More news from Pantone is that the ColorMunki Create is now shipping. We were very impressed with the ColorMunki when we reviewed it in issue 45 and think it’s a great way to create custom colour palettes with no hassle. See the press release below or visit www.pantone.com for more information.

Press release:

PANTONE ColorMunki Create Ships
Providing Innovative Colour Creation and Control for Creative Professionals

London, UK, Sept., 2, 2008 – Pantone, an X-Rite company (NASDAQ: XRIT) and the global authority on colour and provider of professional colour standards for the design industries, today announced that PANTONE® ColorMunki™ Create, an intuitive software and hardware solution for creating, managing, searching, verifying and sharing colour palettes, is now shipping. An affordable, simple starting point for designers whose primary objective is colour palette creation, ColorMunki Create is part of the ColorMunki portfolio.

“With its intuitive software user interface, ColorMunki Create helps designers navigate through the colour identification and specification process more efficiently, offering a variety of ways to select colours and create palettes in a safe viewing environment,” said Andy Hatkoff, vice president of advanced colour solutions for Pantone. “With the addition of basic monitor calibration capabilities, ColorMunki Create also ensures designers that the colours they are viewing onscreen are accurate.”

ColorMunki Create automates colour palette creation with a variety of tools for colour selection. Colours can be chosen from system-level colour pickers, PANTONE Color Libraries including the PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM® and PANTONE Goe™, keyword searches or colour harmonies. ColorMunki can identify and extract colours from images, saving valuable time in the design process. Users of ColorMunki Create have the ability to snap any colour from a built-in library to PANTONE Colors. Palettes can then be seamlessly imported into popular design applications including Adobe® Creative Suite® and QuarkXPress®, as well as other industry-standard applications. A palette synchronisation function will automatically update any changes in palettes to the design applications.

ColorMunki Create also includes a monitor calibrator to ensure colours are viewed accurately onscreen. The PrintSafe™ feature, a unique verification tool, is a one-click, out-of-gamut preview by paper type that will alert users as to which colours in their palettes are achievable or not on different paper stocks.

Users can preview palettes for CMYK or spot colour printing with the Snap To feature, and easily predict how palette colours will reproduce in different print situations. Colours can also be evaluated under varying light sources.

ColorMunki Portfolio
The ColorMunki portfolio includes ColorMunki Photo, ColorMunki Design and ColorMunki Create, and is supported by www.colormunki.com, an online portal of resources and information for fully leveraging colour creation, control and communication solutions. Easily integrated into digital workflows, ColorMunki products enable photographers and designers in multiple industries, including graphic design, printing, publishing, fashion, home, interior, architecture and industrial design, to create and produce their work with more freedom, flexibility and colour assurance.

ColorMunki Design
Developed for agencies, corporate in-house and freelance designers, ColorMunki Design offers the same innovative palette creation and control software as ColorMunki Create, plus an all-in-one spectrophotometer that easily captures colours from any surface, and calibrates monitors, printers and projectors for true monitor-to-print colour matching. A white calibration tile is integrated into the device so there’s nothing to lose. In addition to the colors from a built-in library, ColorMunki Design can also snap any custom colour to PANTONE Colors. An upgrade path to ColorMunki Design will be available for ColorMunki Create users.

Pricing, Availability and System Requirements
ColorMunki Create is available immediately at www.colormunki.com for an SRP of U.S. $149. It is also available at Amazon.com, Apple stores, Buy.com, Fry’s Electronics, Micro Center, newegg.com, PC Mall, Ingram Micro and Zones, as well as other photo, design, major electronics and online retailers. Additional PANTONE Color Libraries will be available from the Pantone Web site at www.pantone.com. ColorMunki Create is compatible with Mac OS X 10.4 and higher and Windows® XP and higher.

Pantone has announced the launch of two new products to expand the Pantone Goe System, which we reviewed in issue 44 of Advanced Photoshop giving it a whopping 5 out of 5 score. Find otu more at www.pantone.com or in the press release below.

Press release:

Pantone Extends Goe System with GoeBridge coated and PANTONE Color Cue 2.1

London, UK, Sept. 2, 2008 – Pantone, an X-Rite company (NASDAQ: XRIT) and the global authority on colour and provider of professional colour standards for the design industries, today announced two new products that extend the PANTONE® Goe™ System – PANTONE GoeBridge™ coated and PANTONE Color Cue® 2.1. PANTONE GoeBridge lets creatives accurately visualise and evaluate how the more than 2,000 solid colors in the PANTONE Goe System will reproduce in CMYK on coated paper. By providing conversion formulas for CMYK, sRGB and HTML in a single guide, GoeBridge empowers designers to easily and confidently repurpose projects for multiple colour spaces, saving valuable time and avoiding costly mistakes.

Additionally, Pantone began shipping PANTONE Color Cue 2.1, the latest version of Pantone’s award-winning, portable colour identification device, which now includes the PANTONE Goe coated and uncoated libraries, as well as the CMYK values from GoeBridge. Both products enable designers to work with the same familiar PANTONE tools they’ve become accustomed to over the years with the PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM®, and ensure consistent colour across design workflows.

“One of the most frequently asked questions about the Goe System is when will there be a guide to accurately compare solid Goe colours to CMYK conversions,” said Richard Herbert, executive vice president and general manager of Pantone. “GoeBridge is exactly what designers have been asking for – the guide displays the closest possible CMYK match for each solid Goe colour, preventing colour surprises and expensive errors when clients try to print Goe colours in four-colour process. We’ve also included sRGB and HTML data for repurposing colours for the Web, which make this an indispensible tool for a variety of design projects.”

“At Landor, the majority of our work centers on branding – where colour is a critical component,” said John H. Bredenfoerder, design director at Landor Associates. “As designers, we never know what type of media a particular brand will touch, so for each project we develop a brand style book that includes the colour conversions for print and Web reproduction to ensure repeatability and colour consistency. GoeBridge will simplify colour conversion and specification across the design process – regardless of the final medium.”

PANTONE GoeBridge coated
Although many PANTONE Goe colours can be successfully reproduced in four-colour process, some cannot because of the inherent gamut limitations of process printing. GoeBridge displays all 2,058 Goe colours in a portable, fan guide format on coated stock alongside their closest four-colour process equivalent. The CMYK values are provided for each process colour and sRGB and HTML values are included for the solid colours, extending the guide’s multimedia capabilities to Web design.
The PANTONE GoeBridge coated guide is produced in a sustainable manner to meet certification standards set forth by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), an independent organisation that promotes responsible management of the world’s forests. Products carrying the FSC label are certified to assure consumers that they come from forests managed to meet the social, economic and ecological needs of present and future generations (Certificate Code SW-COC-003183).

The guide is printed using ISO-certified inks on No. 1 grade, 100-pound text-weight coated offset stock.

PANTONE Color Cue 2.1
Color Cue 2.1 now features seven PANTONE Libraries including the complete PANTONE Goe System, both coated and uncoated. Users have access to more than 11,000 PANTONE Colors for use in the architecture, interior design, graphic design and printing and publishing industries. Color Cue 2.1 also includes a new LCD screen with configurable displays for easy viewing. The device records the last 30 colours measured for later reference and is powered by a standard nine-volt battery that lasts for thousands of measurements.

In addition to the Goe library, Color Cue 2.1 includes the PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM for coated, uncoated and matte stock, as well as the PANTONE FASHION + HOME SMART Color System and the PANTONE PAINT + INTERIORS Color Libraries.

PANTONE Goe System
The PANTONE Goe System, announced in September 2007, is the first completely new colour inspiration and specification system for the graphic arts industry since the introduction of the PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM in 1962. The System, bringing 2,058 new PANTONE Colors to market, is comprised of the PANTONE GoeGuide™, PANTONE GoeSticks™, myPANTONE™ palettes, an intuitive software toolset for palette creation, and now PANTONE GoeBridge.

Industry Support
The PANTONE Goe System libraries are accessible in ColorMunki™ Design and ColorMunki Create, part of the first family of jointly developed products from
X-Rite and Pantone announced in March 2008. ColorMunki products offer users a digital counterpart to GoeBridge. The CMYK, sRGB and HTML simulations available in GoeBridge will be accessible within ColorMunki products to bridge analog and digital design. ColorMunki products offer GoeBridge users additional flexibility by providing CMYK simulations for a variety of papers and printing processes. Visit www.colormunki.com for more information.

The PANTONE Goe System is also supported by a number of industry leaders. Among those developing solutions to integrate the system into diverse workflows are Corel, EFI, HP, Xerox and Quark. Visit www.pantone.com/goe for a full list of partners.

To access Goe colors within Adobe® Creative Suite® applications, users can download the coated, uncoated and, starting in October, GoeBridge libraries free of charge at www.pantone.com/goe.

Pricing and Availability
The PANTONE GoeBridge coated will be available in October 2008 for the introductory price of £82.00 excl. VAT / £97.58 incl. VAT. PANTONE Color Cue 2.1 is available immediately for the introductory price of £239.00 excl. VAT / £284.41 incl. VAT

Available in coated and uncoated versions, the complete PANTONE Goe System, including the GoeGuide, GoeSticks and myPANTONE palettes software, is available for £342. The complete system, as well as individual products, can be purchased from the Pantone Web site at www.pantone.com, or from select distribution partners.

BenQ has announced the release of two new widescreen monitors, which seem ideal for creative users due to their large size, stylish finish and adjustable screen (back and forth, height, pivot and tilt). Find out more in the press release below and at www.benq.co.uk.

Press release

Find your perfect position: BenQ launches two new widescreen LCD Monitors that pivot, rotate, tilt, and rise above the competition.

Hemel Hempstead, UK, August 20, 2008 – BenQ has increased its widescreen range to include the new 22 and 24-inch displays, the G2200WT and G2400WT. The new WT range provides users with a display that is adjustable in height, with 130mm movement; almost double that of regular competitive models. If that’s not ergonomic enough then a back & forth tilt, 90 degree pivot, and side to side swivel are easily adjusted to give users their personalised optimum viewing position. .

Both are ideal for business users who often spend long periods in front of a screen. Both widescreens will be housed in a sleek and stylish silver and black casing. The G2200WT and G2400WT models come with DCR (dynamic contrast ratio), a 5 ms response time, a viewing angle of 160° vertical and 160° horizontal, Senseye® +Photo Technology and Windows® Vista™ Premium logo[1].

The G2200WT display arrives with a DCR of 2,500:1, 1,680 x 1,050 resolution (WSXGA+) and 300 cd/m² brightness. Additionally, the new model is equipped with dual inputs – D-sub connectivity and DVI-D supporting HDCP for uncompromised HD video. The G2400WT features a DCR of 4,000:1, 1,920 x 1,200 resolution (WUXGA), 250 cd/m² brightness and a headphone jack. Furthermore, this widescreen model has DVI (with HDCP) and D-sub ports, as well as an HDMI™ interface.

The EU Directive lays down general prevention principles at workplaces including the installation of TFT monitors. Generally, G-Series monitors are engineered with user comfort and environmental responsibility in mind. For example, to guarantee an ergonomic computer workstation both widescreen displays G2200WT/G2400WT provide users with, among other things, a flexible screen adjustment to arrange the screen viewing individually, including pivot and height adjustment. TCO03 compliance guarantees that G-monitors meet the strictest standards for ergonomics, ecology, emissions and energy. An ENERGYSTAR rating further ensures reduced power consumption in all modes – on, standby and off.

Productivity in the office is increased via the large wide-format display sizes. For Word documents, users can easily view two pages side by side at 100%, while for applications such as Excel and desktop publishing, more data and graphics can be displayed at one time. Large-screen viewing also enables easier navigation through multiple open applications.

Advanced BenQ Senseye®+Photo technology guarantees that the colour and image quality of the new model is even more brilliant. Using the standardised sRGB colour space, Senseye®+Photo technology ensures colour-accurate image reproduction over sRGB-compatible peripheral equipment, including printers and digital cameras.

The BenQ G2200WT and G2400WT will be available in August at a recommended retail price of G2200WT £180 inc VAT, and G2400WT £318 inc VAT.

For further information please visit www.benq.co.uk.

Nik software have provided creatives with more significant software updates with Color Efex Pro 3.

Press release below:

http://www.niksoftware.com/welcome/_news/cep3_update/index_en.html?utm_campaign=CEP&utm_source=Aug08-30003&utm_medium=EN&utm_content=HTM

It’s official, Photoshop has provided the creative community with more improved software advancements, namely the latest Elements 7 series.

This includes Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premier Elements 7. Each package includes numerous enhanced options and new functionality. For more information log on to www.adobe.com.

Press release:

Adobe Unveils Photoshop Elements 7

New Version of Best-Selling Consumer Photo-Editing Software Combines Ease-of-Use with Editing Power of Photoshop

London — Aug. 26, 2008 —Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 7 software, a milestone release of the No.1 selling consumer photo-editing software*. Available for Windows®, Photoshop Elements 7 makes it quick and easy to organise, edit, create and share amazing photos with others by leveraging the editing power of Photoshop software, the professional standard for image editing.
In addition, Adobe today announced Adobe Premiere® Elements 7 software, a complete video-editing solution (see separate press release). Available separately or together in a single retail bundle package, Adobe Photoshop Elements & Adobe Premiere Elements bundle give photo and video enthusiasts everything they need for a complete digital imaging experience.
“With Photoshop Elements our ultimate goal is to give users the ability to tell personal and high-impact stories with their photos,” said Doug Mack, vice president and general manager of Consumer and Hosted Solutions at Adobe. “We strike a balance between editing punch and ease, so a user doesn’t have to be a pro to produce impressive results.”
Create Picture-Perfect Photos with Powerful yet Intuitive Editing Tricks
Photoshop Elements makes it easy to tell amazing stories through memorable photos. The new Scene Cleaner, based on Adobe’s innovative Photomerge® technology, creates the ideal photo by letting users simply brush away unwanted subjects, such as tourists in a vacation shot who may be impacting the main subject of the photo. The new Smart Brush helps users apply incredible effects to a specific area of a photo with a single stroke, making it a snap to improve lighting and add rich textures with access to more than fifty sophisticated effects. Common editing tasks, such as whitening teeth or brightening blue skies, are a breeze to fix with the one-step Quick Fix tools. Surfaces can be softened while retaining edges and details crisp with a new filter ideal for portrait shots. Also, a new selection of Online Albums, based on Adobe Flash® technology, offers users a richer interactive experience.

Pricing and Availability
Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 and Adobe Premiere Elements 7 for Windows will be available in local retail outlets in October 2008. Consumers can pre-order the products at www.adobe.com and www.amazon.com. The products will be available separately for £65 ex Vat. Photoshop Elements 7 & Premiere Elements 7 bundle also will be available for £95 ex Vat.

*Source: The NPD Group / Retail Tracking Service (April 2002 to April 2008) based on units sold (North America).
About Adobe Systems Incorporated
Adobe revolutionises how the world engages with ideas and information – anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.

Epson has announced the launch of four new printers to suit every budget and need.

First up is the  Stylus SX100 Series, a cost-effective solution with individual inks priced at £5.99 per colou so you can just replace the ones you need to. It offers up to 26 pages a minute printing time and is designed to work with photos thanks to its built-in PhotoEnhance technology. Available from 1 September, the printer/scanner/copier will be priced at just £59.99.

If it’s a business solution that you’re after, then the Stylus Office B40W, priced at £85 and available from 1 September, could be the one for you. It has the same individual ink cartridges to save you money in the long run, as well as fast print speeds of 38 pages per minute. It also boasts wi-fi and Ethernet connectivity, which is great if you work on a network, and it will print all document types, including photos.

Another office solution is the Stylus Office BX300F 4-in-1 designed for printing, copying, scanning and faxing, making it great if you work from home. It’s low-power so it is better for the environment and has a small footprint to maximise your workspace. Again, most media type are accepted, including glossy photo paper. The model will be priced at £79.99 and available from 1 September.

Finally, the Stylus SX600FW is a printer, scanner and copier with built-in wi-fi. There is a large 6.3cm LCD screen for previewing your imags before printing. It has a memory card reader and PictBridge compatibility to make it easy to get shots off your camera. Again available from 1 September, it is priced at £149.99.

Find out more about all these products at www.epson.co.uk.

Linx series audio frames proudly present the new Linx Memoire range, expanding its popularity with three stylish, cutting edge, high definition frames all including Life transition mode. Each product box also contains a FREE family portrait voucher, redeemable at hundreds of photographic outlets nationwide. Press release below:

Linx Announce Memoire Digital Photo Frame Range including FREE Family Portrait Voucher

Three stylish, cutting edge, high definition frames all including Life transition mode

Further building on the success of the current Linx series digital audio frames, Linx has now further expanded its popular audio digital frame series by introducing the new Linx Memoire range. Three stylish cutting edge, high definition models (7”, 8” and 10.2”) have been added now offering even more style and functionality from as little as £49.99 including VAT. But the digital dazzle doesn’t stop there; Linx is also including a FREE family portrait voucher in each box, redeemable at hundreds of photographic outlets nationwide.

The Memoire range of photo frames are packed with the latest technology delivering a range of slideshow modes including the new Life transition mode. This function allows you to literally ‘bring your old photo’s and memories back to Life’ by using a variety of pan and zoom transitions between images.
Relive your old memories with Linx!

The Linx Memoire series ups the ante in the style stakes and offers dramatic image and movie playback in any stylish home or office location. You can even customise your frame courtesy of Linx Skins – a simple press on - peel off frame surround in wide a variety of colours and designs. www.linxskins.com

The frames display pictures, videos and broadcast audio and come complete with a remote control handset to enable ease of use and up to the minute image management, at the touch of a button*.

The remote control receiver is located in the front panel of the screen. An in-built rechargeable battery enables the frames to be placed anywhere in the home or office without the need for power sockets.

All frames include a 4 in 1 card reader to enable the data to be viewed quickly and without hassle. Users can choose to only feature one image at a time or they have the facility to run the frame in a looped sequence, offering hours and hours of fun and enjoyment, time and time again. An integrated calendar and clock further add to the functionality of each frame*.

Users can enjoy superior stereo sound on the 8” and 10.2” models thanks to two built in speakers encased within the frames and witness crisp movie playback courtesy of MPEG1, MPEG2 and MPEG4 and MP3 file support.

For ultimate convenience, the 8” and 10.2” frames can be powered by the built in battery or powered through an AC cable, included as standard. The sleek, streamlined design along with the amazing quality, technology and excellent price make it a must have for any stylish home or office location.

XChange International, supplier of software including a wide range of Photoshop plug-ins, is offering a massive 10% discount on all its products until the end of August. To view the full range of included products, simply visit its website. You can find out more in the press release below.

Press release

XChange International announce 10th anniversary
offering users a discount across their entire product range

XChange International, the source for extended technology worldwide are
pleased to announce the celebration of their 10th anniversary. In
conjunction with the marked occasion, XChange are offering 10% discount
across their entire product range until 31st August 2008. The 10% discount
is applied automatically to any purchase on the company’s web site at
www.xchangeuk.com and is also available on all products ordered by
telephone, fax or email.

XChange are a leading supplier of desktop graphic and publishing
applications, QuarkXTensions® technology; Adobe InDesign®, Acrobat® and
Photoshop® Plug-ins® and other design and publishing utilities. XChange
offer extended technology products from across the world specific to the
graphic design, print and publishing industries and make them available to
an extensive user base via their printed catalogue or online at their web
site. The company are headquartered in Central London and also offer
specialist training on many of the solutions they sell.

XChange International were founded in 1998 with the concept of offering
customers within the graphic design and electronic publishing markets a
single source for extended technology solutions to QuarkXPress, a leading
page layout application worldwide. In 1999, XChange began promoting new
products that were targeted at their core audience including new
applications and plug-ins to the well-known Adobe Creative Suite of products
including Acrobat, Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. Sales of the new
product ranges grew exponentially as they introduced those products to their
existing customer base of QuarkXPress users.

“The XChange International brand is well known and respected within the
publishing, print and design sectors. We represent more than a hundred
extended technology developers from around the world,” offers Greg
Stodghill, Support Services Manager for XChange. “We provide first line
pre-sales and technical support on the products we distribute, and have
implemented a web-based support infrastructure to ensure support services
are handled consistently and efficiently. Customers turn to XChange
International’s experience in the market to help them make sense of the many
extended technology options now available.”

The emergence of PDF (Adobe’s Portable Document Format) as an industry
standard for document delivery offered XChange International a dynamic new
market segment and they have aggressively promoted PDF software solutions.
In 2002 XChange International published an extremely popular guide to PDF
technology, following it up with a version for Acrobat 8 compatible products
in 2007.

Over the past 10 years XChange International have built a totally customised
website allowing customers to search product information and buy online.
Four years ago the company implemented the ability for software to be
delivered immediately via secure download permitting customers to buy online
from the web store 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so that deadlines are never
missed should they need a product to help them streamline and automate their
workflows.

XChange offer software developers worldwide a proven business model for
supplying appropriate products to potential customers globally as well. “The
developers of the software we offer sales and support for vary from large
organisations to small, one-man companies,” states Greg Stodghill. “We are
able to get news of their products and specific feature sets out to their
target audiences in multiple time zones and to make it affordable for them
to sell their products no matter what their company size.”

XChange International have always offered specialist training and
consultancy services and from 2000 the company have seen the demand for
tailored training increase exponentially. Users can purchase solutions as
well as attend bespoke or general training courses for the more advanced
products so users are up and running and enjoying immediate return on their
investments.

To order, or for more information regarding their anniversary promotion,
users can visit www.xchangeuk.com, or call on +44(0)20 7490 4455 during UK
business hours. Email address is info@xchangeuk.com.

If you use Aperture to keep control of your photo collection, then you’ll be pleased to hear that the Noise Ninja plug-in is now available, offering powerful noise reduction technology within the Aperture interface. You can see all of the available plug-ins for Aperture on the website. Aperture is a brilliant image-management program that can be used alongside Photoshop to help keep tabs on a large collection of images.

Adobe Lightroom 2 is now available to buy from the Adobe website. It is priced at £175 excluding VAT for the full version (£69 excluding VAT if you are upgrading). However, if you want to get the latest version of Photoshop at the same time, then you can save up to £85 when purchasing both products as a bundle.

There is a whole host of new features in this version of the software, including multiple monitor support, local adjustment brushes and better CS3 integration.

You can find out more about this release by taking a visit to the Adobe website.

PRESS RELEASE

Adobe Systems Incorporated today announced the immediate availability of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 software, the photographer’s essential toolbox for managing, adjusting and presenting large volumes of digital photographs. With new enhancements such as dual-monitor support, radical advances in non-destructive localised image correction, and streamlined search capabilities, Lightroom 2 is a compelling upgrade that simplifies photography from shoot to finish. As Adobe’s first application to support 64-bit for Mac OS X 10.5 Macintosh computers with Intel processors and Microsoft Windows Vista 64-bit operating systems, Lightroom 2 also provides improved memory performance for dealing with large scale images.

“A worldwide community of photographers provided valuable insight and feedback, as part of the Lightroom 2 public beta program, ultimately helping us deliver a better product,” said Tom Hogarty, senior product manager for Lightroom and Camera Raw at Adobe. “We’ve considered their requests which helped us develop useful features that make it easier than ever for our customers to quickly refine, enhance and present brilliant photographs.”

Photoshop Lightroom 2: Smarter, Faster and More Accurate
The enhanced Library module in Lightroom 2 helps streamline and accelerate photographers’ workflows. With the ability to visually organise images across multiple hard drives, Lightroom 2 and its powerful Library Filter Bar makes it easy for users to quickly find the images they need. The Suggested Keywords feature helps photographers keyword their images by making intelligent suggestions based on their own previous efforts. New dual-monitor support allows users to expand their workspace, giving them flexibility to edit and organise images in a way that maximises an additional display.
In the Develop module, the new Local Adjustment Brush lets photographers fine-tune specific areas of an image to precisely adjust colour, exposure and tonal range without affecting other areas of the image. The new Graduated Filter expands the toolbox in Lightroom, allowing for edits to larger areas by applying gradually diminishing or increasing adjustment effects such as exposure, clarity, and saturation, alone, or in any combination. Lightroom 2 also helps photographers print more efficiently by quickly arranging photos of multiple sizes on one or many pages with flexible and customisable templates to maximise paper and ink. Intelligent algorithms automatically determine optimal sharpening for screen or print, producing crisper images faster. Developers can further extend the Lightroom workflow with Web, Export and Metadata Software Development Kits available at the Adobe Developer Connection, http://www.adobe.com/devnet/.

Ground-Breaking Innovation in Raw Technology
New raw technology gives photographers access to flexible camera profiles. Camera profiles are the visual starting point for the raw processing workflow, but image preferences vary for every photographer. To minimise surprises, Adobe is supplying default camera profiles that closely emulate the visual looks that photographers are used to seeing from their favourite camera, while also providing the ability to create highly customised profiles to suit different tastes. Camera profiles are available for immediate download on Adobe Labs (http://labs.adobe.com) for use with Lightroom 2 and Camera Raw 4.5, along with the DNG Profile Editor for the community to test and create their own profiles.
The Adobe Camera Raw 4.5 plug-in and DNG Converter 4.5 are also now available on Adobe.com and support over 190 camera models including the Olympus E 420 and E 520 models.
“One of the big reasons why Lightroom has become such a phenomenon among serious photographers is that Adobe built it with the input of a very vocal user community,” said Scott Kelby, president of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP).  “Adobe really listens to the issues and challenges today’s photographers face and they’ve built a complete solution that not only meets the needs of photographers; it really feels like it was made just for us. The enhancements to Lightroom 2, combined with the power of Photoshop, give photographers the ultimate freedom to produce professional images quickly.”

Pricing and Availability
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 is available now through the Adobe Store at www.adobe.com/store in English, French and German with the Japanese language version planned to be released at a future date. The estimated street price is £175 for new users with an upgrade price of £69 for registered users of qualifying Lightroom customers. Recommended system requirements are Macintosh OSX 10.4, 10.5 1 GHz PowerPC G4 or G5 or Intel based processor, or Microsoft Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise, Intel Pentium 4 processor, 1 GB RAM and a 1024×768 resolution screen. Additional information on product features, upgrade policies, pricing, and language versions is available on www.adobe.com/products/photoshoplightroom/.