Bruce Fraser, a pioneer in the field of digital photography, died of lung cancer last December at his home in San Francisco.

Fraser was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1954. He became interested in photography at an early age, and was introduced to a precursor of Photoshop, BarneyScan XP, in the late 1980s. His enthusiasm for the potential of digital photography led him to become involved in the software's ongoing development. He became an alpha- and beta-tester for the program, and served as a consultant for such companies as Adobe, Apple, Epson, GretagMacbeth, Hewlett Packard, Eastman Kodak and X-Rite.

Fraser was a prolific lecturer and writer, and published numerous photography texts, such as the "Real World Adobe Photoshop" series (co-authored with David Blatner), "Real World Color Management" (co-authored with Chris Murphy and Fred Bunting) and "Real World Image Sharpening with Adobe Photoshop CS2." He also served as an associate editor at Macworld magazine and wrote the "Out of Gamut" column for CreativePro.com.

In 2002, Fraser and five other industry experts formed Pixel Genius, dedicated to advancing the technological knowledge of the photographic and digital imaging industries. During his tenure at the company, Fraser was instrumental in the design of the PhotoKit Expert Sharpener program and other PhotoKit software.

The day before his death, Fraser received the inaugural Lifetime Achievement award from the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, having been inducted into the organization's Photoshop Hall of Fame the previous year.