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Category: Media Creation

Adam Engst 14 comments

Understanding the iPhone 16 Pro’s 48-Megapixel Macro Photography… and Reverting to 12-Megapixel Shots

Although the iPhone 16 Pro’s new Ultra Wide camera enables 48-megapixel macro photos, taking them requires more manual steps, and Adam Engst’s testing shows that the 12-megapixel macro images are often better anyway.

Adam Engst 83 comments

First Impressions of the iPhone 16 Pro

After spending a weekend with the iPhone 16 Pro, Adam Engst feels even more confident in his earlier recommendation of the iPhone 16 for most people. The iPhone 16 Pro’s increased size and weight, along with the lack of noticeably better macro photos, make the standard model a better choice for most.

Adam Engst 37 comments

Finale’s Finale

MakeMusic has announced the end of life of its music notation app Finale and is offering a crossgrade discount for competitor Dorico Pro. 

Adam Engst 27 comments

Canva Acquires the Affinity Suite of Professional Design Apps

Canva specializes in easy-to-use online design tools with collaborative features, whereas the Affinity apps offer a powerful but inexpensive alternative to Adobe’s Creative Cloud. The acquisition could bring more collaborative capabilities to the Affinity suite and give Canva more design power.

Glenn Fleishman 10 comments

Newspaper Cartoonists Rely on Digital Tools, but Not as You’d Expect

You might think that modern cartoonists would create their strips using digital drawing tools, but in fact, many still rely on traditional pens and brushes. Glenn Fleishman explored the surprising way that cartoonists meld the old with the new as part of the research for a new book, How Comics Were Made.

Adam Engst 11 comments

Text-to-Podcast Service Listen Later Sponsoring TidBITS

Please welcome our latest long-term TidBITS sponsor, Listen Later. Email an article URL to this innovative Internet service, and it cleanly converts the article text into a custom podcast episode in your favorite podcast app.

Julio Ojeda-Zapata 2 comments

Evaluating New Features in the iPhone 15 Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 9, and AirPods Pro

Julio Ojeda-Zapata took the iPhone 15 Pro Max, the Apple Watch Series 9, and the recently tweaked second-generation AirPods Pro on a trip as a tech experiment: How would their new features fare in a travel capacity? He renders his verdicts. 

Julio Ojeda-Zapata 4 comments

Photographing a Bicycling Tour with an iPhone

Julio Ojeda-Zapata recently spent four days crouching by the side of country roads, pointing his iPhone 14 Pro at oncoming bicyclists. An avid amateur shutterbug, he had become the semi-official photographer for the Bicycling Around Minnesota tour—and the iPhone was all he needed. 

Adam Engst 20 comments

Apple Introduces Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for the iPad

Apple is bringing its high-end media creation tools Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro to the iPad. Will they be companion apps for the Mac versions, less-capable alternatives for those who don't need the power of the Mac versions, or both?

Adam Engst 3 comments

LucidLink Offers Streaming Vision of Cloud-Based Storage

After learning more about the nitty-gritty of consumer-level cloud storage services for an article, Adam Engst is introduced to LucidLink, which promises high-performance cloud storage using a completely different model. 

Jeff Carlson 53 comments

Amazon Shutters Photo Resource Website DPReview

The essential photography resource DPReview is closing in April as part of parent company Amazon’s efforts to cut costs. The culling includes decades of in-depth product reviews, vibrant community forums, and the DPReview TV YouTube channel.

Julio Ojeda-Zapata 10 comments

Photos Workbench Helps You Organize, Rate, and Compare Photos

For those who want more organization flexibility and efficiency than Apple’s Photos app provides, Houdah Software’s Photos Workbench provides a handful of targeted features that make the process faster and easier, all while working with your existing Photos library.

Adam Engst 3 comments

Mimeo Acquires Competing Motif Photos App

The world of Photos project extensions, never a hotbed of competition, just became a little less competitive now that Mimeo has acquired Motif.

Adam Engst 65 comments

Consider Switching from Creative Cloud to Affinity V2

Serif launched the next generation of its Affinity layout, design, and photo apps in conjunction with a 40%-off sale through 14 December 2022 that drops the one-time price of all three to just $99.99, less than the cost of two months of an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription. Adam Engst encourages those who aren’t sure why they’re paying for Creative Cloud to give Affinity a try.

Adam Engst 19 comments

Explaining and Resolving the Adobe/Pantone Color Quarrel

Confused and upset by the loss of Pantone Color Books from Adobe’s Creative Cloud apps? Dan Vincent of Userlandia explains the entire situation, and Stuart Semple of Culture Hustle offers the free FREETONE color palette plug-in as an alternative.