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Life after Photoshop software reviews

Choosing the right software isn't easy and you often have to try quite a few different applications to find the ones that suit you. We're all looking for different things, and quite often a single piece of software won't do everything that we need.

Some people simply want a Photoshop replacement without the subscription payments, some want an image cataloguing tool that can also carry out photo enhancements, some primarily want an image effects tool for crafting a very particular 'look'. Most of us want a bit of all of these things.

• Always download the trial version if there is one. My best guess at what photographers need is not necessarily right for you.

These reviews are designed not just to see whether the software out there is any good or not, but to explain exactly what it does and how it might fit into your workflow.

I don't review every program out there, only those which I personally consider add something significant to the image-editing process. There are some notable and quite possibly very popular programs not in my review list but that's because – and I don't want to upset any publishers out there – I don't think they're different enough, interesting enough or just plain good enough.

Analog Efex Pro 2 review

June 24, 2020 by Rod Lawton

Verdict: 5 stars Analog Efex Pro2 goes way beyond most analog photography filters, offering not just film styles, grain effects and borders, but creative vignetting, bokeh, lens blur, lens distortion, double-exposures, motion blur and more.

Filed Under: Nik Collection, Reviews Tagged With: Analog, Analog Efex Pro, Bokeh, Borders and frames, Film simulation, Grain, Nik Collection, Plug-ins, Tilt shift

Perspective Efex review

June 4, 2020 by Life after Photoshop

Verdict: 4.5 stars Perspective Efex is a really nice addition to the DxO Nik Collection 3. It offers geometric perspective, distortion and tilt-shift corrections in a simple, user-friendly interface.

Filed Under: Featured, Nik Collection, Reviews Tagged With: Lens corrections, Miniature effect, Nik Collection, Perspective correction, Perspective Efex, Tilt shift, Volume deformation or anamorphosis

DxO Nik Collection 3 review

June 3, 2020 by Life after Photoshop

Verdict: 5 stars The Nik Collection is an evergreen plug-in suite that’s as fresh, varied and exciting now as when it was first launched a decade ago. The new Perspective Efex plug-in is a major bonus and the new ‘non-destructive workflow’ is rather clever.

Filed Under: Featured, Nik Collection, Reviews Tagged With: Analog, Analog Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, Dfine, HDR Efex Pro, Nik Collection, Sharpener Pro, Silver Efex Pro, Viveza

Exposure X5 review

April 30, 2020 by Rod Lawton

Verdict: 4.5 stars Exposure X5 is still the go-to tool for recreating the atmosphere and depth of analog film. Its presets are one of its best assets. But Exposure X5 is a modern image-editing tool too, with a straightforward but highly effective image browsing and cataloguing system.

Filed Under: Exposure X, Featured, Reviews Tagged With: Analog, Exposure X, RAW processing

Capture One 20 review

April 26, 2020 by Rod Lawton

Verdict: 5 stars Capture One just keeps on getting better. The new basic color editor, improved high dynamic range options and numerous other tweaks are all worthwhile and well thought out additions to a program that’s already at the top of its game.

Filed Under: Capture One, Featured, Reviews Tagged With: Capture One, RAW processing

Luminar Flex 1.1 review

July 20, 2019 by Rod Lawton

Verdict: 4.5 stars Skylum Luminar Flex is the ‘plug-in’ version of Luminar 3, so why is it being sold separately? Find out why, and how this could be the better choice.

Filed Under: Featured, Luminar, Reviews Tagged With: Luminar

Sharpener Pro 3 review

June 21, 2019 by Rod Lawton

Verdict: 3 stars Sharpener Pro’s output sharpening tools are a reminder that images need to be optimised to look their best on different printers, and at different sizes. However, its ‘capture sharpening’ tools feel like they’re just a little too late in the workflow, when most of us would apply sharpening during RAW processing, or in the ‘host’ application used to launch Sharpener Pro.

Filed Under: Nik Collection, Reviews Tagged With: Nik Collection, Sharpener Pro, Sharpening

Nik Dfine 2 review

June 20, 2019 by Rod Lawton

Verdict: 2.5 stars Dfine feels like an old-fashioned solution to a problem that has changed. There are now many ways of controlling noise in-camera or in RAW software, and the real issue these days is not just finding a tool that can do it well, but doing it at the right point in your workflow.

Filed Under: Nik Collection, Reviews Tagged With: Dfine, Nik Collection, Noise reduction

Viveza review

June 17, 2019 by Rod Lawton

Verdict: 3.5 stars Viveza is a great tool for making fast and effective adjustments to colour images, but it now feels a bit redundant. The Nik Collection’s other creative plug-ins come with equally powerful control point corrections of their own, as does DxO PhotoLab Essential, the Nik Collection’s new ‘host’ program.

Filed Under: Nik Collection, Reviews Tagged With: Nik Collection, Viveza

HDR Efex Pro review

June 16, 2019 by Rod Lawton

Verdict: 4 stars HDR Efex Pro 2 manages to make HDR relatively easy, and it produces ‘good’ HDR which is dynamic, rich and exciting. It still wraps it up in a bit too much jargon, but it does produce a good variety of ready-made HDR presets so that you don’t have to get caught up in the manual adjustments if you don’t want to.

Filed Under: Nik Collection, Reviews Tagged With: HDR, HDR Efex Pro, Nik Collection

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More reviews

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  • Best image cataloguing software: tools to keep your images organised
  • Skylum Luminar 4.3 review
  • ON1 Photo RAW 2020.5 review
  • ON1 360 review
  • Analog Efex Pro 2 review
  • Perspective Efex review
  • DxO Nik Collection 3 review
  • Exposure X5 review
  • Capture One 20 review

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Email lifeafterphotoshop@gmail.com

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