Product ReviewsMultimedia software
PictoColor's iCorrect Portrait is a Photoshop-compatible filter plug-in designed to make colour correction a simpler and more reliably repeatable task than it is with Photoshop's existing feature set. The toolset in iCorrect Portrait is simpler than its bigger brother, iCorrect EditLab ProApp. Rather than being meant for use with all sorts of images, this is designed for portraits and similar kinds of photos. This doesn't mean that's all it is good for, but it has fewer options on tap. As a Photoshop plug-in, there are no file format issues to worry about; its restrictions are the same as most other filters; RGB rather than CMYK, and 8-bit or 16-bit colour depth but not 32-bits-per-channel. Think of iCorrect Portrait as a magic wand for improving your photos, but in a more professional way than any 'enhance' feature in other photo management and manipulation tools. As a Photoshop plug-in, you can't use this as a standalone tool, and yes, you can perform many colour correction tricks in Photoshop already. The benefit here is that it combines features that are otherwise scattered across Photoshop and it makes them work together. The reason why this is big news is because all the colour correction settings are only applied to the image once you click OK. This means that everything
In use, it proves to be a very efficient processing tool. Its one-click colour balance correction ability really does work, even with images with odd casts. The black point and white point options seem to have their own intelligence, and the skin tone correction feature makes rescuing portraits with inappropriate white balance or other colour cast problems an absolute doddle. It worked surprisingly well with every skin tone we threw at it. Even more usefully, it didn't just mess around with the overall hue balance of the image; it adjusted the colours that needed it and left the others alone, but without producing something that looked at all artificial - all with a few clicks. If this sort of colour correction sounds like what you'd like to have on demand, this is the tool to use; Photoshop's correction features can manage the same task, but with far more effort and less tailored control. It isn't all perfect. Choosing this filter opens your image in the iCorrect Portrait window, and you're not able to zoom check how details look. If you're editing a large image with critical detail, this may be a bit of an issue, but for overall image adjustments - where you're creating a holistic colour balance - this is fine. If you're an advanced amateur or professional photographer, you're probably a little skeptical right now. All we can suggest is that you try a demo version for yourself. We were equally suspicious, but although its interface is slightly less flexible than we'd like, it certainly does deliver impressive results. Sure, getting the lighting and colour balance right in the first place is the ideal, but when you need a little help this saves time and preserves quality. By Keith Martin
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