onOne – McNamee gets on his bike in search of quality time

onOne have taken on the Phototune software named ColorTune and SkinTune. The latter we tested in April 2007 and were very impressed with. The interface has changed slightly in the new version but overall the product is identical and all the compliments we gave it still hold true – it remains a very competent, easy-to-use piece of software and is recommended.

ColorTune takes some of the attributes of SkinTune and expands them to cover the entire colour range of an image, including the tonal range. The workflow is simple. You are presented with a variation (hopefully improved) and asked to click on it if you think it is better. This brings another pair of variations on screen and again you are asked to choose the preferred one. If required, a slider is provided so that you can tune your choice, but the increments are quite large so that you are led into fast decision-making – the refinements come in the next pair of images anyway. Eventually you get down to a final pair of images and sliders are provided to fine-tune the identified colour weaknesses. So, if red and green (only) need tweaking those are the sliders you are given. By default you also get brightness, contrast and saturation sliders. Adjusting by this method does rely on a reasonable screen calibration, but assuming you have that, you can grade and tweak an image in a matter of seconds. The software is really impressive in use and simplifies the decision-making process for adjusting colour. For those who are unfamiliar with the subtleties of Photoshop this software really takes the strain.

PhotoFrame 3.1 Professional Edition

This is, in essence, a set of actions to call up a particular frame effect which is then added as a layer in Photoshop. Normally, the problem you have is deciding which of the 4,200 options you wish to use. However, the 'frames browser' simplifies this choice by presenting you with quick-firing previews from a menu list. This is much quicker than applying each frame for real in Photoshop (which averages between 6 and 10 seconds an attempt).

Once you have a frame in place you can personalise it further in Photoshop by transforming it or adding layer effects. However the same process can be applied in the software browser window, where textures may also be added to the outside frame. Like so many utilities such as this, you can, if you are so minded, produce some really ghastly presentation effects and discretion is advised! However, once you have hit upon a favoured combination it is possible to save this as a personal preset for further use. The software also stores the ‘last used’ effects for fast 'step and repeat' applications, across a variety of images. As well as the tabs for ‘frames’ and ‘textures’, there are about 170 presets from well-known Photoshop practitioners (eg Kevin Kubota, Jim DiVitale and Jack Davis). These are universally more restrained, and therefore of greater value for most users.

Photo Tools

This is Photoshop filters on steroids! The interface reveals a multitude of
options under categories such as:
Portrait Enhance
Landscape Enhance
One Click Art

When an effect is double-clicked in the listing, it shows in the ‘after’ preview. The ‘stack’ acts like a History Palette and effects may be added sequentially or removed, as needed. You may also revert back to a previous state if you have over-stepped the mark in good taste! This, of course, provides a near infinite number of variations, but as with other tools in the range, you may save favoured variants as presets for subsequent batching or re-use. Managing your presets is well worthwhile in the preservation of your sanity!

The batch processing is quite sophisticated, allowing the user to select the source and destination of files, rename files, adjust profile tagging, scale sizes, make duplicates at different resolutions, and finally, add a watermark from a file of your choosing. The batch coding is slick. We placed 12 full-size Nikon D3 images in the source folder and had the batch process make one set of files at 50% size reduction, one set at 800 pixels maximum, with sRGB conversion and tagging, and finally all files were renamed. This took just 28 seconds to process all 24 files. The program even provides a log file to tell you what it has done so you can ensure nothing has been missed. We recognise that you could write your own scripts and actions to carry out these operations but, again, if you are a reluctant Photoshopper, the interface is very simple to set up and use.

The strap line that goes on all the onOne software claims to ‘get you back shooting’ and spend less time in front of the computer. It is well justified; any of the three products will save you a stack of effort with a minimum investment of your precious quality time.

There are comprehensive tutorials to be found at www.ononesoftware.com . Other variations on the URL (www.onone. co.uk) will get you to the bike shop, so you can make better use of the time you have saved!

Photo Quote: In the absence of a subject with which you are passionately involved, and without the excitement that drives you to grasp it and exhaust it, you may take some beautiful pictures, but not a photographic oeuvre. - Brassai