Dr. Michael N. Roach | DigitalAppleJuice

Review: Pixelmator 1.6

July 19, 2010 By Dr. Michael N. Roach 7 Comments

About a year and a half ago (January 7, 2009 to be exact) I wrote a review of Pixelmator as a potential light-weight image-editing software. At that time I found it a very useful and inexpensive image-editing software that was well worth its $59.00 cost. (Download from Pixelmator.com) A new version of Pixelmator (1.6) is available as a free upgrade to current Pixelmator owners, but a word of caution goes along with it. Pixelmator has been rewritten for Snow Leopard 10.6 and the new version … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Graphics, Photoshop, Reviews, Software, Workflow Tagged With: apple, cheap photoshop alternative, composite, Graphics, image editing, mac, photoshop, Pixelmator, Software

Topaz Labs Releases DeNoise v.4

May 6, 2010 By Dr. Michael N. Roach 2 Comments

One of my favorite software companies, Topaz Labs, has just released an upgrade to their DeNoise software, rasing version 3 to version 4. This is a free upgrade to version 3 owners and is a major upgrade. Check it out at here. It's not just that the "look" has changed, but the new layout makes it much easier to navigate and also incorporates a new "IntelliNoise" technology. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Photoshop Tagged With: apple, art, image enhancement, mac, photoshop, plugin, Topaz Labs

Build A Better Photograph: A Disciplined Approach To Creativity by Michael E. Stern

January 25, 2010 By Dr. Michael N. Roach 5 Comments

Build A Better Photograph: A Disciplined Approach To Creativity - Rocky Nook

Rocky Nook Press recently sent me a review copy of Michael E. Stern's new book Build A Better Photograph: A Disciplined Approach To Creativity, and since I am always interested in the creative process (especially when it involves disciplined thought), I was happy to sit down with it for some quality time. I gravitate towards that word "disciplined" because I am an analytical and systematic individual. My trusty Mac computer dictionary provided the following: With that in mind, I have … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Books, Featured, Photography, Reviews Tagged With: composition, creativity, digital photography, michael stern, Photography, Rocky Nook

Robbie Lacomb at The Alpha & Omega Fine Art Photography Gallery

December 16, 2009 By Dr. Michael N. Roach

The work of artist-photographer Robbie Lacomb is currently on display at Alpha & Omega Fine Art Photography Gallery in Austin TX. The exhibition will remain on show through the end of January 2010. Photographer, digital artist and printmaker Robbie Lacomb resides and works in East Texas and teaches art and art history at Angelina College in Lufkin. She exhibits her prints and photographs in the U.S. and abroad, including Morocco, Ireland, Russia and Paris, France. In the year 2000 she … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Digital Lifestyles, Featured, Photography Tagged With: Austin, exhibition, Photography, Robbie Lacomb, texas

Tablet Draw By MooSoftware.com

November 18, 2009 By Dr. Michael N. Roach 2 Comments

I just found a Shareware program that had me reaching for my credit card within fifteen minutes of first downloading it to try out. From mooSoftware.com is TABLETDRAW® a simple drawing program that uses the pressure sensitivity of the various Wacom tablets to allow you to draw freely. It's a sketching and drawing program with the look of pencil, pen, or felt marker. It runs on Intel-based or PowerPC Macs and requires Mac OS X version 10.4 or later. Sorry, PC users, this one is Mac only. What … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Photoshop, Software Tagged With: draw, Graphics, moosoftware, pressure-sensitive, Sketch, Software, tabletdraw

Monitor Calibration : Xrite i1Display 2

October 28, 2009 By Dr. Michael N. Roach 2 Comments

The road from getting the color you see on the computer monitor to that you see on an inkjet print is a long and torturous path. What-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) is not what is going to happen with a printer right out of the box, your monitor, and bargin inkjet paper from the office supply store. Without taking time in this article to give you a background in additive color(projective color—ie: your monitor—color built with Red, Green, and Blue) and subtractive color(printed … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Hardware, Photography Tagged With: calibration device, color management, color matching, colorimeter, graphic art, graphic design, Hardware, monitor, monitor optimizer, Photography, Software, spectrophotometer, X-Rite

Mastering Photographic Composition, Creativity, and Personal Style by Alain Briot

October 21, 2009 By Dr. Michael N. Roach 1 Comment

For those of you who follow The Luminous Landscape web site, Alain Briot's name will be a familiar one from his informative and insightful writings for the photographer. If you are new to his writings you will be in for a treat in his second book published by Rocky Nook (his first was Mastering Landscape Photography). Rocky Nook produces beautiful volumes printed on acid-free paper that reproduce the dynamic tonalities of the fine-art prints that they showcase, and the long-term … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Books, Photography, Reviews Tagged With: composition, decisive moment, Photography, Rocky Nook

Review: Acorn 2.0 by Flying Meat

October 19, 2009 By Dr. Michael N. Roach 1 Comment

Gus Mueller, the guiding light behind FlyingMeat.com and the newly released version 2.0 of Acorn calls his software "The image editor for humans" and it truly is a moderately priced image editor at US $49.95 with an upgrade from version 1.0 at US $19.95. At 7.8 megabytes in the compressed zip download form, it only takes a brief time to reach your computer. Acorn is a Macintosh only (Snow Leopard OS X 10.6 and later) software this is truly an image editor that is easy to use and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Software, Workflow Tagged With: image editing, keystroke shortcuts, screen capture, screen gra

Rollip.com: Polaroid Nostalgia

October 5, 2009 By Dr. Michael N. Roach 2 Comments

Nostalgic for the Polaroid look? Wishing for the ability to make snapshots look like Polaroids? There's a fast, easy-to use solution. All it involves is an upload, a brief wait, and a download. Check out http://www.rollip.com/ which takes you to a site by Rollip. Click the website to start; this takes you to a page of original images and Polaroid "look" variations that take you back to the days of slight color mismatch, over and under development; atmospheric effects and the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Media, Photography Tagged With: online, Photofunia, Photography, polaroid, website

Snow Leopard: One More Installation

September 8, 2009 By Dr. Michael N. Roach 2 Comments

Since the uppermost thing on most Macintosh users minds lately is the upgrade to Snow Leopard, and since this is a Mac-centric website, the least I can do is report on some of my own Snow Leopard Experiences. Is it a radical change? No, as others have reported, it is a tightening up and customizing of OSX's Leopard. The best anology I can make regarding my feelings after I installed Snow Leopard on my MacBook Pro is that it is a bit like taking a new, off-the-shelf mens' suit to an expert … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Software Tagged With: installation, mac os x. snow leopard

Photoshop Plugin: Akvis Sketch v9.0

August 31, 2009 By Dr. Michael N. Roach 3 Comments

Ever wanted to turn a photograph into a drawing without spending an hour in Adobe Photoshop using layers and high pass filtering to finally separate out a line drawing of that photograph? It's possible with a plug-in from Akvis Software. The last time I looked they had some thirteen sofware applications for Macintosh and PC computers. Running either as stand-alone software applications or as plug-ins for image editing programs such as Adobe Photoshop or Photoshop … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Photography, Photoshop, Software Tagged With: Akvis, effects, filter, photoshop, plugin, Sketch

Photoshop Plugin: Topaz Simplify

August 24, 2009 By Dr. Michael N. Roach 3 Comments

During the last month I took a trip back to Topaz Lab's webpage and downloaded another of their interesting programs. (Topazlabs.com) If you remember, they make imaging enhancement software for both still and video photography. This time I thought I'd try their Simplify 2; it's a $39.95 program that can be downloaded in minutes—there's a fully functional 30 day trial version also. All you have to do is request the 30 day key and you can play with any of their … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Photography, Photoshop, Software Tagged With: Cartoon, filter, OIl Painiting, Painting Harshcolor, Photoshop Plugin, Sketch, Topaz Labs, Underpainting, Watercolor, Wood Carving