INTRODUCTION
The Perfect Photo Suite 6 is the most recent collection of seven different packages of the software manufacture onOne. The different packages have their own capabilities and dexit the manufacturer, they would enable you to perform almost any photographic task brilliantly. I really wanted to find out whether that assertion was true and not just a commercial selling technique.
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The seven products are:
- Perfect Effects 3 (formerly known as "PhotoTools") to add photographic effects
- Perfect Portrait 1 is the latest package for editing portrait photos
- Perfect Mask 5 for the addition of a mask
- Perfect Layers 2 for the addition of the possibility to work with layers within Lightroom / Aperture
- Perfect Resize 7 for resizing your photos
- PhotoFrame 4.6 for adding a frame around your photos
- Focal Point 2 for adding more depth to your photos
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
As the whole package is rather powerful, the manufacturer also requires solid specifications and performance of your computer. Here’s a list of the specific requirements for Mac and Windows:
Mac:
- Operating System: Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard or 10.7 Lion
- Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo, Xeon or better
- Memory: minimum 4GB, but 8GB (or more) is recommended
- Video Card: OpenGL 2.0 compatible video card with 256MB memory
- Screen resolution: 1280x800
- Graphical tools:
- Photoshop CS 4 or 5
- Photoshop Elements 9 or 10
- Photoshop Lightroom 2 or 3
- Apple Aperture 2.1 or 3
As a Mac-user, this means in fact that you do need minimum an intel-mac to run this package. Users of an older Power Mac or users who still work with OS 10.5 or older, will definitely need to upgrade.
Windows:
- Operating system: Windows XP, Vista or 7
- Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo, Xeon or better
- Memory: minimum 4GB, but 8GB (or more) is recommended
- Video Card: OpenGL 2.0 compatible video card with 256MB memory
- Screen resolution: 1280x800
- Graphical tools:
- Photoshop CS 4 or 5
- Photoshop Elements 9 or 10
- Photoshop Lightroom 2 or 3
As a Windows-user, you can already start with Windows XP, which is already a quite old program. Anyhow, there will only be few photographers still working with Windows 2000 or older. However, many users will need to upgrade their memory as the 4GB RAM only became the new standard during the last few years.
STANDALONE VS PLUG-IN
New in version 6 is that besides the different plug-ins for Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Lightroom and Aperture, a new application is introduced which works completely "standalone". All packages are being processed into one screen (more on this in the next section). As in other applications, it is the user's choice to make use of the plug-ins or go for the separate program. The workflow is slightly different, but all options remain the same. Personnaly, I use both. For Perfect Resize, I will always use the plug-in to enlarge my pictures. In case I want to process a different photo through different packages, I will use the standalone application.
INTEGRATED MODULES
Would you like to edit your pictures and use different packages of the onOne Perfect Photo Suite? Previously you had to open each time the picture in a different package, edit, save images and then open your next package to continue. In this version 6, everything is together in one application and you can easily change packages without always opening and closing applications. In my opninion undoubtedly an absolute added value to the package.
Example:
You can start with some operations on a portrait photo (by Perfect Portrait), add some effects to your photo (by Perfect Effects) to finally add a nice border around your photo (by Photo Frame) and all this in the same window - you just need to change menu item.
PERFECT EFFECTS 3
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Perfect Effects is the new name for the previously known program: PhotoTools. This part of the package allows you to apply various effects to your photos. The library of effects is displayed in a "grid" and you will get a live preview on how your photo will look like after applying a selected effect. Through the various sliders, you have full control over the amount effect being applied, but also over the color and texture. Finally, it is also possible to start with an effect, adapt it to your personal idea and then save it for later as a "preset". Do you like a "vintage effect", then go to the library and you’ll certainly like this application. For the "urban photographers" among us, this is definitely a cool application, although I must admit I rather rarely use this package.
PERFECT PORTRAIT 1
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Perfect Portrait is one of the new components which the portrait / studio photographers will be happy to use. The package includes the latest innovations in editing portraiture. The package recognizes multiple faces automatically and will include placement of eyes and mouth automatically. Outside the standard operations such as improving skin tone and removing blemishes, you can also improve the lips, eyes and mouth with one of dozen sliders. On the basis of ethnicity, skin color is even improved. I worked in the past with an other package for my model photos, but the speed and easiness with which this package can be used, is really amazing.
PERFECT MASK 5
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Perfect Mask is a program with a simple goal: remove the background from a photo. On some photos, this is child's play, but in some pictures a powerful program is needed. Think of a model photo with hair fluttering around by the wind. This program has a brush with which you can specify what color the background has and the program will look for similar colors. Afterwards you just take a slightly more sophisticated brush for your difficult parts (like the fine hair sections). With the "Keep and Erase Tools" you can easily keep or discard both parts. Would you then add a background, you can add a photo in Photoshop, but you can also use a built-in library of images. For the simple images, I use this package rather rarely, but when it gets more complex, I will certainly not fail to do so.
PERFECT 2 LAYERS
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Would you like to use layers on a photo outside in Photoshop? Perfect Layers is a brilliant solution. Want to create pictures in layers directly from Lightroom / Aperture? All this is possible. So you can use the foreground of a specific photo, combine the air section of another photo and finish all by adding your logo. At the bottom you will find a simple list with several pictures. All very simple. Just like cropping photos with all the layers together.
CONTINUE TO PART 2 ...
