Verdict: 4.5 stars Affinity Photo 2 is not a huge leap forward from version 1 for photographers, but more a major refresh and rebranding for Affinity. It remains an extremely powerful professional Photoshop rival at an exceptionally low price. Its tone mapping is superb, its RAW processing can now be applied non-destructively and its central Photo personal is hugely powerful.
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Topaz Photo AI review
Verdict: 3.3 stars $199 is a lot of money to pay for a simplified AI photo fixer and there’s not even a trial version, just an ‘unconditional’ money back guarantee. When it works, Photo AI is good, even spectacular, but the image and its problems have to fall within its window of fixability. Photo AI is also slow, over-aggressive with noise reduction and can only fix the right sort of blur.
Radiant Photo review
Verdict: 4 stars Radiant Photo sounds like countless other ‘magic’ photo apps and plug-ins that use the power of AI to make your photos perfect. The difference is that it works. Not every image will be transformed equally, but the dullest, most difficult and downright impossible images are the ones that get the most benefit.
ON1 launches 2023 versions of its professional plug-in suite
Following on from the launch of ON1 Photo RAW 2023, ON1 has released updated 2023 versions of its professional plug-ins: ON1 Effects 2023 , ON1 NoNoise AI 2023, ON1 Portrait AI 2023, ON1 HDR 2023 and ON1 Resize AI 2023.
4 reasons to shoot RAW+JPEG and not just RAW files
But why would you want both? Surely a RAW file is superior, as it has everything you need and a JPEG version is simply superfluous? Well maybe not, and here are 4 reasons why.
DxO Nik Collection 5 review
Verdict: 5 stars Only a modest amount has changed here from Nik Collection 4, but it was already so good there was little room left for improvement. If your photography needs an injection of inspiration, style, or creativity, this is where you’ll find it. Even if you already have version 4, the new Color Efex Pro 5 and Analog Efex Pro 3 could make it worth upgrading.
Corel PaintShop Pro 2023 review
Verdict: 3 stars Paint Shop Pro 2023 offers a lot for the money, but in use it’s clunky, dated and often counterintuitive. The image organization and RAW processing tools are adequate and no more, and while the editing and effects tools are all right, it’s clear that Corel is pitching Paint Shop Pro at a fairly basic ‘crafting/project’ user.
ON1 Resize AI 2022 review
Verdict 4.3 stars: ON1 Resize AI 2022 is a tool for upsizing your photos so that they can be viewed or printed larger. It adds more pixels to make a larger, more detailed photo than you had before. There’s no hype or resizing ‘magic’ here, just a very good implementation of the power of AI.
Recreating Kodak HIE black and white infra-red film digitally
Kodak HIE infra-red film was one of my favorite films, delivering dense black skies, dreamy soft highlights and heavy grain. Can I get the same effect digitally?
ON1 Effects 2022 review
Verdict 4.8 stars: ON1 Effects 2022 is a standalone version of the Effects module in ON1 Photo RAW. The effects and tools are excellent, and this is a cheaper proposition that can also fit perfectly with your existing workflow.