ProFotoSoftware, the UK based Digital Imaging Software House, today announced their strategy to eliminate the artificial gap created by proprietary (’‚’‚…‚’‚Ή¦‚“Raw’‚’‚…‚’‚…Ύ‚) Image Formats that are produced by many digital cameras.

(PRWEB) September 12, 2005 -- ProFotoSoftware, the UK based Digital Imaging Software House, today announced their strategy to eliminate the artificial gap created by proprietary (’‚’‚…‚’‚Ή¦‚“Raw’‚’‚…‚’‚…Ύ‚) Image Formats that are produced by many digital cameras.

This gap is the need to firstly ’‚’‚…‚’‚Ή¦‚“develop’‚’‚…‚’‚…Ύ‚ Raw Images into another format before performing the ’‚’‚…‚’‚Ή¦‚“traditional’‚’‚…‚’‚…Ύ‚ image adjustments such as sharpening, altering saturation and so forth. This has led to the creation of many Raw Development packages, of various costs and qualities, which photographers must use before they can access their images.

Said ProFotoSoftware Founder Andy Bell, ’‚’‚…‚’‚¦…“It is our intention to bridge the gap caused by Raw Image Formats by seamlessly integrating them into all our image editing products. Our software will no longer require separate treatment of Raw Images before they can be accessed and edited. ’‚’‚…‚’‚‚

To this end, the entire ProFotoSoftware product range will be enhanced to treat Raw Images as regular images, without sacrificing the benefits that Raw Image formats provide.

’‚’‚…‚’‚¦…“We will use Raw Software Development Kits provided by the Camera Manufacturers, where they are available,’‚’‚…‚’‚‚ continued Mr Bell, ’‚’‚…‚’‚¦…“to ensure that there is no loss of quality when accessing these images. Where the Raw format supports it, our software will utilize the many adjustments that Raw formats provide. Should the Raw format not provide certain adjustments, we will add the adjustment algorithm ourselves.’‚’‚…‚’‚‚

Although there is a call to move to an ’‚’‚…‚’‚Ή¦‚“open’‚’‚…‚’‚…Ύ‚ Raw format such as Adobe Digital Negative, its lack of adoption by any of the major digital camera manufacturers means that software houses have to provide an alternative method to bridge the gap.

The first product to gain this ability is PFS Batch pro, a package that now provides professional quality image enhancements to both ’‚’‚…‚’‚Ή¦‚“traditional’‚’‚…‚’‚…Ύ‚ image formats such as JPEG and TIFF as well as the Raw formats produced by cameras from manufacturers such as Canon, Nikon, Minolta, Pentax and Leica.

’‚’‚…‚’‚¦…“Over the next couple of months,’‚’‚…‚’‚‚ said Mr Bell, ’‚’‚…‚’‚¦…“we will ensure that all our ’‚’‚…‚’‚Ή¦‚“traditional’‚’‚…‚’‚…Ύ‚ Imaging Software will gain Raw Image compatibility and our Raw Image Processor will be able to adjust traditional image formats, too. Our goal is simple: users of our software will not need to be concerned whether they are working on a Raw image or not. The software will handle Raw Images seamlessly and transparently.’‚’‚…‚’‚‚

To read more about ProFotoSoftware and PFS Batch pro, visit their website:

http://www.profotosoftware.com

ProFotoSoftware Ltd is a London, UK, based Software House specialising in Windows Digital Imaging Software.