These print service providers are great if you don't have a large format printer or if you don't want to bother with putting the wrap together yourself. But if you do and are perhaps interested in how you might do this, onOne's very own Dan Harlacher has put together a 30 minute video that shows you how you can prepare your image using Genuine Fractals 6 for a canvas gallery wrap and then shows you the process that he goes through to make the wrap. You'll see the proper print settings, assembling the wooden frame and stretching the canvas.

Check it out, it's completely free and available to watch in the onOne University.

First of all, I was really nervous when we walked in because it was hot outside and my kids were very tired from a long bike ride. If you have kids, you know what heat and exhaustion can do to a nine and six year old. Anyway, after keeping them from knocking over the large prints that Elizabeth has on display and getting them to sit down for a bit, I got a quick tour of the gallery and was blown away.

I've seen a lot of Elizabeth's work online in her portfolio galleries - and if you haven't seen it yet, stop now, go look and come back later - and have always been impressed, but seeing her large prints was incredible. She had a 6 foot tall shot of Horsetail Falls that was amazing. The cool thing was though that Elizabeth told me that a new recreation center had recently been completed there in Truckee and she put together a 10 foot tall version of the same shot using Genuine Fractals 6 and the Gallery Wrap feature for the recreation center could hang in their entry way. Of course, I had to drive over to the center and take a look (and a photo). It was the largest gallery wrap I've ever seen and it looked pretty amazing. Take a look for yourself.

The long and short of why we're not going to have the CS5 compatibility updates out when we initially said is because we've run into some bigger than expected issues converting a couple of the plug-ins over from being 32-bit to being 64-bit compatible. Some were easier than others (though our engineers would tell me that none of this work was "easy") but some are taking longer than we initially thought. We want to make sure we get the updates done correctly and that the quality level meets the standards you expect. Getting these free compatibility updates out is our number 1 priority right now and is all we are (and have been for quite some time) working on.

In the past, we've rolled all of the plug-ins out at once for something like this. Right now, I think we'll be rolling out Genuine Fractals 6.0.5 out first (early next week) with the rest following by the end of the month. Stay tuned for more info on releases.

I apologize for the delay but we're working as hard and fast as we can to get the updates out to those of you who have already upgraded or will be upgrading soon to Photoshop CS5.

Regardless, it was still very cool to have Genuine Fractals mentioned on the show and I'd like to thank the CSI: NY writers for including Genuine Fractals in the storyline! You can watch the full episode of CSI: NY that I'm referring to on the CBS.com web site.

]]> http://www.ononesoftware.com/blog/2010/02/11/genuine-fractals-on-csi-ny/feed/ 2 http://www.ononesoftware.com/blog/2010/02/09/aperture-3-and-onone-plug-ins/ http://www.ononesoftware.com/blog/2010/02/09/aperture-3-and-onone-plug-ins/#comments Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:16:57 +0000 Mike Wong http://www.ononesoftware.com/blog/?p=2399 For those of you using Aperture 2 to manage your digital camera files, several of the onOne plug-ins such as PhotoFrame, Genuine Fractals, FocalPoint, PhotoTune, and even PhotoTools 2.5 Professional Edition (in conjunction with Photoshop) offer support for and integration with Aperture 2.

As you may have already seen, earlier today, Apple announced Aperture 3. According to Apple, there are over 200 new features in Aperture 3. One of them being a 64-bit application. That means if you're running Leopard or Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5 or 10.6 respectively) running a 64-bit application will allow that application to access more than 4GB of RAM. It also means, in this case, that any plug-ins  you want to run with Aperture 3 need to be 64-bit plug-ins.

Currently, the above mentioned onOne plug-ins that support Aperture 2 are not 64-bit and therefore will not work with Aperture 3. We do have a plan to update our Mac plug-ins to be 64-bit compatible (just like we have already made the Windows versions of our plug-ins 64-bit compatible) but at this time, I don't have a date to share with you. All I can really say is that we plan to offer Mac OS X 64-bit compatibility later this year.

If you're using Aperture 3, or plan to upgrade since it just came out today, please leave a comment below and I'll be sure to add you to a list to let you know when we have Aperture 3 support. Also, if you could take a second to answer this poll, it would be appreciated.

>> UPDATE <<

As some have pointed out in the comments, our plug-ins that support Aperture 2 should work in Aperture 3 if you open Aperture 3 as a 32-bit application. By default, it opens as a 64-bit application but should you desire to open it as a 32-bit application for legacy plug-in support (ours or anybody else's for that matter), here's how to force Aperture 3 to launch as a 32-bit app.

In the Mac OS X Finder, go to your Applications folder. Select the Aperture application and press Command-I to open the Get Info window. Look for the box that says "Open in 32-bit mode". Check that box and launch Aperture 3.

I haven't tested this yet as I just got my hands on Aperture 3 for the first time last night and just installed it this morning. I'll play with it later and report back. If you have any experience with this, please feel free to leave a comment below.

[poll id="4"]

The Plug-In Suite 5 will be shipping in November but can be pre-ordered now at a discount. Continue reading for more information about specific updates to FocalPoint 2, PhotoTune 3, PhotoTools 2.5 and PhotoFrame 4.5 as part of the Plug-In Suite 5.

For more information about Plug-In Suite 5 including a pre-order special offer, visit the Plug-In Suite 5 product page.

New FocalPoint 2

I think you are really going to like what we've done to FocalPoint 2. We've taken it way beyond the motion and box blur that was available in version 1. Now in FocalPoint 2, there is an all new blur algorithm that accurately replicates the blur that a real lens would create. This new algorithm, combined with the ability to use up to six FocusBugs and a new FocusBrush that let's you fine tune exactly where the blur should go is the perfect way to simulate depth-of-field in your photos.

We worked closely with several professional photographers on this release to make sure that the blur we created was true to what you would normally achieve in camera. This new algorithm is going to allow you to shoot at an aperture like f/8 to achieve optimum sharpness, yet get the background blur as if you shot it at a much wider aperture. You've got to see it to believe it! FocalPoint 2 will be shipping in November, but check out the new product page.

New PhotoTune 3

Also new on it's own or as part of the Plug-In Suite 5 is PhotoTune 3. PhotoTune 3 has a brand new auto-correction algorithm that we licensed from im-sense that was originally developed to solve the problem of dynamic range correction in standard and HDR images. In PhotoTune 3, this technology works on standard images captured in a single image. It ensures that detail is revealed while maintaining color balance and integrity.

Also new in PhotoTune 3 is an updated SkinTune module which automatically color corrects skin color in one step with a new option to target the color correction to just the skin rather than the entire image. It is perfect for both indoor and outdoor portraits where you pick up a surrounding color cast on your subject's skin. PhotoTune 3 will be available in November.

For more information about PhotoTune 3, visit the product detail page.

Updates to PhotoTools 2.5 and PhotoFrame 4.5

Both PhotoTools and PhotoFrame also get updates as part of this big Plug-In Suite 5 launch. In PhotoTools 2.5 (both Standard and Professional Editions), we have included several new effects for portrait retouching and lighting effects. Also, the FocusBug control from FocalPoint is now integrated into PhotoTools 2.5 allowing you to apply any of the effects selectively with that intuitive control.

In PhotoFrame 4.5 (both Standard and Professional Editions) you can now move frames and textures below the image layer. If you are creating album layouts with PhotoFrame, this is going to save you a ton of time. Also, you can now export frame layers as a clipping mask back to Photoshop giving you additional creative control. If you get the Professional Edition of PhotoFrame 4.5, you get some great new content from our newest PhotoFrame guru contributor Kersti Malvre which all by itself will raise the quality of the work you can create with PhotoFrame 4.5.

Both PhotoTools 2.5 and PhotoFrame 4.5 will be available in December.

For more information, visit the PhotoTools 2.5 product page or the PhotoFrame 4.5 product page.

Again, these updates won't be available until November. You can pre-order the Plug-In Suite 5. If you order any of the other individual products, we will ship you the current version of that product now when you place an order and then we will send you a copy of the newest version for free when it is available.

I'm a few days late in getting to my Photoshop User TV, but fortunately, once they go up, they never come down. Anyway, if you haven't seen Episode 198 of Photoshop User TV, you should check it out.

Matt Kloskowski goes over how to use the sharpening controls in Adobe Camera Raw and does a good job of explaining what each slider does and how it affects your image. Scott Kelby gives a nice demo on improving your waterfall shots. And last but not least, they cover several different plug-ins that they use including Genuine Fractals and PhotoFrame 4. They even covered the watermarking plug-in from Digimarc which I thought was cool because a friend of mine works there and they (Digimarc) have their offices just a few minutes down the road from us here at onOne.

Additional plug-ins covered included a couple from Nik Software and Topaz Labs. They also talked briefly about the new MpixPro service which I just signed up for and will be sharing my experiences with you all in a future post.

In addition to the great photograph and thinking how excited Brian must be for having his photo on display at The Smithsonian, I thought it was pretty cool to see that he used Genuine Fractals to take the native file from his Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II from it's native resolution of about 16x24 inches at 360 ppi to  5x8 feet!

You can read the original article here at the Wide Format Imaging website.

However, Andy recently sent me some new photos for his pro corner page and I thought it would be cool to post them here as well.

This first photo [ ((Model Catherine)) ] was shot as personal work for Andy that he used in his workshops at the SWPP conference in January. Andy used Mask Pro but in quite a subtle way. As you know, using a wind machine can be rather unpredictable, so he used Mask Pro to take sections of hair from other frames and combine them onto this final composite you see above.

This above photo [ ((Model Clare)) ] is from the same shoot. No masking in this one, but Andy used Genuine Fractals 6 to blow up a section to 3 feet x 3 feet at 300dpi. The size increase was around 1300%. The image was used on the Broncolor stand at the Focus on Imaging exhibition and will be featured on the Broncolor web site. [ ((Photo Credits:
- Hair by Nick Malenko at Royston Blythe Salon
- Makeup Artist: Jessica Nurse
- Wardrobe: Rachael Sadler
- Assistant: Sander Jurkiewicz
- Lighting courtesy of Broncolor
- Gear: Canon 1Ds Mark II, Canon EF 100mm Macro, Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 L)) ]

In this final image, Andy tells me that this was a new departure for him and something that has come directly out of his association with onOne Software and using Mask Pro. The shot was commissioned for the English Rock Band The Beautiful Deadly Children and features lead singer and composer, Paul Steventon-Marks.

The shot was done in Andy's studio against a plain white background and Mask Pro was used to cut him out (the Steampunk accessories were real, the arm came from America and cost around £800). The background was constructed from various stock shots (landscape, balloon, submarine and cloudy sky) and then enhanced with "snow" and more "clouds" created in Photoshop.

Andy told me that the image of Paul is actually constructed from a number of elements, his left hand and left eye, for example, came from other frames (using Mask Pro to isolate them). Lots of manipulation in Photoshop to stretch the fingers of the left hand out, put the reflection into the goggles and so on. Mask Pro allowed Andy to remove his actual arm around his right elbow and make the steampunk arm look more surreal. Finally the image was toned before being put through Genuine Fractals and output on a HP wide carriage printer to 34 x 49 inches.

All images copyright Andy Kruczek.

Editorial Director George Schaub wrote the Test Report and talks about how he used Genuine Fractals to resize some of his shots from a Canon EOS 5D to resize them up to 24x36".

"(Starting with) a 72MB file, I did a GF conversion, yielding a 284MB file that was indistinguishable in image quality when put side by side the smaller "native" file. Impressive."

The full review isn't online yet, but I'll update the post when it does. In the meantime, be sure to check out the review in the printed edition of the magazine.

Update - May 19, 2009: The Genuine Fractals 6 review has now been posted on the Shutterbug web site. You can find the full review online here.