I’ve been trying out the new PhotoLab channel mixer and black and white mode in DxO PhotoLab 7 and I have to say I’m somewhat underwhelmed. First, it’s a feature that really it should have had before. Second, it’s not very strong in its effect.
Tutorials
The new Lightroom Point Color tool and how it works
The Adobe October 2023 update brought a few new features, and the Lightroom Point Color tool is one of them. It’s part of an overhaul of the old HSL/Color panel, which has now been renamed as the Color Mixer. So how do these new tools work, and do they actually work any better?
The new Lightroom Lens Blur tool explained
Adobe’s October 2023 update adds a new Lightroom Lens Blur panel. It’s flagged as Early Access, so it’s still in development, but you can use it right now and it’s actually rather impressive!
Affinity Photo 2 videos on YouTube
If anyone is interested, I’ve recently produced a series of videos on Affinity Photo 2 for Amateur Photographer, covering everything from new features in version 2 through focus stacking, HDR merge, object removal, non-destructive editing and panorama stitching. Here’s a list, with links.
Lightroom AI Denoise vs DxO DeepPRIME XD: there’s a clear winner
Lightroom’s new AI Denoise feature was the biggest news in Adobe’s April 2023 Lightroom update. Like so many other tools now appearing, it uses AI based denoising techniques directly on RAW image data to produce an enhanced RAW DNG file far superior to an image processed in the regular way. But is it as good as DxO’s DeepPRIME XD?
Now you can use Curve adjustments with Lightroom masks
This is a new feature introduced to Lightroom and Lightroom Classic in April 2023. It arrived in the same update as the new Lightroom AI Denoise feature, so it would be easy to overlook it, given all the fuss over the AI denoising.
Lightroom Versions and how they work… and you do need to know!
The Versions feature in Lightroom is interesting, but it is NOT the same as Virtual Copies, and the way it works could mean lost edits and lots of frustration if you don’t understand what it’s doing.
Have you tried AI preset suggestions from Lightroom Discover? You should!
LIghtroom has many limitations and restrictions. I’m talking about the web-based Lightroom here, not Lightroom Classic. But at the same time, Lightroom has some clever features that use Adobe’s Sensei AI technologies. One of these its AI-powered preset suggestions.
Nik Collection 6 Control Lines: what they are, how they work
These Control Lines can already be found in DxO PhotoLab 6, but they are new to the Nik Collection 6. Control Lines are a special kind of selective masking tool. They work like a linear gradient tool, but with an eyedropper which can be moved around to select the tones or areas you want the mask to be applied to.
New ON1 Photo RAW 2023.1 healing, copying and moving tools rated
With the ON1 Photo RAW 2023.1 update, the Healing Brush tool gets a major upgrade. You could already move the source area around to find the best match, but now you can transform the repair to flip it, scale it up or down or rotate it to better match the area you’re repairing.