Digital image editing and manipulation applications come in a variety of forms, from simple consumer-level applications all the way up to high-powered, professional programs like Adobe’s Photoshop. Apple’s iPhoto falls somewhere in the middle of this range. However, it is possible to extend iPhoto’s capabilities by adding third-party plug-ins such as Topaz Labs’ collection of high-end imaging tools.
About Topaz Labs' Plug-ins
- Topaz Labs offers a range of imaging effect plug-ins encompassing most of the common editing tasks faced by professional photographers and graphic artists. Examples include Topaz Detail, a comprehensive sharpening tool, and Topaz DeNoise, which removes unwanted noise from images without compromising the overall image. Although originally made for use within Photoshop, Topaz Labs' plug-ins are not limited to that application. Provided some extra software is installed, iPhoto can also use Topaz Labs' plug-ins.
About Apple's iPhoto
- Apple’s iPhoto is primarily intended as a catch-all for images on your Mac. Its built-in image editing functions are relatively limited, offering only a selection of basic tools and effects. For example, you can sharpen an image using iPhoto's sharpening tool, but you can't apply sharpening to particular sections or color ranges within the image as you can with Topaz Detail. Although iPhoto's built-in tools are often sufficient to general editing tasks, many users desire more comprehensive tools.
Topaz Fusion Express
- Fusion Express makes it possible to directly access any of Topaz Labs’ plug-ins while using Apple’s iPhoto. The software must be downloaded from the Topaz Labs website. Once installed, it operates in the background whenever iPhoto is running, creating a direct link to the plug-ins from within iPhoto. Fusion Express automatically locates and indexes your Topaz Labs plug-ins. However, certain settings within iPhoto’s preferences must be adjusted to access them.
Enabling Topaz Labs Plug-ins Within iPhoto
- Once you have installed Fusion Express, launch iPhoto and press “Command” and “,” to open the preferences dialog. Under the “Advanced” tab is a drop-down menu labeled “Edit Photos.” Switching this setting to “In application” will open a pop-up dialog. To use Topaz plug-ins, select “Topaz Labs FusionExp2” from the plug-ins’ Application Support folder on your hard drive. The “Save edits as 16-bit TIFF files” option also needs to be selected for the plug-ins to save your images in the correct format after editing. Once this is done, iPhoto will automatically bypass its native editing functions and open the Topaz Labs plug-in browser whenever you click the “Edit” button.
