Welcome ACDSee Photo Editor 6!

2013-03-13 18:24:00 GMT

ACD Systems International Inc. today announced ACDSee Photo Editor 6, a powerful and feature­ rich creative photo editing software solution for amateur photographers and enthusiasts. Ideal as a companion to the ACDSee Pro 6 and ACDSee 15 products or as a standalone application, ACDSee Photo Editor 6 allows photographers to quickly correct common photo flaws, perform advanced edits, work with object layers, and apply professional effects and filters to completely transform their images.

A full suite of editing features gives photographers the ability to turn any image, including those shot in RAW, into an extraordinary one. Correct lighting, fine­tune color, erase imperfections, and use fast­fix tools, including red eye, dodge, burn, sharpen and smudge, to quickly improve every aspect of any photo.

Key to the versatility and power of ACDSee Photo Editor 6 is its flexible work area where photos, text, and other objects, like shapes and lines, are arranged in object layers. Users can group these object layers, change their order, experiment with opacity and blends, and selectively adjust any object or apply changes to the entire layout. The original photos are always safely preserved.

“With ACDSee Photo Editor 6, photographers now have a way of unleashing their inner photo editing genius,” said Doug Vanderkerkhove, Founder and CEO of ACD Systems. “We’ve incorporated our user­focused design and patented technology to create a photo editing solution that delivers professional results with simplicity and ease.”

New features in ACDSee Photo Editor 6 include:

• LCE Technology ­ Take control of brightness and contrast with the Advanced Lighting tool, powered by ACDSee’s patented Lighting and Contrast Enhancement (LCE) technology. Harness the power of LCE to improve the quality of poorly lit photos, and achieve HDR photo results from a single image. Use sliders for precise edits or adjust the internal curves by clicking and dragging on a photo.
• Lighting fixes ­ Quickly rescue photos that are too light or too dark. Lighten shadows and reduce highlights in one click, adjust sliders to fine­tune shadows, midtones and highlights, or click directly on light and dark spots for instantly improved photos.
• Advanced rich color tools ­ Enhance hues or change individual colors to completely alter images. Adjust the saturation, brightness and hue using sliders, or click directly on precise color ranges in photos for arresting results.
• Creative effects and filters ­ Transform the mood and atmosphere of photos in a click with newInstagram­inspired artistic effects: Collage, edgy Lomo, etched­in Granite, and ethereal Orton.
• RAW support ­ Edit high­resolution RAW files as objects in photo layouts. Non­destructively adjust color, apply effects, correct lighting issues, and more.

ACDSee Photo Editor 6 also offers these features to meet the creative editing needs of photographers:

• Automatic editing ­ One­click Auto Color Balance, Levels, Sharpen, and Contrast take the guesswork and time out of editing.
• Layouts tools ­ Easily select from among overlapping objects, and choose the exact place to paste elements. Open, load and utilize brush files. Resize, crop and rotate photos, and incorporate drop shadows, transparencies and text.
• Dynamic adjustments ­ Quickly modify existing effects, switch their order for a different result, hide them, or delete them at any time. Original images always stay intact.
• Stylize photos ­ Add a creative flair using vignette, blur and color tools. Try a sepia effect or heighten drama with the comprehensive black and white mode.
• Batch editing ­ Save time by using the Batch Processor to edit groups of photos. Fix color, lighting and sharpness issues, or apply artistic effects, to everything all at once.
• Add text to photos ­ Change the font and color of just a single word or an entire block, and wrap text inside a shape or along a custom or preset text path.
• Work with metadata ­ Add and edit EXIF and IPTC metadata to help keep track of important photo information.

Pricing & Availability ACDSee Photo Editor 6 is available online at a suggested retail price of $49.99 (US). More information, including full system requirements, can be found online at www.acdsee.com.

ACDSee's Favorite Tweeters for Photographers

2013-03-12 18:22:27 GMT

After careful consideration, we have chosen ACDSee’s top 8 Photography related Tweeters.
We’ve listed them below & included what they’re all about 140 characters or less!

@ACDSee
This is clearly an obvious one! Follow @ACDSee for great deals & photography tips & tricks.

@photognews
News about cameras, digital photography, tips, equipment, reviews & tutorials.

@PopPhoto
From the magazine Popular Photography dedicated to all things photographic.

@AmazingPics
Highlighting only the best photographs.

@twitographers
Retweets from photographers all around Twitter.

@photo_guide
About.com-Photography. Lessons, links, news & the occasional rant.

@WTDcomics
What The Duck is a must for your daily laugh. Everyone’s favorite photo-centric comic strip.

@DPhotographer
The team behind Digital Photographer Magazine.

The Do's & Don'ts of Nature Photography

2013-03-07 17:19:25 GMT

When it comes to nature photography, the best practice is to take in the moment, breathe the fresh air, feel the air, listen to the birds, heighten your awareness of the environment and notice exactly what it is that makes the world beautiful where you are located. We’ve compiled a collection of image-capturing tips to make your outing a rewarding experience.



Depth-of-field
Depth-of-field plays a vital role in nature photography, especially when you want to capture a wonderful landscape that seems to go on forever, or, when you choose to shoot something with a relatively shallow depth-of-field to draw your viewers attention to the subject.

When shooting your landscape select a small aperture (a higher f/stop number, like f/22) to ensure a deep depth-of-field. Since you’re outside, there should be enough ambient light to allow you to have a reasonably fast shutter speed and low ISO setting. “Deep” depth-of-field means both close-up and far away elements in your image will be in focus. You also need to know where to focus your lens. This is called Hyperfocal Distance. Hyperfocal Distance is a point where everything from half that distance will be in focus. The best way to figure out this distance is generally by focusing one-third of the way up from the bottom of the scene you are shooting, ensuring everything near to far is in focus. Use the rule of thirds to help determine where viewers’ eyes are naturally drawn in the overall shot.

Drawing your viewers attention to a specific subject, such as a flower or a bird, is done with shallow depth-of-field. A large part of shallower depth-of-field depends on the lens, as well as the aperture setting; a longer lens inherently has a shallower depth of field. Your aperture should be open to a wide setting (e.g., f/2.8 or f/4). Remember that a dSLR camera lens’ natural position is in a wide-open, shallow depth-of-field setting. Some dSLRs have a “depth-of-field preview” which can be handy to gauge how your actual photo will look; this is because the camera will normally only close the aperture to your f/stop setting when you take the photo (not just viewing it before you shoot). Once again, using the rule of thirds is handy in an image where only part of the image in in-focus; for example, you don’t want to have that cute squirrel positioned on the left side of the image and facing left (as if looking out of the shot); you want to think about how the person viewing the image will perceive and understand what’s going on in the “scene”.



Light
Of course, most people would assume that bright sunny conditions would be best for nature photography, but often this is not the case. A cloudy day often gives “diffused” lighting photographers love. Bright lighting in the wrong direction can illuminate the subject in some not-so-pleasing ways. It is important to understand how the direction of light will affect your results.

Front Lighting - When the sun is directly behind the photographer casting a shadow onto the subject.
Side Lighting - The sun is 90 degrees off-axis to the lens, from either the right or left.
Back or Rim Lighting - The sun is facing the photographer, with the subject’s face shadowed (such as taking a photo of someone standing in front of a bright window). Outdoors, this can cause many problems ranging from lens flare to shadowing, or a hazy quality to your shot.

Leading Lines
Finding a line that will direct the viewers attention toward the main focus of a photograph in nature is simple, and works well with the rule of thirds. With a little creativity you can use a variety of natural elements to create that leading line:

• rivers
• trails
• the edge of a sand dune
• the line between sand and water
• mud patterns

Just look around and take in everything around you, see where your eyes take you before you start mapping out the best photos.



Perspective
The easy thing to do is just take the shot, what’s harder to do is get a unique angle that will be interesting and compelling to the viewer. Go out, glance around, look through the viewfinder and snap that photo. Then see if you can see the same subject from a more creative position. Climb the cliff, get down on the ground, look through that log, look up! This is your opportunity to capture that shot that no one else has taken.



DO NO HARM
Last but not least: The one-and-only strict rule for nature photography is DO NO HARM. This means, pack out what you pack in, watch where you’re stepping and do not feed the animals.

Photos courtesy of ACDSee Pro Photographer Alexandra Pottier

Spring's Ahead Photo Contest!

2013-03-06 17:23:00 GMT

Spring is just around the corner and we want to see what you’re looking forward to most!

YOUR ASSIGNMENT

Submit photos that remind you of spring or what you are looking forward to most this season. You can submit as many photos as you like by the submission end date. Then you and everyone else can vote for your favorite entries, and 3 winners will be chosen.

THE PRIZE

The top 3 winners will receive one of the following demo cameras:

One winner chosen randomly - Sony A35 
One winner chosen by ACDSee - Samsung NX210 
One winner with the most votes - Fuji HS25 exr


Winning photos will be displayed on the acdseeonline.com homepage.



To enter, visit our Facebook page here.

All entries must be submitted by March 22nd, 2013. Winners will be announced April 1st.

Save 50% with ACDSee’s Bundle Sale

2013-03-05 17:27:13 GMT

ACDSee’s Bundle Sale has been extended until Monday March 11th , 2013! Don’t miss your opportunity to save 50% on an ACDSee Pro 6 & ACDSee Video Converter Pro 3 bundle OR an ACDSee 15 & ACDSee Video Converter 3 bundle. Find all the details here: http://bit.ly/X6tgQM