14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has made available for download a new version of the HD Photo Plug-in for Adobe Photoshop Software. The plug-in is still in beta stage, and is designed to integrate with the Creative Site 2 and Creative Suite 3 editions of Adobe Photoshop in order to enable users to open and save images in the HP Photo format. The new HD Photo plug-in supports Windows Vista, Windows XP and both Intel-based and Power PC Mac OS X.
"These updated releases are still officially in BETA mode. We believe that these are the final versions, but because we made some significant changes and this is the first public release of the Macintosh version, we elected to keep them in BETA mode for this release. We're continuing to do additional testing, and as always, we welcome any comments, issues, bug reports or other feedback. We're also very interested to hear if you run into any problems installing the plug-in on either Windows or Mac OS X," revealed Bill Crow, the Program Manager for HD Photo.
"This release has an updated expiration date, includes all the features and user interface changes for the final release, and has a new installer. There have also been some major architectural changes to improve performance and support for very large images. The HD Photo plug-in supports a wide range of pixel formats (including high dynamic range, wide gamut formats) and numerous advanced HD Photo features. This BETA plug-in is designed for use with the CS2 or CS3 versions of Adobe Photoshop software running under Microsoft Windows XP or Microsoft Windows Vista. Any other use is not supported," reads a message posted on the download page.
Crow informed that the plug-in's encoder options dialog box have been redesigned as a consequence of user feedback. Microsoft completely separated the Basic and Advanced modes of the encoder controls. The architectural modifications sported in the product's description involve the evolution of the underlying codec and memory management process. The new beta for the HD Photo plug-in will deliver additional performance when it comes down to encoding and decoding images, making the actual size of the file less of a concern.
"The Setup program has also been completely overhauled. It will now automatically locate the installation of Photoshop CS2 or CS3 and install the plug-in directly to the appropriate directory. If you have both versions, it will be installed in both places. It also creates an entry under the Programs menu to provide easier access to the ReadMe documentation file and the End User License Agreement", Crow added.
The current release of the HD Photo for Adobe Photoshop CS2 and CS3 is time-bombed and scheduled to expire on December 31, 2007. HD Photo Plug-in for Adobe Photoshop Software Beta for Windows can be accessed via this link.