Most serious photographers prefer RAW files to JPEGs. They take more time and storage, but the payback is greater quality and flexibility. It’s not a one-sided argument – JPEGs have some advantages which are obvious, and some which are not – but here are six important reasons why RAW files are the way to go […]
Featured posts
Welcome to the Life after Photoshop archive of 'Featured' posts. These are favourite articles or tutorials that appear in the carousel at the top of the home page.
Luminar 4 cheat sheet: How to find your way around the Luminar 4 Library window
The Luminar 4 Library window is where you do all of your image opening, importing and organizing. You select the Library view using the first of three buttons (6) at the top of the tools panel on the right. The second button (7) is for the Edit view. The third Info view (8) simply displays […]
Free Analog Efex Pro presets (and how to install them)
Welcome to the fourth and final part of this mini-series on Google’s brand new film and camera simulation plug-in, Analog Efex Pro. It joins the existing plug-ins in the Nik Collection, now owned and distributed by DxO. Note: Following many requests, I’m republishing this article with the download link restored but the content unchanged. This […]
Using HDR Efex Pro for everyday enhancement
Usually, HDR images are pretty obvious. The technique is part of the ‘look’. But it’s also possible to use HDR to enhance regular images to add depth and drama, but winding the effect back just a little so that it’s no longer center stage. So for this shot I used DxO PhotoLab and HDR Efex […]
Lightroom CC White balance tools explained
White balance is one of the central image adjustments in any photo editing workflow. Here’s how the white balance tools in Lightroom CC work. 1 Edit button Click this to open the Edit tools sidebar. This is where most of Lightroom CC’s editing tools are found. 2 Color panel The Lightroom Edit panels expand and […]
Lightroom CC Profiles explained
Lightroom CC offers a range of Presets and you can create or save your own. But Presets use a combination of editing tools and effects, while there is another, more basic adjustment you can make to the look of your photos with Profiles. Profiles have been around in Lightroom for some time, but it’s only […]
Lightroom CC Geometry panel explained
Lightroom comes in two versions. Lightroom Classic CC, the ‘desktop’ version, is probably the most popular, especially amongst long-term Lightroom users, but Lightroom CC has a lot to commend it. On the downside, it means paying extra for Adobe Creative Cloud storage – the 20GB with the regular Photography Plan is not enough, and the […]
How to carry out white balance and color adjustments in Exposure X
White balance and color corrections are basic image adjustments you’d expect to find in any photo-editing application, so let’s see how they are applied in Exposure X. We’ll use this interior shot of a boutique hotel as an example because it has some very serious color issues caused my the mixed lighting. The strong blue/purple […]
An Icelandic church edited in Exposure X
This shot of an Icelandic church looked nice enough in color but I thought it had a bit more potential as a black and white image – though there were a few issues I wanted to sort out first. For this project I used Exposure X. The same tools exist in other programs, but I […]
Luminar 4.2 Augmented Skies: is this photography or illustration?
I’m in two minds about this feature. The AI Augmented Sky filter in Luminar 4.2 is spectacularly effective at blending in all sorts of other-worldly objects into regular outdoor skies, even supplying a range of ready-made objects like these twin planets via a drop-down menu. The AI technology merges these objects with your sky so […]