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iCorrect Maureen
Shannon, NJPCUG
Almost
all of us have photos that we have scanned, imported from a digital camera,
downloaded from a picture CD, through online sharing, or added to our computer
from another source. Rarely are these photos picture perfect. Most of them need
a little help to improve their quality. I often write about plug-ins that will
add special effects, help you repair or color correct these photos. I am
completely hooked on these products. iCorrect
4.0 is a stand alone product that will allow you to make these corrections
without having to open up an image editor. There is also a professional version
of this application that is a plug-in if you prefer that as well as two other
versions. The version we will look
at here is the medium priced application that needs no other product to plug in
to. Even though I like plug-ins very much, it’s nice to know that I can do my
color correcting with just this application and not have to open up an editor
and wait while my over abundance of plug-in loads. Up
until Frank sent me the information about this company, I had never heard of
them. I love discovering new products and I’m even happier when they meet or
exceed my expectations. iCorrect has done just that. I also enjoy being able to
spread the word and let others know about what I have found. The purpose of our
reviews is to tell you about products and sharing what we have learned about
them. iCorrect is easy to use, has
uncomplicated tools, offers a side by side view of the original and the
corrected image, and takes a few seconds to dramatically improve an image. Best
of all for a product that works extremely well it is only $39.95 for this
version. It
took just a few moments to install and then I was ready to try working with it.
To my surprise, the learning curve was almost non-existent. You can very easily
see how your corrections are changing the photo and then if you don’t like
them you can undo them. I thought perhaps the first one was so easy that I
should keep trying to see if I could continually make color corrections that
yielded such great results. Before I knew it, I had gone through all of the
images I always use when testing color correction tools and had done it very
quickly. When I color correct an image, I add the initials of the product I used
after the image name. It helps me to know what product I used to correct the
color. This product has an option to do just that. This not only helps you to
identify which application you used if you have more than one but it gives the
image a new name leaving the original untouched and you don’t have to take
extra time to rename the original photo.
The
image above shows the applications dialog box and the original image and the
iCorrect image. You
can see there are no difficult tools to learn to use. After you open the image,
you begin making the changes. Working from the left with the brightness and
contrast settings, you make those changes and then move on to the color
enhancements. Several steps were used here first the Auto Black Point and Auto
White Point were left checked for the brightness and contrast. Then I added to
the auto setting, I used 2 plus increments to further adjust them. If the up and
down arrows are used, the incremental adjustments are in 10 steps when there is
a check mark in the box along side them. To increase either in smaller amounts,
holding down the shift key and clicking either the up or down arrows will make
one step adjustments. I also used the Neutral tab and clicked the pointer, the
pointer changes to a crosshair pointer when you are making the color changes, on
a light section of the flower bud: 1 mark, then I used two foliage marks to add
more green to the image. You can see how much brighter and colorful the photo
has become. Each color change leaves a “Mark” number in the box below the
color tabs. You can then undo the changes made if you don’t like them.
You also have the option to have a blinking + sign to mark where you have
clicked to make the color change. The small white cross mark in the image is the
mark. In this photo a color change was created where the mark appears. What I
did here was use the “Sky” selection to add a blue tone to the image. I
clicked the mark in a dark area that had a bluish tone. This gave the purple
flower a little more blue in the undertone. You can use the color tabs to alter
an images color too. The simplicity of color correcting with this application is
amazing. You can easily experiment by clicking more color marks……or even
back stepping and adjusting the brightness and contrast……which is not
suggested by the manufacturer. However I did experiment with doing this and
found I still got very good results. iCorrect
4.0 also lets you add images to a queue. You can add your images and then it
will move through the queued images without you having to return to a folder or
other source to find the digital images that you are working on.
You
can also change an image by using a different tab selection in an area it
wouldn’t normally be used. I change the purple flowers to blue by using the
“Sky” selection on the flower adding two marks…….or blue twice. This may
not show up properly in the newsletter but it will in the online review in the
Graphics & Web Development SIG area. (www.njpcug.org/graphics/reviews.htm) iCorrect
4.0 is designed to integrate with Windows XP imaging tools. I like iCorrect 4.0 very much. It is so easy to work with that a complete novice can have great success with it and yet a professional will find it a handy tool to add to their graphic toolbox. Even if you really aren’t into working with graphics as much as I am, you probably have photos that need color correction. iCorrect 4.0 is basic color correction at its best. No difficult color sliders to worry about or other manual adjustments that you may not completely understand. No difficult learning curve or less than satisfactory results. You will also find the colors have very good accuracy and look natural. I didn’t find any color overcasts or tones that were too strong. This application will fill your needs very nicely and not cost you a lot of money as some color correction tools can do. Please visit Pictographics web site for more information about their products. I will also have a flash demo in the review section with a large selection of images that I was able to color correct so that you can see the amazing improvements for yourself. Click here to view demo and examples. A few Examples
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