7. February 2003
Picture Window^® Pro 3.1 - an introduction
Ever heard of "Picture Window Pro"?
No?
Well, then read on, because here I'll introduce you to my preferred photo editing program, the Picture Window Pro 3.1 (PWP).

Digital Image Editing
If you, like me, are either shooting digital or scanning analogue film-material, you will at some point like to edit the digital image files. It might be, that you would like to lighten or darken certain areas of the picture, change the color balance a bit, sharpen the image or perhaps even turn a color photo into a black & white.
To do this you need some image editing software. And which one to choose?
Now, you might say, that you just need something from Adobe^®, preferable Adobe^® Photoshop^®. It seems to be "common knowledge" that Photoshop is THE tool to use. Well, if you are a photographer and not a designer, there is another way to go. Sure Photoshop is amazing, no doubt about that, but the software I'll describe here - the Picture Window Pro by Digital Light & Color - is in my opinion just as good (and maybe even better) when it comes to photo editing.
Besides, it's also remarkably low priced which certainly is an issue if you're an amateur who will rather spend money on photo equipment than on expensive software.

The Basics of PWP
Here I'll run through some of the features of the program. This is NOT a full list of the features, nor is it a review of them. My intention is, to give you a brief overlook of the features of the program and the layout.


The user interface

Description
PWP is a fully color managed photo editing tool.
Adjustments you make to a picture are called "Transformations". Transformations can be f.ex Brightness adjustments, Levels adjustments or Sharpening etc.
Every time you make a transformation, you get a new copy of the image, rather than getting a history list of transformations made. You can then choose to save this new version of your picture or you can simply work on.
A Transformation can be controlled by a "Mask". A mask is a way of defining the areas that will receive the Transformations. It might be that you want to sharpen certain areas of an image, but not all - then you make a Mask to limit the area.

Color management
The PWP is fully color managed. This means that you set your working color space and your monitor color space. You can attach color profiles to your images or you can change the color space of an image. You can also select what color profile to use when you make printouts. There's even a tool for calibrating your monitor.

Transformation
Transformations includes Levels and Color, Brightness Curve, Color Curves, Saturation, Blur, Sharpen and a huge number of other things. All of the Transformations can be applied to 16bit per color images(!) So the entire process of editing your picture can be done directly onto your 16bit image.


Functions are centered around the Transformations, Mask and Tools

Mask
Masks can be constructed in a number of ways. You can draw a mask in freehand or you can construct a mask based on image properties, this means that you can f.ex construct a mask based on image brightness or on a specific color range etc.
In this way, you can easily make a mask that covers only, say, a light sky or a blue sky etc.


Mask drawn around the bike and blurred
After a mask has been constructed you can apply a Transformation to the area covered by the mask only.

Tools
Tools includes Cloning, Dust removal, Painting and much more.

Conclusion
PWP is one of the finest photo editing tools I've come across. It's very "no-nonsense" and made for photographers. Once you dig into the details of this program, you'll discover how powerful, yet easy to use it is.
I'll strongly recommend that you at least try the 30 day trial.

How to purchase PWP
PWP is produced by the company Digital Light & Color. It has been written by Mr. Jonathan Sachs - the programmer of the very first Lotus 1-2-3.
The price for the full, color managed version (the Pro-version) is $89.95 and a 30-trial can be downloaded from the website as well (see links below).

Links
Digital Light & Color:

[13.12.06] Update : A NEW VERSION of the Picture Window Pro has been released. Visit the site:

• Digital Light & Color
• 30-day trial of version 4.0

Norman Koren is also a user of the PWP software and he has a number of great and inspiring tutorials. Don't' miss'em :
• Image editing with Picture Window Pro - Introduction
  • Making Masks
  • Contrast Masking
  • Example: Sunset, Providence, January 1962