Software

Among many other photographers, I was certainly disappointed to hear the cease of development of Nik Software plugins by Google. There are times when I really like to use the Nik plugins unique tools, and I know many photographers depend on it heavily in their workflow. So it's been a looming question mark as to what happens next and without future development, it seemed the writing was on the wall with some distant Photoshop update, the Nik plugin would eventually not be compatible. Enter the good news! DxO has bought Nik from Google and has already implemented the first of the Nik technology into DxO PhotoLab.

There have been debates circling the internet lately on users abandoning Adobe’s eco-system of photo applications for a new player in town. Macphun, soon to be Skylum Software, has been making waves lately with their latest release of Luminar 2018. The once strictly Mac-based software company has branched out (part of the reason for the renaming) to include Windows users as well, and people are stoked. With a seemingly endless list of features and upgrades to the latest version, many have considered that it may be about time to try something that’s just different than the industry giant, Lightroom. However, users are still perplexed on how exactly they would make the change, what would they miss from Lightroom, and is it really necessary.

As Adobe continues to grow its customer base with its easily accessible subscription plans, other companies are looking to capitalize with their own software solutions. Luminar has been around for a while, but their new 2018 version introduces some amazing features. Regardless of how you look at it, at $69 for a perpetual license, it’s a steal. Nevertheless, how does it really compare to industry standards such as Lightroom or Photoshop?

I had the feeling they would do it. When I saw Instagram take it from Snap, and then use it for Whatsapp and Facebook too, it became tangible, something you could take and use if you have a platform with creators who make content as a career path. YouTube is giving creators the ability to create "reels," their name for what Instagram calls "stories." It won't appear on top of the app window at first, but they told TechCrunch that if it takes off they'll consider moving it to a more hands-on part of the app.

The competition is really hotting up for Adobe these days. With Luminar, Capture One, and Exposure 3, all creating super fast, intuitive, and non-destructive raw photo editing software, it's no wonder that Adobe has just announced an update to their notoriously uncooperative selection tool, because today, Pixelmator have now thrown their hat into the ring by announcing that they have released Pixelmator Pro, a photo editing application with full raw support, available only to macOS users.

Today Phase One has announced the release of their updated image editing software, Capture One Pro 11. Alongside the expected performance improvements that comes with new versions, Capture One 11 brings exciting changes to the way layers are handled throughout the application and annotations for journaling or collaborations.

It always surprises me in photography that the sector as a whole seems wedded to spending money. Not content with the affliction of GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) across amateurs and professionals, the sector likes nothing more than a few extra bags, filters, albums, prints, and yes, software.

Alien Skin Software announced the beginning of their fall sale. Customers can enjoy savings of 20 percent or more on all products in its store today through November 27.

"Mindhunter" is one of the recent Netflix releases that has me hooked. It has psychology, mystery, analysis, and how the FBI and police went about training for the serial killers who didn't have a motive. It's based on true events, and because the series is set in in 1977, which has different cars and fewer people and buildings than we have now. In this video, you'll be able to see how these shots were altered in postproduction to give the story the 1977 setting. Buildings and trees are added, marks on roads replaced and colors changed to give the series its moody, raw film look.

I have heard several photographers complain about how slow Adobe Lightroom is. While I agree that Adobe needs to make some improvements to their photo processor and image organizer, there are a few things we can do on our machines to help Lightroom run a little more smoothly.

Whether you are a full-time video editor or just occasionally edit some of your own projects like me, you have probably found yourself on Youtube at some point trying to learn. Tutorials are an amazing tool at our disposal and we share and create some great tutorials here on Fstoppers all the time. However, sometimes I just want to see how someone does what they do from start to finish. That's where Taran Van Hemert comes in with his newest editing video. It's not a tutorial at all. It is 4 hours and 20 minutes of a standard video editing job for the Youtube channel Linus Tech Tips from start to finish.

When the Panasonic GH5 came out, it was intended to be targeted towards video people. This camera tops out the GH4 by far with its in-body stabilization and variety of frame rates and recording options. However, when the GH5 first came out, it seemed that it still needed a bit of work. Now with the V2.0 firmware upgrade, these problems seem to be solved and this camera has been beefed up pretty good when it comes to video.

In a previous article, we discovered how we could transition from Lightroom to ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 by importing old catalogs. We also discovered the different files management options and tools ACDSee Ultimate 2018 has to offer. With this second and last part, we are going to go through the main photo editing tools you’d use in Lightroom and see their counterpart in ACDSee. If you are making the switch from the Adobe solution to ACDSee Ultimate 2018, be sure to read this article.

For the past few years, the popular Nik Collection has had an interesting journey starting back in 2012 when Google originally acquired the photo editing plugin. Over the course, the collection has gone through a price drop and ultimately landed as a free download which made several photographers happy. Who doesn't like free stuff, and for free it was a pretty solid collection of plugins.

Photo editing, retouching, and removing something from the shot isn't easy to do especially if it's a complex part of the hair, but it's common practice for a professional photographer to be able to do it if the shot and client requires it. It involves masking the new hair refining tool brush over and selecting the best feathering to make this selection as true as possible. Have you ever thought about removing something from a video? This is what Adobe is working on and this video shows a sneak peek of what Cloak will be able to do.

Phase One has already released multiple Styles Pack since the beginning of the summer. Today, they announced their brand new Film Styles Pack and I had the chance to play around for a few days before it was officially announced. Rather than offering you a simple release article, I thought a review would be more useful. After four weddings and a couple of portrait sessions edited with it, here are my thoughts and why this might just be the perfect pack for VSCO lovers who rely on Capture One for their professional photo editing work.

Adobe just killed one of its last major one-time fee softwares, Lightroom, in favor of the subscription model introduced in 2013. While the most refractory users may continue to run on the previous versions, they will be forced to roll to the Creative Cloud at some point since Adobe will stop supporting the traditional software. Future raw images and video codecs will not work on old programs. But when looking at the price plan in detail, are we being milked by Adobe with the subscription model and if so, what are the alternatives?

Adobe just announced some major photography-centric updates to its Creative Cloud programs. Alongside a new release of Lightroom Classic CC (the new name for what we all used to call "Lightroom"), Lightroom CC is a brand new application that works across all platforms: desktop, web, and mobile. The new software offers nearly all of the same editing features we're used to, but with an entirely new organizational structure reliant upon the cloud. While there's a standalone Lightroom CC plan, the current Photography Plan includes both the CC and Classic CC applications. So which should you use?

Adobe MAX is always a big time of the year for photographers, but this year's announcements and updates are the company's biggest since the introduction of Lightroom. Going forward, the now-old desktop-run Lightroom CC is called Lightroom Classic CC. But there's nothing classic about it when it comes to its performance improvements. This time, it's for real. Lightroom CC is now a completely new, 100-percent cloud-based product that works on any platform: desktop, mobile, and web. And Photoshop CC improvements help tie everything together no matter what you're using.

Photographers and digital artists alike have been using image editing software like Photoshop to enhance their work for years. There are several ways to add creative enhancements and filters to your work within Photoshop, but there are ways to add them without using the program or even in conjunction via other software and plugins. Auto FX Software has been around for more than 20 years with their customized creative photo software solutions which work as a stand-alone program or as a plugin for Photoshop or Lightroom. Right now you can get two of their modules for FREE along with support from Auto FX Software.

Capture One has recently published an article on The Image Quality Professor's Blog on how to create your own Styles and Presets written by Alexander Flemming. Styles are a great timesaver and can help accelerate your postproduction workflow with beautiful color corrections.

DxOMark has essentially become mainstream when it comes to providing ratings for cameras and smartphones. Anytime a new smartphone is released now, there’s a good chance that the overall camera rating from DxOMark is provided to demonstrate how much better this latest camera is. A growing number of individuals consider DxOMark to be biased and unscientific in its methods. The question is, how reliable is the overall rating or is it reliable at all.

On-site at DJI's Los Angeles Zenmuse X7 media event, DJI also previewed a new software solution it's working on in order to help plan drone shoots during the pre-production stages. Currently under development, Project Vertex will allow users to build three-dimensional models of a location and to bring them back to the office for more accurate shot-planning.

What's the first rule of any working professional photographer? Backups. What's the second rule of any working professional photographer? Backups for the backups.

As previously reported on Fstoppers, Capture One's new "Spectrum" Styles Pack is designed as a finishing tool for cinematic color grading applied to your photographs, providing a wide range of toning options for stunning yet subtle results that make no impact on exposure or contrast to keep the dynamic range in tact. Phase One offers a number of Styles as workflow-enhancing enhancements and time savers; Spectrum is the latest and at $49, the least expensive in their lineup. Here's what I found after putting the new style to the test.

Instead of fearing the future where AI takes over and leaves us with nothing else to do other than oiling their machines, Nigel Standford made a music video and used this "man against machine" concept. It's a DJ, who also plays guitar. The machines take over. Who's making the music? If I had to take it one step further, was the camera filming on an electronic camera rig or was it held and controlled by a DOP?

Coming this fall you’ll be able to create and collaborate faster than ever with Adobe’s latest version of Premiere Pro CC. New updates to the program will allow you to open multiple projects at the same time, collaborate with multiple editors on the same project, and work with new graphics tools in the Essential Graphics panel. Let's have a closer look.

Despite nearly four months passing after Apple released the MacOS 10.13 High Sierra developer beta on June 5, Wacom apparently needs more time to sort out their tablet drivers for the new operating system. High Sierra was released today to the public, however Wacom is advising not to upgrade just yet to keep your tablets working.

Apple’s Photos app on MacOS has been through many changes. We’ve come quite far since its predecessor, iPhoto. This time around, Apple has its sights set on bridging the gap between a consumer app and something more professional. Where does it fit in, and is it worth using?

Phase One has released a new update for their professional photo editing software, Capture One Pro, bringing additional camera and lens support for the latest gear. The company has also introduced a new, less expensive Styles Pack for color grading your images in Capture One.

Working as a video editor can be a hectic and tedious experience. Spending some time to think about organizational tools and methods can help you out significantly when working with a lot of files, or in a large group of colleagues. Renaming files, creating proper folder structure, logging metadata, backing up files, and developing a workflow can make your life much, much easier. While some of the advice listed below is geared for Premiere Pro users, any video editor can take advantage of these tips.

Adobe is updating its video applications and adding new features across the board. Many of these features include improvements for editing virtual reality content, smarter automated tasks, and some other features modeled after Final Cut 7, which Apple announced will not be supported in its upcoming MacOS High Sierra update.

I recently stumbled across the iOS app Cascable 3 while perusing the App Store. I was in search of that next great app to make my life a little easier. I fully admit my iPhone seems to find a new app each week, but for my own sanity I attempt to keep everything neatly organized with folders. Keyword: attempt. Just don't ask to see how many folders I have.

Earlier this year I reviewed ACDSee Ultimate 10. However, ACDSee just released the 2018 version of their flagship photo editing software and thus it’s time for an update. The brand new iteration promises to offer a more efficient workflow, layered editing for advanced retouching, vastly improved performances, and new tools for photographers to edit their pictures better than ever. Let’s see how this translates in the real world!

Since Adobe adopted a subscription-based licensing system, many users have started looking at other alternatives. While ACDSee had attractive solutions until now, their latest creation, ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018, seems to be a serious contender to Photoshop CC and Lightroom. Even better yet, you can process your raw files and then edit them within the very same software, no need for round trips.

There are often things that are helpful to workflow, no matter how minor they are. One of my favorite customizations to a new install of Photoshop is the cursor customization. When watching a tutorial and I see the instructor clicking through a menu instead of using a shortcut key for something as simple as duplicating a layer, I can understand the reason why. When demonstrating to people, it's valuable to slow things down and make sure they understand. It may seem subjective to flat out say that changing the cursors is the best thing to do, however I believe that once you try it you will agree.

As photographers, we’re often on the bleeding edge of technology, and these days, the bleeding edge often includes an app for that. However, manufacturers are increasingly relying on apps to control their hardware at the expense of dedicated physical controls — and it’s a practice that must stop.

CrashPlan is a popular cloud-based backup solution that many (myself included) use to backup their computers and external drives. But the company's announcement this morning to focus on business-to-business services leaves consumer customers hanging, despite their promise not to do so. Those of us with particularly large backups on CrashPlan's consumer service have a problem that raises a greater question about cloud-based backups in general.

As I wrote in my previous article, 3DLUT Creator is a magnificent piece of software for color grading, and it has become an essential part of my coloring processes both for video and still work. There are now more buying options for those who don't need all the extra features that some might. Meet the Grading Edition.

When Picktorial 3 was released, it promised a solid support of Fuji RAF files. Today, it’s getting even better by offering film simulation color profiles. The profiles are available as an add-on specifically designed for Picktorial 3 and Fujifilm X-Trans sensor cameras. Using the Fujifilm Film-Simulation look this way will allow you to retain all the details and data of your X-Trans Sensor output to take the most out of your raw files.

HDR is a beautiful but rather complicated editing process, or at least that was the case until Aurora HDR was designed by Macphun and photographer Trey Ratcliff. It’s now become an effortless and unintimidating retouching technique to bring the most out of your architectural and landscape images. Today, the California-based developer announced the release of Aurora HDR 2018 and it promises to make HDR photography even easier and more fun!

Sometimes when you're out shooting that epic landscape, in order to capture the entire view, you need to shoot a series of images on location and then stitch them together afterwards in post-processing. I think we've all been there. Depending on which lens you're using, that can create the particularly frustrating challenge of dramatic image distortion. In a nutshell, the wider focal length of the lens, the more distortion you are likely to see when stitching shots together.

Many Windows users have been looking for an alternative to ScreenFlow and there might well be one available on the market. It’s called Video Studio 2 and it’s designed by ACDSee. Whether you are an online educator, a workshop teacher, or you’re simply looking for a way to record your screen and quickly edit your videos, this solution is without a doubt one you should be looking at.

If you're a full-time photographer, or have been in the game for a while and are making consistent money with your camera, there's a good chance you've got a pretty solid invoice system set up (if you don't then you need to!). But, if you're one of the hundreds of thousands of photographers out there that are still doing this part time, as a paid hobbyist, or even only getting paid for the occasional gig, then invoicing can be a real irritation. InvoiceHome.com is actively addressing that issue with their online invoice template service.

As I am constantly saying, I am a huge fan of workflow optimization. I work alone and automating even the simplest of tasks is crucial to staying organized and being able to keep up doing what I do. This tip is the first in a series regarding automation I will share, and this is such a key to thinking differently: creating your clients folders. It's something we do every session, over and over, so let's automate it.

As you can imagine I spend a lot of time in Photoshop. And when you spend as much time in Photoshop as I do, you want to work as fast and efficiently as you can. Knowing your way around the layers panel in Photoshop is a great way to maximize efficiency. I teamed up with Fstoppers to create a video tutorial that focuses specifically on the layers panel in Photoshop. In this video, I’lll show you have to maximize your workflow with a series of practical tips and shortcuts. This video is great for beginners, however, even if you’re well versed in Photoshop, you may just learn something new.

One of the many reasons I love this great color grading tool (as I've already written about) is that the creator, Oleg, is very good at listening to requests and creating or adding new features, while fixing minor bugs along the way in a much more responsive manner than what I've seen from the big companies. I'm happy to see the new 1.42 update released today.

By now we all should know that Adobe has ditched the traditional one-time purchase for programs in favor of the new Creative Cloud subscription model. During the transition, there were growing pains and outrage amongst the creative community. People were upset that they would no longer be getting updates for the programs that they owned and the only way to stay current would be to subscribe to Adobe’s service. Now that the dust has settled from the transition, Justin Odisho weighs in with his thoughts on the subscription and if he thinks it’s worth it as a professional in the industry.

Ah, scanning. If you're not printing in the darkroom, it's a necessary evil when dealing with film. You could argue that outside of the moment of exposure, scanning carries the most weight in determining the quality of the final image. For those that choose to develop their film at home, scanning is the next step in our workflow. Most of us want to get in, get the best scan we can, and get out to the greener pastures of Photoshop to make our final edits. Your choice of software has a lot to do with how efficient and how tolerable it will be to get your negatives into the computer. It's through that lens that we take a look at VueScan.

Pixrit is the latest in social media content managers specifically targeting photographers. With tag lines like, “Designed for photographers, by photographers,” and, “Schedule 1 month of sharing in less than 5 minutes,” they have set high expectations for a service that already has some strong competition.