DxO PureRAW 2’s processing is better than Lightroom’s, but it can also be used from WITHIN Lightroom. So how does that work, and are the results (a) really worth the effort and (b) as good as regular RAW files to edit?
Featured posts
Welcome to the Life after Photoshop archive of 'Featured' posts. These are favourite articles or tutorials that appear in the carousel at the top of the home page.
The one great strength of non-destructive editing – it remembers what you did
Have you ever browsed your back catalog of images, re-discovered one with some edits that you really love… but you can’t remember how you did it? For someone like me who uses all sorts of software for all sorts of different techniques (and has a memory like mine) it’s a real issue.
How I use merged HDR stacks as ’super-negatives’
Lightroom and Capture One offer HDR tools with a difference. They don’t create wild and exaggerated HDR effects. Instead, they create what I would call DNG ‘super-negatives’ with extended dynamic range that you can then exploit however you like.
Is luminance masking all it’s cracked up to be? I’m not convinced
Luminance masks sound like the perfect solution to a perennial problem – restricting masks to specific brightness ranges. But how useful are they really?
Preset picks: Analog Efex Pro Double Exposures
Analog Efex Pro’s double exposure tool is one of the features that makes this program unique. Here’s a breakdown of how its Double Exposure presets work and how they combine double exposures with other effects.
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?
Selections and masks: what do they do, what’s the difference?
Selections and masks are subtly different, and the ‘parametric’ masks in non-destructive editors give more flexibility than ever.
Lightroom Color Grading tool: how does it work and is it useful?
I have to admit I wasn’t massively impressed by the Color Grading panel when it was added to Lightroom. It looked like it was replacing the Split Toning panel with something less focused and more complicated. I was wrong!
Color Efex Pro’s B/W Conversion filter is surprisingly good
Color Efex Pro might not be your first choice for black and white conversions when the Nik Collection also has Silver Efex Pro and Analog Efex Pro, but if you want strong results fast, it might be just what you need.
Open in Camera Raw: the Lightroom alternative right under your nose!
Adobe Bridge and Camera Raw make a great alternative to Lightroom, with all the same editing tools but in a simpler workflow with no tiresome imports, just ‘live’ image browsing and editing.