PhotoshopCAFE.com, one of the leading online Photoshop, design and photography resources announced today the acquisition of the industry leading training company Software Cinema.

Software Cinema is rich in heritage being founded by the much celebrated late photographer Dean Collins, who was the leading educator in photographic lighting techniques. Dean pioneered photographic seminars and created techniques for teaching lighting. He is considered by the best-known luminaries’ in the industry as the leading voice in photographic education. Dean created the Finelight and Software Cinema brands of DVD based training as well as the live Training Camp tours.

PhotoshopCAFE was founded a decade ago by prolific author, Colin Smith. He is known for taking Photoshop driven art and education to new levels, receiving critical acclaim with his photo-realistic illustrations and photo art. After garnishing numerous awards and having Colin’s work featured in almost every major digital arts publication, PhotoshopCAFE.com emerged from an underground tutorial site to one of the leading resources on the web today. Colin has written more than 18 books, with many of them becoming best-sellers.

Even in a down economy, PhotoshopCAFE has experienced expediential growth over the past several years and found that demand has exceeded the existing content. In a search for additional resources, only one company created the quality of training that PhotoshopCAFE customers have grown to expect. By blending both, world-class training from authors who actually work and have succeeded in their respective industries with the largest Photoshop Community website in the world, we are able to offer our customers an experience like no other.

Seeing a perfect union between the resources of Software Cinema and PhotoshopCAFE, founder Colin Smith completed the acquisition with Gary Burns and Linda Collins.

“I am very humbled and honored to be carrying the torch of Dean’s legacy." said Colin Smith. "We are also excited by the challenge of building the world’s best training resource for creative professionals. I’m thrilled by the enthusiasm and support of our amazingly talented world-class authors. Together we are thrilled to see what the next decade will bring.”

“It’s been said that those who can’t do, teach. It’s our mantra that those who can’t do, can’t teach at PhotoshopCAFE. Software Cinema has also held to this standard. This is what makes us unique. All out trainers are at the top of their field and take time out of their schedules in the real-world, to create one-of-a-kind world class training.”

Mixing the high-quality content of Software Cinema with the massive reach and loyalty of PhotoshopCAFE, will create an unmatched synergy, capable of mixing content and community that will benefit both learners and authors.

Colin’s secondary goal is to build a platform for authors and trainers where they are free from the constraints of traditional publishers. Being an experienced author himself, Colin wants to provide a place where authors are challenged and given the freedom to finally create the authentic type of training they have always wanted to create. Deeply rooted as a new media publisher, PhotoshopCAFE and Software Cinema are in a strong position to become pioneers in the electronic publishing field.

PhotoshopCAFE and Software Cinema are two companies well worth watching as leaders in the photography and design training industry. With a combined experience of over 30 years, they are unmatched in depth and real-world training for past, present and future generations of creative professionals.

About PhotoshopCAFE
PhotoshopCAFE was founded in 2000 by artist/author Colin Smith who saw a free online resource as a way to give back to the community. PhotoshopCAFE has since exploded in popularity and become one of today’s leading online resources (with over 20,000,000 visitors) for creative professionals. PhotoshopCAFE has made a profound impact on training for designers, photographers and video pros. As a publisher, top names like Jeff Foster, Tim Cooper, Lee Kohse, Chris Georgeness, Al Ward and Stephen Burns have joined the ranks.

About Software Cinema
Software Cinema was founded in 2001 by Dean Collins. Dean was a celebrated photographer and teacher. He started Software Cinema because he saw a need to educate photographers in a new way. Software Cinema is the leading resource on Photography and Photoshop training featuring the world’s leading photographers and trainers that include Julianne Kost, Jack Davis, Eddie Tapp, Jane Conner-Ziser, Louise and Joseph Simone, Jim DiVitale , Jonathan Kingston, Dean Collins, Monte Zucker, Jack Reznicki, Dave Montizambert, Clay Blackmore, Randy Hufford, Judy Host,Kevin Aimes and more.