Adobe, the company behind Photoshop, yesterday announced the takeover (or acquisition of technology assets, as the company puts it) of a company specialized in the processing of raw files, known by photographers as digital negatives.

"With high quality digital cameras now within reach of every photographer, customers are gravitating to raw file formats that allow them to get more control over final results," said John Loiacono, senior vice president of Creative Solutions at Adobe.

"By combining Pixmantec's raw processing technology and expertise with our own, we're continuing to deliver on the promise that even your existing raw files can be processed with increasing quality as our software technology evolves," the Adobe official added.

Photoshop already included the ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) tool, which allows the processing of raw files, but it seems that Adobe has realized that there's room for improvement, Pixmantec's RawShooter solution being used by a large number of professional photographers, including the well-known Andy Rouse.

As a result of the takeover by the San Jose, California giant, RawShooter Premium will be discontinued, and RawShooter Essentials will be available until theLightroom public beta program is completed.

Adobe adds that existing Pixmantec customers will continue to be supported and that they will be provided with an upgrade path to the Adobe digital imaging product family.