58 24 August 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113
SkylumLuminar 3
l£65lwww.skylum.comINA SHORTspaceof time,in editingsoftware
terms,SkylumLuminarhasgrownin popularity
alongsidethehighlyrespectedAuroraHDR,
whichis commonlyconsideredoneof thebest
HDRsoftwareoptionsonthemarket.
Luminaris a standaloneprogramthatblends
thecapabilitiesof rawprocessingandstandard
image-editingsoftwarein a singlepackage.
AndtobettercompetewithAdobeLightroom,
Luminar3 introduceda libraryfeaturethat
allowsyoutoview,rateandselectimagesto
edit.Thewaythesoftwarediffers,however,is
thatyoualsohavetheabilitytouselayersand
toapplya rangeof adjustmentsandfiltersto
them,aswellasmasksandblendingmodes.
Theworkflowin Luminaris slightlydifferent
frommostothereditingsoftwarewhenit
comestothewaylayerswork,howthey’re
createdandultimatelywhat’spossiblewith
them.It certainlytakesa littlegettingusedto,
butlikemostsoftware,afterprocessinga few
imagesandexploringthepossibilities things
quicklybecomemorefamiliar.Eightdifferentworkspaces
Theinterfaceis welllaidoutandintuitive;in
fact,there’smuchlesstolearnthaneven
withPhotoshopElements.Thereareeight
workspacesfocusingondifferentworkflows
andimagetypes:Professional,Quick&
Awesome,Essential,AerialPhotography,Black
& White,Landscape,PortraitandStreet.Plus
there’stheabilitytocreateandsavecustom
workspacesthatsuityourphotographicstyle.
Someprocessor-andRAM-intensivetasksdo
createslowdownsat times,evenwhenusinga
powerfulPC,butthesearenotsodebilitating
thatit makesthema dealbreaker.
SkylumLuminar3 is a fantasticsoftware
optionthat’scost-effectiveat £65fora
perpetuallicensethatworkswithuptofive
computers.Andtheadditionof thenewlibrary
featuremakesthesoftwarea toughcompetitor
forthelikesof Lightroom,of whichit offers
muchmorein thewayof controlsgenerallybut
lacksadvancedHDRandpanoramiccontrols.
WhileLuminarspansthecapabilities,tosome
degree,of LightroomandPhotoshop, it’s
definitelymuchmoreof
animagecataloguingand
raw-processingprogram,
butonethatprovidesa
greatdealof controlover
rawfiles,TIFFsandJPEGs.
It’s certainly a great option.Serif Affinity Photo
l£48.99lwww.affinity.serif.comIFYOU’RElookingfora straight-upPhotoshop
alternativeofferingmuchof,if notall,thesame
functionality,thenlooknofurtherthanSerif
AffinityPhoto.Thesoftwareis availableforMac
OS,WindowsandiPads,makingit availableto
thevastmajorityof photographersregardless
of thecomputersystemyou’reusing.
In termsof theinterface,everythingis
welldesignedandeasytofind.In fact,
someadjustmentsandfiltersthataremost
commonlyusedin conjunctionwithlayerscan
beaccessedviatheLayerspanel,whichis in
manywaysmoreintuitivethanhowtheseare
accessedin Photoshop.Thesoftwareis soeasy
touse,especiallyif you’refamiliarwithother
editingsoftware,thatyoustarttofeelconfident
withit afterjustfiveortenminutes’use.AseriousalternativetoPhotoshop
There’spracticallynothingin Photoshop
thatyoucan’tdowithAffinityPhoto.It’s
undoubtedlya professional-levelediting
programthat’ssuitableforallphotographers
regardlessof theirlevelof editingknowledge
andexperience.Evenmanyshortcutsarethe
sameasin Photoshop,functionalityis similar,
andmanyadjustmentsareeasiertofind
thankstonotbeingburieddeepin menus.
ThosetransitioningovertoAffinityPhotowill
findtheycanworkjustasquicklyasthey
didin Photoshop;theseincludeHDRMerge,
Panorama,FocusMergeandevenfrequency-
separationretouchingforportraits.In
Photoshop,thelayersrequiredforthelatter
havetobesetupmanually,whereasin Affinity
Photoit’sa simplemenuselection,andwhen
performingtheseintensivetasksthereareno
slowdownslikethosewithSkylumLuminar3.
Atjust£48.99,AffinityPhotorepresents
incrediblevalueformoneyconsideringthe
professionalfunctionalityof thesoftwareand
thefactthatthisis fora perpetuallicense.
PhotoshopandElementsuserswillfind
themselvesverymuchat homewiththe
software,andwillnodoubtdiscoverhow
muchof a pleasureit is toedityourimages
andprocessrawfileswiththesoftware.Forthe
latter,thecontrolsonofferaresimilar to those
availablein AdobeCamera
Raw,buttheprocessof
applyingeffectssuchas
localisedadjustmentsis a
littledifferent.Allin all,it’s
anabsolutelyterrificimage
editor at an amazing price.GIMP
lFreelwww.gimp.org
ARGUABLYthebest-knownandmosthighly
regardedfreeimage-editingsoftwareavailable
sincethemid-1990sis theGeneralImage
ManipulationProgram,mostcommonlyknown
asGIMP.It’savailableforLinux,MacOSand
Windowsandcanbedownloadedforfree
fromthegimp.orgwebsite.
Intermsof theinterface,there’snodenying
thatit lacksthefinesseof paid-foroptions,
andthefunctionalityis muchmorelimited.For
instance,adjustmentlayersaren’tavailablesoif
youwishtoworknon-destructivelyyouhaveto
createduplicatesof thebackgroundlayerand
applyadjustmentstothose.Thedifficultyhere
is thatyoulosethestandardlayerhierarchy
thatmakesstackingadjustmentsin other
softwaresopowerful.
Oneof thedownsidestoGIMPis thatit
doesn’toffernativerawsupport,butit’s
compatiblewiththefreeraw-processing
softwareoptionsDarktableandRawTherapee
whichcanbeusedasplug-insandarealso
freetouse.Thisultimatelyresultsin a package
thatmayfeellesscompletethanAffinityPhoto
orLuminarforinstance,butconsideringthe
programis freemeansthisis onesmall
concessionworthmakingif youwould prefer
nottopayforeditingsoftware.
Usefultoolsandcontrols
Lookingbeyondthesedeficiencies,you’llfind
manyusefultoolslikeadjustments,filters,
blendingmodesandcloning/healingtools,etc.,
sothere’sstilla greatdealthatcanbeachieved
withthesoftware.Thismeansthatwhilethe
softwareis morethanadequateforuseby
beginnersandintermediatephotographers,it
certainlywouldn’tliveuptotherequirements
of a professionalimage-editingworkflow.
GIMPis amazingsoftwareconsideringit’s
freetouseanddoesn’tincludeunwanted
advertisinglikemanyfreesmartphoneapps.
It’sfairlyeasytousebutyouhavetospenda
littletimeworkingoutwherethingsare,and
theToolbariconsaren’tasclearastheycould
be.I oftenfoundmyselfhoveringthecursor
overtheToolbariconstoactivatethetool
nameanddescriptionpop-upsoI knew
whateachonewas.Again,it’s impressive
consideringit’sfree,but
whenAffinityPhotoonly
costs£48.99,thisis
ultimatelya muchbetter
optionat a highly
affordable price.
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