Anthropics also boasts better algorithms for different textures and ages of skin, including better algorithms for handling men's faces. I tested the sliders on a range of people, including a man in his 70s, a man in his 40s, a woman in her 40s, and a child. Each time, the program did a good job of subtly improving the person's skin and facial structure, resulting in a more attractive look without going too far into looking airbrushed. Once you play with the sliders and make more changes in various areas, it is easy to go too far, however. And the addition of the Exaggerate button, which takes all of the changes you've made and, well, exaggerates them, seems unnecessary. Perhaps for some, more is more.

Of course, you can always undo changes when you've gone too far with the improvements, and Portrait Professional continues to find a good balance of control and ease of use.

Portrait Professional 10 costs $90 (though it's been offeredon sale for a discounted price of $40), with a free trial. Portrait Professional Studio and Studio 64 are geared to professionals and are priced at $129 and $220, respectively. (The discount prices for those are $60 and $120). Studio and Studio 64 both read RAW, DNG, and 48-bit TIFF formats, as well as support color conversions, are optimized for 64-bit systems and come as plug-ins for Photoshop. Studio 64 has no limit on image size.