Perfect Layers: Combining Images into a Collage

My buddy Patrick over at onOne Software has sent me a pre-release version of their newest tool, Perfect Layers, so that I could do a quick demo for you. What I've decided to show you is how quickly, and easily I can combine three seperate images into a collage. Keep in mind this is a pre-release demo, but this will give you a quick idea of how much power this will add to your Lightroom workflow. For what it's worth, I haven't had a whole lot of time to play around with this software yet, but 1) it's really easy to come up to speed on, 2) it brings along a large subset of photoshop's layers functionality, and 3) it loads from lightroom pretty darn fast. All in all, it's pretty slick.

Make sure you maximize the video to full screen so you can see what's going on.

Go grab your own copy of the preview version at onOne's website and give it a try for yourself. 

P.S. If you want to help support this blog, click on the banner below on your way to purchase your own copy when you decide it's worth buying.

 

OnOne Special Offer - Genuine Fractals 6

Got an email from my buddy Patrick over at onOne with the latest sweet deal they're running on tools from the plug-in suite. One of the tools I use most often, Genuine Fractals 6 Professional Edition, may be one of the less glamorous onOne plug-ins but it's certainly one of the most useful. GF is used for enlarging images for big prints (and I mean BIG PRINTS) - up to 800% of their original size - without introducing the artifacts found by doing the enlargements in photoshop. Plain and simple, if I'm going to print anything poster sized, I use Genuine Fractals to preserve the fine detail that I paid for when I chose to invest in professional grade cameras and lenses. For a limited time (through September 6th) onOne is offering $140 Off the regular price for GF6 Professional Edition. You can take advantage of this fantastic offer by clicking on the graphic on the right, or visiting the onOne store and entering TJP6 as the coupon code at checkout. Thanks to Patrick and the folks at onOne Software for their continued support of this blog and for sharing this great deal with our readers.

From the iPod Touch

Just a quick note of thanks to by good buddy, Shawn Williams, who just dropped a 32 GB iPod Touch into my lap when he upgraded to an iPhone. Shawn, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your generosity - so I'll just blog about it. This entry was published using typepad's iPod/iPhone app over my local wireless LAN, all while I'm laying with my feet up here on the couch... Awesome!

A New Day, A New Creative Suite

The day has finally arrived. Adobe is releasing it's much anticipated Creative Suite 5, including an all new edition of our beloved Adobe Photoshop! There's a wealth of information available all over the web about the new suite, so today's Monday Morning Ten Four is dedicated to the best sites to find the scoop of Adobe's new flagship.

Without further ado, the top places to learn about Adobe Creative Suite 5:

1) The Official Adobe Launch Site

2) NAPP's Adobe Photoshop CS5 Learning Center 

3) Adobe CS5 Buzz Hub

4) Kelby Training (subscription required)

Keep in mind that NAPP's site, which is normally subscription only, is going to be offering a free look at all there is to see in CS5. Each day this week, they'll be having a free online webinar where you can ask questions! And, for what it's worth, they're going to be giving away a free copy of the CS5 upgrade each day during the live webinars.

Enjoy the excitement of Adobe's new Creative Suite 5.

MM10 - Cool, Free Downloads

Today's MM10 is going to be focused on some cool, free stuff you should download to try out or incorporate into your workflow. Sorry in advance to my Mac readers, a lot of this is for the PC.

1) onOne Plug-In Suite 5, 30-day Trial - Download the award winning plug-in suite and see for yourself why it is one of the most popular sets of Adobe Plug-Ins available today.

2) Adobe Lightroom 3, Beta 2 - Want to see what all the fuss is about? If you're not a Lightroom user yet - see what Adobe has in store for you in the next few months. If you are a current Lightroom user, download and start to drool.

3) Photomatix 3.2.7, Free Trial - As you'll see when Jason Moore and I release Start to Finish Episode 2, HDRSoft's Photomatix is the tool for generating high-quality HDR.

4) RecycleNow - Yes, this makes the list. I like to keep my computer as neat and tidy as possible, and this application allows for me to set a scheduled task to empty the recycle bin nightly on my PC. Without it, I used to get gigabytes of garbage piled up in the bin, which slows down the machine.

5) Crimson Editor - Nerd Alert. As someone who does a lot of web design in addition to photography, Crimson Editor is a must. This free text editor will open and context color syntax from DOZENS of different programming languages... and it's open source. (If you know what that means, congrats - you're tech savvy. If that excites you - you're a fellow nerd.)

6) SyncBackPro, 30-day Trial - Download the backup software that has become the cornerstone of my backup routine and see how easy and reliable it is.

7) ImgBurn, CD/DVD Burning Tool - I despise the big, bloated CD/DVD burning packages that come bundled with most new machines or new CD-R/DVD-R drives. With ImgBurn I've finally found a small, reliable tool to get the job done... and best of all, it's free.

8) Dropbox - Want to share files and folders with friends and colleagues over the net? Dropbox has become my favorite, convenient method for doing so.

That's all for now gang... hope you enjoy.