Release Issued by H&M:
Latest update 2.8 delivers new professional features
StudioLine Photo Basic freeware, ideal for the digital newbie, also available as a free download
Rödermark, 24-MAY-05 - H&M System Software today announce the release of StudioLine Photo 2.8, an update to the software for the convenient and safe management, editing and presentation of digital photos. This new upgrade supports ICC colour profiles and tone corrections with gradation curves, as well as a white balance tool and support of DNG (Digital Negative) format files. The update is free of charge for all registered users of StudioLine Photo version 2.0 and above.
Concurrent with the new full product comes the release of an updated StudioLine Photo Basic freeware. The 2.8 update of the full product focuses in particular on the photo professional. ICC profiles allow for colour management from the time an image is loaded to the time of the final print. By incorporating a gradation curve tool and an intelligent white balance tool, H&M further address the professionals' needs.
White Balance
The "one-click fix" of the white balance tool allows for instantaneous colour correction. A pipette is used to pick an area of the picture which which is grey in true life. A simple click automatically removes ny hue. Additional options are offered to further fine-tune the results.
StudioLine's "Safety First" principle is fully implemented in the white balance tool. If the result of the selected area turns out to be less than ideal, then a fresh start using the white balance tool reverts to the colours of the unchanged original.
Gradation Curves for Tone Corrections
The new gradation curve tool allows for whole-image tone corrections based either on the grey channel or the colour separations. An image can either be adjusted to better match natural tones - or the tool can serve as a special effects filter. Images á la Warhol are now easier than ever before.
IPTC Keywords Import
Among the many improvements is the automatic recognition of cameras and card readers to speed up and simplify loading of new images and their IPTC tags. StudioLine will inspect the IPTC "Keywords" field for any new keywords, and append those to the keywords list which is kept in the image archive.
New StudioLine Photo Basic freeware - Ideal for the digital newbie
StudioLine Photo Basic 2.8 has the same user interface and speed enhancements as the full version. Users who don't require advanced features such as RAW support, a timeline viewer or a category/keyword browser, will find in StudioLine Photo Basic 2.8 a free yet comprehensive tool for managing digital image collections of any size.
The StudioLine Photo Basic freeware shares the common "Safety First" concept with the full version: all editing information is stored next to the unchanged original in the image archive database. The editing information is used to render a properly sized "just-in-time" output image, whenever needed for exporting, printing or web-publishing. The freeware version also includes the innovative "Copy" button that provides for efficient batch processing of multiple editing steps against a series of images.
StudioLine Photo Basic 2.8 is available as a free download at www.StudioLine.net.
Pricing and Availability
The fully licensed version of StudioLine Photo 2.8 for Windows ME, 2000, XP and XP/SP 2 is available online at www.StudioLine.net for 49.95 Euros (£35) in the box, or as a download for 44 Euros (£32). The update to 2.8 is free for all registered users of the full StudioLine Photo product, version 2.0 and above.
The StudioLine website also offers a 30 day trial version and the StudioLine Photo Basic freeware.
