subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 3 August 2019 51
LANDSCAPEPRO3 StudioMaxwasthe
versionreviewedhere,andin termsof ease
of useit can’tbefaulted.Theworkflowis
easytofollow,andthepop-upinstructions
thatguideyouthroughtheprocessof
labellingandmaskingdifferentareasof
imagesmakeprocessingimagessimple.
Butwithsoftwarethat’sasintuitiveas
LandscapePro3,it’ssafetosaythatafter
justoneortwoimagesyou’llbeableto
switchthesepop-upinstructionsoff.
Thesoftwareis advertisedasbeing
suitableforphotographersrangingfrom
absolutebeginnerstoexperts,butit’s
morelikelythatthethreeversionswill
appealtobeginnersandenthusiastssince
more-advancedphotographersmayneed
in-depthfunctionalitysuchasHDR,focus
stackingandlayers.However,oneoptionis
touseLandscapePro3 alongsidesomething
likePhotoshop,SerifAffinityPhotoor
SkylumLuminarwhereyoucouldtake
advantageof themoreautomated
functionalityof LandscapePro,andthe
advancedfeaturesof theotheroptions.
Defininganeditingworkflowcanbeas
simpleasusinga singlepieceof software,or
morecomplicatedusingtwo,threeorfour
programs.LandscapePro3 certainlyhasthe
abilitytoworkasa standaloneeditingoption
oraspartof a workflowencompassing
severaldifferentprograms.
In a crowdedsoftwaremarketwherethe
dominanceof Adobeis slowlybeingeroded
byless-expensiveimageeditingandraw-
processingprograms,LandscapePro3 sets
itselfapartbybeingdesignedspecificallyfor
a singletypeof photographywithdedicated
toolsthatmakeperformingwhatmightbe
complicatededitingtechniqueswithother
softwareincrediblyeasy.Theresultsaren’t
alwaysperfectwhenreplacingskiesand
changingtheweatherandatmospherein
images,butwithmostsoftwaremore-
complicatedprocessessuchas these are
oftenhitormissbytheir
verynature.Overall,I’d
sayit’sa goodoptionfor
beginnerstakingtheir
firststepsintoediting
landscape images.Our verdictallowyoutohighlighttreesagainstthesky,
themorecomplexthehorizonlinetheless
chancethereis of a successfulskyreplacement.
TheExpandToolis usefulherebutdoesn’t
alwaysworkperfectlyandsometimesleaves
a haloaroundbranches.Andevenwhena
skyreplacementis perfect,theresultsdon’t
alwayslook100%real,sothefeaturecertainly
wouldn’tbeusedbyprofessionals.Tobefair,
nosoftwarecanworkmiraclesandtheartificial
intelligenceemployedbyLandscapeProis
highlyeffectivedespitenotbeingperfect
foreveryimage.
Thebasicadjustmentscan’tbefaulted,and
withtheStudioandStudioMaxversionsyou
havetheabilitytoworkwithrawfiles.And
whileskyreplacementandweatherchanges
don’tworkforallimages,theabilitytochange
thecolourbalanceof skiesusingthepresets
oftenworksextremelywell.
Justoutof interest,a portraitimagewasput
throughthesoftwareandit turnsoutyoucan
indeededitimagesotherthanlandscapesby
The software is intuitively laid out and beginners are guided through each step in the editing process
The sky swap feature can work well, but it’s certainlyfarfromperfectandisn’talwayssuccessful
Imagesarecolourcodedbeforeadjustments
aremade.Theideais thatindividual
areascanbeadjustedindependentlyto
avoid unwanted areas being affectedskippingthroughtheAdd& EditAreasand
AdjustHorizonsectionsandusetheWhole
Pictureeditingoptionstoprocesstheimageas
youwouldin anyothersoftware.Youdolose
theabilitytohighlightindividualeditareasas
youwouldwitha landscapeimagesothese
can’tbeindependentlyadjusted,buta number
of theeditingtabsstillwork.Whilethiscertainly
isn’twhatthesoftwareis designedforasit’s
aimedspecificallyat landscapeimages,the
abilitytoprocessothertypesof imagescould
beusefulforthosewhopredominantlyshoot
landscapesbutoccasionallydabble with
other photographic subjects.