The hottest Live Picture news broke several months ago when HSC Software slashed the price of its high-resolution image editor from $3,995 to $995. Now the company has released version 2.0, which not only enhances the core functionality of the program but also adds several significant new features.
Although Live Picture still lacks direct support for CMYK files (the program's native color mode is RGB), the combination of a native 48-bit-color space and version 2.0's improved color-separation and color-conversion code does a very good job of retaining black-plate information for imported CMYK images. Moreover, the program's color-correction tools now include the option to use CMYK values, an important addition.
Most graphics professionals use Live Picture in conjunction with Adobe Photoshop. To allow the two programs to work together more smoothly, Live Picture 2.0 now includes a Photoshop-acquire module that lets you import IVUE (Live Picture's proprietary file format) images directly into Photoshop.
Another important Photoshop-related addition is Live Picture's new support for vector-based paths. This is especially valuable if you're converting masks generated by Live Picture's precise Silhouette function -- which automatically creates masks based on color and brightness attributes -- into paths and clipping paths. Clipping paths are essential for importing rendered Live Picture images into layout programs such as QuarkXPress or into other applications that recognize clipping paths, such as Adobe Illustrator. You can also stroke paths with Live Picture's painting tools, a useful method for creating precise brush-stroke effects.
Production design shops will appreciate Live Picture's new batch-processing feature, which allows the program to render multiple projects unassisted. And version 2.0 has a smaller memory requirement than before -- the minimum has been reduced from 32 MB to 20 MB, and the recommended amount of memory has gone from 64 MB to 48 MB. In general, we also found version 2.0 snappier than the previous version, with speed improvements on everything from screen redraw to the final rendering process.
In addition to the new features, Live Picture 2.0 boasts a multitude of subtle improvements. You can now directly manipulate alpha channels in imported images without first converting the channels to masks or stencils. Live Picture's Open dialog boxes now sport helpful file previews, and you have the ability to turn screen anti-aliasing on and off. A four-point perspective tool with expanded distortion capabilities replaces the three-point perspective tool in the previous version. Furthermore, the program is no longer dongle-protected.
Still missing from Live Picture is an Unsharp Mask filter. We'd also like to see a more useful cloning tool and more-standard brushes.
The Bottom Line
At a fraction of the cost of the original release, Live Picture 2.0, with its new vector-based-path support and improved CMYK-related tools, is sure to have broader appeal to digital artists.
Live Picture 2.0
Rating: (4 out of 5 mice) Very Good
Price: $995 (list).
Pros: More reasonably priced and requires less memory than before. Improved CMYK controls. Vector-based paths. No dongle protection.
Cons: No Unsharp Mask filter. Lacks direct CMYK support. Brushes and cloning tool need improvement.
Expanded CMYK capabilities in Live Picture 2.0 include curve-controlled color correction and control over UCR and GCR, a feature crucial for color-separation work.
