ColorWasher is a Windows-only color and exposure correction plugin. It has two modes: a quick and easy mode that lets you choose from some preset auto-correct methods, and an advanced mode that lets you use this, plus tune with sliders.

I wasn't feeling too hopeful as I downloaded ColorWasher, but my first few standard test pictures got surprisingly good results. Better and faster than TestStrip Metamorphosis and better than Photoshop AutoColor. Then as I moved onto some other pictures it started to not do as well. And with these it was weaker than TestStrip and AutoColor. But it still did an okay job.

Then I tried a picture with color problems stemming from a bad channel. And ColorWasher was not able to deal with this. But TestStrip and PS AutoColor can't either. I also had no luck with color problems stemming from high saturation, but this is also true of PS AutoColor (though TestStrip can deal with this). I was not able to compare this with the auto tools from Extensis or Auto F/X, because I don't have them.

So do I think ColorWasher is any good. Well, I don't expect any auto tool to beat using the full range of PS native tools. And this one is no exception. But what I do expect is quick and easy photo improvement that works much of the time. And it certainly does this. So for the home user with a digital camera I'd recommend this one. And for the Pro who wants an auto tool that can be of value with some pictures, I'd say you should give it a test drive.

ColorWasher costs $49.95. You can download a preview-only demo here:

http://thepluginsite.com/products/photowiz/

...Andrew

Thanks for the informational review, Andrew. This should certainly help anyone who is considering adding a color-enhancement plug-in to decide whether ColorWasher is one they want.

Dear Andrew,

Thanks for your mini-review of ColorWasher. I'm the developer of ColorWasher. Danny Raphael told me about this thread.

I'm not sure what features of ColorWasher you used for correcting the photos that didn't work out that good. If you just used the automatic features, I'm not that surprised.

However, ColorWasher's real power lies in the semi-automatic tools like the sample area. I'm sure that ColorWasher can handle the images you mentioned very good.

If you send me the photos that caused you problems in ColorWasher, I'd be glad to try my luck on them. If I succeed I'll let you know how I used ColorWasher to achieve a better result. If I should fail, you can bet that the next version of ColorWasher will has a feature to cope with them.

Actually I created ColorWasher, because Photoshop's native tools
disappointed me in many cases or needed too much time to handle most photos perfectly. So I expect ColorWasher to be better.

Harry

Hi Harold,

I am the same Andrew who discussed HyperTyle with you at some length in your HyperTyle forum. And I will help with your testing in any way I can.

I need to mention something, though. I have a suite of test pictures that I found on various websites. IOW, most or all are copyright images. I assume it is okay to email some of these for software testing, but we cannot post them for discussion or promotion. If that is okay with you, let me know where to email to you.

...Andrew

Originally posted by CJ Swartz
Thanks for the informational review, Andrew. This should certainly help anyone who is considering adding a color-enhancement plug-in to decide whether ColorWasher is one they want.

Nothing like praise to motivate me to write more. :) So I'll add a couple more comments now.

1. The three pictures ColorWasher had the most trouble with are also troublesome using native photoshop tools. These are the kinds of pictures where you can't just do a couple of routine PS operations. I've corrected two of them by hand, and they were tedious corrections.

2. There were also some pictures that were much quicker and easier with ColorWasher than with native Photoshop tools, and came out just as well. In fact, one of them might have come out better, which means my pride dictates that I go back tomorrow and try to beat it with PS tools. But the point here is time equals money (or stress), and so its nice to have an extra tool that can help. That's why I suggested that pro users give it a test drive.