Amateur Photographer – 09 August 2019

50 3 August 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

Testbench S O F T WA R E T E S T

Landscapeis byfaroneof themost
populargenresof photography,and
Anthropic’ssuccesswithitsPortraitPro
softwareforretouchingportraitsmakes
landscape-specificsoftwareanobviousway
forwardforthecompany.Andthenewfeatures
in LandscapePromakeit muchimprovedover
previousversions,addingtoan already
well-roundedfeatureset.

Softwarefeatures
Ina nutshell,LandscapePro3 is softwarethat
usesartificialintelligencetoapplybothsubtle
anddramaticeffectstolandscapeimageswith
theminimumof effortandmostimportantly,
withouttheneedforexperteditingskills.
Specialeffectssuchasreplacingskies,adding
mist,raysof lightandchangingtheweather,
whichin manyothersoftwareprogramswould
bedifficult,canbeachievedbyanyone.It’sa
compellingandboldclaim,butLandscapePro
is abletodeliveronthisalthoughsomeof the
resultsmaynotbetoeveryone’staste.
Thesoftwareusesimage-recognition
technologythatallowsyoutolabelandmask
specificpartsof animagereadyforediting.
Adjustmentscanbemadebothlocally,tothe
maskedareas,andgloballytotheentireimage
sooncethequickandeasymaskshavebeen
appliedyouhavea greatdealof controlonce
in theeditingsectionof thesoftware.
Beyondthebasiceditingof imageswhere
youcontrolthingssuchasexposure,contrast,
shadowsandhighlights,aswellasthenew
SharpenandClaritysliders,etc.LandscapePro
allowsyoutoreplaceskiesandchangethe
colourbalanceandstylingof theexistingsky,
aswellasaddatmosphericeffectsincluding
rain,fog,lightrays,snow,lensflareandmany
more.Theeffectivenessof thesevariesfrom
oneimagetothenext,andasyou’dexpect,
somelookmorerealisticthanotherssoyou
havetoexperimenttodiscoverwhatworks
bestforyouandyourimages.
Otherfeaturesincludecloningthatworksin
exactlythesamewayasthecloningfeaturein
Lightroom– whereyouselecttheareatobe
removed and then the software will select a

betakentotheAdd& EditAreassection

whereyoulabelthevariouselementswithin

thescene.Oncethesehavebeenlabelled,

theAIwillassesstheimageandapplycolour

maskstotheseareas.Thesemaskscanbe

quicklyandeasilyadjustedwiththeavailable

toolsin ordertorefinethemasks.Thisaspect

reallycouldn’tbesimpler,andthereasonfor

taggingandmaskingthedifferentelements

withinthesceneis thatduringediting,youcan

applyadjustmentsbothgloballyandlocally

accordingtotheselabelledareas.Pop-ups

guideyouthrougheachstepof theprocess

soit’sdifficulttogowrong.

Oncethemaskshavebeenappliedyouthen

moveontotheAdjustHorizonsectionin which

thesoftwarejudgeswhereit thinksthehorizon

lineis. Forthemostpartit getsit right,but

whenit doesn’tyoucanadjustit accordingly

beforemovingontothesectionwhereyoucan

edityourimage.Andwithinthisarea,youcan

applyadjustmentsgloballyandlocally,aswell

asswappingtheskyandchangingitscolour

balancealongsidechangingtheweatherand

atmospherein theimage.

Likeallsoftware,includingPhotoshop,the

moreautomatedspecialfeaturesworkbetter

withsomeimagesthanothers,andwhilethe

softwaredeveloper’sexamplesshowthem

workingflawlessly,therealitycanbesomewhat

different.TaketheReplaceSkyfeaturefor

instance; while there are specific tools that

‘Thesoftwareusesimage-recognitiontechnologythat

allows you to label and mask specific parts of an image’

One downside is that when you’re opening raw files on a PC, the thumbnail isn’t always visible

It’spossibleto change the atmospheric conditions,likeaddingmist to an image, in a matter of minutes

BEFORE AFTER

sourceareafromwhichtoclone.Thiscan

bechangedsimplybydraggingthesource

selectiontoa newarea.Watermarkscan

alsobeaddedtoimages,whichcanbea

logoyou’vecreatedand can be loaded

intoLandscapePro.

LandscapeProinuse

Gettingstartedwiththesoftwarecouldn’tbe

simpler,andfromthehomescreenyoucan

load images into LandscapePro; you will then