This post is sponsored by PortraitProfessional - makers of “intelligent portrait airbrushing software that has been ‘trained’ in human beauty.” I was able to download a trial version of the software and took a quick look through. My review below covers the features of PortraitProfessional, as well as some of the pros and cons of the software.

Basically, PortraitProfessional is a portrait-specific, slider-based piece of software that will do auto-corrections on your photographs with the following specific functions:

• Subtly reshape all or any aspect of the face to make it more attractive
• Fix skin blemishes such as spots or pimples
• Reduce and/or remove wrinkles
• Remove grease, sweat or unsightly shine highlights from the skin
• Adjust the lighting on the face to make it more flattering
• Remove red eye
• Whiten teeth and eyes

While it may seem unfair to compare PortraitProfessional to a complete photo editing software such as Photoshop or PaintShopPro, I would by no means consider them to be competitors, but rather complimentary products. PortraitProfessional doesn’t claim to be a “Photoshop replacement” and nor should it. Everything that PortraitProfessional can do, Photoshop can do (plus a ton more). But the question is, can YOU actually DO the fuctions listed above in Photoshop? There are certainly many people that can, and for those than can, PortraitProfessional is probably not for you (though it may be worth taking a look at nonetheless). For those that are less skilled in “Photoshopping,” PortraitProfessional might be worth a look.

Pros

• Fairly in-expensive at $59.95 ($99.95 for the version that works with RAW images)
• Easy and intuitive to use - all controls are done via sliders

  
  

  




• Fast - you can completely retouch a photograph in a matter of a couple of minutes - even an experienced Photoshop users could appreciate the speed at which retouches are done
• Short learning curve - once the software is installed, you can literally “do” your first photograph in less than 5 minutes

Cons

• It’s not a complete photo-editing software - if you can only afford to spend a little $ on software, start with something like Photoshop Elements
• It doesn’t always “work” - some photographs just need the Photoshop touch
• The face-shaping feature is controversial in that it will “reshape and beautify facial features” based on hundreds of samples of “beautiful women” (though, the face-shaping feature can be turned off for those that think that actually changing the shape of the face as going to far when enhancing an image)

Overall, it’s a neat piece of software, and I’m sure those that do a lot of portrait photography, but lack excellent Photoshop skills will find PortraitProfessional very useful. It’s certainly not a replacement for a complete photo-editing package, but will certainly find a home with many amateur photographers. If you want to take a look yourself, you can download PortraitProfessional for a free trial.