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Software

No matter what you want to do with your photos, there's a software solution to handle the job

EFFECTS & PLUG-INS

Going beyond basic photo processing, these applications make creative enhancements and specialized adjustments easy, fast and fun.

ALIEN SKIN BOKEH 2
Alien Skin makes several great Photoshop plug-ins, including Bokeh 2, which lets you easily apply a variety of lens effects, such as simulating tilt/shift lenses and realistic depth-of-field reduction. New in this version is the ability to apply multiple effects to an image in different areas of it and grain matching to replace the grain structure that's normally blurred after applying these types of effects. List Price: $199.

ANTHROPICS PORTRAIT PROFESSIONAL 10
If you shoot a lot of portraits, check out Portrait Professional, an incredibly powerful tool for smoothing and perfecting complexions and refining facial features quickly and easily. A step-by-step process walks you through the adjustments. Three versions are available: Standard, Studio and Studio 64. The Studio version adds RAW file support, 48-bit color and batch processing; Studio 64 also adds optimization for 64-bit operating systems and unlimited file sizes. The Studio editions are offered as a standalone and as a plug-in for Photoshop, Lightroom, Elements and Aperture. List Price: From $62.

ATHENTECH PERFECTLY CLEAR
This plug-in is a set of 12 one-step corrections you can quickly apply to improve exposure, reduce noise, remove color tints, improve skins tones, adjust contrast and sharpening, and more. Designed to deliver ideal enhancements automatically, you can tweak the results using simple slider controls, if you prefer. List Price: $199.

NIK SOFTWARE SILVER EFEX PRO 2
Nik Software is another leading plug-in maker, with an array of popular titles, including Color Efex Pro and HDR Efex Pro. Silver Efex Pro 2 is one of our favorites; it's a powerful, highly controllable application for converting your color photos to black-and-white images that pop. Forget the basic conversion tool in your photo editor; if you like to work in black-and-white, this is one application you should definitely try. List Price: $199.

ONONE SOFTWARE PERFECT MASK 5
Perfect Mask takes a lot of the pain out of isolating your subject from the background, letting you do in a few minutes what could otherwise take much, much longer. New in this version is a library of backgrounds you can use for your portraits. onOne makes a variety of other great Photoshop, Lightroom and Aperture plug-ins, and standalone applications, too, including Focal Point for simulating lens effects and Perfect Portrait for retouching people. List Price: $99.

TIFFEN DFX 3
Tiffen Dfx 3 Digital Filter Suite simulates dozens of classic Tiffen optical filters, but it does much more than that. It also can re-create the look of specialized lenses, lab processes, film grain and more. Plus, it includes tools to fix common photo problems like red eye, compression artifacts and noise. It's available as a standalone application or as a plug-in for Photoshop, Lightroom and Aperture. List Price: $169 (standalone); $229 (Photoshop).

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