Note: This article was originally written in 2016 and updated in 2021 to include new options and features from Lightroom CC.

Using Tethered Capture With Lightroom

First off, make sure your camera is supported for tethered capture in Lightroom. Tethered Capture in Lightroom is not necessarily compatible with every single camera so you should check here to see if your camera is compatible first. If you find that it is not working, be sure that your camera is actually supported via LR for this feature. I’m using my Canon 5D Mark III and it is compatible.

Lightroom Tethering Gear

You’ll need the following pieces of gear to connect your camera to your computer or laptop with Lightroom installed. We recommend Tether Tools products because they are affordable, durable and reliable.

• Tether Tools TetherPro 15ft USB 3.0 Male to Micro Cable, Hi-Visibility Orange
• Tether Tools JerkStopper (Optional)
• Other Tether Tools Cables

Note: Be sure to confirm whether or not your camera connections are compatible with the tether cable before purchasing, regardless of the brand you choose to go with.

How To Use Lightroom Tethering

Step 1. Plug your camera directly into the computer with a long USB cable. As we shoot, Lightroom is going to import directly into the catalog. We can even have it apply develop settings, import settings, and everything right from camera.

Step 2. Go to your file menu, bring up the tethered capture option and click Start Tethered Capture.

Step 3. Give it a session name, choose a naming option, choose a location for the images, (we made a folder on our desktop), and then choose the metadata if you want it.

Step 4. On the next screen, you can actually choose a develop setting if you’d like to include one (see above screenshot), turn your camera on, and Lightroom should automatically detect the  camera.

Step 5. When you take a picture it’ll come directly into the catalog, and apply the processing preset you’ve set.

You can even control your camera from Lightroom. There’s a button that will fire the camera when you click it, so you can set your camera onto a tripod, and click Capture directly from Lightroom, that way you don’t even need a cable release. You can actually use Lightroom as your cable release.

Step 6. Apply Metadata for Import (Optional)

You can also apply metadata upon importing the images, like copyright information.  You can choose to do this in the “Information” section of the dialogue box (see the image above).

Conclusion

Lightroom tethering is a great feature built right into Lightroom. It might not be the best solution for a studio, but if you’re just starting out and it’s compatible with your camera, it’s a great place to start with tethering until you’re ready to move on to something a little more advanced.

For more tips on Lightroom be sure to check out the full Lightroom Crash Course, available to all Premium Members.  You can also find more information on Tethered Capture in Lightroom on our sister site, Visual Flow.

Bonus 1 – How to Set Up Tethered Importing in Lightroom 3

If you’re on an older version of Adobe Lightroom, like Lightroom 4 or below, see the following (old) video for reference.

Bonus 2 – Enhance Your Workflow – Tethering for Food Photographers

Read some additional tethering thoughts from our writer, Christopher Kimball.

Are you looking for a way to enhance your workflow and speed up production time when shooting food? One of the best things that I have done in the last couple of years is to use Adobe Lightroom for tethering for food photography. I really would not have guessed that the simple act of plugging the camera into the computer would make the process that much easier, but it has streamlined my workflow.

Tethering allows me to quickly make adjustments at the camera and get instant feedback on the computer screen, has eliminated the long and tedious import process after shooting, and allows me to keyword the image as it is captured. If you have a client in the studio, most will appreciate being able to see what you are capturing as you work, too.

Tethering in Lightroom is very straightforward. The first thing you need in order to tether your camera to the computer is a Tethering Cable. Most cameras come with some sort of cable to connect the camera to the computer, but it will only be about three feet long and you will find it very frustrating over time. You can find cables all over the internet in various lengths, but I recommend a long one –in the 12 to 15 foot range. If you are going to shoot this way a lot, you will be glad that you got a longer cable. I use a 15-foot cable, and I would not go shorter, personally.

Plug the cable into your computer and then into the camera, turn on the camera and open Lightroom. From the library module, you will open the “File” menu in the menu bar and select “Tethered Capture”, then “Start Tethered Capture”, and when the box pops up, you can select all the options for the session. Adobe has given us options to name the file, add keywords, select where you want it saved, and set the Meta data template that you want to use.

Select “OK” and a black bar will pop up with information about the camera settings and what camera is connected to the software. That is all there is to it. Start shooting, and as you do, the images will start to appear on the screen. I will say that I find leaving Lightroom in loupe works the best for me, as the images are larger and I can see what the images look like as I capture them. It is easier to make adjustments on the fly this way, and I find that my keeper ratio increases.

Unfortunately, photographers who are editing photos in Lightroom for example, have usually been limited to a mouse and keyboard when it comes to their photo editing. Only a few companies have worked to change this status quo over the years. Today, we’re bringing you our TourBox Dynamic Panel V2 review so that you can see one of the best examples of how physical controls and a dedicated control interface will bridge that gap and bring professional production to your photography workflow.

Indeed, the digital interface is extremely important; it’s not just about a physical device with a few extra keyboard buttons and a few sliders or dials. We’ve tested such tools before, and they usually fall short. That is where the Dynamic Panel V2 comes in, and provides a level of smooth operation that really sets the standard for photo editing workflows. Whether your desire is to edit photos full-screen and still have your most common edits right at your fingertips, or you wish to speed up your editing by having other powerful tools readily at your disposal even while traveling, every serious photographer should check out a TourBox system.

We’ll dive right into our Dynamic Panel V2 review, but here’s the spoiler: The higher volumes (no pun intended) of photos you edit, the more time you will save with a TourBox + Dynamic Panel setup.

TourBox Dynamic Panel V2 Review | What TourBox Is All About

The TourBox concept is simple: it brings professional, studio-quality editing tools to the everyday user. Obviously, a giant “sound board” is out of the question for photo editors such as portrait & wedding photographers, content creators, and everyone who ever does work on a laptop while traveling.

We already did a deep dive into the hardware itself, the Tourbox Elite Plus. Simply put, it’s the perfect size for most photographers, whether you’re a serious full-time pro or a passionate hobbyist. One theme is common: if you’re regularly culling and editing hundreds or thousands of photos, you absolutely must consider a workflow tool like a TourBox. 

Of course, even if you don’t do high volumes of photo editing but you simply wish for that tactile, physical control over your editing, it is indeed something you should try out. Anyways, what we concluded was, the physical quality of the device is superb; it feels very professional and rugged, yet offers compactness and portability. Furthermore, the software that complements the TourBox is super smooth in everyday operation.

Today, we’re focusing on the software itself, the Dynamic Panel V2; it’s the companion to the TourBox control panel. It’s so much more than just a support app to a physical tool, though. It’s an overall workflow game-changer.

Having a physical device and software that integrates seamlessly with Lightroom, opens up whole new realms of workflow potential. One of my favorite things is the full-screen editing ability; it’s such a refreshing experience to have a completely distraction-free workspace; just your photo on a screen, and you use the TourBox to manage the adjustments of your frequently used color-correction sliders or other editing tools.

The end result is, I’m both saving time and feeling more creative focus! Accomplishing one of these things is rare and valuable; to get both from one new workflow tool feels priceless.

Let’s dive deeper into exactly how I use it in my workflow, and then we’ll discuss the main pros & cons you’ll want to be aware of when giving the TourBox your consideration.

TourBox Dynamic Panel V2 Review | Get Tedium & Clutter Out Of The Way, Be More Creative

Across the many years that we have been working professional photographers as well as photography educators, one thing that has remained consistent out of all the advice we’ve ever given has been this: whether it’s a camera, or a lens, or software, our goal should be to minimize technical obsession, and focus on being creative.

In other words, yes, it’s fun to get nerdy about tech and gear, but the tools we use should exist to make our lives easier, and ultimately, to enhance our art. Which is what brings us to now: we have a cutting-edge workflow tool that will fundamentally change how you approach photo editing.

The Dynamic Panel V2 doesn’t just help streamline or reduce tedious tasks, though it certainly does and we’ll get to that next. It’s also going to help us with our primary focus, which is being creative. The way the Dynamic Panel integrates with Lightroom and the TourBox, it can virtually eliminate distraction, while increasing access to the tools you use most.

I don’t know about you, but especially with Lightroom Classic, there’s an immense amount of interface clutter and it’s overwhelming. After countless years of familiarity with LR Classic, it’s not that I feel overwhelmed by having all those panels and tools, it’s more so just …distracting. I immediately hit “Shift-F” twice to get rid of the operating system window clutter. I hide those extra tabs; I only need “Library” and “Develop”; I don’t need Map/Book/Slideshow/Print/Web… You get the idea…

…So, I usually de-clutter Lightroom Classic as much as possible, like this:

Well, when you have the Dynamic Panel V2 at your disposal, things get about as sleek and de-cluttered as they possibly can. How is this possible? Because you can go full-screen with your photos, in both the Library and Develop modules, and use the TourBox to keep your workflow going.

…That is what it looks like to do color-correction in the Develop Module. By the way, I’m using the default controls for the above editing screenshot. I did, however, re-program one of the main dials to jump from photo to photo.

Since I’m left-handed, I’ve been trying out the TourBox with both my left and right hand; if I use my right-hand on the TourBox, it keeps my left hand free to use my mouse as I normally would. If you’re right-handed, it might seem counter-intuitive but I suspect you might want to also try using your left hand, too!

Whichever way you use the Dynamic Panel to customize your workflow, the point is this: when editing your photos, you’ll notice that you feel much more relaxed, in some sort of zen mental space where you just get to focus more on the image in front of you. Ultimately, this workflow makeover brings us creative clarity.

I will say this, however: the learning curve does require an investment of time, to get things tailored exactly to your needs. This is understandable, and worth it. Besides getting used to the device itself, some photographers may wish to create an entirely new key layout for whichever tools they personally focus on the most. You might want to create a setup that gives you rapid access to the cropping tools, to ensure that every horizon is level at a blazing fast rate per image. Or, you might prefer to have a stylistic set of adjustments right at your fingertips, such as Color Grading, HSL control, or the ability to apply presets. Maybe you want to set up different modes so that you have all of those things relatively close at hand! Again, it takes a while to get your workflow fully customized, but once you get there, the results are worth it.

Dynamic Panel V2 Review | Saving Time Every Step Of The Way

Whether part-time or full-time, every pro photographer knows the struggle of delivering photos ON time. We’ve all felt the bit of panic when a client asks, “hey, are my photos ready yet?” (Hey, sometimes the client texts you while you’re literally still driving home from the job! It’s okay, it happens… We love giving our clients an amazing experience, and we consider it flattery that they’re so excited to see the photos!)

The ageless dilemma, then, is this: how do we deliver results quickly, without compromising on quality? Better yet, how do we accomplish this goal consistently, when business is booming and we have three (or five, or seven…) jobs every week?

Thankfully, a single photo editing app such as Lightroom can do a massive amount of the heavy lifting for your workflow. Both Lightroom and Lightroom Classic have covered almost everything: from download, backup, and catalog management, to culling, color-correction, creative styling, and even portrait retouching, luminosity masking, and many other advanced edits, LR is now a one-stop shop.

Still, there is a lot of room for saving time, without compromising creativity. That is where TourBox comes in…

In portraits and weddings, you’re likely to have a workload in the range of hundreds or thousands of photos per week. (Even if you only count the delivered “keeper” photos, sometimes!) And yet, one of the key aspects of our own workflow is, applying at least basic color-correction and cropping to literally EVERY photo that our clients see. 

It’s a simple process; making quick adjustments to exposure, white balance, and a little bit of highlight and/or shadow recovery. Plus, of course, we ensure the level cropping of any photo that has either a hard horizon (like the ocean) or strong vertical lines (like a downtown skyline)…

However, if you’re not careful, this basic level of editing could consume hours of your time every day. Thankfully, though, if you have the right tools (and a disciplined mindset!) it could be a matter of minutes.

Using the Dynamic Panel V2 to customize the editing tools we have at your fingertips on your TourBox, our whole process of basic color correction can be measured in a matter of seconds per image, not minutes. (Or, for the really tricky shots, maybe one minute or so… Yes, we’ve extensively clocked ourselves and averaged out the numbers across hundreds of thousands of delivered images!)

What about your workflow? Well, let’s see; do you start with a Lightroom preset to set your color-correction baseline, or apply a final stylized look? Dynamic Panel V2 can put any of your presets at your fingertips, or a whole folder of them. (See above) Or, maybe you are like me, and have a bit of OCD when it comes to making sure that every strong horizon is always level… Once again, the TourBox has controls for that, including a whole new Dynamic Panel dedicated to cropping. This means you can turn a knob to perfectly level a horizon, and also have things like aspect ratio (and locking) at your fingertips. Again, this is all possible in a totally de-cluttered work environment!

Personally, I love traditional tonal manipulation, so I’m often turning to the Tone Curve tool for my personal work. (See below; again, what a gorgeous full-screen editing environment!) Of course, for a wedding or portrait session, you probably shouldn’t treat every image like you’re Ansel Adams. Especially for high-volume weddings, we’re more likely to be skipping the Tone Curve tool and instead using the Color Grading interface.

Whichever tools you frequently use, being able to go through your photos in a rapid-fire manner while still achieving quality results is a gift that keeps on giving. For some, it might immediately add up to hours saved every day. In our experience, even a conservative estimate would be, you’ll shave hours off your workflow time each week.

There are two main aspects working in your favor here, when it comes to time savings: As we’ve described, the tools you likely reach for the most are given dedicated buttons and dials/sliders; this ability alone will speed you up. However, the Dynamic Panel V2 goes a step further, and follows you from tool to tool. (It even follows you to other apps, but that’s a whole different article!)

The end result is that whether you’re in Grid Mode and need to jump into leveling a tilted horizon, or you’re in full-screen Develop Mode and you want to jump from tweaking your WB to applying advanced Color Grading, there can be a hotkey for that, and the Dynamic Panel can automatically change the function of dials to suit the current tool.

Again, it certainly takes some getting used to, but it’s one of those things where once you get familiar with it, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.

One last key thing that I really like about TourBox Dynamic Panel V2 is this: the initial setup and advanced customization are as intuitive as they can be, which really helps tame the learning curve. Whether you’re just customizing the buttons, of you’re creating your own personalized set of edits to have available at the push of a button, …things are pretty much self-explanatory. 

Just touch a button/dial/wheel, and in the Dynamic Panel it automatically selects that control so you can see what it currently does, and change that function if desired. Honestly, this is one of the smoothest learning curves I’ve experienced with any software in quite a long time!

Dynamic Panel V2 Review | Pros & Cons

The bottom line is this: with how much time you save, we think the Dynamic Panel V2 is a huge value to photographers. Especially any professional Lightroom user who needs to process greater volumes of images; even if the time saving was “just” hours per week or per month, it would be worth it, and yet, in our opinion a full-time pro is looking at a magnitude of hours saved every day. That’s huge.

For those who need more convincing, here’s the bullet point pros & cons as an overview:

Pros

• Reduces friction for virtually all tedious tasks
• High-volume workflows benefit the more you edit
• Seamless integration with both Lightroom Classic and Lightroom
• Physical controls also connect the artist with the creative work
• Updates & new features worth the investment/upgrade
• Physical device connection is simple, functional right out of the box
• Extensive customization for personalized workflow needs

Cons

• Significant time-saving tools always have an intimidating yet brief learning curve
• Every button being shaped differently might be an issue of personal preference

Advantages far outweigh any disadvantages, as you can see. I would be truly nit-picking to say, “some of the buttons are a little too small for my big clumsy fingers!” …but that’s about the worst thing I could think to say. Even then, I believe that most people will actually find it preferable to be able to memorize the feel of each button on the device. Also, I cannot emphasize enough just how perfectly sized the TourBox is for my work and my lifestyle; the device is portable enough to travel with, yet big enough that most of the controls don’t feel cramped.

The highlight of this review, though, is the Dynamic Panel V2, and what a leap forward it offers to all creative folks. I created a seamless workflow system using the extensive customization and useful new features like cropping and tone curve control, …and then suddenly without even thinking, I found myself using similar controls in DaVinci Resolve to cut up a video timeline and do tone curve color grading! I wanted to mention this last part because I know that even for someone whose entire income might be professional photography, there’s still a strong chance you’ll have some sort of social media presence that requires “content creation”, whether just for fun, or marketing your business, etc.

TourBox Dynamic Panel V2 Review | Conclusion

After editing literally millions of photos, our solution to the workflow conundrum is very straightforward: you need a streamlined system. (Yes, a clean, de-cluttered desk, also helps, and put your phone just out of reach in DnD mode, too!)

Personally, I myself managed the entire studio’s workflow for years, and to me, a tool like this is a holy grail. It makes my job easier in real, meaningful ways that result in me having more free time. Personally, I tend to lean more towards a simple look when editing; I believe that “timeless” is best. However, if I’m honest, I do have a weak spot for technical perfection, and that is where I once struggled to avoid spending an hour editing just one or two random photos. With a tool like the Dynamic Panel V2 and a TourBox Elite Plus, I feel like it’s actually FUN to “get the job done” with speed, while having even more creative control at my fingertips. You can learn more about TourBox Dynamic Panel V2 by clicking here.

Here’s the bottom line for you photographers out there: the more photos you need to edit, the more you need to check out TourBox Dynamic Panel V2. Whatever your creative style might be, and whichever version of Lightroom you use, Paired with the TourBox Elite Plus as your physical console, your professional workflow will finally feel complete. To check out your options, here is the information about pricing & availability.

AI-powered video enhancement has been improving quickly, and Aiarty Video Enhancer is one of the more capable desktop tools in that space right now. It handles denoising, deblurring, upscaling, and color correction, all locally on your machine, without requiring cloud uploads or a subscription. To mark their anniversary, Aiarty is currently offering up to 36% off, plus an extra $5 off with the coupon code “ANNIVERSARY” at checkout. The lifetime license deal runs through June 14th, so there is a real deadline here.

More on the pricing below. First, let’s look at what the tool actually does.

What Aiarty Video Enhancer Is (and Is Not)

Aiarty Video Enhancer is a dedicated desktop application for both Windows and Mac computers. It is not a non-linear editor and it is not a color grading suite. Think of it more as a focused restoration pass; you bring in footage with a specific problem, choose the right AI model, and export a cleaner version. The workflow is genuinely simple, which makes it approachable for photographers who are comfortable in Lightroom but less so in Premiere or DaVinci Resolve.

The fact that it runs locally is worth emphasizing. Processing happens on your GPU, which means no files leaving your machine and no waiting on a cloud queue. For client work, that matters.

What It Can Fix: A Look at the Core Features

AI Denoising for Low-Light and High-ISO Footage

This is probably where most photographers will find the most immediate value. Aiarty’s denoising model targets both luminance and chroma noise while trying to hold onto texture, skin tone, and fine detail rather than smoothing everything into mush. The result is not always perfect, but it is meaningfully better than what you get from basic noise reduction in most NLEs.

Denoise demo:

Low-light improvement demo:

Wedding receptions are probably the most common scenario where this matters. In these settings, we’re often shooting in a dimly lit venue, and it’s tough to control the light. Still, we need usable footage regardless of what the ISO climbs to. The same applies to other indoor events in venues where flash is not an option. Night street footage also presents a similar challenge, where the dim light rarely plays nicely with a camera sensor. In any of these situations, the noise you bring home is not always a result of bad technique. It is just the limitations of the situation, and having a tool that can clean it up without turning faces into watercolor paintings is genuinely useful.

Deblur and Sharpening

Slightly soft footage from handheld shooting or a minor focus miss is a common headache. Aiarty’s sharpening and deblur tools aim to recover edge clarity without introducing the harsh, artificial crunchiness that often comes with aggressive sharpening. The key word there is “slightly” soft. This is not a tool for salvaging footage that is completely out of focus, but for the kind of mild softness that shows up regularly in real-world shooting, it can make a noticeable difference.

Deblur demo:

You can read more about the deblur and clarity tools here.

4K Upscaling for Older or Lower-Resolution Clips

Got 1080p footage from a few years back that you want to reuse on a 4K timeline, or old archival clips that need a new life? The AI upscaling engine works to reconstruct detail rather than just stretch pixels, which tends to produce a cleaner result than simple interpolation.

4K upscaling demo:

Even though most DSLRs were already capable of shooting 4K dating back to the mid-to-late 2010s, a large number of us still chose to record, export, or deliver at 1080p to save storage, keep editing systems from bogging down, and so on. Unfortunately, that footage now looks noticeably soft on modern 4K displays and timelines. AI upscaling can help get those clips close enough to hold their own without a reshoot.

Restore Demo:

Don’t miss the old footage restoration demo above!

Color and Tone Enhancement

Beyond technical restoration, Aiarty includes AI-assisted color and tone tools for adjusting white balance, exposure, contrast, saturation, and brightness. There is also HDR intensity control for dialing in how aggressive the enhancement is. This is not a full-on replacement for proper color grading, but for footage that looks flat or inconsistent, it offers a quick way to bring things closer to a balanced baseline.

Frame Interpolation and Audio Noise Reduction

Two additional tools round out the feature set. Frame interpolation smooths out motion in fast-moving or lower frame rate footage, and audio noise reduction cleans up dialogue and ambient sound. Both are more specialized, but useful when the situation calls for them.

Batch Processing

For anyone dealing with large amounts of footage, the ability to queue multiple clips and process them in a single workflow is a genuine time saver. Combined with local GPU acceleration, it keeps turnaround reasonable even on longer projects.

The Workflow

One of the many things Aiarty gets right is keeping the process straightforward. There is no steep learning curve. Here’s a quick look at a basic workflow that you can follow to get started:

• Import your footage
• Choose the AI model that matches your footage type and problem
• Select your output resolution
• Adjust enhancement settings if needed
• Preview the result and export

For photographers accustomed to batch-editing in Lightroom, this will feel familiar. You are not building a complex effects chain. You are telling the tool what is wrong and letting it do the work.

Who Is This For?

Aiarty Video Enhancer will help a wide range of shooters, but it is likely best suited for the following:

• Hybrid shooters and wedding photographers who regularly deal with high-ISO reception footage or mixed lighting conditions
• Travel and lifestyle content creators wanting to bring older clips up to a standard that holds on modern displays
• Drone and action camera users dealing with compressed footage that loses detail on large screens
• Anyone with archival footage that they want to clean up and reuse

Please note: We’re not saying that this is not a replacement for full post-production. That said, it definitely fills a useful gap as a focused restoration tool that does not require advanced video editing skills.

The Anniversary Offer: Up to 36% Off, Plus an Extra $5 Off with the Coupon Code

Aiarty’s anniversary promotion is running through June 14th, and the discount is significant:

• Lifetime License (3 computers, lifetime updates): $144, down from $235
• 1-Year License (1 computer, 1-year updates): $64, down from $99

To get the additional $5 off either tier, enter the coupon code “ANNIVERSARY” at checkout and click Refresh to apply it.

The lifetime license in particular is a reasonable deal for a tool you are likely to reach for regularly. One-time payment, no subscription, updates included. You can find the full anniversary offer details here.

Final Thoughts

AI video restoration tools have matured enough that the results are actually useful in real workflows, not just impressive in demos. Aiarty Video Enhancer sits in a practical middle ground: not the most powerful or complex tool available, but approachable, local, and capable enough to rescue footage that would otherwise be unusable or require significant manual work in a dedicated editor.

If you have been sitting on clips you were never fully happy with, or you regularly deal with low-light or compressed footage, it is worth a look. The anniversary promotion makes the entry cost easier to justify, especially on the lifetime plan.

For photographers who have been stitching together Aftershoot, Lightroom, and a separate gallery platform, there is now a real case for consolidating.

Here is what is new across the board.

Culling: Smarter Handling of Similar Frames

Anyone who shoots in bursts or intentionally captures wide and tight compositions of the same moment knows the frustration of culling software that does not quite understand what it is looking at. Aftershoot’s updated culling AI addresses this with improved duplicate grouping logic that distinguishes between two genuinely different scenarios.

True duplicates, like burst frames with minor expression differences, are now grouped together and resolved to a single best frame. Intentional compositional variations, like a wide shot and a tighter crop of the same scene, are recognized as distinct creative decisions and treated separately so the best of each is preserved. The practical result is a culling output that is roughly 20% tighter, with less manual cleanup required while still respecting the variety a photographer intended to capture.

The UI has also been cleaned up in two ways. The two AI culling modes, automated and assisted, now have clearer visual indicators and better explanations so new users understand the difference upfront. And the Customize AI Cull menu has been simplified. They’ve reduced the number of sliders and made it easier to dial in preferences without feeling overwhelmed.

Learn more about Aftershoot’s AI Culling here.

Editing: RAW Editing Inside Aftershoot and Better White Balance Consistency

Some updates here too, and the bigger one is significant. Aftershoot now includes full in-app RAW editing for any adjustments needed after the AI edits, with manual controls covering white balance, exposure, HSL, color grading, detail, and more. You’ll also find crop and straighten tools, subject masking, and direct export to JPEG, TIFF, or the original file format. Edits can be synced across images, saved as presets, or applied after an AI edit for refinement.

For photographers who have been using Aftershoot for AI culling and AI editing but are still jumping into Lightroom or Capture One for final adjustments and export, this closes that loop. The workflow is now genuinely end to end within a single application.

Next is white balance consistency, which Aftershoot identifies as a high-impact improvement. The updated models work at the scene level to deliver more consistent tones across images shot in similar conditions, reducing the post-edit correction that has long been one of the more tedious parts of reviewing AI-edited work. This applies across custom profiles, instant profiles, and marketplace profiles.

Their cropping and straightening modes too have been enhanced to ensure tighter, more intentional crops and higher accuracy in complex scenes.

Retouching: Raw Retouching, Custom Background for Headshots, and Feature Improvements

Retouching now supports RAW retouching, which means photographers can move from editing to retouching within Aftershoot without losing their work or switching tools. That alone removes a notable friction point from the workflow.

Beyond that, several targeted quality improvements have landed across the most common retouching tasks:

• Acne, freckle, blemish removal, and stray hair removal is more accurate and better at preserving skin texture without smudging or over-smoothing. Detection has improved, and the results hold up more consistently across varied skin tones and lighting conditions. Curly hair and facial hair are handled more reliably and no longer leave pixelation artifacts. Performance has also improved on backlit images, which is particularly relevant for wedding and senior portrait work.
• Custom Backgrounds for Headshots is launching in beta, allowing photographers to swap out distracting or unusable backgrounds with preset or custom backdrops. Controls for fill, zoom, pan, and opacity blending give flexibility in how the new background integrates, and edge refinement tools help with subject separation. It’s currently optimized for single-subject shots, with group shot support coming in a future update. For sports, school, headshot, portrait, and maternity photographers, this one is worth keeping a close eye on.
• Cloth Dewrinkle is a new slider-based tool that reduces wrinkles in clothing while preserving texture, embroidery, pleats, and natural folds. The control is intentional: it removes what should be removed without flattening the fabric into something that looks artificial.

Galleries: A Brand New Product

This is the piece that makes Aftershoot feel genuinely complete. Aftershoot Galleries is a new client gallery platform built into the Aftershoot ecosystem, covering delivery, proofing, sharing, and sales in one place. Galleries can be created directly from within Aftershoot after editing, which is intended to keep the handoff from editing to delivery as seamless as the rest of the workflow. It’s also worth noting that during beta, Aftershoot is offering 100 GB of free gallery storage, which should provide you with plenty of space to feature and share your photos.

On the delivery side, galleries are responsive across web and mobile and support both photos and video up to 4K. Hybrid shooters who deliver mixed media have the option to embed external video links from YouTube or Vimeo.

Inside the gallery, clients can quickly favorite images to flag their selections and leave comments directly on specific photos. They can also download individual images or grab the full gallery.

At the same time, photographers get a centralized dashboard to manage everything and keep tabs on client activity including views, downloads, and engagement. For wedding or portrait photographers managing selection rounds or waiting on approvals, having all of that feedback in one place beats chasing people down over email or text.

The AI features are where it gets particularly useful for photographers delivering large galleries:

• Face scanning and filtering allows clients to search for images by person, which is a genuine time saver for weddings and events where guests want to find photos of themselves without scrolling through hundreds of images.
• Face gating adds a privacy layer by controlling access to images based on detected faces, useful for large multi-client deliveries where not every image is meant for every viewer.
• Keyword search lets clients locate specific moments or scenes quickly without manual browsing.

The monetization side of Galleries is equally well thought out:

• Print store integration connects directly with WHCC, Bay Photo, and Atkins Pro Labs, allowing clients to order prints and products straight from the gallery.
• Packages and coupons give photographers structured ways to bundle offerings and create promotional pricing.
• Self-fulfillment is available for photographers who prefer to manage their own print orders rather than routing through a lab.
• Branding controls including logo, watermark, and password protection keep the presentation professional and on-brand without requiring a separate platform.

New Pricing Structure

Alongside the platform updates, Aftershoot is introducing simpler, flexible pricing that lets photographers subscribe to only the products they actually use. Previously, culling was bundled into every plan regardless of whether a photographer needed it. The new structure breaks that out.

Get the complete workflow for $45/month with Aftershoot Complete. Or pick just what you need. AI culling at $10, AI editing at $30, and AI retouching at $20.

A few things worth noting for current users: existing subscribers will not see a forced price increase. If your current plan has an equivalent in the new structure that would cost more, you stay on your existing plan. Retouching, which was previously free for all users, will now be a paid tier under the new structure.

Final Thoughts

For a while now, Aftershoot has been one of the more capable AI tools in a photographer’s stack, but it still required other tools to complete the job. With this update, that argument is harder to make. Culling, editing, retouching, and now client delivery and print sales all live in one place, with a workflow designed to move naturally from one stage to the next.

Whether it fully replaces your current setup depends on your specific workflow, but for photographers who have been evaluating whether to consolidate, this is the update that makes that conversation worth having. You can learn more and explore the new features at aftershoot.com.

Whatever your favorite photography subject is, you’ll probably agree: editing is a major part of the artistic process! From basic color correction to advanced layer masking and stylistic edits, the creative possibilities are endless. As artists, we want tools that unleash our vision. Thankfully, in recent years we have seen a lot of impossible things become possible, and we’ve seen a lot of other things get way easier.

Today, we’re going to dive into a handful of new tools that have caught our attention: the DxO Nik Collection 9. You’ve probably already heard about the powerful tools in this suite, such as Nik Viveza, Nik Color Efex, Nik Silver Efex, and more. In this article, we’re going to see what’s new in the Nik Collection 9, and which types of photographers and artists should check it out. We’ill discuss the pros & cons of investing in a software suite like this, which currently can be purchased for $179.99 if you’re a new user, or $99.99 as an upgrade for existing users. (You can get 15% off using the discount code SLRLounge if you’re a new user; this works for everything in the DxO ecosystem!)

What Is DxO Nik Collection?

Nik Collection is actually eight different software applications, hence the word “collection” in the name. They are stand-alone apps, but they also integrate with most popular photo editing softwares like Lightroom, Photoshop and Affinity. This is key, because each app in the suite/collection is highly specialized. That means they’re not intended to completely replace your entire workflow; they’re designed to enhance it.

The Nik Collection’s tools are aimed at both creative refinements and technical quality. Some of them are suited for the middle of the creative process, while others are better described as pre-production or a “polishing touch”. There are four technical tools, (Presharpener, Sharpener Output, HDR Efex, and Nik Dfine) and four creative tools. (Color Efex, Silver Efex, Viveza, and Analog Efex) Together, these eight tools in Nik Collection 9 have something to offer everyone.

Here’s the bottom line: even if you’re already pretty happy doing most of your work in different applications, these tools are going to do a better job at their respective specialty. Just as importantly, they are all just one or two clicks away from your existing process…

DxO Nik Collection 9 Review | What Is New & Improved?

Being version 9, it’s apparent that the Nik Collection has been around for a long time, and it has survived in the competitive market of photo editing software for good reason: These tools are highly capable! So, what in particular is going on with version 9?

There are quite a few major developments in this new (spring 2026) version, and they definitely bring a “cutting edge” feel to this tried-and-true software suite. Namely, you guessed it, some of the key feature additions involve using AI, so, let’s do a brief overview of what you really want to know:

• The AI-powered tools are built into the software(s), meaning the features work offline; you’re NOT using a data center every time you edit your photos, and you maintain total privacy with your images.
• The AI involved mainly seems to be designed to assist your existing creative editing process, performing tasks such as selection, masking, and the management of fine details / noise. In other words, it’s not prompt-based or “generative”. (That’s a good thing for us!)

With that being said, there are a handful of specific tools that we’re focusing on today. There’s the depth mask and subject selection/masks, which utilize AI. There’s also a color grading color wheel that is incredibly powerful, and keep in mind of course that such tools work hand-in-hand with the AI masking, of course. Lastly, we see a few new very specialized, creative effects such as Halation, Chromatic Shift, Glass Effects, plus a fully host of layer blending modes for even more creative refinements. Oh, and as we will almost always demand of a software update, there are workflow improvements to increase the speed and seamlessness of your editing process.

AI Masking | Depth Masks

Simply put, this is one of the most powerful and impressive tools that we as “traditional photographers” have been impressed by. Being able to selectively edit various elements of our images is a game changer! It takes the traditional tool of burning & dodging to a whole new level, plus of course it’s so much more than just tonal control; you can control colors, add special effects, etc. to the background, foreground, or main subject(s) in your images.

We want to highlight this particular feature (as well as the next) because it perfectly encapsulates exactly what we’d like to use AI for: taking our traditional tools, and making new things not just possible but almost effortless. For those of us who got our start in photography in a film dark room, the time-honored process of burning & dodging is a magical one, but it’s also incredibly time-consuming. To carefully adjust the tones of your background, without bleeding that effect over into other areas of the image, used to take countless hours of trial-and-error. Now, with Nik Collection 9, this classic creative tool offers a perfect balance of time-saving automation and unprecedented control.

AI Masking | Subject Selection

Since there is a built-in AI that analyzes your images, of course it can do more than just recognize depth. Switching to the subject/object selection tool allows you to create a mask of any specific part of the image. Simply hover your mouse over the image, and the mask preview will help you select exactly what you want.

For both of these AI masking tools, the bottom line for us is this: The tools just work, beautifully, and they are more than just a time-saver. Indeed, having this level of control over the individual elements in your image is going to unleash a level of creativity that you simply would not have been able to achieve before. (At least not without innumerable hours of tedious selecting/masking. Which, let’s be honest, isn’t going to happen more than once or twice a year!)

Color Grading | Color Wheel

One of my favorite tools to play with for any type of photo I’m editing is, color grading. Whether you’re a landscape & nature photographer or a portrait & wedding photographer, or literally anything in between, this is one of the tools everyone should try out.

In Nik Collection 9, there’s a powerful new color wheel interface for color grading, and it makes the process highly intuitive. In its simple yet capable visual interface, you can manipulate your images’ highlights, mid-tones, and shadows. This includes controlling the color (hue), saturation, and luminance separately.

By the way, here’s something to note: these new features combine all together beautifully. For example, if you create an AI mask for depth or a particular subject in your image, you can easily copy and paste that mask across various other effects!

Nik Analog Efex | Nik Color Efex | Chromatic Shift, Glass Effect, Halation

For the photographer who is looking to push their creativity to the highest levels, we have a few of what I’ll call “special effects” to check out. These aren’t all for everyone, but there’s always something for someone, I like to say. This time, in DxO Nik Collection 9, we have a few really cool new effects: Chromatic Shift, Halation, and Glass Effects.

These effects nicely complement the existing powerful array of overlay type effects found mainly in Nik Analog Efex and Nik Color Efex. Already known for its industry-leading film emulation tools, such as what’s found in DxO Film Pack 8, the wide variety of paper textures and film-like creative tools is unmatched.

Blending Modes

Another time-honored tool that I am delighted to see added to the Nik Collection is layer blending modes. This is a subtle, technical refinement aspect of the creative process, but it’s a powerful one. Honestly, the more advanced you get with your image editing, the more you are likely to demand to have layer blending modes at your disposal whenever possible.

We could spend entire articles diving into any one of these effects/tools, so, before we move on, we’ll leave it at this: just download a free trial of Nik Collection 9 and play around with it for yourself!

DxO Nik Collection 9 Review | Performance, Reliability, & Workflow Integration

This is a key aspect of the ultimate value of any software, and your decision to purchase it. Simply put, if the software is buggy, slow, and/or it simply isn’t easy for you to add it to your existing workflow, then you’re far less likely to actually use it, no matter how amazing the results are. It’s like buying that massive, heavy $3000 lens you always dreamed of owning. After one or two outings with it, you might realize that it is obnoxiously heavy. Eventually, it almost always gets left at home, no matter how sharp etc. that lens may be.

I am happy to report, therefore, that these plugins all run very smoothly, they’re responsive and fast, and almost always just one right-click away from my existing workflow steps. This last part is one of the most important, because as artists we are looking for ways to decrease friction between our creative minds and the final result.

One thing I wanted to point out about Nik Collection 9, is this important aspect of workflow: Not only is each of these apps just a click or two away from your existing workflow, but also, once you’re in a Nik Collection app, it’s also effortless to jump between them! Just see the drop-down menu in the top-right of the app. (See below…)

Once again, the main theme of all my software reviews is this: I don’t want to just give my creativity to a robot. (generative AI, etc…) Instead, I want my digital tools to assist my own creative freedom. Of course, this is just my own creative journey; everyone is different and I’m not here to hold back or forbid other artists from doing what they want.

Either way, whatever YOUR creative passion is, it’s important to have tools that are reliable, fast, and easy to use. In that regard, DxO Nik Collection 9 delivers impressive results across the board.

DxO Nik Collection 9 Review | Pricing & Value

What else is there to say, except, if you want what these applications/plugins have to offer, then there isn’t a better deal to be had. You are getting eight different tools at once, for a price that is comparable to a single piece of software.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the pricing:

• New license: $179.99 (Use discount code SLRLOUNGE for 15% off your purchase; valid for new customers only)
• Upgrade: $99.99

True, your individual needs might not require you to regularly open all eight applications/plugins, of course. This is a good time to mention that you cannot purchase just one or two individual plugins from the Nik Collection; it is sold (and installed) as one whole suite.

The bottom line for us is this:

DxO Nik Collection 9 VS The Competition

Maybe you already have your entire workflow laid out, and you’re very happy with it. Your basic color correction goes smoothly in Lightroom, Capture One, or DxO PhotoLab 9, and you have no complaints about that step of the process. Still, there might be a final step (or a middle step?) in the process where you wish for a more powerful toolkit. This is where the Nik Collection steps up to the plate all across the board.

As just one example: all different types of photographers can be passionate about black & white conversions, or the subtle craft of fine-tuning the color palette of your color photos. Some artists may be looking to go even farther down the road of “digital art”, with special effects that distort color or texture beyond what the camera saw.

Either way, the DxO Nik Collection is where you should look for your unique, specialized tools. The full suite of Nik plugins integrates seamlessly into Lightroom, Photoshop, and Affinity, meaning you never have to leave your editing environment to access the creative tools you love. In other words, you shouldn’t compare any one of these tools against an entire photo editing alternative; that’s apples VS oranges. The Nik Collection is its own whole asset, and it’s designed to complement your existing workflow.

There are just a few other “plugin” type tools on the market that you could consider, and in that regard, our advice is simple and two-fold: beware of fly-by-night newcomers to the market, and simply try things out for yourself to see what works and what doesn’t. To expand further on that advice, quite honestly, a word of caution: with so many new AI-based image editing apps popping up all the time, we should all be protective of our personal data, and our usage of cloud-based computing that relies on massive data centers. The bottom line is this: If you are shopping around, stick to only the tried-and-true options, preferably the ones that work fully offline, such as Nik Collection 9.

DxO Nik Collection 9 Review | Final Pros & Cons

All in all, I think it is plain to see the main advantages (and potential disadvantages) when considering DxO Nik Collection. These apps do what they promise, and you must ask yourself which ones are of interest to you.

Pros

• Seamless workflow integration, including jumping between collection apps
• Compatible with Lightroom, Photoshop, and Affinity.
• Unparalleled diversity of creative possibilities
• High-quality technical results, including sharpening/details
• Improvements & additions (from previous versions) well-worth upgrading

Cons

• Brief learning curve for each of the 8 different apps
• Still requires an overall workflow/catalog solution to manage your images and perform basic
• color-correction
• On-demand AI-generated work (such as for depth masking previews) can be a bit slow for older computers

Most tools depart from raw file “non-destructive” workflow; requiring the creation of TIF or JPG files.*
As I said, the drawbacks are par for the course when it comes to such special effects and “final touches” type tools. If you’re used to an entirely raw workflow, where you can go straight from the original raw file to a printed image (or a ready-to-print JPG/TIF for clients in one single step, then it might seem complex or intimidating at first.

* NOTE: The Nik Collection 9 tools do offer a “Non-Destructive” workflow option, in which the edits you’re actively applying within an app aren’t “compounding on top of each other”. However, you’re still going to have to depart from your raw file and work on a TIF either way.

DxO Nik Collection 9 Review | Conclusion

We strongly encourage everyone whose eyes were caught by any of the imagery in this review; check out the tools that interest you! They’re worth the modest investment and the rapid learning curve.
Personally, I love black & white photography of any type, whether landscapes or portraits. I would purchase this entire suite just for Nik Silver Efex alone! I suspect that many other artists may feel similarly about at least one, or maybe two or three of the apps in the Nik collection.

It is also likely that, whatever initially attracts you, taking the other apps for a test drive might open up a whole new world of creative possibilities that you never thought of before! This is exactly why photography can be a lifelong passion with endless potential. With that in mind, we strongly recommend checking out the Nik Collection 9.

You can get 15% off DxO Nik Collection 9 or any other DxO software using discount code “SLRLounge” (valid for new customers).

Vividon, a Stockholm-based company founded by photographers and film and television industry veterans, together with AI engineers and computer vision specialists, has opened early access to its AI relighting plugin for Adobe Photoshop. With this tool, you can now change the light in any image, after the fact, without prompts or a complicated new workflow, and without touching the original file. It runs entirely inside Photoshop as a plugin, which means no new software to learn and no disruption to an existing editing setup.

How Vividon Works

The fastest way to understand Vividon is to think about how lighting decisions normally get made. On a shoot, you are choosing direction, intensity, and mood in real time, often under pressure. In post, that window is usually closed. Vividon reopens it.

The interface centers on a curated library of professional lighting setups, spanning studio, environmental, and cinematic styles. You can browse and apply these setups visually rather than building them from scratch or describing them in a text prompt. Whatever you select lands on its own dedicated Photoshop layer, fully editable and non-destructive. The original file is never touched and every adjustment you make after the fact works exactly as it would with any other layer in your document.

Two features go beyond the preset library and are worth understanding on their own terms.

First, Match lets you pull the lighting characteristics from any reference image you already own and apply them to new work. If your portfolio includes a shoot from a few years back with exactly the quality of light you are chasing on a current project, that is now a starting point rather than a happy accident you cannot reproduce. This is great news for photographers working to maintain a consistent visual identity across a body of work or a long-term client relationship. Match offers a more direct path than trying to approximate a feeling through manual adjustment.

Next, the custom environment builder goes the other direction, giving photographers a way to design and save their own signature lighting setups from the ground up for those who want to move beyond the built-in library entirely.

Who Built It and Why

The team behind Vividon is not coming at this from a purely technical direction. The founders have backgrounds in photography, film, and television, and the tool was developed in close collaboration with working retouch studios and professional photographers who tested it under real production conditions. That context matters because it shapes what the product actually prioritizes: speed, precision, and creative control that feels native to how photographers already think about light, rather than a feature set designed to impress in a demo (although the demos ARE impressive).

“We got tired of watching great work stay just out of reach,” says co-founder and CEO Tomas Axelsson. “Wrong light. No time. No budget for a reshoot. Our job is to remove that friction and give photographers back the time and budget that lighting has always consumed.”

Co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer Marcus Kurn frames the commercial case plainly: “Once you start delivering two or three lighting variations with every final image, your clients will never want to go back.”

Early Reception

The industry response since launch has been noteworthy. John Nack, a former Photoshop product manager at Adobe and currently a senior AI production manager at Google, wrote about Vividon on his blog shortly after launch, describing the experience as “no prompting, no friction, just incredible results.”

One response that stood out came from Huang Kai, a professional photographer based in Taiwan, who shared his experience publicly and then wrote to the company directly:

“Vividon has helped me far beyond post-production. When shooting spaces, I constantly find myself thinking: if only there were a perfect beam of sunlight from this direction. Vividon lets me visualize those possibilities and understand how light and shadow could interact naturally within a space. It helps me prepare better for future projects, predict conditions, and explain to clients that beautiful natural light requires both the right environment and a little luck. It has improved how I think during pre-production.”

That last observation is worth sitting with. The tool is designed to solve a post-production problem, but Huang is describing something that feeds back into how he shoots and plans. That kind of creative loop is not something you typically get from a retouching utility.

Pricing and Availability

Vividon is available now in early access at vividon.ai. A free tier with 30 credits is available without requiring a credit card. This should give you enough testing room to run it against your own images and get a genuine sense of the results before committing to anything. Paid plans are credit-based and currently offered at early access pricing for founding users, ranging from $10 per month with 130 credits up to $55 per month with 950 credits, with additional credits available separately.

Final Thoughts

AI tools that tackle genuinely hard problems are worth paying attention to, and lighting has always been one of the hardest. The fact that Vividon requires no prompting, runs non-destructively inside Photoshop, and was built by people with real production experience puts it in a different category from a lot of what is currently out there. It is early, and the tool will likely evolve a bit before it reaches full release. Still, the foundation is solid and the direction is clear.

Either way, the direction Vividon is heading is one worth watching.

Available for both Windows and Mac, Aiarty Image Enhancer uses locally run AI models to sharpen, denoise, restore faces, remove distractions, and upscale images up to 32K. But version 3.11 leans even further into practical photo restoration, adding several refinements designed to make results look more natural while smoothing out the editing workflow itself.

Aiarty is also pairing the release with a 49% off lifetime license offer, which brings the software to $79 with unlimited updates and no subscription. Between now and June 8th, you can use the coupon code “ANNIVERSARY” at checkout to receive additional savings. The cross-platform offer can be found here.

What’s New in Version 3.11

While some updates focus on output quality, others are about making the process itself feel less fragmented.

One of the more notable additions is new Color Modes (30% and 100%), which give users more control over enhancement intensity. Rather than leaning too hard into aggressive corrections, these modes seem designed to help strike a better balance between restoration and realism.

Version 3.11 also introduces Quick Editing Tools, including crop, rotate, and flip. These are small additions, but practical ones. Who doesn’t want improved quality of life for using software? For users doing light restoration work, it reduces the need to bounce between apps just to make basic adjustments.

Another significant update is enhanced HDR output, paired with TIFF and DNG export support. For anyone preparing restored photos for print or archival use, higher bit-depth export and improved tonal handling are meaningful additions.

There’s also improved RAW processing support and upgraded HDR tone mapping, which aims for more natural highlight and shadow transitions. This can prove particularly useful for faded or low-contrast originals.

Collectively, the update feels less about flashy new tools and more about making restoration results more believable.

Restoring Faces Without Overdoing It

One of Aiarty’s strongest features remains Face Restoration, and it’s central to the software’s appeal for older images. Using AI trained for portrait detail, the tool can reconstruct facial features, including eyes, contours, and skin texture, all while avoiding the waxy or artificial look that often plagues automated restorations.

For old family photos or soft-focus portraits, the dedicated face enhancement tools are especially relevant. Readers interested in that specific workflow can see more here. What stands out is that the goal doesn’t seem to be inventing detail, but recovering what is likely already there.

Beyond Restoration: Noise Reduction, Upscaling, and Object Removal

Old photos often come with more than blur. There’s grain, dust, scratches, and sometimes very limited resolution. That’s where Aiarty’s broader toolset comes in. Its intelligent noise reduction is designed to clean up scans or low-light images while retaining texture in hair, fabric, or skin. AI upscaling remains a major part of the platform too, allowing users to enlarge files dramatically while preserving believable detail.

For photographers wanting to repurpose smaller legacy files for modern displays or print, this is a core strength. You can learn more on the software’s upscaling tools here.

It’s worth noting, Version 3.11 also continues support for AI Object Removal. This is useful for cleaning scratches, dust, or unwanted distractions without resorting to more complex retouching tools. And for larger restoration projects like digitizing old family prints, batch processing makes it practical to process groups of images at once.

Three AI Models for Different Image Types

Rather than relying on one generic enhancement engine, Aiarty includes different AI models depending on what you’re restoring:

• More-Detail GAN v3 focuses on generating additional clarity in skin, hair, fabric, plants, and architectural detail.
• Real-Photo v3 leans toward faithful restoration with balanced detail and natural rendering.
• AIGCsmooth v3 is aimed more at digital artifacts, anime, or AI-generated imagery.

That separation is useful because old scans, portraits, and synthetic images rarely benefit from identical treatment.

A Simple Workflow That Stays Out of the Way

Another thing Aiarty does well is keep the workflow approachable.

Import an image, choose an AI model, adjust enhancement strength, preview the results, and export. That’s essentially the process. For photographers used to spending significant time masking, denoising, and sharpening in separate steps, that simplicity is part of the appeal. Because processing happens locally rather than through cloud rendering, there’s also the privacy and speed advantage that many photographers increasingly care about.

Who Is It For?

The obvious audience is photographers restoring personal archives or older client work, but the tool feels broader than that.

It could be useful for:

• Photographers digitizing family or film archives
• Content creators cleaning up low-res assets
• Designers repurposing older imagery
• Everyday users who just want to rescue imperfect photos without learning advanced retouching

And because the software runs on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs, it’s clearly aimed in part at Mac-based creative workflows.

Final Thoughts

Aiarty Image Enhancer 3.11 feels less like a dramatic reinvention and more like a thoughtful refinement of an already useful tool. The improvements to tone mapping, RAW handling, quick edits, and restoration controls all point toward a more polished workflow, especially for users focused on old or imperfect photographs. For photographers who’ve been curious whether AI can help restore images without making them look artificial, this update makes a stronger case than earlier generations of these tools.

With the current 49% off lifetime license offer, it may be a good time to experiment. Also, as a reminder, you can enter the coupon code “ANNIVERSARY” at checkout to receive additional savings:

• $5 off for single-product purchases (Aiarty Image Enhancer Lifetime License is available at $74 only)
• $10 off for bundle purchases

The coupon is valid until June 8th!

What is RAW Format?

RAW is an uncompressed image format that contains all the data captured by the camera sensor. RAW files offer superior image quality and more flexibility in post-processing, allowing for more significant adjustments without losing image quality. RAW files are larger than JPEG files and require specialized software to process. RAW file formats differ depending on the camera maker. A Canon RAW file, for example, is a CR2 File while a Nikon RAW file is an NEF File.

Advantages and Disadvantages of RAW Format

The main advantage of RAW format is the superior image quality it offers. RAW files contain all the data captured by the camera sensor, resulting in higher image resolution and more significant color depth. RAW files also offer more flexibility in post-processing, allowing for more significant adjustments without compromising image quality.

The main disadvantage of RAW format is the larger file size, which can make it challenging to store and process. RAW files require specialized software to process and can be time-consuming to edit.

What is DNG Format?

DNG (Digital Negative) is an open-source file format developed by Adobe. DNG is a compressed image format that contains all the data captured by the camera sensor, similar to RAW format. DNG files are smaller than RAW files and can be processed using various software.

Advantages and Disadvantages of DNG Format

The main advantage of DNG format is its smaller file size, which makes it easier to store and process. DNG files can be processed using various software, making it a more versatile format.

The main disadvantage of DNG format is the potential loss of image quality due to compression. While DNG format is capable of retaining all the data captured by the camera sensor, the compression can result in loss of image quality.

Choosing the Best Format for Your Photography Needs

When choosing between RAW and DNG formats, it’s essential to consider factors such as image quality, file size, compatibility with software and devices, and workflow and processing time.

• Image Quality – In terms of image quality, RAW format offers superior image quality and more significant color depth, while DNG format sacrifices image quality for a smaller file size.
• File Size – In terms of file size, DNG format offers a smaller file size, which makes it easier to store and process, while RAW format requires more storage space and processing power.
• Software Compatibility – In terms of compatibility with software and devices, RAW format requires specialized software to process, while DNG format can be processed using various software.
• Processing time – In terms of workflow and processing time, RAW format can be time-consuming to process, while DNG format is faster to process.

Workflow and Processing for RAW and DNG Formats

The workflow and processing for RAW format and DNG format are similar, with minor differences. RAW files require specialized software to process, while DNG files can be processed using various software. The processing time for RAW format is longer than DNG format, making DNG format a better choice for time-sensitive projects.

RAW vs DNG in Lightroom

Conclusion

In summary, both RAW and DNG formats have their merits and are capable of preserving the highest image quality. Your choice between the two will largely depend on your specific needs and preferences as a photographer.

If compatibility, long-term archiving, and broader software support are your priorities, DNG is a compelling option. On the other hand, if you value the manufacturer-specific software and initial rendering, RAW might be more suitable for your workflow.  When making your decision, consider the camera model you use, your preferred editing software, and your long-term archiving plans.