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Printers by the Pound
by Daniel Grotta

May 31, 2009

Tags: DigitalBenchmarks Lab, Printer testing, Printers, Daniel's entries, Printer reviews, Computer Shopper, Sony DPP-FP97, HP Designjet Z3200 Photo Printer, Xerox Phaser 6128, Kodak ESP 9, Epson Stylus Photo 2880, Lexmark X204n


For nearly a year, DigitalBenchmarks Lab has had hot and cold running printers, with different models coming and going just about every week. We put each through its paces – testing for speed, performance, image quality, value, media costs and so forth, comparing it to others meant for the same market – write the review (most often for Computer Shopper at present, since we’re doing almost all their printer reviews), then pack it up, ship it out and set up the next one.

It’s become an interesting routine, but last week, we had to laugh, when we received delivery – one after the other – of a teeny 2.63 pound Sony DPP-FP97 Digital Photo Printer, a sensible 31 pound Lexmark X204n monochrome laser all-in-one, and a humongous 189-pound, 44" HP Designjet Z3200 Photo fine art giclee printer. (more…)

Review of Vertus Play with Pictures

May 21, 2009

Tags: Software reviews, Play with Pictures, Vertus, Fluid Mask, Masking software, PC World


Our review of Vertus Play with Pictures is on line at PCWorld.com...

“Vertus Play With Pictures is appropriately named. This standalone program gives you comparatively easy-to use-tools for cutting out portions of your photographs to put into a new background. For instance, you can take a self-portrait at work, and put yourself on the beach in Hawaii. Then, you can add a tall fruit drink into your hands, slap on some text, and put in a speech bubble to taunt your friends when you e-mail it out.

“Play With Pictures is based on the same masking engine as....”

To read the full review, click on: Play with Pictures review.

Review of Alien Skin Snap Art 2

May 18, 2009

Tags: PC World, Alien Skin Snap Art, Photoshop plug-ins, Software reviews


Our review of the Snap Art 2 plug-in is on line at PCWorld.com.

“Want to make your photos look like fine art paintings, illustrations, or even comic strips? Usually, you have a choice between two kinds of programs: push-button cookie-cutter filters that tend to be mechanically repetitive, or Corel Painter, the queen of fine art emulation software, which requires a certain level of drawing skill and imaging expertise. And then there's Alien Skin's Snap Art....”

To read the full review, click: Snap Art review.

Two of My Favorite Photoshop Plug-ins
by Sally Wiener Grotta

May 13, 2009

Tags: Photoshop plug-ins, Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop, Software reviews, Sally's entries, Nik Software, Silver Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, PC World


I wouldn’t even venture to guess how many hundreds of Photoshop plug-ins there are, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous, the freebies to astronomically priced (with the two spectrums of price and usability/value not necessarily related). I do know that Daniel and I have tested and reviewed many scores of them over the years. But only a handful make it from our test systems to my personal imaging workstation.

Two that I have installed on my system and which I use with some frequency are: (more…)

A Great Resource for Geek Photographers
by Sally Wiener Grotta

May 8, 2009

Tags: ISO, Dynamic Range, Image Quality, Digital Cameras, Sally's entries, DxO, Useful Weblinks


DxO, the folks who the press and other technocrats turn to for low-level testing and analyses of lenses, image sensors and digital camera systems, are now making all kinds of data available to the public.

Check it out at (more…)

How We Test, Part II
by Daniel Grotta

May 7, 2009

Tags: How we test, Daniel's entries, Printer testing, Computer Shopper, DigitalBenchmarks Lab, PC Magazine, PC Labs, Printers, Lexmark, Testing, Test script


For well over a decade, we were regular members of PC Magazine’s elite testing team at PC Labs, where we put a wide variety of products – digital cameras, scanners, image editing software, laptops, desktop publishing programs, etc. – through a lengthy, rigorous series of tests. The magazine published four printer roundups a year, so every three months, our team would hibernate in the lab for about a week, putting in 12-hour days as we tested, evaluated and reviewed a bunch of printers. (Of course, we did similar testing marathons for other PC Magazine roundups, so we pretty much lived at the lab for a good part of the year.) Yes, it was hard work, but it also was lots of fun.

And responsibility. (more…)

Road Warrior Woes: Oh My Aching Lap!
by Sally Wiener Grotta

May 1, 2009

Tags: Sally's photography, Sally's entries, Adobe Photoshop, PC World, Photoshop, Illustrator, Adobe Creative Suite 4, American Hands project, Software reviews, AsukaBook Maker, BuyThisImage, LicenseStream, ImageTrends Pearly Whites, Tintii, HP xw4600 workstation, Lenovo w700ds


Although I was away from our studio for the past several weeks (family business), I still had several software reviews due. On top of that, I needed to process hundreds of images from my recent shoot of traditional tile makers at the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works (Bucks County, PA) for my first American Hands exhibit, which opens in June at Muhlenburg College in Allentown, PA.

Unfortunately, my old standby laptop (more…)