Category Archives: Review

User review of the usefulness of a product or book, usually but not always computer-related.

Tiffin Dfx Filters

Tiffin Dfx boxTiffin filters have a long and successful history in the camera world. For years they’ve provided film photographers with the ability to modify their shots at the time of shooting, whether with a polarizing filter to cut glare or fx filters that provided starbursts or other effects.

These days, film cameras are a rare breed. So what’s a filter company to do? Recreate their filters for the digital world, of course! Where the original filters were applied before shooting, Tiffin’s digital effects filters allow near-infinite manipulation of the photograph long after the shot. Continue reading

AKVIS NatureArt 4.0

Akvis NatureArt boxDo you ever want to “jazz up” a photograph with natural effects? Would you like to add a sunburst, clouds, lightning, rain or fog? Maybe you need a seascape background or a starry night sky? If so, this may be just what you’re looking for.

AKVIS NatureArt can run either by itself (standalone mode) or as a plug-in to image-editing programs such as Photoshop Elements, Photo-Paint, Painter, Paint Shop, etc. In either mode, the operation is the same. You open an image, create an area to be filled with the desired effect, select the effect and apply it. Simple in theory; in actual operation it was a little different. Continue reading

OnOne Perfect Photo Suite 6

PhotoSuite 6 box

When it came to receiving a review copy of this software, OnOne Software offered me the option of downloading a ZIP file or receiving a CD. Being the impatient type, I elected for the download. The 2Gb file took about 12 minutes and installation was straight-forward. It found both Photoshop CS5 and Photoshop Elements 9 installed and asked in which to install the plug-in. I couldn’t install it in both at the same time so I chose Photoshop CS5. I launched the installer again later and successfully installed the Suite to Photoshop Elements 9.

On first using the desktop icon to launch the program, it checked for updates and found one, so I downloaded and installed that as well. Following installation, my browser launched and took me to the OnOne University. Continue reading

Roxio Creator 2011 with 3D

Recommended (with caveats)

Roxio products
Roxio products

Once you actually have a video (a movie you shot or otherwise acquired), you may want to edit it. You know, drop off the first few frames that show “Tracking…” or end it right after the action ends, not 20 minutes later when the “videographer” remembers to hit “Stop.” That’s where Roxio Creator 2011 with 3D comes in.

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Roxio Easy VHS to DVD

Note: Also see the review of Roxio Creator 2011 with 3D

I was looking for a way to convert my old VHS tapes to DVD. Roxio looked like my answer. The program has a number of features, from simply converting an entire tape without any editing, to breaking up a tape into segments you want and labeling them. Included is Sound Editor, which converts LPs and audio tapes to digital files.

Roxio VHS conversion products

Roxio VHS conversion products

The package contains the install disk, a USB connector and adapters to connect the computer to the VHS recorder’s RCA cables, and a 27 quarter-page (English only) book of instructions – mostly white space, photos and screen shots. You need to supply the RCA cables – they’re the connectors from the TV to the VHS machine you already have.

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