REVIEW: onOne Software Perfect Resize 7.5

onOne Software Perfect Resize 7.5

One product that I use often, but don’t talk much about on the blog is onOne Software’s Perfect Resize. However, it’s funny when I talk to people about resizing images because they immediately wonder why I don’t just use Photoshop or Lightroom?

In this article, I’ll show you why. This was a recommendation in my Printing 101 eBook, and it still remains a product that I use regularly when printing.

Perfect Effects 7.5 vs Photoshop CS6

For this test, I took an image that I had exported out of Lightroom at 1800x1200 pixels. I did some minor edits using Perfect Effects and then I resized it. The resize on the top was done in Photoshop CS6 with 16x24” @ 360 ppi (8640x5760) using Bicubic Automatic. For the naysayers, yes I did try Bicubic Sharper and Bicubic Smoother as well as the other modes. The best choice was Bicubic Smoother which seemed to match what Bicubic Automatic had done.

Photoshop CS6 (top) & Perfect Resize 7.5 (bottom)
Click on the photo to view this at 100%

On the bottom was the Epson Resin Coated 16x24 preset with sharpening turned OFF. The reason why I turned off sharpening is because I knew that this would be used on the web so the extra sharpening required to make a print look its best makes online images look way over sharpened. It also provides an apples to apples comparison since Adobe doesn’t do any sharpening after resizing either.

Now you don’t really even need to click on the photo to tell that Perfect Resize won this battle hands down.

Perfect Resize 7.5 vs Lightroom 4.4

Lightroom (top) & Perfect Resize 7.5 (bottom)
Click on the photo to view this at 100%

Lightroom was actually worse than Photoshop which really surprised me as I expected it would be the same as Bicubic Automatic. However, it appears that Lightroom uses the Bicubic Sharper algorithm which resulted in an even softer resized image. 

Perfect Resize 7.5 vs Alien Skin Blowup 3

Alien Skin Blow Up 3 (top) & Perfect Resize 7.5 (bottom)
Click on the photo to view this at 100%

Long-time readers of my blog know that I used to be a huge fan of Alien Skin Blowup because it used to beat older versions of Genuine Fractals (the predecessor to Perfect Resize). However, in 2013 the latest version of both products – with sharpening and grain enhancements turned off – proves that Perfect Resize 7.5 is the king of resizing. When you look at the images above there’s no comparison – Perfect Resize is the hands down winner.

But wait, did you try…

Any time I do this type of article, I immediately get people who freak out and say but you didn’t do X that’s why you say the results that you did. For example, some Photoshop purists suggest that resizing must be done in increments rather than directly from one size to the next. However, my sources at Adobe have told me that is exactly what Photoshop does under the covers for the last several releases, so that won’t yield better results. Sure enough, when I tried that myself I didn’t notice any improvement.

With respect to Mac versus Windows – I did not observe any benefit to one operating system over the other.

I know I’ll get questions like “but you should try Lightroom 5, or Adobe Photoshop CC”. However, I encourage you to try your own images using the methodology I’ve applied and see if it makes a difference. To my eyes, Perfect Resize always comes out ahead when upscaling images. Downscaling sometimes favors Photoshop, but not always.

Don’t believe me? Download the free trial of any of the products mentioned and do your own comparisons on your own images. For the best results, downsize your image using Lightroom or Photoshop to something manageable (like 1920 x 1200) then upscale to something like 16x24” @ 360ppi. This gives you a better idea of how good the resizing algorithm really is!

Keep in mind that not all images are created equally so some easy to resize images might produce identical results, and some complex images may produce slightly different results. I chose the image I did for my testing because it’s pretty much as hard as it gets for resizing real-world photography images.

It should also be noted that I did use a variety of images in my testing and got similar results. For time reasons, I have only included one example image to illustrate the summary of my findings. If you would like the actual resized images then contact me and I’m happy to provide a link.

Conclusion

If you care about the quality of how your images are resized (and you should if you print), then Perfect Resize is the way to go. When scaling images down to web resolution it’s less important what you use because pixels are lost. However, when upscaling pixels have to be added so the quality of the software makes a huge difference, and Perfect Resize is still the king!

If I could only own one onOne Software product, this would have to be it. I highly recommend it!

For those coming from older versions you’ll find this version is significantly faster, more robust (i.e., I’ve had no crashes), and it scales up to 400% very nicely (i.e., usable in printing when images are viewed at appropriate viewing distance).

My only gripe about this product is that you have to pre-crop your image to the desired aspect ratio before using Perfect Resize because it will only remove pixels on cropping – it won’t add bars (excluding the Gallery Wrap feature which is pretty awesome if you do wraps).

More Information

Click here to learn more or order the latest version of Perfect Resize. This page provides more info on product features and versions available. This product can run stand alone, so Adobe products are not required.

I don’t have any special discounts for them anymore because onOne Software stopped doing that due to coupon abuse. However, I do have this special deal for those who decide they want to get the whole suite:

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

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these reviews and articles:

• onOne Perfect Photo Suite 7 (B&W Products Comparison)
• Which Printer Should I Buy? Epson or Canon?
• Printing Series – Read this if you print, lots of great stuff here!
• Printing 101 eBook
• Topaz Adjust 5.0
• Nik Collection by Google (Discount)
• Nik Software Color Efex 4 Video Tutorial (Review)
• Nik Software Dfine 2.0
• Nik Software HDR Efex Pro 2.0
• Nik Software Sharpener Pro 3.0
• Nik Software Silver Efex Pro 2.0 (B&W Products Comparison)
• Nik Software Viveza 2.0
• What Photoshop books should I read?
• What plug-ins should I buy? (for Photoshop & Lightroom)

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.

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.

Printing 101: Part III - Preparing your images for print

Removed - a new edition is coming later this year. See http://www.ronmartblog.com/2011/03/trey-ratcliffs-flatbookscom-ron.html for more details

onOne Software Ships Perfect Photo Suite 5.5

onOne Software Announces Availability of Perfect Photo Suite 5.5 for Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Apple Aperture

New version of Perfect Resize and direct integration with Lightroom and Aperture provide photographers with essential tools to quickly achieve high quality results

Portland, OR– December 2, 2010 – onOne Software, Inc., a leading developer of innovative, timesaving solutions for professional and advanced amateur photographers, today announced availability of Perfect Photo Suite 5.5 for Adobe® Photoshop®, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom® and Apple Aperture. Tackling specific problems within a photographer's preferred workflow, the Perfect Photo Suite 5.5 offers simple yet powerful solutions for color correction, image resizing, masking and professional photographic effects in one affordable package. With support for Photoshop CS5, CS4 and CS3, the Perfect Photo Suite 5.5 includes FocalPoint 2, PhotoTune 3, PhotoFrame 4.6, PhotoTools 2.6, MaskPro 4.1 and Perfect Resize 7 (the next generation of Genuine Fractals). The Perfect Photo Suite 5.5 will also include the recently announced Perfect Layers, which will be available in early 2011.

With this new version of the Perfect Photo Suite 5.5, photographers now have more options for where they use many of the onOne products. For the first time photographers will be able to use FocalPoint 2, PhotoTune 3, PhotoFrame 4.6 and Perfect Resize 7 directly within Lightroom and Aperture without the need for a separate host application. In addition, owners of the Perfect Photo Suite 5.5 will receive Perfect Layers when it becomes available next year. This completely new product provides photographers with the ability to create layered files directly from within Lightroom and Aperture that are fully compatible with Photoshop for later editing.

Perfect Photo Suite 5.5 continues to include full support for Photoshop CS5, CS4 and CS3. Mask Pro 4.1 which allows photographers to replace backgrounds and make selections and PhotoTools 2.6, which allows photographers to leverage the power of Photoshop to enhance and stylize their images, continue to function directly within Photoshop and do not run as stand-alone applications.

Perfect Photo Suite 5.5 includes full versions of the following onOne Software products:

Perfect Resize 7 – The next generation of Genuine Fractals – Based on the same proven and patented algorithms as Genuine Fractals, the newest version of the industry standard for image resizing introduces new Smoothness and Sharpening controls to achieve the highest quality results when enlarging images. In addition, Perfect Resize adds features that make printing easier and faster including the new Loupe Tool for an instant 1:1 magnified preview. The upgrade also adds the ability to save custom Presets, a new Gallery Wrap preview with Auto Corner Fill, and Image Tiling improvements. Perfect Resize 7 now enables those who prefer a Lightroom or Aperture only workflow to resize a single or batch of images directly within those applications.

PhotoTools 2.6 – PhotoTools 2.6 adds a dozen new effects to the highly acclaimed Photoshop plug-in that allows photographers of all skill levels to maximize the full power of Photoshop with its ability to preview and combine Photoshop Actions in a single, intuitive interface. Designed by photographers for photographers, PhotoTools 2.6 includes the MaskingBug control, based on the FocusBug control from the award-winning FocalPoint plug-in, to selectively apply effects to images. PhotoTools 2.6 now has a total library of close to 300 effects that photographers can easily browse, preview and combine to create images that truly stand out.

PhotoFrame 4.6 – With PhotoFrame 4.6, you can add the perfect finishing touch to your images and layouts with new backgrounds, borders, layouts and adornments. 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. Photographers can now use PhotoFrame 4.6 directly within Lightroom and Aperture.

FocalPoint 2 – Like bringing the camera lens inside Photoshop, FocalPoint 2 gives photographers the best way to add realistic depth of field and selective focus control to any image. Photographers now have an incredible amount of flexibility and control over the look of the blur with the new blur algorithm, FocusBrush, Lens Presets and multiple FocusBug features. Photographers can now use FocalPoint 2 directly within Lightroom and Aperture or on its own.

PhotoTune 3 – PhotoTune 3 uses patented technology to optimize the dynamic range, color and sharpness of images so that they look more true-to-life. The Wizard offers fast color and tone correction in as little as two steps while giving pro users direct access to advanced and innovative controls. SkinTune, which represents two years of research and analysis of thousands of skin tones, offers one-click color correction of portraits and the option to correct just the skin in an image. Photographers can now use PhotoTune 3 directly within Lightroom and Aperture or on its own.

MaskPro 4.1 – When a subject needs to be quickly extracted from a photo, Mask Pro 4 provides a color-based method that helps photographers easily remove unwanted backgrounds. Mask Pro's unique Color Decontamination technology allows users to get realistic results by maintaining transparency in hard to mask objects like hair, smoke and glass in a fraction of the time using traditional tools.

Perfect Layers 1 (New!) – The newest product in the onOne Software line-up provides a fast and easy way to bring a layered workflow to Photoshop Lightroom and Apple Aperture. For those using a Lightroom or Aperture workflow, but not yet using Photoshop, Perfect Layers introduces the ability to create and edit multi-layered Photoshop files. With Perfect Layers photographers can combine multiple images into a layered Photoshop compatible file, adjust layer size, position, blending mode and opacity and use the built-in masking tools to blend multiple layers together. Perfect Layers will be made available at no cost to current owners of Perfect Photo Suite 5.5 as a free upgrade when it becomes available in 2011.

Availability

The new Perfect Photo Suite 5.5 is available immediately to owners of Plug-In Suite 5 as a free upgrade by clicking here.

New users may purchase Perfect Photo Suite 5.5 for $499.95 (see the Discount Coupon Code page for a coupon code to save more). Purchased separately the products would normally cost $1,460. Existing owners of Plug-In Suite version 1, 2, 3 or 4 can upgrade to the Perfect Photo Suite 5.5 for $199.95. Customers who own one or more of the products in Perfect Photo Suite 5.5 can now upgrade as well by clicking here.  For more information on the Perfect Photo Suite 5.5, please visit onOne Software.

Special Offer

Don’t forget to visit the Discount Coupon Code page for the latest codes to save big money on onOne Software products.

Printing Series: Genuine Fractals - a great solution for resizing your images

For the best results when printing your images I (along with my friend Douglas Dubler) recommend using onOne Software’s Genuine Fractals. It’s the best product to scale your image to the exact output size you desire and the appropriate resolution for your printer. For Epson’s, generally speaking 240 to 360 ppi and for Canon’s 200, 300, up to 600 ppi. Here’s an example of a GF6 window where I’m creating a 17x22 print for an Epson Stylus® Pro 3880 at 360 ppi (because I intend to print it at Level 5 – 2880x1440 resolution) so that when print I can set the driver to 100% and no scaling:

In my older review on Genuine Fractals versus Alien Skin Software’s Blowup, I had found that on the test image for display purposes that Blowup 2 was the clear winner. However, during my longer term testing using my printers as another output target in the equation, I’ve found Genuine Fractals to be the superior product for a majority of the images I have resized (using Photoshop CS4, Lightroom 3, & Alien Skin Blowup 2). If your image just needs to be resized by a minor amount, all do very well (including the driver itself), but if you are needing to do greater than 25% resizes  (especially upsizing), I find that Genuine Fractals gives me the best results of all the products I’ve used.

Gallery Wraps feature ROCKS!!!!!

Another great feature of GF6, is it’s gallery wrap feature (discussed at length in Randy Hufford’s DVD series, The Perfect Print). Using this cool feature you can create any of 4 different kind of wrap techniques (soft stretch shown below), and you can simply turn the layer off and get a plain white border which can be handy if you are doing both canvas and print images of the same shot.

Gallery wraps and plain white borders are now brain dead simple

Here’s a little video I did (with black borders on the sides so that’s why it is a little odd looking below) which shows the gallery wraps in action:

 

Another handy feature is the tile mode for scenarios where you have a smaller printer, but you want to do a tile/mosaic of a larger print. Using this feature you can make wall size prints using just a Epson Stylus® Pro 2880 printer. 

Special Offer

For a limited time, onOne Software is offering Genuine Fractals Professional Edition at a huge discount - $140 off!!!! If you print and you’ve been looking to get this product, now’s the time to get a great deal! Click the link above and make sure that RONM6 is the coupon code in your cart (as shown below) when you check out to save.

Disclosure

I was provided a copy of Genuine Fractals to review and I may a commission if you purchase using links in this article. Thank you for supporting this blog by using my links when making your purchase!

onOne Software offering $150 off Plug-In Suite 5

In an offer that won’t be found on onOne Software’s site, they are offering readers of this blog $150 off Plug-In Suite 5. I’ll be talking about the goodness of Genuine Fractals (included in this package) in my current printing series, and I have already recommended PhotoTools and PhotoFrame in past articles, so now is a good time to stock up and save. Keep in mind that this suite also has full 64-bit support and is compatible with Photoshop CS5, so those wishing to bid adieu to 32-bit Photoshop should at least install the trial version of this suite.  Click here for more details, videos and more.

NOTE: For early users of Plug-In Suite 5, if you have hit the nasty bug where you get a solid black display – that issue has been resolved! Simply download the latest update and everything works smoothly now.

onOne Software Plug-In Suite 5 - $100 off discount coupon code, and 20% off the upgrade

NOTE: This offer expires April 30th!

Save $100 off or 33% off the full retail price when you order by clicking this link (make sure that RONM15 appears in the Coupon Code box as shown below). If you already own an existing version of Plug-In Suite and you want to save on the upgrade to 5.0, you can upgrade using this link (make sure that RMART20 appears in the Coupon Code box) to save nearly $40!!!

To learn more about Plug-In Suite 5, click here.

Press Release

Portland, OR– October 27, 2009 – onOne Software, Inc., a leading developer of innovative, timesaving solutions for professional and advanced amateur photographers, today announced Plug-in Suite 5 for Adobe Photoshop. Designed to solve the most common problems facing photographers in the areas of color correction, enlarging, masking and professional photographic effects, the Plug-in Suite 5, combines full versions of six essential software tools in one affordable package: FocalPoint 2, PhotoTune 3, PhotoFrame 4.5 Professional Edition, PhotoTools 2.5 Professional Edition, Genuine Fractals 6 Professional Edition and MaskPro 4.

With support for Photoshop CS2, CS3 and CS4 the onOne Software Plug-in Suite 5 now includes the new onOne Panel which provides quick access to all products, Windows 64 bit support and the ability to access select plug-ins from within Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 and Apple Aperture 2.1. Plug-in Suite 5 will be available in November.

"This is our biggest product update and release in over 4 years," said Craig Keudell, president of onOne Software. "Since the release of Plug-In Suite 4, we have been working closer than ever with both professional and enthusiast photographers to make sure that Plug-In Suite 5 continues to solve the most common problems they face as photographers. We are confident that Plug-In Suite 5 continues in the onOne tradition of providing photographers with software that sets the standard for value, quality and ease-of-use."

Plug-in Suite 5 includes full versions of the following onOne Software products:

FocalPoint 2 – Like bringing the camera lens inside Photoshop, this new version of 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.

PhotoTune 3 – Getting great color doesn’t have to be so hard. This new version of PhotoTune 3 uses patented eye-fidelity^TM technology, originally developed by and licensed from imsense to optimize the dynamic range, color and sharpness of images so that they look more true-to-life. The improved Wizard offers fast color and tone correction in as little as two steps while giving pro users direct access to advanced and innovative controls. SkinTune, which represents two years of research and analysis of thousands of skin tones, now offers one-click color correction of portraits and the option to correct just the skin in an image.

PhotoFrame 4.5 Professional Edition – With PhotoFrame 4.5, you can add the perfect finishing touch to your images with over 100 exciting new professionally designed frames, backgrounds, textures and layouts including over a dozen from professional photographer Kersti Malvre. With one thousand design elements like film edges, borders, textures, backgrounds and adornments, PhotoFrame 4.5 Professional Edition 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

PhotoTools 2.5 Professional Edition – PhotoTools 2.5 is the highly acclaimed Photoshop plug-in that allows photographers of all skill levels to maximize the full power of Photoshop with it's ability to preview and combine Photoshop Actions in a single, intuitive interface. Designed by photographers for photographers, PhotoTools 2.5 Professional now includes a new MaskingBug control based on the FocusBug control from the award-winning FocalPoint plug-in. The new MaskingBug allows photographers to create high-quality masks to selectively apply effects to images. With over 30 new creative effects, for a total effect library of 280, photographers can easily find, combine and save the results to create images that truly stand out.

Genuine Fractals 6 Professional Edition - The industry standard for enlarging photos, Genuine Fractals 6 enlarges images up to1,000% while maintaining sharp edges and important image details. Genuine Fractals 6 now includes an automated gallery wrap feature and output options for tiling an enlarged photo. No other resizing plug-in is as widely used by more professionals than Genuine Fractals.

MaskPro 4 – For those times when you need to extract a subject from a photo, Mask Pro 4 uses a color-based method that allows users to easily remove unwanted backgrounds from your photos. Mask Pro's unique Color Decontamination technology allows users to get realistic results by maintaining transparency in hard to mask objects like hair, smoke and glass in a fraction of the time using traditional tools.

Other Cool onOne Software Products Available at 20% off

Enter the coupon code RMART20 when you check out to save 20% off any of the above products sold separately or for onOne Photo Essentials 3 for Photoshop Elements.

onOne Software boosts its discount on ALL products to 20%

For a limited time, onOne Software is offering readers of this blog 20% off any product sold on their web site when you use the coupon code RMART20!

Here’s some links to some onOne Software reviews on this blog:

onOne Software's Photoframe 4.0 Professional

onOne PhotoTools 2.0 Professional

onOne Genuine Fractals 6.0

onOne Focal Point

REVIEW: Alien Skin Software BlowUP 2

For those who print their own images, you probably frequently turn to onOne Software’s Genuine Fractals for resizing their images to the desired output size. However, those of you who read my review for Genuine Fractals 6 back in December saw that the king has lost a little of its edge to the (almost) new kid in town – Alien Skin's BlowUP 2.

In that original article, which turned into a mini shoot out, I used this image of the Capitol of Texas in Austin:

I then used several different products / techniques for increasing the image to 200%.  The clear winner was Alien Skin BlowUP 2. The following image shows how good the 200% upsizing was using a 100% crop (refer to my previous review for other examples):

All I can say is WOW - that's good! This was with its default settings and no sharpening as shown here in its UI (which renders the results in near real-time):

Alien Skin claims it can upsize to 400% which is hard to believe, but I tried it and sure enough the results are amazing. Click here to see the 400% image, but warning its a huge file (compressed using JPEG 10, so there are some compression artifacts).

Why is Alien Skin BlowUP so good?

The reason why this product is so good is because it has looked at the issue of resizing differently than any of its competitors. When BlowUP resizes an image, it first detects all of the edges and converts them into a vector image. The resize occurs and the vector is flattened which results in perfect edge retention. To put this in more concrete terms, its basically the same technique used by ClearType fonts on your computer versus old raster-based fonts of the past that would look jaggy at certain sizes.

Printing

As was the case with the Genuine Fractals 6 review, my emphasis on this product is resizing for screen. However, I have sent off a 200% image for printing and will report back if the results are anything but perfect. Given how great the image looks on screen (which is MUCH less forgiving than print), I fully expect the results to be wonderful.

Conclusion

I’ve been using Alien Skin's BlowUP 2 almost exclusively for the last couple months and the only area I can complain about is the fact that I have hit out of memory errors a few time. I ultimately discovered I had to set my Photoshop memory settings to 100% on my 3GB 32-bit Vista machine to make those errors go away in CS4 (they happened much less in CS3). Beyond that this product has been smoking fast and a pleasure to use. I can say, without reservation, that I highly recommend this product as the best resizing tool on the market that I have seen to date!

Special Offer

Sadly Alien Software has discontinued all coupon codes for all sites, but you can continue to support this blog by purchasing using this link.