Picture Arena 1.2 with DNG and RAW support for over 150 cameras, mail
export, higher speed and numerous improvements
APRIL 22, 2005 – HERZOGENAURACH, GERMANY
IOSPIRIT GmbH today released an update to its integrated digital picture
management software Picture Arena for Mac OS X offering sophisticated
picture browsing, image-processing and presentation capabilities to version
1.2.
What’s new in version 1.2
The highlights among the new features of this version:
* New: Picture Arena can now compose emails in Mail including
comments and file information. Effect recipes, file renaming and
scaling can be applied on the fly.
* New: RAW and DNG support. Initially the output formats of over 150
cameras are supported.
* Enhancement: major speed increase for realtime effect previews.
* Enhancement: reworked digital camera import, can now import to any
directory of choice.
* Enhancement: vastly improved keyboard support: full support for
navigation through files and folders via the keyboard.
* Enhancement: JPEG EXIF data is now preserved when saving the same
image to JPEG again.
* Enhancement: generally improved user experience (better thumbnail
display quality, faster scrolling and display, improved speed with
big numbers of images).
A compact overview over what has changed since version 1.1 of Picture Arena:
* New: clipboard support – files can now be copied to the clipboard
and pasted anywhere.
* New: auto rotation of images on browsing.
* Enhancement: reorganized batch export and added quick resize
option.
* Enhancement: selections in browse and view mode can now extend
across several screens – Picture Arena does now scroll accordingly
in that cases.
* Enhancement: files can now be opened on a single or a double click
– whatever you choose. Also, unknown file formats are now always
launched with the default application upon a double click.
* Enhancement: the adjust effects controls (basic color corrections)
are now more fine-grained.
* Enhancement: Picture Arena does now create smaller JPEG files
without sacrificing quality.
* Enhancement: Finder(TM)-like zoom effect can now be disabled in
the preferences.
* Enhancement: zooming is now a hundred times more finegrained.
* Enhancement: Finder aliases are now resolved on the fly without
mounting volumes pointed to by aliases.
* Enhancement: the position of the main splitview and the status of
the info tab are now remembered across launches.
* Enhancement: in view mode, the image can now be dragged around via
a “mouse hand”. Drag and drop is still available by pressing the
Apple key.
* Enhancement: Finder aliases are now resolved on directory import.
* Enhancement: Picture Arena does no longer return to browse mode
when deleting images in view mode.
* Enhancement: improved the “Add copyright message” and “Add album
comment” recipes for better readability.
* Enhancement: warning before deleting albums.
* Fix: the demo timeout in V1.0 and V1.1 was preliminary detected in
rare cases. Thus, this version grants every user (another) 14 days
to test.
* Fix: scrollbars are now updated correctly when adding big amounts
of images to albums.
* Fix: “Select All” is now always available.
* Fix: custom zoom levels are now kept upon effect calculation even
if zoom lock is turned off.
* Fix: workaround for a race condition in Quartz that could lead to
unexpected application termination.
* Fix: EXIF aperture and maximum aperture data are now displayed at
the correct locations.
* Fix: drag and drop of single images from iPhoto(TM) albums to the
Finder(TM) now contain a reference to the actual image file, not
its thumbnail file
* Fix: Illegal memory access in fisheye effect fixed (rarely
occured)
Availability
Picture Arena 1.2 is immediately available for Mac OS X 10.3 (“Panther”)
and higher at an introductory price of 19,90 EUR (approximately 25,90 US
dollar) until the end of April. The price will presumably be raised to
29,90 EUR later. All updates until the release of version 2.0 are free for
purchasers of version 1.x. A trial version can be downloaded at
http://www.picturearena.com/. The only functional limitations are a
demo-watermark in every saved file and the limitation of the trial period
to 14 days. Picture Arena is fully localized in English and German.
About Picture Arena
Picture Arena is the new center of your imaging world. Browse your
directories, rework your photos on the fly, manage them in albums, reuse
your existing iPhoto(TM) albums, make a speech-driven presentation, work
independent of any network and put your digital treasures to use in many
new ways. Full of innovations and super fast, Picture Arena lets you create
stunning web galleries with eCards and interactive databases without any
expert knowledge and just a few clicks, burns up to 9200 pictures on a
single CD for convenient viewing on a DVD player, prints contact sheets,
letter paper, greeting cards and much more. Taking full advantage of the
advanced processor power of the Mac, you can combine more than 20 amazing
effects and operations to dive your photos into vibrant colors, correct
skew horizons, add fun effects or create a picture mosaic with your photos
being rebuilt by thousands of others. Effects are generally non-destructive
and are performed without modifying your original files. Powerful batch
operations for renaming (with undo!), reworking, exporting, file format
conversion, a compact, thoughtfully designed interface and a great number
of smart tools round up this unique and incredibly useful software package
that no graphician should live without.
About the IOSPIRIT GmbH
The IOSPIRIT GmbH has been founded in 2004 by Felix Schwarz with the aim of
developing high-quality software for the Mac – low-priced, so everybody can
enjoy it.
A special focus during development lies on the latest technologies in Mac
OS X, their innovative use, own innovations and industry novelties – far
away from outworn paths.
At the same time the IOSPIRIT GmbH is its own distributor. The platform
used therefore is an internal development – tailored to the needs of the
market – and therefore allows efficient and fast processing of incoming
orders and queries.
The IOSPIRIT GmbH is based in Herzogenaurach, Germany.