Connie June 18th, 2008

ACDSee 10 and ACDSee Pro 2 now support more camera RAW models than ever before!

ACD Systems is committed to releasing regular updates to our list of supported camera models. ACDSee 10 Photo Manager offers viewing and managing of supported camera RAW formats. ACDSee Pro 2 allows additional camera RAW functionality, including non-destructive RAW processing with complete precision and control.

The free RAW update is for ACDSee 10 Photo Manager and ACDSee Pro 2 in English, French and German and following camera models are included:

Canon EOS 450D/Digital Rebel XSi/EOS Kiss X2
Nikon D60
Panasonic Lumix DMC-L10
Pentax K20D
Pentax K200D
Sony A200
Sony A300

Download the RAW Plug-in Update to view, browse, manage and process RAW images from the listed cameras.

View the full list of supported camera RAW formats here. New RAW formats will be added regularly.

Popularity: 26% [?]

• ACDSee 10 , ACDSee News , ACDSee Pro 2 , Cameras
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Connie May 29th, 2008

This is the final in the three part interview series with Katharine as she continues to put up amazing photos in Flickr. Check them out.

I asked her what her favorite effects were?

I would be hard pressed to choose a favorite special effect. I try everyone of them out on almost every photo I take and ordinarily end up using a combination of several for my finished products. I will say that the “Mirror” effect is most frequently the starting point for creating my abstracts.

“Lizards In Luv” came about from a really boring day when I decided, just for laughs, to take a photo of a tiny little rubber lizard sitting atop a wax flower/candle. I’ve used the mirror effect and then, obviously, the “Contours” effect. Made for a pretty cool and definitely colorful poster.

I’ve just recently started experimenting with the “Solarize” effect which can also be used as “Lunarize”. I’m also quite pleased with the results I’m getting. It’s very nice for giving a textured appearance and lends itself well to experimental application. Then taking that image back to the contrast and color adjustments until I find what is ultimately most pleasing to my eye.

“Twelve Eggs In Carton” is an example of my ventures into using the “Solarize” effect. I was quite pleased with the end result.

One photo that I was particularly pleased with was a scan of a very small black and white photo taken of myself when I was a child. I used the “Sepia” effect on it as well as the “Mirror” effect and was then able to increase the quality considerably by adjusting the light and contrast and tweaking the hue a bit. I also used “blur” to soften it some.

My advice to anyone just getting started is dare to think outside the box! You can always click the “undo” button. Try out an effect and if you like what you’ve done (or even if you don’t), save that image. Then take the saved image and try out another effect on it and save again. Play around with light, contrast and color adjustments. Don’t be afraid to keep going. You might just end up amazing yourself as much as I have!

This one thing I know for sure… I LOVE my ACDSee… I’d be lost without it!!!

“Happy-Happy Tree-Tree” is another big favorite and I’ve had requests for this one printed out in a large size for framing.

I want to thank Katharine for sharing her photos & giving us some insight into how she creates her abstracts. You can see more of her work here.

Popularity: 42% [?]

• ACDSee 10 , ACDSee Pro 2
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Connie March 25th, 2008

Did you know that you can use ACDSee Photo Manager & ACDSee Pro 2 to create awesome abstract images from your photos? I’ve played with the special effects & met the developer behind many of them. But I want to introduce you to someone who is using them to create gorgeously unique art from them! 

When I saw Katharine’s abstracts (aka littlefeather100 at Flickr.com) I was immediately struck by how strikingly unique they were! It was intriguing to see the original image that she had applied effects to in ACDSee to render the final image. So I asked her to share her work with you here & tell a bit about how she comes to achieve it. She shared a number of images, so I will present them as a series along with insight from Katharine on how she uses ACDSee to lovingly create these fabulous original works of art.  As of this writing she has more than 150 images at Flickr that she’s created with ACDSee. Feel free to enjoy her work & leave comments there too.

“Four Peacock Feathers In Abstract” is one of Katharine’s top favorites.

Her comments about this image: “This one prints out very nicely! The completed image started with a photo I took of a single feather, and I mirrored it twice, then adjusted the contrast and color until I got the look I wanted.”

She used to have a business printing & selling her own greeting cards.  She said, “I believe that the artwork I have been able to create since I’ve started using photographs, altered with my ACDSee program, is far superior to the work I used to do, and it is my plan to one day (hopefully soon) start marketing my work again.”

I asked Katharine how long she’s been doing this?

Katharine:  “I’ve had my first and only digital camera, a Pentax Optio E10, for exactly one year.  Although I’ve been an artist and poet for years, I’d never had much of an interest in photography. Now, it is my biggest passion!

My first experience with ACDSee came about because an older program was included as part of the software that came with my camera. Then, a few months ago, my computer crashed, and when I got my new one, the owner of the computer shop, knowing how much I enjoyed the old ACDSee program, was kind enough to throw in the updated program of ACDSee Photo Manager. And, I shamelessly admit, I am addicted to it!  It isn’t just that I can edit my photos to appear as though they were taken with a far more expensive camera; I love that I can take the most ordinary looking photo, then alter it to become, what in my humble opinion, is a gorgeous piece of (usually abstract) artwork.”

I hope that you enjoy Katharine’s photo essay here! Feel free to ask questions & I’m going to invite her to answer them.

Popularity: 78% [?]

• ACDSee 10 , Photo Editing
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Connie March 17th, 2008

It seems that applying metallic effects has become popular. I’m going to show how to apply it to the water in the photo below. This tutorial will work for ACDSee 10 or ACDSee Pro 2.

1. Select the image; Under Edit Image choose Edit Mode

2. The first thing that I’m going to do is use Selections to select the water which is the only part of the photo I want to apply the metallic effects to.

Click on Selections. Draw around the water, then click on Done.

3. Select ‘Effects’    Scroll down & double click on Sheet Metal

4. Now the metallic effect has been applied. There are a number options to adjust.

I adjusted the rounding. Mousing over the colors shows them.  Lessening the opacity makes the metallic effect less intense.

final image

original image

Let me know what you’d like to see a tutorial on.

Popularity: 86% [?]

• ACDSee 10 , ACDSee Pro 2 , Photo Editing
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Connie February 24th, 2008

I always enjoy questions for how to do something. It means that I get to write a tutorial! Someone asked in ACDSee Product Forums if it was possible to erase the tongue on this tiger. The forums are very active & a great place to ask questions!

These instructions will work in both ACDSee Pro 2 and ACDSee 10.

1. In ACDSee double click on the thumbnail. Under Edit Image (the pain palette icon), choose Edit Mode

2. Choose Photo Repair on the left.

3. Plan what you want to remove & what color that you’re going to replace it with.

My plan is to use:

a. the Clone tool to make the inside part of the mouth black

b. the Heal tool to replace the chin where the tongue hangs over it

4. First we’ll choose the Clone tool & make the nib (like a pen tip) a higher number so we can cover more area quickly. And we’re going to reduce the feathering.

Next I selected the color black in the photo by right clicking on it (step 2 in the diagram)

Then I brush in small strokes. The Undo button is your friend here (bottom left). Use it when you need to!

5. To work around the front teeth, zoom in using the slider on the top right.

This will allow you to carefully move your nib close to the teeth without removing them.

And I drew a line across where I will add back the chin.

6. My next step was to clone across the chin.

7. They are really circles now & I’ll use the Heal tool & increase the feathering to blend them together to look more natural.

8. The last step is to use the Clone tool to remove the tip of the tongue and then use the Heal tool.

I made sure to choose the dark color fur around the chin and also some whiskers for a natural look.

9. Click on Done. And the finished photo looks pretty good!

If you’re wondering how to do something creative in an ACDSee product, please let me know.

Popularity: 100% [?]

• ACDSee 10 , ACDSee Pro 2 , Photo Editing
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Connie December 9th, 2007

ACDSee Pro 2 & ACDSee 10 can be used to add a white or black border to a photo. If you’d like to get creative & nest the borders, that is possible too. This tutorial shows how to change the color of the border also.

Special thanks to JD for explaining how to do this! I just added the steps here.

This would be much easier in ACDSee Photo Editor. (If you’d like to a tutorial for that, let me know).

1. Click on the thumbnail of the photo that you’d like to put a frame around.

2. Under the Palette icon, Choose Edit Mode

3. Click on Selections on left & the window below opens.

4. Click on Marquee. Make the inside selection. Try to keep it even all around.

5. If you need to do it again, click on Clear & redo it. When satisfied, click on Invert.

6. Click on Done (on bottom left).

7. Click on Exposure.

8a. To make a black border, click on the top right & drag it down the right side to bottom.

8b. To make a white or colored border:

Click on the top right of the line & drag it to the left along the top as shown.

9. Click on Done.

10. On left side, choose Color

11. Under the RGB tab, move the sliders to adjust the color of the border.

12. Click on Done.

Now repeat from Step 3 on to create a black border.

(You can add as many borders as you’d like, just work towards outside.)

When you get to Step 8 use 8a.

Click Done. Click on Finished.

Close window on top right & Save as new file to protect original.

If you use this tutorial, please link to your creative work! I’d love to see it.

Popularity: 77% [?]

• ACDSee 10 , ACDSee Pro 2 , ACDSee Tutorials
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Connie November 13th, 2007

Selective coloring in ACDSee is SO easy now! Before ACDSee 10 in order to achieve this I had to use masks in ACDSee Photo Editor.

This can be done in both ACDSee 10 & ACDSee Pro 2!

• Open your photo in ACDSee by double clicking on the thumbnail.
• Use the pull down menu on the Palette Icon & choose Edit Mode

A new pane opens on the left

• Click on Selections
• With Freehand Lasso tool selected, draw around the item
• stay fairly close, but it doesn’t have to be exact.
• when you get back to where you started the selection will be made
• Click on Invert, Click on Done if you’re satisfied with your selection

Click on the Color - in the left pane & this is when the magic happens!

• Move the Saturation slider to the left to desaturate the background

To make up for the area around the image, on the top

• Move the slider for the Feathering to the right.
• Decide what looks the most natural.
• Click on Done

This will bring you back to the Main Menu of the Edit Panel

• Click on Finished Editing at the bottom
• And your photo is finished!

Popularity: 83% [?]

• ACDSee 10 , ACDSee Pro 2 , ACDSee Tutorials
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Connie November 7th, 2007

Here’s a quick tutorial for opening the Advanced Editing mode.

You’ll find it in both ACDSee 10 & ACDSee Pro 2.

Under the palette icon’s pull down menu, choose Edit Mode

This opens a new pane on the left with the icons described. And now you have access to the Selections tool.

Popularity: 66% [?]

• ACDSee 10 , ACDSee Pro 2 , ACDSee Tutorials
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Connie October 7th, 2007

Take a look at the slide show on the right under the About box. I’m going to show you how it easy it is to do.

You can create a Sendpix album in ACDSee Photo Manager 9, 10 or ACDSee Pro 2 to share your photos with family & friends. And it also creates an html code to create a slideshow on your blog or website.

Create an Album -> Next

Enter a name for your Album -> Next

Browse to your photos or layouts

select & add them

multiples can be added at once

Next -> Send (uploads your album)

An email will be sent to the email address you had given & there will be an html code in it.

You can copy & paste that into your blog to create a slideshow of your photos/pages. If your blog uses widgets then it’s really easy to create a text widget with the code. Please ask if you have questions on how to do that.

And link us to your slideshows - we’d love to see them.

Popularity: 71% [?]

• ACDSee 10 , ACDSee Pro 2 , ACDSee Tutorials , Photo Sharing
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Connie October 3rd, 2007

Browse by date

* Browse and find photos intuitively on a virtual calendar with the new Photo Calendar option.

Here is a link to video to see it action:
Photo Calendar in Action

Popularity: 73% [?]

• ACDSee 10 , ACDSee Pro 2 , ACDSee Tutorials
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