Recent Software Articles

How Long Should You Spend Editing a Photo in Lightroom?

The ideal situation is to take a photo that requires no editing whatsoever. But those shots are few and far between. In most cases, it's important to edit photos in order to develop them properly, but how long is too long when it comes to image editing? I'll be taking a look using Lightroom.

10 Powerful Features of Photoshop Photographers Need to Know

Photoshop is an amazing tool that most photographers find themselves using on a daily basis. It has countless features, and with the new Photoshop CC, more are added with each update. As a beginner to the program, it can get a little overwhelming on where to start learning all of the complex elements. In this, video you will see 10 of the features you need to know.

Does Photoshop and Your Scanner Stop You From Copying Money?

I've always heard that Adobe Photoshop will not allow you to import pictures of U.S. currency because you could potentially be using the software to "copy money." Today I ran across a video that also claims that all current copy machines will not copy currency due to a hidden pattern on the bills. I decided to put this to the test.

Breathe New Life Into Pictures Taken With Old or Low-Resolution Cameras

Many professional photographers are certain to have images that were taken on outdated cameras or taken on low-resolution sensors. But what happens if you want to print these images large or bring them up to current camera technology standards? Well, Luminar Neo might just be the answer for you.

Your Favorite Post-Production Tool Might Be Gone by Year's End

VSCO Keys is no more. There is no glorious explanation, no plans for a big, better, more badass version.

Today, mass emails filled the inboxes of photographers everywhere letting us all know that the maker of some of the most popular photography mobile software and editing presets was calling it quits with the beloved Lightroom shortcut plugin.

How to Create Simple and Elegant Product Photos with Minimal Gear

Product photography is a great way to experiment with lighting and editing techniques. For me, it’s a chance to shoot in a relaxed environment where I have complete control over the subject, lighting, and camera. I can set up something small in the living room and find solutions that can be applied to my portrait work or professional product photography. It also requires a lot of creativity. Homemade items or DIY solutions are abundant on sets. From light-shaping tools to methods of creating parts of a composite, a lot can be created simply and at a low cost. You may be surprised to see how minimal of a setup can create some stunning photos.

Bulletproof Backup Strategies For Digital Photographers

As your photography archive grows, so does the need to handle and protect that data. What happens if your computer doesn’t boot, or an image file won’t open? What if your home or studio gets robbed, or worse, catches fire? What if your backup drive fails, or your laptop gets stolen? These are all questions I ask myself when planning my backup strategy.

Why You Should Be Using Capture One Pro Instead of Lightroom

For hardened Lightroom users such as myself, Capture One Pro can feel like a bit of a mystery. What are the advantages and why would you consider changing? Ignoring for a moment the pros and cons of payment models, here are some excellent reasons why Capture One Pro might be worth investigating.

Is Photo Mechanic Plus a Lightroom Killer? An In-Depth Fstoppers Review Part 2: The Image Catalog

In Part 1 of this In-Depth review, I outlined the core philosophy of Photo Mechanic Plus before going on to summarize and test the ingestion process. Arguably, this is the star in the crown however, Camera Bits have now added an image catalog allowing it to manage your photo archive. Read on to find out how it performs, as well as a comparison with Lightroom's own catalog.

Why Can’t Photo-Editing Software Do This One Simple Thing?

Artificial intelligence is bringing incredible advances for photographers, from relighting portraits and making people smile, to cleaning up skin and swapping out skies. However, photographers everywhere would beg developers of photo-editing software to harness deep learning to create one simple tool.

3 Things Lightroom is Still Missing 14 Years Later

I use Lightroom, in some capacity, for everything I shoot. Without it, my workflow would be entirely different, and probably not for the better. While some of the recent feature updates have been fine, I still can’t believe these three features haven’t made it into the software after all this time.

Is Flixel Ushering In A New Era For Photography?

We’ve heard plenty about the death of the humble photo as video proliferates. But photography is still far more accessible than video, often because video editing is still so time intensive. Instagram introduced video more than a year ago yet it is still predominantly a platform for sharing still photographs. But all that could be about to change. Last month I shot video as Flixel partnered with Lindsay Adler and saw something very interesting take place that got me thinking - could we be about to usher in a completely new era for photography?

Adobe's Lightroom Coffee Break Gives Quick, One-Minute Tutorials for Some Tips You Might Not Know

Adobe launched a new YouTube series through their Lightroom channel to give Lightroom users some extra tips on features they may not have come across yet. While some highlighted features such as viewing masking for the sharpening tool are a little better known, others are more tucked away and might come as a surprise, like this feature that allows you to update the overall effect of a local adjustment with multiple sliders in effect.

How to Create Seamless Cinemagraphs Using Photoshop

Cinemagraphs may not be new but they seem to be popping up more and more as mobile media plays a larger roll in content creation. There are lots of ways to make them using various software and even a few dedicated mobile apps. However, if you want to make one with just a video clip and Photoshop, YouTuber Peter McKinnon's latest video makes it quick and simple.

Is This the Best Lightroom Plugin?

A few months ago, I started processing all my raw photos with a new Lightroom plugin. It led to a significant increase in image quality, as I show in this article.

Day 2 With Windows 10, One Strange Glitch After Another

I've made 2 posts on Windows in the last couple of weeks and people seem to think that I'm a Windows hater. I'm not. All of my computers are Windows machines. Every computer in the Fstoppers office is a Windows machine. But I'm not some fan boy who is going to lie about my experience either and Windows 10 so far has not been a good experience.

How to Remove Color Fringing in Lightroom

If you've ever shot on a budget lens, or composed a dark subject against a bright sky, you will have surely noticed color fringing — a glowing colored edge around any contrasted subject. Learn how to remove even the most difficult chromatic aberration in Lightroom Classic using some manual adjustments.

Fuji, Sony, Nikon, Leica - Firmware Updates for Everyone

For one reason or another, this has been the week of all weeks for those anxiously awaiting firmware updates. While some are rather mild updates to fix various bugs (which is still important, granted), other updates like the one for Leica's T camera boost things like autofocus speed twofold. Fresh updates! Come and get 'em!

Do You Really Know What That Lightroom Backup Button Does?

I recently came across an article by Scott Kelby that talked about something I had taken for granted and figured everyone knew, and thought it would be worth making sure our readers know that not all backups are created equal.

Watch the First Full Lesson of 'Photographing the World' for Free

Last year we teamed up with Elia Locardi, one of the most followed landscape photographers in the world, to film "Photographing The World: Landscape Photography and Post-Processing." This is a 12-hour video tutorial on landscape photography, and today, we are releasing the first lesson for free.

Here's How Your Histograms Should Look

One question I often get from my photography students is: "What the heck is that graph?" I often enjoy teaching photography even more than creating it, but explaining concepts like the histogram is one of the tougher parts of teaching photography.