onOne Software FocalPoint

18/03/08

onOne Software Previews New FocalPoint Software Plug-in at WPPI 2008

Easy to use plug-in for Adobe® Photoshop® and Photoshop Elements helps photographers selectively blur and/or vignette areas of an image

onOne Software, Inc., previews today at WPPI 2008 its new software plug-in for Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements – FocalPoint 1.0. onOne Software’s FocalPoint is a selective focus and vignetting plug-in designed to help photographers easily blur and/or vignette areas of an image.

Popular among professional wedding, portrait and commercial photographers, the soft defocused look typically produced in camera by using special selective focus or tilt-shift lenses, filters or vignetting hoods can now be created quickly within Photoshop using onOne Software’s new FocalPoint. This new plug-in eliminates the need for photographers to purchase, carry and use the accessories mentioned above at the time of the photo shoot and simplifies their ability to produce these effects later in Photoshop.

“Our new FocalPoint plug-in gives photographers total control over how they apply creative focusing effects to their image after the image has been shot,” said Craig Keudell, president of onOne Software. “It’s just like having a lens inside of Photoshop. Users set the location of their ‘sweet spot’ of focus directly on their image and then control the amount, kind of blur used and even lighten or darken the edges quickly and easily.”

FocalPoint provides photographers with a way to create realistic depth of field control, plane of focus control and selective focus to any image after it is photographed allowing for more control and precision. The plug-in’s unique FocusBug control has a tangible, hardware feel much like adjusting a lens. This special on-screen control makes it fast for a photographer to choose the “sweet spot” of focus either in a round aperture shape or a planar aperture shape and then control how much and what kind of blur they would like to add. Blur choices include a standard defocused look as well as a blur that simulates motion. This has a huge benefit over hardware tools like auxiliary lenses and filters because it allows the photographer to control the focus and blur after the image is taken, giving them more control and requiring fewer shots in camera.

FocalPoint uses the same FocusBug controls to allow the photographer to simultaneously selectively blur as well as lighten or darken the areas outside of the “sweet spot” of focus. FocalPoint can also be used just for vignetting without blurring the image at all. In addition, the FocusBug allows users to tilt the chosen “sweet spot” aperture in 3D, simulating the tilt effect of a view camera or tilt-shift lens. This allows users to increase or decrease the amount of feathering or blur across a plane.

And once a photographer has created an effect they like, they can save it as a preset so they can easily recall it. FocalPoint remembers all of the settings applied including the relative size and position of the FocusBug so users can apply it to similar images without having to make any additional adjustments. By using Photoshop actions to access a FocalPoint preset photographers can even batch process an entire folder of images.

FocalPoint is designed for use with Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements and supports Adobe Photoshop CS2 and CS3 and Elements versions 4.0.1, 5, 6 and higher. It is compatible with Microsoft Windows XP and Vista and Mac OS X 10.4.10 and 10.5 and higher. onOne Software’s FocalPoint plug-in will be available in April 2008 for $159.95 from onOne Software authorized distributors and resellers, or direct from onOne Software at http://www.onOnesoftware.com.

The SWPP 2008 Convention was an outstanding success,
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Photo Quote: It matters little how much equipment we use; it matters much that we be masters of all we do use. - Sam Abell