==> This was one feature that I had personally promised to a lot of Iris users switching to Laminar. We have added the option to apply mask from inside the Fx Menu. Makes it really easy to apply the filters only to a limited region. This reduces what was formally a 5 step process, to literally a 2 step process.

==> Bug Fixes:
a) Fixed some important issues causing app close randomly.
b )Fixed issues related to exif information not being read/saved correctly.

Version 1.9, had a critical problem with the save routine. The alert for the confirmation caused the crash. Issue had missed our eyes, as it worked rock solid till this time. Sincere apologies for the same.

Also a lot of users complained about the large disk usage by Laminar. It is normal for session data to hover around 500+ megs. This session is automatically deleted whenever a user starts a new session. To force Clean Up:
---> Close the application.
---> Start the application again, and cancel for option to restore a session. All the data would be cleared at this point.

====Change Log====
a) Added the filters from Iris, which were not a part of the initial release 1.9. Grunge/ Vintage/ LoFi filters are now part of the vintage section on Laminar. The Grunge frames, are part of set of border frames in Laminar.
b) We have added back the ColorBalance control. Can be accessed as Edit -> Filters ->ColorBalance.
c) In Blur/Sharpen added ZoomBlur.

====Bug Fixes====
a) Fixed the crashes on save.
b) Fixed the crash when applying Radial Blur from BlurSharpen Menu.
c) Fixed the problem with inconsistency between preview and actual image in ArtFilters,
namely watercolor, and WaterColor.

====Migrating from Iris ====
a) Adjustments, Histogram, Shadows options from Adjust menu are now located in separate "Adjust" menu on the main screen. Changes are now non destructive, and can allow one to easily adjust all the settings together.

b) Sharpen/Blur, NoiseReduction, and Color Balance are now located inside "Edit->Filters".

c) Layers and Masking tools are located inside the Layers menu on front screen.
For applying textures like in Iris, we have added dedicated texture tool inside the Edit Menu.

d) ColorSense has been split into two separate tools:"ColorSplash" and "Replace Color" and can be
found inside "Edit" Menu.

e) Text tool is now replaced with Annotation tool. Located at edit->annotation.

f) Filters: Vintage, Grunge, and LoFi textures have been consolidated into Vintage filters in Laminar.
Grunge Frames have been added as part of the Frames/Borders in Laminar.

g) Undo/Redo now supports unlimited states, unlike limitation of 10 in Iris. Undo, can be performed by swiping left on main screen & Redo can be performed by swiping right. Also. we have added history tool for visual representation of the changes.

======================

====Why the shift to Laminar ? ====
We undertook change to Laminar, because we realized if we aggregated the feature requests/fixes for Iris, it would have resulted in something similar to what we offer today.
From small preview sizes, to fact of not being able to rotate text, Color Picker, Ability to add multiple layers and masks, etc. Reason why we posted this as an update, is to ensure it was a free upgrade for all the users.

====Express vs Pro?====
Express version was only to suggest that its' for iPhone. Feature wise, the only difference between Express version, and Pro is the device compatibility. UI on iPad is completely different, and offers more robust workflow, which plans to change even more with the next 2.0 update. In no way the update was meant to downgrade the existing users of Iris.

Iris Photo Suite gets the major upgrade. We transition to Laminar!!!!
All the users of Iris, are being upgraded to Laminar-Express, which is same as LaminarPro, with only difference being that its' not Universal (iPad Support).

We got a lot of questions regarding how Laminar is different from Iris, and we think this should answer those questions. It's not just an update, it's a whole new software, a whole new standard to what we believe should be the work flow for editing images on mobile devices. Thats' why we call it Laminar!!

Laminar is something that we have been working for almost whole of last year. And not it gives us a great pleasure in welcoming all our users to Laminar!!!! To see a complete list of upgrades read the following:

a) Desktop class layering and masking work-flow.
b) Annotation Tool.
c) Support of resolution as high as 20MP.
d) Extended Export Support.
c) Import from sources like Flickr, Facebook.
d) Export options include Facebook, Flickr, Dropbox, & Ftp.
e) Save setting presets and add save predefined watermark for your images.
f) Lighting Engine.
g) Extended Mask support with tools like lasso, magic-wand.
h) Brushes, including Clone, Smudge, Paint, Gradient etc.
......
We can just go on and on. We hope you appreciate the effort that went into creating the product. Do share in your experiences on the AppStore!!! They are a great motivators!!!!

Thanks,
Pranav Kapoor

=> A complete new and redesigned UI.
=> Layers have been given a major reavamp, now the blend image can be resized and positioned over the base image.
=> Strength for every filter can be edited.
=> 23 new effects including: New Ultra Realistic Comic Sketch Effect !! (check out the screenshot below), Diffused Glow, Mosaic , Clouds, Vintage Print, Instant Print, Pinhole Camera, Parchment etc.
=> Text annotations.
=> Images are saved with their Exif information preserved.
=> Noise Reduction Feature Added. Ability to individually reduce individual channel noise.
=> Editable Opacity in the Mask Feature.
=> Ability to Invert Mask.
=> Ability to define layer mask, that effects all the filters the same.
=> Motion Blur Filter Added.

Also, Iris Photo Suite for iPad Now Available! for only $0.99 for limited time!

* Improved Application Lauch time.
* Introducing Color Replacement feature in "Color Sense" : Repaint the world with your imagination!!!!
* Resolution Limitation of 1600x1200 has now been removed from textures.
* 18 New Textures.
-> Note: Textures are now located under the layers tab on the main screen. The have been renamed to "One Touch" .
* Improved Crop UI, with ability to add custom crop ratios.
* Improved Masking tool: added ability to zoom while painting the mask. Brush Size is automatically adjusted to match the zoom.
* Added options to upload images to Facebook/Twitter.
* Fixed Bug that caused crash in iPhone 4, when using reset switches in Shadows/Highlights.

Note: All the old textures still exist!.. Old Paper & Canvas are part of vintage.
>The Original Grunge is the first texture in the new "Grunge" tab.
>Rest of the 6 textures are part of the "Surface" tab
>Nobody likes Change! but was necessary to facilitate the new features!!

*Fixes a minor bug which caused in the preview of Infrared Filter.
*Adds support for Layers!.Supports 16 Blending modes.
->Normal
->Darken
->Multiply
->Linear Burn
->Color Burn
->Lighten
->Screen
->Color Dodge
->Linear Dodge
->Overlay
->Soft Light
->Hard Light
->Pin-light
->Hard-Mix

*Added ability to add layer mask.
*New Color Mask.
*New Blur Layer.
*Minor Bug Fixes & Performance Improvements.

*Addressed issue regarding orientation of images clicked in portrait mode.
*Fixed a bug in the Polarizer Filter.
*Added Vignette and White Vignette Filters.
*Added 2 new BW filters:-Golden & Dream.
*Added 2 new filters:-Comic Scene, & Posterize.
*Added 8 Textures:- Old Paper, Vintage Canvas, Sandstone, Splatter, Craquelure, Cross Hatch, Grunge, Patchwork, & Graphic Pen.
*Added sliders for Output levels in Histogram Control.
*Added a new correction filter in Histogram Control: Magic Touch.
*Improved "Restore Functionality", much quicker, and allows ability to undo/redo after restore.
*Misc. Bug Fixes.
*UI Improvements.
*Performance Improvements.
*Added ability to zoom/zoom-out images.

*Addresses the issue where the Color Balance setting would revert in the saved image.
*Addresses the issue where the FX Button would stop responding.
*Adresses the issue where an image clicked would appear in wrong aspect ratio, and orientation when opened.
*Adresses the issue where in the cropped image, would sometime have wrong aspect ratio.
*Added "Redo" Functionality.
*Misc. Performance Optimizations.