Recent Software Articles

A Lightroom Killer? We Review Gemstone Photo Editor 12

If the Adobe subscription package is pulling at your budget, perhaps this single payment editing software can give you everything you need, plus more. With so much other software out there, what makes this one any different? In this article, we'll focus solely on the raw editing capabilities of the software to see if it is the answer to your subscription deal.

Think Outside the Box With Luminar Neo

Now in its seventh year and incarnation as Luminar Neo, Skylum's editing software can fit the needs of some photographers as a standalone app or as a plugin for Photoshop and Lightroom. But what if you want to push the limits of your creativity with it? That's when you have to think outside of the box.

ON1 Has Announced the Latest Update: ON1 Photo Raw 2022.5

Twice yearly, ON1 produces free upgrades to their Photo Raw program. The newest version is just over the horizon, and it has some expected features to add, plus improvements to its existing arsenal of tools.

We Review Oniric Glow, a Digital Artist's Dream Plugin

There are many ways to create a glow effect in Photoshop using layers and blending modes. What if you could do it in a fraction of the time and get even better results? Would you be interested?

Luminar Neo Makes a Dramatic Leap Forward With AI Masking

Users of Luminar Neo from Skylum will get a solid update when they launch the Windows or Mac raw editor today. The app gains MaskingAI, a feature that applies artificial intelligence to masking objects, saving a lot of time in the editing process.

How to Calibrate Your Displays

One of the first devices I bought for my office when I started with photography was, in addition to a proper monitor, a calibration device. Editing my photos with accurate colors and brightness has always been a priority for me. And the use of a colorimeter and monitor calibration software is a requirement for achieving those. In this article, I explain how to use such a calibration system.

Virtual Lighting Just Got Better!

Elixxier software is an innovative company that has produced very useful and helpful tools for photographers and filmmakers, especially when it comes to creating 3D light simulations.

Adobe Includes Frame.io in Creative Cloud for Free

If you’re entering the video production industry, you’ll be bound to start collaborating with colorists, motion graphics artists, and clients. You’ll also start using cloud-based uploading for review. You’ll be happy to know Frame.io is now included to use in Adobe Creative Cloud, so if you’re a Premiere Pro user, you’re getting a great workflow enhancer for free.

Skylum Team's War Stories

Many of you are likely familiar with the company Skylum. They make the ever-popular Luminar photo-editing software. Some of you may know that Skylum was founded in Ukraine, and the majority of their team resides there.

Focus Stacking Made Easy With Helicon Focus

A few weeks ago I published an article here on Fstoppers about handheld focus stacking. In this article I share my in-the-field workflow, as well as the automatic stacking option Photoshop offers to put all images together during photo editing. This option has its limitations though and because I lately had to work on some very complex stacks, I had to look for a better solution. And with Helicon Focus I found it.

Luminar Neo, a Complete Raw Editor?

It’s been a long time coming but Skylum Software has finally released Luminar Neo, their brand new version of the software that incorporates a ton of new features, is faster, and is simpler, but also offers more depth.

AI Skin Retouch Is Here and It's Pretty Impressive

Innovators and philosophers like Elon Musk and Sam Harris have been theorizing what our world will look like once artificial intelligence completely takes over our everyday lives. We aren't quite there, but if you've ever dreamed of a day when all your skin retouching might be completed using AI and neural networks, well, the future is a lot closer than you might think.

Luminar Neo's New AI Photo Editing Features

Luminar software has been leading the industry when it comes to artificial intelligence photo editing for years, and now, they are taking things even further with Luminar Neo.

Which Program Handles Fujifilm Raw Files Better, Lightroom or Capture One?

Fujifilm cameras have long been praised for the colors they produce. Lightroom has often been criticized for being incapable of processing Fujifilm raw files effectively. Capture One is generally recommended. Therefore, in this article, we will be comparing Lightroom and Capture One to see which is best for Fujifilm raw files.

Tips to Improve Your Results From Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro has become a staple of video editing and attracted many editors to it. Like most modern software, it is deep and nuanced, however, and you can always learn more. In this video, one expert takes you through some of his best tips.

Relight Your Portraits: Testing Out Luminar Neo's New AI Tool

Artificial intelligence has begun to have a real impact in photography via post-processing. This may be a contentious subject, but whichever side of the fence you are, it's interesting to see what it's capable of. In this video by Manny Ortiz, he reworks some images with Luminar's Relight tool.

Capture One Drops Branded Versions for Nikon, Sony, and Fujifilm Cameras

In the run-up to some big upcoming changes, Capture One has announced that they will be dropping their single brand versions of Capture One. Current users of these variants of Capture One 22 will be offered a free upgrade to Capture One Pro 22 or will be offered the standard upgrade pricing for those still using the previous version of Capture One.

Luminar Neo Gives Us a Better Preview of What’s Coming

Skylum has been heavily teasing its new editor called Luminar Neo for many months, and today, I received another working preview of the app, available on Windows and Mac platforms. The new version seems to run a little faster than the last preview, and it is fully native to Apple silicon. I tested it on my 16" MacBook Pro with the M1 Max chipset. The release version will be faster, but Neo was editing at a good clip.

What Do You Lose When Compressing Images With JPEG?

We encounter and use JPEG files daily, but rarely do we give any thought to what the process entails. More importantly to us as photographers, what data do we lose when using this lossy image compression technique?

Is There a New King of Photoshop and Lightroom Performance?

The reviews on Intel’s 12th Gen Core desktop processors, named Alder Lake, have all come in, and the results are surprising. Whether you’re looking to upgrade your computer or just want to stay up to date on tech trends, you’ve got to see how these chips performed.

Is AI Technology the Future for Photographers?

As photographers, we are always looking for ways to improve our craft and stay ahead of the curve. With new technology emerging every day, it can be difficult to know what is worth investing in and what will become obsolete in a few months. In this short article, we will explore the potential of AI technology and how it could benefit photographers in the future.

Your Virtual Studio Just Got an Upgrade

If you are unfamiliar with 3D studio software, it's maybe something worth checking out. Ellixxier software produces a 3D pre-vis studio that hits the mark in terms of time-saving when in the studio, and the software has just received another upgrade, allowing more freedom when planning your shoots.

Skylum Gives Us a New Sneak Peek at Luminar Neo

We've been keeping an eye on Luminar NEO, an upcoming raw editor from Skylum. In my last installment, I was given some preview software that showed three of the new features coming, including a relighting control, removal of wires, dust spots, and power lines.

On1 Announce the Release of On1 Photo Raw 2022.1

This major midterm upgrade to On1 Photo Raw brings more exciting and unique features that will certainly win it more converts from other asset management, raw development, and editing software programs

Lightroom’s Evolved: 3 Things New and Veteran Users Should Consider

Lightroom was one of the first serious photo-editing tools I used when I was getting started with photography, and it’s still a mainstay of my editing workflow. Whether you’re new to Lightroom or a veteran user, there are several unique considerations of the software: some are quirks of the program, while others are more recent changes that can impact your established workflow.

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.

Nik Collection 4.3 Offers 35 New Nature-Related Presets

I'm a long-time user of Nik Tools, and the suite of filters and presets has been advancing rapidly since DXO took the software over in 2017. There are tools to create a variety of monochrome looks, perspective corrections, sharpening, HDR renders, analog and film replication effects, color adjustments, noise reduction, and sharpening. Now, DXO is offering version 4.3 with 35 new presets, most useful to landscape photographers.

3 Alternatives to Adobe for Editing Your Images

When it comes to processing your images, Adobe is the standard choice for a lot of photographers, and many creatives go years without even trying other options. However, nowadays, there are a lot of alternatives to Lightroom and Photoshop, and whether you just do not like subscriptions or you are looking for a different way to work with your photos, this helpful video will give you a brief overview of three different options.