AKVIS Photo Enhancer V1.2
Software Review by Paul SheppardEnhancer is image enhancement software for revealing details on a picture. Enhancer allows detecting details from underexposed, overexposed and mid tone areas of a photo without manipulating exposure.
The tool is useful in cases when a photo lacks detail. For example, when a picture has been taken with the background overexposed and consequently the foreground is hardly discernible, which is especially annoying when you take a picture of a person; or when a photo lacks dramatic effect due to vagueness of the scene.
If you try to reveal details in highlighted or overshadowed areas using exposure correction (for example, Levels) you run the risk of spoiling the parts of the image that you want to leave unchanged.
The idea behind Enhancer is entirely different. Enhancer brings out details by intensifying color transition. It means that Enhancer strengthens the difference between adjacent pixels having different color gradations and therefore allows revealing not only details in the shadow but also even details in the overexposed and mid tone areas.
Earlier it was possible (and such image enhancement programs exist) to achieve the same result by manipulating with 2-4 shots of the same scene. Enhancer does it all out of one shot thanks to the advanced algorithm of photo correction.
Enhancer is useful not only for correction of family and art photos, but can be effective as well in technical use. Publishers of technical literature can apply Enhancer to show equipment illustrations in detail; doctors can use Enhancer to increase the level of detail on roentgenograms, etc.
Enhancer is a plug in – which means it must be used in conjunction with some other program. During the installation you select an image-editing program, which must accept plug ins.
How to edit a picture:
Execute Adobe Photoshop (or your image program) – under File – Open – browse to the folder on your hard drive containing the photo you wish to edit. Double click the picture.
It appears in the work area of Photoshop.
Go to Filter – AKVIS – Enhancer, and Enhancer immediately processes the picture to its optimum. However, if you prefer different settings, there are 2 sliding bars under Processing to allow you to adjust the Level of Detail and/or Highlight/Shadow Priority.
There is also a sliding bar under Post Processing called Intensity. Using this Intensity parameter you can regulate the overall effect of both the Level of Detail and Highlight/Shadow Priority. At the bottom there is a Reset to Default button that puts the 3 sliding bars back where Enhancer first put them.
It’s fun to move the sliding bars around and watch the changes in the picture.
Mess up? Use the good old Reset to default button. There is also a before and after button so you can compare your original picture to the edited one.
When you are satisfied, click the white check button and the picture goes back to the work area of Photoshop.
Close the picture and a window comes up asking if you want to save the changes. If you say yes, the edited picture replaces your original with the same name.I always keep a copy of the original in some other folder – just in case.
I like this software because it is so easy to use and it doesn’t reduce the resolution as much as my other editor. Each edited picture is a little different but a 1.2 MB picture comes out at about 900 KB. In my other program, the edited picture comes out around 300 KB.
System Requirements: Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP and Macintosh OS X. Ram 96 MB,
Hard Disk Minimum 5 MB free space.You can get this program for & 69.- from
www.akvis.com/download/akvis-enhancer-setup.exe.
or download a 30 day trial version.