Updated June 7th, 2009

This is a Public Service list of as many Photo related software as I am aware of.  This is made to assist photographers who either do

not need or cannot afford Photoshop to find the right tools they need, and for those who are interested in other functionalities.

For the sake of tidiness, if you have suggestions on what to add, please

PM/Message me, instead of posting here.

Image Manipulations software:

Obviously

- Photoshop Creative Suites

Lower cost/Free alternatives to Photoshop

- Corel Paint Shop Pro X2 - $80 retail
- Adobe Photoshop Element 6 - $70 retail often with rebate
- GIMP - Free Image Manipulation software
- Paint.net - Free, fantastic image manipulation software from WSU
- Photoshop Express - free stripped down version of Photoshop online
- Google Picasa - Free, good, manipulation software from Google
- SplashUp - full featured online photo manipulation software
- Irfanview - super lightweight (not a memory hog), powerful software that can even process RAW
- Graphic Convertor - Photo editor for Mac
- Pixelmater - another fantastic image editor for Mac (Thx to Terry Breedlove for the suggestions)
- Photoscape - Easier to use than Picassa, yet has many functions that are typically found only on high end editing software. (Thx to SayCheez for the suggestion)

RAW/Workflow software:

- PhaseOne captureOne
- Adobe Lightroom
- Apple Aperture - Mac only
- Apple Preview - Free raw converter, already comes with OS X (Tiger and up)
- BibbleLabs
- ACDSee - workflow cataloging RAW Digital Asset Management software
- Breeze Browser
- Extensis Portfolio - cataloging software
- Thumb Plus - Cataloging software, great for stock
- Microsoft Expression Media - another great cataloging and Digital Asset Management software
- SilkyPix Developer Studio - Raw converter (Thx to Eduardo Frances)
- DxO Optics Pro - great RAW and workflow software (Thx to Amedeus)
- Nikon NX - for Nikon only

Will add more later when time allows.

Hope this helps.  And please stop pirating software.

Again, for the sake of tidiness, if you have suggestions on what to add, please PM/Message me, instead of posting here.

Thanks.

Leo - Moderator
www.leolam.com

Noise Reduction Plug-ins for Photoshop, Lightroom, and similar
Many of the products have camera-specific settings, either built-in or as extra-cost add-ons

Neat Image.
$30-$75, Plug-in and standalone. Mac/Win

Noise Ninja - now only available as part of their PhotoNinja product.
$130, Plug-in and standalone.

Imagenomic'€™s Noiseware
$50-$70, Plug-in and standalone. Mac/Win

Nik Dfine
$90. Plug-in. Mac/Win

Akvis Noise Buster
$50. Plug-in and standalone. Mac/Win

Topaz DeNoise
$50. Plug-in only. Mac/Win

Kodak's Digital GEM
$100. Plug-in only. Mac/Win (Hasn't been updated since Photoshop CS3)

PowerRetouche Noise Filter
$45. Plug-in only. Mac/Win

FixerLabs' NoiseFixer
$45. Plug-in only. Mac/Win

MediaChance PureImage NR
$35. Plug-in only. Win only.

Asiva Sharpen+Soften
$40. Plug-in only. Mac/Win

Human Software AudoDeNoise
$50. Plug-in only. Mac/Win


Michael Almond wrote a review in 2005 comparing many of the above products. It's well worth reading, even though all the products have been improved.

Don'€™t overlook the built-in tools in Photoshop, however. While not as flexible as the plug-ins, they're still quite powerful.

Last updated 11/9/2014

Masking Plug-ins and Utilities

Vertus Fluid Mask
$150. Plug-in only. Mac/Win

Digital Film Tools EZ Mask
$150. Plug-in only. Mac/Win
Digital Film Tools Power Mask
$150. Plug-in only. Mac/Win

Akvis SmartMask
$70-$120. Plug-or standalone. Mac/Win

Topaz Lab's Remask
$70. Plug-in only. Mac/Win

Human Software AutoMask
$100. Plug-in only. Mac/Win

Novadesign Cinematte
Chromakey/greenscreen/bluescreen
$190. Plug-in only. Mac/Win

Imagica/Digital Anarchy Primatte
Chromakey/greenscreen/bluescreen
$300. Plug-in only. Mac/Win

Digital Film Tools zMatte
Chromakey/greenscreen/bluescreen
$200. Mac/Win

SimpelFilter SF TransluSense
SimpelFilter DF Maskerade
Specialty color, brightness, hue, etc-based transparency or masking.
Plug-in only. Win only.

FXHome's PhotoKey
Chromakey/greenscreen/bluescreen
$100. Standalone only. Mac/Win

Last updated: 11/9/2014

Skin Smoothing Plug-ins

Asiva Sharpen+Soften
$40. Mac/Win (Site's been down for a while; may be discontinued.)

Human Software's AutoSmooth
$80, Mac/Win

Imagenomic's Portraiture 2
$200, Plug-in only, available for Photoshop, Lightroom, or Aperture. Mac/Win

Kodak Digital GEM Airbrush
$100, Mac/Win (Hasn't been updated since Photoshop CS3)

Media Chance's Digital Tools Essentials
$40, Win only.

PowerRetouche Soft Filter or Noise Filter
$30. Mac/Win

Topaz Clean
$30, Mac/Win

Nik Dynamic Skin Softener
$150, Mac/Win. (Many other filters included, but the Skin Softener is only available in the 'Complete Edition' package)

Note that many of the noise reduction tools listed in that section can also work for skin smoothing, even if they'€™re not designed specifically for it. So can many filters built into Photoshop, such as Gaussian blur, Surface blur, Median, Diffuse-Anisotropic, or techniques such as bandpass filtering.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

All of the above plug-ins use blurring in some fashion to smooth the skin. While perfectly acceptable in many fields--portraiture, weddings, etc--€”it'€™s rarely well-suited for mainstream commercial or fashion work.

A more time-consuming approach, but one which gives far less artificial looking results is described in Ronald Tan's Basic Pixel Level Dodging and Burning Tutorial thread.

Another good guide is Christos’ Understanding Skin Retouching Regarding LIGHT thread.

The concept is simple; darken highlights of bumps and lighten shadows of bumps, do the opposite for wrinkles, and *poof* the skin will look smooth. The actual execution, however, takes a lot of time, and it also takes time to develop an eye for it. (Use of heal and clone also come into play, but that's a slightly different issue, and is often needed even when using a smoothing plug-in.)

Last updated: 11/9/2014