Type of Article: MacTech Reviews

By Jeff Gamet

Perfect Layers 2 (US$69.5) from onOne Software (www.ononesoftware.com) is a Lightroom and Aperture plug-in, as well as a standalone Mac OS X and Windows application, for layer-based image editing outside of Photoshop.

AutoMile (http://briantoth.com/automile) for Mac OS X (10.7 and higher) is a solid alternative to other mileage tracking apps that require recording your car’s odometer reading. It’s built for quick data entry using drag ‘n drop and conveniently supports keyboard shortcuts.

With the US$29 app, you simply record where you went and it does the rest. AutoMile looks up the distance traveled between stops and keeping a running total of the miles you’ve traveled. You can also do your recording when you prefer.

Boinx Software recently updated iStopMotion, to version 3, making its stop motion animation tool for Mac OS X, even better The new version adds the ability to create HD movies using an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch as a camera via the free iStopMotion Remote Camera app.

Perfect Mask 5 (US$99.95) is the next generation of Mask Pro from onOne Software (www.ononesoftware.com). It can be purchased as a standalone or as part of Perfect Photo Suite 6, and promises to make high-quality masks in just a few clicks.

Perfect Mask can be accessed directly from Photoshop, Lightroom, Photoshop Elements, and Apple Aperture. Because there’s no masking in Lightroom or Aperture (without a plug-in), photographers who use these programs for the majority of their workflow would benefit most from this application. Likewise,

If you want an easy, breezy guide to OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, check out “OS X Mountain Lion Portable Genius” from Wiley. This US$30, 424-page book offers a ton of tips and techniques on the features of the latest major rev of Mac OS X, such as Game Center, Messages, and Notification,.

The book also offers an easy-to-understand guid on the basic tools and shortcuts — with color graphics, no less. “OS X Mountain Lion Portable Guide” covers everything from customizing your operating system to using multimedia to syncing your Mac to other devices.