review: onOne Software Focal Point 2

Disclosure

I may make a commission if you make a purchase using links found in this article.

REVIEW: onOne Perfect Photo Suite 6.0.1 – Say Goodbye To Photoshop?

Integration Done Right!

People joke that it takes Microsoft three versions to get things right, and there’s probably some truth in that. In the case of suite bundles from onOne Software I’m going to say that they’ve been doing things right for a while, but the sixth time is certainly a charm.

Integration Done Right

When I had my first look at Perfect Layers, I knew that good things were in store for onOne Software’s future. While the first version was lacking some critical features, they had opened Pandora’s box by offering something sorely missing from Lightroom – layers. It was a good start, but it left me wanting for more.

Since I first started reviewing plug-ins in 2007, I’ve been complaining to onOne Software and Nik Software that its ridiculous that they have separate user-interfaces for all of their products. I wanted to see the products integrated where each product was merely a module, and they could all work together. I’m happy to say that onOne Software has become the first to answer the call in Perfect Photo Suite 6.

There’s tons of new features in this bundle, but nothing outshines the most important one – integration. You can now launch a stand-alone executable (which can also be launched from Lightroom’s Plug-in Extras menu) that will start in Perfect Layers, but it allows you to use all of the products in the bundle to create a single file.

Lightroom users should rejoice as this may be enough for some to avoid owning Photoshop. While advanced users won’t be ready to give up Photoshop, they will appreciate the ability to do some advanced edits using the suite where going to Photoshop becomes optional. There’s so much in this bundle with the massive enhancements with Perfect Effects (formerly PhotoTools) and the addition of Perfect Portrait that I’ve been finding myself doing all that I need for some of my photos without going elsewhere.

Perfect Photo Suite 6 is integration done right, and I love it!

What’s New

I love the new stand-alone user-interface

For the sake users of the previous generation of onOne Software products, I’m going to be quite frank – this is the first version that I really find myself using extensively. In the past I liked what was offered, but either bugs, quirkiness, or slow performance just kept me from really using their products. I knew there was some things that I wanted to use, but in reality I found myself only using Perfect Resize and PhotoFrame regularly.

Perfect Effects is nearly perfect and a much better tool

Having fun adding a little color and snow to the hot air balloon event with Perfect Effects

PhotoTools offered some great plug-ins, but its lack of preview and painfully slow performance made me avoid it like the plague. That’s unfortunate as there were some really good filters in it, but I just couldn’t stand not having real-time previews and fast performance. I’m thrilled to say that my prayers have been answered, and now PhotoTools has been renamed to Perfect Effects to become the product I always hoped it would be. There’s live thumbnails with large hover previews that show me exactly what will happen to my photo if I select a given filter (like Lightroom’s Navigator window in the Develop tab. Applying the filters is fast, and like before they are stackable. While UI features like search and favorites are sorely missing, I find myself able to quickly find what I’m looking for. I’m also feeling that less is more, so the lack of clutter makes this version SO much more approachable.

Perfect Portrait doesn’t suck

Mouse in and out to see the before and after of this fast Perfect Portrait edit

I’m a huge fan of Portraiture – I use it on every photo of a person that I am editing, so when I heard about the addition of Perfect Portrait I was skeptical. I was fearful that it would just be a disappointment like Portrait Professional that left my people looking totally fake (or lacking a believable probability), but instead I was very pleasantly surprised at what I got for a v1.0 product. This product will not only will it automatically detect the skin, eyes, and teeth but it also does a pretty darn good job with its default processing. Fortunately the folks at onOne realized that “auto” anything usually sucks, so they let you refine the areas they detect simply by brushing and you can dial in the enhancements to suit your taste. There’s even the ability to adjust the opacity, skin tone and add grain so that final result looks like you did hours of facial editing. I’m very, very happy with the direction this product is going! While I still prefer Portraiture for my needs, this is going to be my go-to product for non-commercial work. It’s just too fast and easy not to use it!

Everything Else

I’ve already talked in-depth about the enhancement to Perfect Layers that makes this product compelling, so I’ll talk a bit about the other products in the bundle. Simply put, Perfect Resize, Focal Point and PhotoFrame don’t get any significant enhancements and feel pretty much the same. The biggest difference is that they are integrated nicely in to the Perfect Suite host app and play nicely with Perfect Layers for what feels like a nicely integrated experience.

This leaves MaskPro – the product that got me excited about onOne Software from day one, but I’ve never been able to master. This appears to be a new version that is nicely integrated into the suite, but functionality-wise seems identical to its predecessor. If you are a fan of this product, you’ll be very happy with the great performance and integration, but if you’ve been frustrated by it then there’s not much here to help you with that this time around. I want to love this product, but right now ReMask is just easier for me to wrap my brain around and use effectively.

Video Demos

I couldn’t possibly do this product justice without a couple videos that show it in action. These videos are a bit on the long side (about 15 minutes each), but they also act as basic tutorials to help you get started. I recommend turning your speakers way up and clicking the HD link to view it full screen at 1080p:

Play in HD

Here’s another video where I try to give some hot air balloons a little extra oomph and have fun by changing the weather conditions:

Play in HD

While I know my videos won’t be getting any academy awards, hopefully you learned a few things so you understand the potential of this suite.

Coupon Code Details

Using Coupon Code RMART20, you can get all this for as little as $134.96 (or $269.96 for first time buyers)! This has to be one of the best deals going right now, especially considering everything you get.

Discount subject to change, so consult my discount coupon code page for the latest details.

Here’s a screenshot that shows you where to enter your code:

Conclusion

onOne Software has impressed me with each release because it’s been clear that they are listening to customers feedback. They have made huge strides in improving performance, reliability, usability and integration to create their best release yet. 6.0.0 had a couple bugs, but 6.0.1 has been rock solid in my testing.

I highly recommend this product for those looking to go beyond what Lightroom offers, but who aren’t interested investing in Photoshop (both financially and the time investment). For many, I think it will be the one stop shop that completes their photo editing experience.

For Photoshop diehards like myself, I think you’ll find that this suite is useful for your quick edits as well as several of its products in your normal Photoshop workflow. If you haven’t invested in Portraiture, then you’ll probably be satisfied enough with Perfect Layers to get the job done.

I don’t really consider this suite as a replacement for Nik Software’s suite (currently 20% off) as Nik’s suite has very different products included. I’d still consider Color Efex 4 over Perfect Effects, but there’s little overlap in the filters offered by both so they can co-exist together very well. If you can afford both, I’d go that route as both will make your images look world class. If you can only afford one, then the choice becomes more difficult. If you don’t own Photoshop (regular or elements), then this is probably the right product for you to invest in. If you do, then I’d still have to say go with the Nik Software Suite, but this is a close second (and the price is right). Given my love for the Nik Software suite, that’s a significant endorsement for this package!

Disclosure

I was provided with a copy of this product to review prior to it being released to the public. I was also given a private demo of how to use it in New York City. If you make a purchase using links in this article, I may make a commission.

onOne Software Announces Perfect Photo Suite 6

onOne Software Announces Perfect Photo Suite 6
for Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom and Aperture

New products Perfect Effects, Perfect Portrait, Perfect Mask and the Perfect Layers update provide photographers with essential tools to realize their photographic vision.

Portland, OR– September 7, 2011 – onOne Software, Inc., a leading developer of innovative, timesaving solutions for professional and advanced amateur photographers, today announced Perfect Photo Suite 6 along with new products Perfect Effects, Perfect Portrait, Perfect Mask, and an update to Perfect Layers. All products in the Perfect Photo Suite 6 now work as standalone applications in addition to working directly from within Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, Apple Aperture and Adobe Photoshop.

Giving photographers intuitive tools that work where they do, the Perfect Photo Suite 6 now offers solutions for photographic effects, portrait retouching, creating and working with multilayered files, replacing unwanted backgrounds, image resizing, depth of field control, and edge effects, in one affordable package. The Perfect Photo Suite 6 includes Perfect Effects 3, Perfect Portrait 1, Perfect Mask 5, Perfect Layers 2, Perfect Resize 7, FocalPoint 2 and PhotoFrame 4.6.

With this new version of the Perfect Photo Suite 6, photographers can now move effortlessly between individual applications within the Suite and have complete flexibility to use the products where they work. The Perfect Photo Suite 6 now operates not only as a plug-in for Photoshop but also as a standalone application. This additional functionality means that the Suite can be used directly within Lightroom and Aperture without the need for a separate host application as was previously required. Perfect Photo Suite 6 will continue to include full support for Photoshop CS5 and CS4 with many of the products now functioning as Smart Filters.

"We are extremely excited about Perfect Photo Suite 6," said Craig Keudell, president of onOne Software. "We have always set our sights on creating tools that help photographers create high quality images so that they can spend more time behind the camera or with clients, and less time behind the computer. With the release of the completely new products Perfect Portrait, Perfect Effects, Perfect Mask and the update to Perfect Layers, the Perfect Photo Suite 6 provides photographers with products that are even more intuitive to use, and that integrate seamlessly into their workflow, so that they can realize their photographic vision."

Perfect Photo Suite 6 includes full versions of the following onOne Software products:

Perfect Effects 3 (New!): Perfect Effects builds on the popularity of PhotoTools to provide an even faster and more powerful way to create images with impact. Perfect Effects 3 includes a complete library of professional photographic effects that can be previewed live, full screen, on an image before being applied. Perfect Effects 3 now includes blending options that provide even more control over how effects are combined and applied.

Perfect Portrait 1 (New!): Perfect Portrait is a completely new product that offers the latest innovations in portrait retouching for photographers. Photographers can now focus on the art of retouching and portrait creation because the most time consuming tasks have been automated in Perfect Portrait. Perfect Portrait automatically finds faces and features in images so that photographers can get directly to the work of retouching and enhancing an image. Improving skin texture and color, removing blemishes and enhancing features like eyes, lips and teeth have never been easier.

Perfect Layers 2 (New!): Perfect Layers allows photographers to combine photos for endless creative options. Create and edit multi-layered files with Perfect Layers directly from Lightroom and Aperture, or as a standalone application. All Perfect Layers files can be edited in Photoshop later. Perfect Layers is the heart of the new Perfect Photo Suite 6.

Perfect Mask 5 (New!): Perfect Mask 5 is the next generation of Mask Pro, the leading software for background replacement. Perfect Mask takes the core strengths of Mask Pro to another level, by automating many common masking tasks with incredible accuracy. Perfect Mask's new masking technology makes selecting subjects and isolating backgrounds surprisingly easy. With Automatic Background Removal, an initial mask is made on the image and can then be fine-tuned using the Erase and Refine Tools. With these new features, high quality masks can be created in just a few clicks. Perfect Mask 5 makes masking tough subjects like hair and glass on complex backgrounds easy.

Perfect Resize 7: Perfect Resize 7—powered by Genuine Fractals—is the industry standard for image resizing. It is renowned across the photographic and printing industries for its ability to increase image size well over 1000% without the loss of sharpness or detail that is normally expected. The patented, fractal based interpolation algorithms work like nothing else and the results speak for themselves.

PhotoFrame 4.6: Add the perfect finishing touch to images and layouts with PhotoFrame. With over one thousand design elements like film edges, borders, textures, backgrounds and adornments, PhotoFrame 4.6 even has complete layouts where users can simply drop an image in and they are done. It is the easiest and fastest way to add an authentic darkroom touch with a film edge or to create beautiful albums or scrapbook pages.

FocalPoint 2: Like bringing the camera lens inside Photoshop, FocalPoint 2 gives photographers the best way to add the most realistic depth of field and selective focus control to any image after it is photographed. Photographers now have an incredible amount of flexibility and control over the look of the blur with FocalPoint 2's new blur algorithm, FocusBrush, Lens Presets and multiple FocusBug features.

Availability

The new Perfect Photo Suite 6 will be available in late October 2011. Owners of the Perfect Photo Suite 5.5, Plug-In Suite 5 or earlier versions, can upgrade to Perfect Photo Suite 6 for $149.95. Customers who own one or more of the products in Perfect Photo Suite 6 will be able to upgrade as well by visiting http://www.ononesoftware.com/upgrade/. For more information on the Perfect Photo Suite 6, please visit http://www.ononesoftware.com/.

For those that have purchased the Perfect Photo Suite 5.5 on or after August 7, 2011, onOne Software will issue a complimentary upgrade to the Perfect Photo Suite 6 via download when it is available in late October 2011.

Special Offer

Please visit my Discount Coupon Code Page to get a code to save 10% off onOne Software Products.