If you are tired of pirating paying through the nose for every new Adobe Photoshop release there's also the free alternative called GIMP.  New features in version 2.8 include 16 & 32 bit image editing, a revamped user interface, layer grouping, on-canvas text editing, extensive bug fixing, and more.  Most of the new stuff is explained in the release notes page.

After yet another update to the LightRoom 4.xx installment, some bugs persist and new ones rear their ugly head. The most peculiar of them is what appears to be a color rendering issue that many users have noticed. There are many threads on this issue on the interwebs, here's one, and another one. Also.

"Installation is quick and easy, when you load Photoshop, the software is accessed via the Filter option along the top of the screen. A new window opens with the list of available filters in the left column, when you hover over one a preview appears in the corner. In the centre is a larger preview of your image. The right hand side column is packed with options allowing you to tweak your images.

From a photographer's viewpoint the new features X6 suite are not that exciting. Main updates include the 'Smart Carver tool – slice away unwanted areas from a photo', improved 64bit OS support, and improved Adobe Photoshop compatibility.

Corel Press Release

New CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6 Powers Total Creativity and Design

"Start by simply painting in a black lightning-shaped brush stroke. Then, by ingeniously selecting parts of your bolt, you’ll apply the Difference Clouds filter to randomize the edges, and an unusual Levels command setting to convert that

blobby line into a tendril of light. Then, with some carefully applied Blend modes, some Gradient masks, and a hint of brushed-in contact spots for eerie glow, you’ll finish up your truly believable lightning effect."

This is a service release improving quality.

Bugfixes

• Improved stability when using OpenCL in combination with certain graphics cards.

DXO film pack version 3.2 brings some big news for fans of this stuff: 64-bit support on both Windows and OSX, major speed improvements, ability to process files up to 200 Mpixels, Apple aperture 3 compatibility and more stuff you'll read about in the press release:

DXO Press Release

Cyberlink Photodirector 3 supports Raw files from most brands/cameras, and combines the capabilities of a fully featured photo editor/manager/viewer into one handy package, complete with a slide show creator, video handling (hey, its Cyberlink) and a LOT of software filters. If interested, there's a  free 30 day trial ready for a test drive.

Amazon posted, and then quickly removed the page about Lightroom 4 regular edition. However, they forgot the student/teachers edition page, and we totally ripped it off, for your pleasure. Price will be $149/$79 for regular/student editions.

PSkiss is a Photoshop plugin with the look of a mobile application whose purpose in life is to Instagramize your photos. Oh, and Seventiesize them too. Interesting stuff for anyone willing to bring this stupid fad​ modern expression of post-retro art onto his desktop.

Nik Press Release

Nik Software Releases Snapseed for Windows

Popular photo editing and sharing app now available for Windows PC Users

Here are some of the functionality that's intact in the free version: 3D photos, Panoramas, Flickr, Facebook and Picassa uploaders.

Some of the good pro stuff removed, are Advanced photo corrections, advanced RAW processing module, and the HDR photo wizard. The pro version is also available as a free 30 day trial.  

DxO Optics Pro v7.2.1 supports the Canon G1X and 4 other additional cameras: Sony NEX-7, Nikon 1 J1, Nikon 1 V1, Olympus E-P2.

DxO Optics Pro is now able to provide support for brand-new camera models more rapidly, as evidenced by the addition of the Canon G1X, all while continuing to add support for cameras already on the market.

DxO Optics Pro v7.2.1 includes more than 300 additional modules that have been added to the optics module library since the beginning of February, 

Usually, for the avid photographer, the best free photo editing program turns out to be...Photoshop, or its photography oriented sibling, Lightroom. There may be many excellent free programs in various other fields, but we're not there yet when it comes to efficient and reliable photography applications. However, each year it gets a little bit better. WDC has prepared a rather extensive roundup of many free photo editiors: 

Remember Noise Ninja? It was once, the mightiest of the noise removers. But, things have moved on, in the past two years all major raw workflow suites have received substantial updates in their noise removing functionality, while the rest of the standalone apps have also moved on, and in the mean time noise ninja appears to be in a semi-abandoned state. Now, the founder of the company, Jim Christian, breaks the silence, and have this interesting information to share:

"In this first tutorial, rather than explain the interface, I am going to show you how to import images into Aperture. Once we have images in the program it will be easier to explain the interface in the next tutorial.

Aperture is a very powerful image management program and before we upload any images into its library, we have to make a fundamental decision on how we wish to manage our image collection.

Customize the Contact Sheet

The template contact sheets are a starting point but you do not need to strictly adhere to their design if you don’t want to and they can be easily customized.

For example, from the layout panel if you click the Keep Square checkbox you will find that in some layouts your images may

"Like Banana Camera Co.’s other photo app, the excellent fauxlaroid app ShakeItPhoto, Cross Process is a very easy to use app that adds color and character to your photos by emulating the look of Cross Processing film. You can either shoot within the app or import existing images from your photo library.

While there are now a ton of other photo apps which emulate cross processed film, I like the randomness of this app’s processing.

I get the impression that DXO releases more and bigger updates lately. It is also good to see cameras long discontinued to still be supported with new lens combinations:

160 new lens / camera combinations have been added to the DxO Optics Modules library, providing supports for Canon, Sigma,

The most powerful, but sometimes feared and misunderstood tool of Lightroom gets explained in this small tutorial:

"When you shoot in RAW and import to Lightroom, Lightroom automatically applies a “medium” amount of contrast to your photo. To quickly adjust the contrast of a photo, simply choose one of the presets in this panel. Next to “Point Curve” at the bottom of the panel, click on

AKVIS enhancer is an image enhancement software that can improve and detect detail in underexposed, overexposed and mid tone areas of photos with uneven exposure. New in this release is DNG support, GPU acceleration, new presets, and more.

AKVIS press release

AKVIS Enhancer v.13.0: Photo Correction Software

"Support for RAW images captured with the D4 has been added.

Only one minor fix:

"Version 4 of the $249 software brings new abilities in reproducing defects such as light leaks or dust and scratches that film-era photographers usually strove so hard to avoid. And it's got hundreds of new presets for styles such cyanotypes and wet-plate photography.

The weaker antialiasing filters become on cameras (and it IS a trend) the more important moiré handling in software is:

"As you may have noticed, I used the word “reduce” instead of “remove” in the header of this article. That’s because the moiré pattern often cannot be completely eliminated with a non-destructive editing application like Lightroom (except for mild cases of moiré), especially when moire

Modifications enabled in this version A 1.11, B 1.10 (Nikon J1)

What's New in Version 2.1 

The one for the X10 is quite extensive: The firmware update for X10, Ver.1.03 incorporates the following issues: