Photoshop
Illustrator 
Dreamweaver
Flash
InDesign
After Effects
Premiere Pro
Smooth Skins from Digital Heavens offers a lot of options, with a lot of support. It teaches all levels of Photoshop users a better way to clean up even dramatic skin imperfections but also gives the pros the natural results they want.
NoiseControl 1 is a plug-in for Photoshop and compatible programs (both Mac and Windows) that’s remarkably effective at reducing image noise while keeping edge details and natural grain. It can also sharpen a noisy image without increasing noise, and even add simulated film grain to an image to make it appear more natural.
Snap Art 3 is Alien Skin’s latest version of their painting and drawing effects plug-in software for Photoshop, Lightroom, and Elements. And it’s exactly what the name implies—software for quickly transforming photographic images into stylized art.
The i1Display Pro instrument is faster and with better quality than the i1Display 2 or any other colorimeter in the same price range. It has a lens sitting in front of the sensor (like X-Rite’s multi-thousand dollar Hubble system) and a moveable arm that holds the ambient diffuser.
The Nikon COOLPIX P300 is a compact point-and-shoot that fits nicely in any pocket—but it’s not so small that it’s hard to use. It has a nice solid feel, and all the dials are intuitive and easy to operate.
The new version of the Autodesk 3ds Max Creation Suite 2012 has a lot to brag about. While the Suite includes Motion Builder, Mudbox, and Softimage, this review will focus on 3ds Max. With that said, there are still plenty of cool new features, so let’s get to it.
With the bigger-is-better mantra when it comes to light, getting that big light source from a small flash provides a challenge that Graslon, Inc. has tackled head on and done a fine job in the process.
Version Cue was a good idea that never took off. It was too hard to use for small agencies and not robust enough for large ones. Evolphin Zoom 2.8 fills the gap left by Version Cue’s demise—quite nicely, too. The software is easy to install and set up on either Macintosh or Windows.
This new release not only has killer upgrades to Maya but Autodesk has also made some long overdue improvements to Mudbox and MotionBuilder, as well as the addition of Softimage to the Premium bundle.
Canon’s imagePROGRAF series not only raises the bar for quality and performance, it also places new hurdles in the track of its competitors.
