Dear Debbie. . .

Filmic Filter Fun

I love filters. Mainly I love them because they take a lot of the work out of Photoshop. There's nothing better than pushing one or two buttons and getting a result that makes me look like I'm an expert (of course, I am an expert, but every little bit helps). I love filter plug-ins too because usually they mean someone else has spent a lot of time and hard labor so I can get a result that would take me a heck of a lot longer to achieve on my own.

Coming Extraction

Making selections is often the least fun part of working in Photoshop. Sure, CS3 will have the new Quick Selection brush and Refine Edge tool, but even those are of limited help to the beleaguered retoucher pulling a brown-haired person off a brown-toned background. This year's PMA brings word of a new version of a program that should attempt to help you out in those difficult selection circumstances, and will be of especial service if you find yourself making selections often.

More Free* Stuff

*Free, that is, if you purchase a Lexar pro-level Card.

The big news from Lexar, the company that makes those memory cards that will hopefully never go corrupt on you, is some software that will help you in case they do. They've just announced ImageRescue 3, a totally redesigned and sped-up version of the program that saves the pictures you fear you've lost. Bundled with the cards that are shipping now, ImageRescue 3 will now save your nearly-gone video and audio files as well.

Two Versions of Photoshop!

Let's see. We've got that new web-based version of Photoshop coming, Photoshop Elements, and Photoshop Lightroom. You know what we need? More Photoshop! And that's just what we'll get. Early this morning, Adobe announced that when CS3 comes out March 27th, we'll get not one, but two editions of Photoshop CS3.

Free Stuff and More From OnOne Software

Last night, amid, admittedly, a bit of schmoozing, I found out about a bunch of stuff from onOne software that may make your image-editing lives a lot better, and address some of the needs of those of us who don't spend every minute of our lives glued to Big Mama Photoshop.

Hello From Las Vegas!

Dear Readers,

This week I'm in sunny Las Vegas, soaking up the florescent light and stepping out on miles of brand-new carpet as I walk the halls of the Photo Marketing Association trade show. As Mike mentioned in his blog, this week is almost as much about schmoozing as it is about new stuff, but I promise to bring you all the latest information on everything exciting that's related to all that we do with our pictures after we take 'em.

Feel free to lob me any questions you have in the comments section. Regular Photoshop advice will resume next week.

All the best,
Debbie