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Photo Enhancement Software and Plugin Collections

Stand-alone software and plugin collections for retouching, color correcting, improving, and enhancing digital photos on Windows and Macintosh. This software offers manual and automatic tools for a variety of general image enhancement tasks but do not offer image creation features.
Alien Skin Image Doctor (Win/Mac)
[Plug-in] Alien Skin Software, which has developed several popular effects plug-ins, has recently released its first set of image repair and photo retouching filters, Image Doctor. This set includes four filters: Smart Fill, Scratch Remover, Spot Lifter, and JPEG Repair.
AcuFilter Photo Editors Pack (Win)
[Plug-in] A line of corrective filters specifically designed for repairing, restoring or enhancing photos. Includes 6 filters: AcuBlur, AcuSharp, AcuMask, AcuClean, AcuNoise, and AcuBoost.
AKVIS Retoucher (Win)
"Retoucher allows removing dust, scratches, flakes, stains, water spots and other artifacts that appear on damaged photos."
ArcSoft PhotoStudio (Win/Mac)
Edit, retouch, and enhance photos, stitch together multiple photos, organize images in albums, and more.
Asiva Photo (Win/Mac)
[Standalone] "Asiva Photo allows photographers and graphic artists to make color corrections and image enhancements that were nearly impossible using currently available software." Sharpen/blur specific parts of an image, change the color of any object without masks, remove background colors, create special effects, and more.
Auto FX AutoEye (Win/Mac)
[Standalone or plug-in] Automatically enhances and improves color, contrast, sharpness, saturation, and tonal range. Detects and removes moire patterns as well as dust and scratches.
AutoCorrect (Win/Mac)
[Plug-in] One-step picture enhancement plug-in to rebuild color, sharpen, and increase image detail. Works in RGB or CMYK mode.
AutoSmooth (Win/Mac)
Smooth skin and surfaces while keeping details. Plug-in for Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Jasc Paint Shop Pro, Painter and more.
Caffeine Software's PixelNhance (Mac)
[Standalone] "PixelNhance is a fast and easy to use real-time image processing application that greatly speeds the process of determining the perfect settings for common image processing tasks such as color adjustment and sharpening." Free for OpenStep and MacOS-X. Note: Though the software is still available for download, the developer has suspended operation as of March 2003.
Digital Darkroom (Win/Mac)
"Digital Darkroom is an exceptionally easy-to-use program for importing images from scanners or digital cameras and performing basic image editing and manipulation. A simple click on sample images performs most modifications and instantly preview the results."
DxO Optics Pro (Win/Mac)
"DxO Optics Pro automatically enhances images produced by Digital-SLR, advanced Digicams, and their lenses with revolutionary optics, noise and lighting corrections packed in an all-new, easy-to-use feature rich application."
Fisheye-Hemi (Win/Mac)
"Fisheye-Hemi is a Photoshop plug-in filter which provides correction for hemispheric fisheye lens distortion."
ImageAlign (Win/Mac)
ImageAlign corrects perspective and lens distortion. It is available as a Photoshop plugin or can run standalone, on Windows or Mac platforms.
The Imaging Factory Plugins (Win/Mac)
[Plugin] Offers about 20 plugins for B&W conversion, noise reduction, sharpening, lens correction, color correction, image enhancement, and creative imaging.
MakeUp Pilot (Win)
"MakeUp Pilot is a portrait software that allows to apply makeup directly onto your photos. It helps you to quickly and easily remove small defects on your skin."
Optipix (Win/Mac)
[Plug-in] A suite of Photoshop-compatible plug-ins for correcting common problems in digital images. Works on both 8 and 16 bit images and includes tools for improving contrast, image averaging, blending bracketed exposures, enhancing edge detail, sub-pixel nudging, and color-safe sharpening.
PearlyWhites (Win)
"PearlyWhites is an Adobe Photoshop compatible Plug-In filter that automatically whitens and brightens teeth in digital images."
PhotoAcute Studio (Win/Mac/Linux)
"PhotoAcute software processes sets of photographs taken in continuous mode. It utilizes superresolution algorithms to convert a sequence of images into a single high-resolution and low-noise picture, that could only be taken with a much better camera."
Photobot Zero-click Correction Software (Win)
"Photobot automatically applies a combination of smart image correction technologies that correct all of the major problems that can occur in digital imaging: dark shots, bad color and red-eye."
PhotoCleaner (Win)
[Standalone] PhotoCleaner is a one-click tool for automatic digital photo enhancement with batch processing. It fixes contrast, color shift, unwanted softness. It can resize images using high-quality algorithms, rotate photos, and add a nice-looking framing and title/copyright text.
PhotoFixlens (Win/Mac)
[Plug-in] Correct barrel distortions, pincushion distortions, and all wide-angle distortions in Photoshop, Elements, Paint Shop Pro, Photo-Paint and other photo editors.
PhotoMagic (Win/Mac)
"PhotoMagic adds beauty and perfection to photography. PhotoMagic offers all you need into one photo suite: professional, award winning, and patented technologies provide you with the highest possible quality."
Photomatix Pro (Win/Mac)
If you have ever shot a high contrast scene, you know that selecting the correct exposure will not avoid blown out highlights and flat shadows. Photomatix Pro offers two ways to solve this problem: HDRI + Tone Mapping or Exposure Blending. Photomatix Pro is a stand-alone program for Mac and Windows.
PictureBetter (Win)
Enhance your digital photos in a number of ways: Adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, hue on demand; color balance; remove red eye; open shadow/highlight detail; apply color effects; adjust temperature; correct high ISO noise; sharpen and blur; and apply special effects.
PowerRetouche Plug-ins (Win)
[Plug-in] A suite of Photoshop-compatible image enhancement plug-ins for Windows: SharpnessEditor (SHED), ExposureEditor, ColourstichEditor, ColourEditor, SaturationEditor, ContrastEditor, TransparencyEditor, BrightnessEditor. Each plug-in is available individually or the full package can be purchased. A preview-only demo of the full package can be downloaded.
Qtpfsgui (Win/Mac/Linux)
"Qtpfsgui is an open source graphical user interface application that aims to provide a workflow for HDR imaging."
SensorKleen (Win)
"SensorKleen enables you to quickly and easily remove dust artifacts from DSLR camera images."
ShineOff (Win)
"ShineOff is a Photoshop compatible plug-in filter that automatically removes the shine from skin."
SkinTune (Win/Mac)
Photoshop plug-in that automatically corrects skin color.
Topaz Vivacity (Win)
"Topaz Vivacity is a set of image enhancement plug-ins for Photoshop and other software that reduces ISO and film grain noises with little loss of details; eradicates JPEG/JPEG 2000 compression artifacts; sharpens and corrects edges without overshooting and noise amplification; and enhance image resolution."

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