Digital Photographer's Software Guide - Bertemes - Net

8
Image Processors
In a sense, all photo enhancement utilities could be called “image processors” because
they all process the image in one way or another. RAW converters and image editors are
certainly image processors, but in between them there is a large group of software that
deals with fine-tuning the image, using tools that could well be found in either of the
other two categories. The difference is they do not make RAW conversion the center of
their activities, nor do they have the image editor’s graphical capabilities (although you
may find one or two of them heading in that direction).
In general photography, image processing is intended to improve the look of the image,
but in science and engineering, it is used for identifying different aspects of the image’s
content. For this reason, scientific image processors with all their measurement and
analysis tools tend to be more elaborate and costly. Image-Pro Plus from Media
Cybernetics, one of the most popular image processors in labs and industry, has an
entry-level edition that uses third-party plug-ins to extend its functionality.
The best way to consider the software in this category is to look at each one individually
rather than trying to make comparisons between them. Any one of them could have
something to offer your workflow, or you may find that you already have these bases
covered. Some merely offer an alternative way of achieving standard fine-tuning
enhancements for shadows, highlights, color, and saturation. I considered some other
packages for this category, but rejected them on the grounds that they did not offer any
new techniques beyond the choices already available. A few products that were here originally
have migrated to Chapter 9, “Quick-Fix Software,” where speed of enhancement
is the governing factor.