Software

Photo Enhancement is Starting to Get Crazy

As the worlds of artificial intelligence and digital photography collide, we're starting to see some mind-blowing technology emerge. The latest research in turning low-resolution photos into high-definition photos may drop your jaws -- it's starting to cross into the realm of sci-fi.

Macphun Renaming Itself Skylum as its Photo Apps Land on Windows

Macphun has just announced that it's changing its name to Skylum. The company, which became well-known for its popular photo editing apps for Mac, is expanding to Windows and needed a new name as a result. Company CEO Alex Tsepko announced the rebranding in a post on the official blog.

DxO Buys Nik Collection from Google, Will Resume Development

The popular Nik Collection of photo editing software will live on. Just months after Google said that it was abandoning the brand and ending development, DxO has just announced that it has acquired Nik Collection from Google and will continue development "for the benefit of the photographer community."

Why the Brush Tool Has a Weird Purple Line in Photoshop CC 2018

If you've started using Photoshop CC 2018, you may have noticed a strange purple line following your brush around as you're using it now. That line is called a "brush leash," and here's a helpful 6-minute video by retoucher Pratik Naik about what that purple line is and how you can use and customize it.

Adobe: No, We’re Not Killing Lightroom Classic

Adobe is pushing further into the world of cloud-based software, and this week it rebranded Lightroom as Lightroom Classic CC so that the company's new cloud-oriented app could be called Lightroom CC. But if your loyalties lie with the desktop app formerly known as Lightroom, don't worry: Adobe says it will continue developing that app into the future.

Adobe Scene Stitch is Like Content-Aware Fill with an Imagination

In addition to its Cloak and Scribbler projects, Adobe also used its MAX 2017 conference to offer a sneak peek of a technology called Scene Stitch. It's like Content-Aware Fill on steroids: instead of guessing the fill content with details from the photo, Scene Stitch uses AI and a database of images to find content to fill the hole.

Adobe Cloak is Content-Aware Fill for Video

Adobe demoed a number of technologies at Adobe MAX 2017 yesterday, including something called Cloak. It's basically Photoshop's Content-Aware Fill for video -- you can easily remove unwanted things from video, as you can see in the 6-minute demo above.

Adobe Said It Would Offer Standalone Lightroom ‘Indefinitely’

Adobe unveiled its cloud-centric Lightroom CC yesterday and announced that desktop Lightroom has been rebranded as Lightroom Classic CC. The company also stated that Lightroom 6 would be the final standalone version of Lightroom that doesn't require a subscription... backtracking on what the company said just a few years ago.

This App Turns Your Smartphone Into a Lightroom Control Panel

Control Room is a new app that turns your smartphone or tablet into an external control panel for Lightroom photo editing. This means you can control adjustments through the screen on your phone while watching those adjustments affect the large photo open in Lightroom on your computer.

DJI Launches Privacy Mode for Flying Drones Offline

Two months after the US Army ended its use of DJI drones due to "cybersecurity" reasons, DJI has just launched a new privacy mode that allows operators to fly completely offline. DJI says the goal is to provide "enhanced data privacy assurances for sensitive government and enterprise customers."

Make Difficult Selections Using Alpha Channels in Photoshop

In this 12-minute tutorial by PiXimperfect, learn how to use alpha channels in Photoshop to make "insanely difficult" selections. An example situation for which you may need to employ this technique could be selecting pieces of the sky from behind a tree on the horizon.

The Difference Between Vibrance and Saturation

To the untrained eye, the difference between the vibrance and saturation sliders is not immediately obvious. Jesús Ramirez of Photoshop Training Channel explains the subtle difference between these two useful tools in this 5-minute video.

How to Make Your iPhone Shoot JPEGs Again After iOS 11

After updating your iPhone to iOS 11, you may have noticed that your photos are all .heic files instead of the ubiquitous .jpeg. If you're rather go back to shooting JPEG for now until you feel more ready to make the switch, it's actually extremely easy to do.

Instagram May Soon Break Its Classic Grid (and All Your 3×3 Mosaics)

Instagram has long featured a 3x3 grid of photos across its platform, allowing photographers to get creative and create larger photo mosaics by uploading the individual pieces as separate photos in the correct order. If you've spent a considerable amount of time and effort building these mosaics yourself, here's some bad news: it looks like Instagram may soon break that classic grid (and your mosaics).

Speed Up Photo Viewing in Lightroom with 1:1 Previews

Ask any photographer their least-favorite thing about Adobe Lightroom, and they will most likely tell you it’s the application’s speed. There are a few tricks to help optimize the responsiveness of Lightroom, and this minute-long Lightroom coffee break video focuses on generating 1:1 previews.

Fujifilm X Raw Studio to Offload RAW Conversion from CPU to Camera

Alongside its new X-E3 mirrorless camera and XF 80mm f/2.8 Macro lens, Fujifilm has also announced the development of a new RAW conversion program called "Fujifilm X Raw Studio." This software is different from others in that it's designed to offload work from your computer's CPU by using your camera's processor to convert RAW photos.

How to Master Photoshop’s Pen Tool in Just 30 Minutes

Mastery of the pen tool enables complex vector shapes and selections that can be used for masking or extracting elements from an image. There is a bit of a learning curve to the tool, but this 30-minute video from Unmesh Dinda of PiXimperfect will teach you everything from the fundamentals to real-world use.

Pixelmator Pro to Feature AI-Powered Photo Editing Features

Pixelmator is an image editor for macOS that launched back in 2007 and has since grown into a formidable alternative to Adobe Photoshop in a previously untouchable domain. Now the company has just announced a Pro version of its software, which is set to be released this fall.

Instagram Does Away with the Square Aspect Ratio for Multi-Photo Posts

Back in August 2015, Instagram introduced support for landscape and portrait orientation images. This was great news for photographers, as getting rid of the forced square aspect ratio stopped the need for ugly crops. Earlier this year they introduced the ability to upload multiple photos at once, but this brought the return of the square aspect ratio.

How I Plan My Landscape Photos for the Highest Chances of Success

My name is Albert Dros, and I am a professional landscape photographer from the Netherlands. People often tell me that I am "in the right place at the right time." But I obviously don’t post "failed" shoots. And not only that, I also spend a great deal of time planning my shots in order to make my chances of success as high as possible.