Eric Hatch has posted a very good article reviewing uprezzing technology and has it works in ImageNest Version 3.5 beta.   If you are interested in an in depth article on some of our new features it is a great spot to visit:

Eric Hatch’s article on Uprezzing in ImageNest 3.5

We will be announcing the general release of our 3.5 beta later this week and the new 3.5 beta will also include an major new feature that has yet to be announced!

We have received many inquiries about our support for Apples upcoming release of OSX 10.7 (Lion) and we are very happy to announce that we will support 10.7 prior to it’s public release so any customers who are beta testing Lion will be able to test with ImageNest.

Here are some facts about ImageNest and OSX 10.7

ImageNest is natively programmed in 64 bit (cocoa) so it is capable of taking advantage of all the benefits of a 64 bit OS such as OSX 10.7

ImageNest does not run any of our code under Rosetta.  With Rosetta not being available in OSX 10.7 we will have no problems at all.   This is a major potential problem for any 32 bit (Carbon based) software packages.

ImageNest will continue to offer free upgrades so all improvements that we make to take advantage of new features found in 10.7 will be completely free to all users.

Turning off color management (which is necessary for printing targets) is something on our list of features and we hope to have it in the new year.  Since color management methodology has changed in Mac OSX 10.6 many people are having problems printing out ICC profile creation targets on 10.6.

Here is a very easy way to print targets without color management.

1: Open Apple’s Preview application (you will find it in the Applications folder in Mac OS 10.6.x or 10.5.x.)

2: Open your Print Profile creation target in Preview.  Your print target will not have an embedded source ICC profile and Apple Preview will not force a source ICC profile into your image (which some applications do)

3: Select Print

4: Select your printer from the Printer pop-up menu in the print dialog

5: In the Print pull-down menu, choose Color Matching, and select EPSON Color Controls.  This will bypass any color management that colorsync would apply.

6: In the same print pull-down menu choose Printer Setting and locate the option for Off (No Color Adjustment) or Off (No Color Management), and select it. It may be in a Color Settings menu, or in another color-related menu.  The dialogs differ slightly from printer model to printer model.

7: Select Print to print your target or other image.

This is the simplest way to get a ICC color profile creation target to print properly.  This target can be used to create an ICC color profile for any application that utilizes the Epson Print driver.   This includes:  PhotoShop, ImageNest, Lightroom, Aperature, and many other print applications.

ImageNest is very happy to announce that in version 3.0.1 (currently on the website) customers can now accurately soft-proof images in the ImageNest layout.   After many months we have finished redesigning the ImageNest Color Management to add the ability to color manage inside the ImageNest application.   With this new update customers will not be locked in to only using “Printer Manages Colors” and can now use “ImageNest Manages Colors” to perform all color management prior to printing.

A few facts about “ImageNest Manages Colors”

Uses the rendering intent selected in ImageNest preferences to map image colors from source ICC profile (input) to destination ICC profile (output)

Performs all color management prior to printing.

Works with printing and creating PDF files

Version 3.0 contains a much requested feature that will allow users to lay pictures on top of one another. This new feature will allow users to trim any picture simply by placing it beneath another image. This feature is not only great for saving space but is the perfect tool to create photo collages that print perfectly.

In the image below the top column shows each image:

Row 1: Both images are show in their entirety with no overlap
Row 2: The image of the Scuba Diver overlaps and is on top of the Snowmobiler
Row 3: The image of the Snowmobiler overlaps on top of the scuba diver

Here is a sneak peak at the new snap to grid feature in the ImageNest Picture layout. The Snap to grid feature will automatically align images with users specified grid lines in the layout. Images will quickly and accurately align left, right, tip and bottom to the grid lines allowing for incredibly accurate image placement. Images Can be moved easily to any spot on the grid and can be dragged from page to page.

This feature will be a free update to all users with the release of ImageNest 3.0