Digital Photographer's Software Guide - Bertemes - Net

Comments
This tool is aimed chiefly at wedding and portrait photographers, but amateur users
may also find it useful. It creates a flattering look, regardless of the age or complexion
of the sitter.
Version: Kodak DIGITAL GEM Airbrush 2.0 (2008)
Plugs into: Photoshop 5.0 and up (full support for CS3); Photoshop Elements 1.0 and up;
Windows only—Paint Shop Pro 7 and up
OS: Windows 98 and up; Mac OS 8.6 and up
RAM: 256MB
Supported file formats: As host
Price level: Approx. $100
Address: Kodak’s Austin Development Center (KADC), Austin, TX, United States
www.asf.com
LookWow!
Vendor: LookWow, Inc.
Purpose: Online service for making portraits more flattering
Chapter 19 ■ Skin Tone Enhancement 221
Description
LookWow! is an online service (there is also a PC version) to which you can upload a
nondescript portrait of yourself, however pallid or spotty, and get back a glamorized version—tanned
and glowing with health. Its features are designed to make your features
look good. For example, Enhance Lips will “brighten and plump your lips and define
the mouth,” as the vendor puts it. The skin-smoothing algorithms reduce unwanted
marks—goodbye to moles, scars, and wrinkles. You can even add a touch of mood, using
the Candlelight Effect to give the photo a soft, romantic light.
Other effects include flip, rotate, resize, remove red-eye, brighten smile, and whiten
teeth. You can give an elegant, old-fashioned look to the image, make the whole picture
broader (now who would want to do that?), or “thinnify” it, presumably to make yourself
look thinner.
There is one other important feature: Add Text. The vendor does not say what sort of
text, but probably not: “I certify this is a true likeness of...”
Comments
On the Internet, no one knows you are a dog until you try to get a date and need to
post a picture of yourself to tempt prospective partners. Apparently this is one of the
primary applications of LookWow! Pity the prospective partner! Here is an online service
that takes portrait flattery to new levels of mendacity. Yes, it works well, although