ACDSee Pro 3 builds on its reputation as a leading viewer, browser and organizer with new advanced speed capabilities in the editing and online stages. For example, the program’s unique process mode integrates two highly prized features – nondestructive image editing and precise pixel-level editing – into one seamless application.

“ACDSee Pro 3 is geared around saving time and offers photographers the ability to customize their own workflow and speed up the process of preparing and sharing their photos,” said Cam Carmichael, product manager for ACD Systems, who noted that more than 10,000 professional photographers worldwide participated in the beta test program. “The Pro 3 structure makes it easy for users to achieve their desired results quickly and efficiently.”

Introduced in early 2006, ACDSee Pro has historically been designed around mode-based operations, so this new, updated version will be familiar to current ACDSee Pro users. The software emphasizes four areas of activity – manage, view, process and online – that optimizes each step in the photography workflow in one application.

“I’m on assignment overseas often and the last thing I want to worry about is my workflow,” said Peter Pereira, a photojournalist and 4SEE Photo Agency photographer. “I’ve been a longtime ACDSee Pro user and the latest version is top-notch image software. I’ve tried them all and this is my favorite.”

Manage: Digital asset management
ACDSee Pro 3 provides photographers with the capability to manage digital assets to their own specifications using both folders and metadata. The manage mode speeds the process of browsing, cataloging, retrieving, and presenting collections with flexible time-saving tools. New additions to the robust sharing capabilities allow users to distribute their creative work effortlessly through SMTP-enabled e-mail applications such as Gmail™ and Yahoo!® Mail Plus, and publish images to their Web sites via a new FTP uploader.

As in previous versions of ACDSee Pro, ACDSee Pro 3 supports the management of more than 100 file types and will be regularly updated to support the latest RAW formats as new camera models are released.

View: Unparalleled image viewing
In view mode, images can be seen in full size at unparalleled speeds. Photographers can quickly scan through selected images with click advance or auto advance features, or flip between images using the new filmstrip window and remain oriented within a large group of files.

Process: Dynamic imaging processing
ACDSee Pro 3’s new process mode integrates nondestructive image editing and precise pixel-level editing into one seamless application. Users can take advantage of the new mode to dynamically adjust images of any format, from RAW files to TIFFs and JPEGs, and easily complete both global nondestructive adjustments and pixel-level editing on any image in one intuitive workflow. Unlike other programs that make users wait while changes apply, ACDSee Pro 3 allows users to see the outcome of their adjustments in real time.

Online: Photo sharing with free storage
Photographers can easily store and share images online without leaving the application in ACDSee Pro 3’s new online mode, which connects users to a free 2 GB account on the ACDSee Online Web site. The online mode is a convenient way to create, store, share and manage albums and access images when away from the desktop computer. ACDSee Pro 3 image folders can quickly and easily be dragged and dropped directly on the secure, password-protected online storage space. The ACDSee Online site, which is powered by Amazon Web Services™, the same secure infrastructure that backs Amazon.com and its affiliated sites, offers a hierarchical folder tree structure so images can be easily organized.

Availability
ACDSee Pro 3 is available for a free 30-day trial and for purchase at $169.99 (USD) by visiting www.acdsee.com. Registered owners of ACDSee Pro, Pro 2 and Pro 2.5 are eligible to upgrade for less than $90.00 (USD).

About ACD Systems International Inc.
Headquartered in British Columbia since 1993, ACD Systems International Inc. is one of the world’s leading developers and marketers of digital imaging software, including the renowned ACDSee image management tool and Canvas, an advanced technical illustration and graphics program. ACD Systems has millions of consumer and business users and more than 33,000 corporate customers, including many Fortune 500 companies. For further details, please visit www.acdsee.com.

ACD and ACDSee are trademarks of ACD Systems International Inc. and may be registered in Canada, the United States, the European Union, Japan or certain other jurisdictions. Canvas is a trademark of ACD Systems of America, Inc. and may be registered in certain jurisdictions. Trademarks of ACD Systems of America, Inc. are used under license by ACD Systems International Inc. or its subsidiaries.

All other marks, products and company names are the property of their respective owners.

We’re excited to announce a whole new product coming to the iStock collection. Clients will soon be able to download a unique logo to brand their business or organization right here at iStock. This is a huge opportunity not just for existing iStock contributors, but for our community of designers as well. If you’re a designer, you’ve probably created hundreds of different logos over the course of your career and we’re offering you an outlet to start selling logos to the world’s largest community of creative buyers.

If you’re illustrator and you have some skills with logo design, you should try.

I’m not sure how this will work and how they can know is your logo copy or not… Also I’m very interested to see price the list and terms. Once sold logo should be revoked from their gallery…

Any comments ?

LCD vs CRT (some differences)

Angle of view
The viewing angle on LCD monitors is usually much smaller then angle on CRT monitors. Now it is getting wider and wider and current models offer over 160 degrees. For all practical purposes that are more than sufficient for any user but keep in mind that published specifications is not 100% true.

Colors
This is where the CRT monitors take a clear advantage and this is the main reason why photo editors and photographers still have old CRT monitor on their desk. For an average user the difference is hardly noticeable in side-by-side comparison but editing photos can be “mission impossible” on cheap LCD monitor.

Aesthetics
LCD monitors are slim and stylish so you will have more space on your desk.

Contrast
The CRT monitors always had better contrast and LCD monitors were lagging behind until now. Some of the best LCD monitors have come very close. A high contrast monitor is likely to produce black as black rather than dark grey.

Dead Pixels
Dead Pixels are pixels on the LCD panel that do not function. You cannot repair them and sometimes warranty does not cover dead pixels. Best cure is to open your eyes before you buy. They are usually spotted as a dark or light dot always on the same place.

Energy Requirements
When it comes to power consumption, LCD monitors are very good. Their consumption is up to 50% smaller then equivalent CRT monitor.

Refresh rates
CRT monitors are liable to low refresh rates, which are seen as screen flickering. This aspect was also responsible for lower productivity (imagine 10hrs per day in front of this monitor). Refresh rate is measured in Hz (Hertz) and the VESA standard states that the minimum refresh rate to avoid eyestrain is 72 Hz. Ideally a refresh rate of 85 Hz should be OK for most people using 17 inch monitors. Due to difference in technology, the LCD Monitors are clear winners as refresh rate is not an issue with them.

The main part of modern LCD monitor is its panel. There are many different panel technologies used in the production of LCD monitors and they range from budget TN panels to expensive IPS and PVA panels. The average consumer usually has no idea what panel technology is used in their LCD because the manufacturer in the monitor specifications rarely lists the panel type.
Price should be a factor, but you should still know the advantages and disadvantages of the different LCD panels and be able to identify them before you decide which LCD to purchase.

Types of LCD panels

TN
”Twisted Nematic” display is the most common consumer display type. They are cheap and they have very good response time (4ms and 2ms models). Bad side is their color reproduction and linearity. Also, they suffers from limited viewing angles, especially in the vertical direction, and most are unable to display the full 16.7 million colors (24-bit true color). They use 6 bits per color channel so it means they combine adjacent pixels to simulate the desired shade, which is very bad for photography or any kind of photo manipulation.

IPS
“In-Plane Switching” models were developed to improve the poor viewing angles and color reproduction of TN panels. They support true 8-bit color and all this improvements produced a loss of response time, which was initially about 50ms (which is huge for games and movies) and weak contrast ratio. IPS panels were also extremely expensive.
S-IPS (Super-IPS) has all the benefits of IPS technology with the addition of improved pixel refresh timing. However, color reproduction approaches that of CRT monitors but the contrast ratio remains relatively weak.

MVA
MVA (multi-domain vertical alignment) was developed as a compromise between TN and IPS panels. They have fast response time with wide viewing angles and high contrast but the brightness and color reproduction suffers compared to IPS panels.

PVA
“Patterned vertical alignment” and S-PVA (super patterned vertical alignment) are similar to MVA, but they have very high contrast ratios (up to 3000:1). S-PVA panels uses true 8-bit color electronics and do not use any color simulation methods which guaranties a very nice colors. They can offer good black depth, wide viewing angles and fast response times.

Conclusion
Which monitor should you buy? It is hard to tell but best option is to visit local store and see what they can offer. Forget on TN panels and choose S-IPS or S-PVA models. Both of them have their advantages and disadvantages.

In my case, I’m thinking between HP LP2475W and Dell 2410W. Please visit next link to see the list of IPS based LCD monitors (LINK)

Please post your comments and thoughts.

I don’t speak Chinese but we can see basic info about EOS 7D
* Dual DIGIC 4 imaging processors, 14-bit A/D signal conversion
* 8 FPS (94 Large/Fine JPEGS or 15 RAW)
* 19 points cross type AF sensors. Eight-directional double cross central AF point
* 18 megapixels APS-C CMOS Sensor
* ISO 100-6400, extends to 12800
* 100% coverage, 1.0x optical viewfinder with intelligent display, with electronic horizon line.
* 3.0″ LCD, 920,000 dot resolution, 160 degree viewing angle
* New iFCL meter system using high contrast and color detection (63-zone)
* Newly-designed streamlined body, metallic shutter sound, shutter lifespan approx. 150,000 times
* HD movie, HDMI out, external mic input
* EOS Integrated Dust Removal system
* Live view with Face-priority AF
* Auto Lighting Optimizer
* Auto correction of lens peripheral illumination (vignetting)
* New switch for Live View/Video mode
* New 24mm wide-angle built-in flash supporting EOS E-TTL II

It looks like the Canon EOS 7D will be based on an APS-C (1.6x crop) CMOS sensor. Will it be fast enough to beat Nikon D300s?