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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. Over the years, I’ve learned a lot of keyboard shortcuts. Knowing keyboard shortcuts is crucial in creating a faster more efficient post-production workflow.
You’ve bought a brand new 4K video camera with all the bells and whistles and shot your first piece of work. You can’t wait to get home and edit the footage for your client imagining how incredible and crisp the video will be. You open Premiere Pro, import the files, and within seconds your computer takes a crap as it struggles to render the data intensive footage.
So you might have heard the rumblings this week that Photobucket is holding users' photos ransom after a recent change in their Terms of Service. The long and short of it is that free accounts can no longer embed their images on third party sites.
A little earlier this month we published a review of ACDSee Pro for iOS. Some people seem not to understand fully the purpose of being able to edit pictures on a smartphone, so to make it clearer, I decided to follow up with a tutorial. The goal is to show you the possibilities offered by ACDSee Pro but also give you some ideas on how to use such an app while on the go.
I recently wrote about how photographers should be seriously looking at the medium of video as a skill that should be in their repertoire. Hopefully, some of you were inspired enough to start capturing your own moving images and now you're ready to edit the footage. VSDC Free Video Editor could be just the piece of software you've been looking for.
The photo came out of the camera like that, I swear! Not really, and now there’s a website that can prove it.
Developer Piotr Chmolowski shared a new tool he’s created, Pixel Peeper, to reddit and other sites a couple of days ago, and it’s quite revealing – literally.
So many photographers have recently been dipping their toes in the world of video. You can edit photos like a pro, but maybe you just can't seem to figure out video editing; it's very complex – like an onion, so many layers – and now you have to deal with sound design! If you've used presets for your photo editing, then you should definitely consider plugins for your video editing.
Sara Dietschy is a professional YouTuber and vlogger based out of New York City. She most famously appeared on the scene over a year ago when she knowingly mocked the one and only Casey Neistat with a hilarious video mimicking his style. Her channel has grown in size and so has her professional expertise in the field for both photographers and videographers alike.
In another classic tale of a large company purchasing out a beloved product only to abandon it, Google is now dropping development of Nik Collection. After Google bought out Nik in 2012, they made all the Collection plugins free last year and have incorporated some of its features into their Snapseed mobile app.
Fujifilm and Sony are keeping their products fresh and up to date by releasing many firmware updates for their cameras, lenses, and software. Check out everything that’s been updated right here with links to all the downloads.
We all know someone that has an older photo taken in black and white and many of us have seen those request to transform those photos into color. Converting old black and white photos to color may have just gotten easier with a new app.
One of the worst gut wrenching feelings any content producer can face is opening up a memory card only to find that a file is corrupt or missing altogether. Recently we sold most of our Nikon gear and switched over to the new Panasonic GH5 cameras because of their better video features, superior image stabilization, and overall smaller size.
StudioBinder is a web-based tool designed to help manage any creative production. Whether you are a photographer planning a shoot with a small creative team or a world-class producer looking to manage your next billion dollar box office hit, StudioBinder promises to help make your production run smoother with its suite of handy tools.
In the image editing market, there is a clear separation between the assets management, editing, and retouching solutions. Most photographers rely on multiple apps to fulfill their workflow. Although we have grown accustomed to working with a few different software to get to the final result, it would be fantastic to have everything in one place.
Phase One has rolled out the first major update to Capture One Pro 10 today with the release of Capture One Pro 10.1. The latest update has several exciting improvements that will simplify users' workflows and even offer better file handling for people editing Fujifilm X-Trans raw files.
Welcome the newest member of Microsoft's Surface family, the Surface Laptop, along with the new Windows 10 S and an updated version of the Surface Arc Mouse. The Surface Laptop falls right between the Surface Pro 4, a powerful tablet made to replace your laptop, and the Surface Book, a laptop that can function as a tablet.
DxO and PracticalPhotography present you with a free to obtain OpticsPro 9 Elite License if you drop your email before June 30th. Ok, so it isn't the latest version of this powerful raw editor, but this version does come equipped with the PRIME noise reduction algorithm, so you can demo a full version free of charge before deciding to spend $199 for the latest incarnation.
Ahead of NAB 2017, Adobe has announced a ton of new features and updates to their video-oriented products, which include new graphics features, audio effects, interesting AI capabilities, and more.
With digital photography, the ways to present our work have evolved and grown exponentially. Web galleries alone are numerous, and it can be difficult to find the one that matches your needs and expectations. But then, there are a few such as ShootProof that pretty much do everything most photographers need.
You can have your images judged by AI. Just don't blame me if you don't score as high as you thought you would. These developments are supposed to help people decide what images work best for the message you are trying to convey, so it's good to know it's there and to try it out.
It’s no secret that I am a little obsessed with efficiency in all aspects of the industry, and that carries over to more than just the photos themselves and my retouching process.
Adobe's software bundle is something almost every artist or creative professional in the visual art industries uses.
Super 35mm 4K comes to Canon 5D Mark III in a new Magic Lantern module. They announced it on April Fools which might have had you thinking they're playing around, but actually, it's real and you've been played by Canon all along! Why have this capability in a camera and not give it to your people?
While most photographers and retouchers use Capture One and Lightroom, the raw processing software market is actually much larger than just two options. One incredibly appealing alternative to the big names is Picktorial. Its third version is being released today, and it comes with quite a few exciting features and is available at a very reasonable price.
In this video, I’ve provided a solution for photographers who want the ability to walk around their set, wirelessly trigger their Sony a7R II and still retain the capability to shoot tethered (with a USB cable) to Capture One or Lightroom.
Pratik Naik was featured on a recent Phase One webinar and showed some of the techniques he uses when processing commercial, beauty, and fashion images in Capture One. Most of what he demonstrated was centered around color and was extremely instructive, no matter the viewer’s level.
I never thought I would be in my car so much for work until I started doing photography as a job. As a real estate photographer in New Jersey, I am driving up to 300 miles a day from house to house and back home, shooting photos, videos, and aerials.
Fujifilm will soon release a firmware update for their flagship cameras, the X-T2 and the X-Pro2. The first update is due end of March, and the second one will be released end of May. The update, as stated by them, is reflective of user requests that they have received.
A lot of photographers have embraced adding video to their business offerings. With the rise of video-capable DSLRs, shooting video as a photographer comes naturally. Editing video, however, does not always make for an easy skill transition.
Apple’s MacBook Air isn’t long for this world. When Apple announced its new lineup of MacBook Pros in October, absent from the update party was the MacBook Air. In fact, Apple quietly removed the 11-inch model from the website around the same time, leaving only the 13 inch to soldier on for the time being.
In the world of film and commercial video work, there are so many working components that need to come together in order to have a successful production. So when it comes to bringing all those components together, you want it to be as smooth and simple as possible to minimize stress and streamline efficiency so that production does not fall behind schedule.
So you’ve decided to transfer your skills as a photographer to shoot video and have quickly found that some skills, such as composition, transfer well to motion pictures; but some do not, such as color grading. The main issue is that photographers get used to the amount of data in the raw format that can be saved and manipulated in post.