Kodak has introduced the new DIGITAL SHO Professional Plug-In, which optimizes contrast and exposure to reveal hidden details in highlight and shadow areas of digital images. It was developed and launched by KODAK’s Austin Development Center, formerly Applied Science Fiction, which is a leader in automatic image correction and photo restoration applications. A free trial version is available for download now. This fully functional trial version applies digital watermarks to images. To disable the watermark, users may purchase a software key via a secure, e-commerce site for $99.95.

Press Release:

KODAK Introduces DIGITAL SHO Professional Plug-In

Free Trial version of the new DIGITAL SHO Professional Plug-In is now available at www.asf.com

Rochester, NY (October 30, 2003) – Eastman Kodak Company today introduced the new DIGITAL SHO Professional Plug-In, which optimizes contrast and exposure to reveal hidden details in highlight and shadow areas of digital images from sources including digital cameras, flatbed/film scanners, Picture CDs, and the Internet.
The DIGITAL SHO Professional Plug-In joins the suite of image correction and enhancement plug-ins to provide easy and effective methods for automatically improving digital images in ADOBE PHOTOSHOP and compatible image editing applications. Other members of the suite include the DIGITAL ROC Plug-In for color correction/restoration, the DIGITAL GEM Plug-In for noise and grain reduction, and the original DIGITAL SHO Plug-In for revealing hidden details in shadows or dark image areas. These award-winning software products were developed and launched by KODAK’s Austin Development Center, formerly Applied Science Fiction, which has been a leader in automatic image correction and photo restoration applications since the mid 1990s with its revolutionary DIGITAL ICE Technology for film scanners which automatically removes surface defects like dust and scratches from scanned film.
The DIGITAL SHO Professional Plug-In adds powerful new features and functionality to the award-winning DIGITAL SHO Plug-In to give users more control and better results for improving their digital images. DIGITAL SHO Professional Plug-In automatically reveals details hidden in highlight/over exposed areas, as well as details hidden in the shadow/under exposed areas which is ideal for common photographic problems like backlit subjects, uneven flash illumination, harsh lighting, and over/under exposure. Proprietary algorithms analyze and adjust the gradations of dark and light image areas to optimally reveal hidden details. Professional users will have the power to override the automatic settings for fully independent control of both highlight and shadow area content.
DIGITAL SHO Professional Plug-In provides separate sliders for the highlights and shadows. The plug-in also allows users to adjust the boundary which determines how much of the image is defined as shadow or highlight, and enables them to see a monotone preview of the image, depicting the threshold, where highlight content is white and shadow content is black.
In addition, DIGITAL SHO Professional Plug-In gives users control of overall color saturation level for the newly revealed image content.
Users can also set their input type, either film or digital camera, which optimizes the Plug-In's capability to retrieve image data and deliver outstanding results.
“The DIGITAL SHO Professional Plug-In now offers the amateur and professional photographers a complete solution for controlling the full dynamic range of their digital image content,” said Dan Sullivan, Site General Manager, KODAK’s Austin Development Center. “In response to user feedback, we have enlarged the preview screens and added several manual controls for the professional user. Now even problem images with bad lighting, backlighting, or under and over exposures can become treasured memories for generations to enjoy. ”
The FREE trial version is available for download at www.asf.com. This fully functional trial version applies digital watermarks to images. To disable the watermark, users may purchase a software key via a secure, e-commerce site for $99.95. Plug-in product CD-ROMs are also available for purchase at www.asf.com. A special, limited-time offer will be made available to existing DIGITAL SHO Plug-In owners to purchase the new Professional version for only $49.95.