Spanning a variety of editing tools along with digital asset management capabilities, ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2019 from ACD Systems is a powerful post-production tool for Windows operating systems. In terms of image editing, this 2019 edition sees a more well-rounded tool-set, including local contrast adjustment for making selective edits and the ability to adjust black and white tonal range and contrast response using color channels. A layer-based workflow also enables a non-destructive workflow for more editing freedom and brushes can now be used for making masks and selections for applying local enhancements. Liquify and Smart Erase tools also benefit retouchers and support for LUTs as filters offers easier color grading control. Additionally, raw image processing is supported for more than 500 different camera models for non-destructive image enhancements. In terms of file management, Face Detection and Facial Recognition simplifies organizing photos of people while a sophisticated DAM system allows for metadata editing as well as applying labels, ratings, tags, and keywords to help quickly locate files in a vast image library.
ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2019
The ability to import, export, develop, and edit presets offers more flexibility in working with preset adjustments, including the ability to share with others and fine-tune previously created presets.
An enhanced Black & White mode affords more fine-tuned control over contrast adjustment by working in color channels during color-to-grayscale conversion, as well as brightness adjustment over specific color contrast ranges.
Support for LUTs as filters within the Edit mode gives greater color grading control.
When editing color images, you can adjust the contrast range according to specific color and tonal values for more precise adjustment over micro-contrast in specific highlight and shadow ranges.
Brushes have been added to the Develop mode, which makes it possible to brush-on vibrance, saturation, hue, brightness, contrast, color, and tint enhancements. Local curves can also be used for selective adjustment over portions of an image.
Auto Advance lets you seamlessly update metadata without having to sift through folders; this function automatically moves on to the next image in the File List pane for faster, more efficient updating.
When working in the Develop pane, applied adjustments to an image can be viewed, copied, and pasted to additional images for greater continuity from within the Manage or View modes.
ACDSee Photo Studio supports the HEIF image file format for greater compatibility with smartphone imagery.
Actions, used to expedite sequences of adjustments, can be exported and shared with others as compressed, packaged files.
Selections can be made according to brightness constraints, making it easier to apply selective adjustments to brighter or darker regions of an image.
Within Manage mode, keyboard shortcuts can be customized to make editing a more intuitive and streamlined process.
Using layers, portions of an image can be selected and then pasted onto another as a luminosity mask. This function works with adjustment layers, as well.
Face Detection and Facial Recognition
Simplifying organizing portraits and photos of people, the Face Detection and Facial Recognition tool will automatically find faces photographs and prompt you to name them for future searches and more intuitive organization.
Raw Editing
Rich raw file editing supports more than 500 different camera models and offers the ability to non-destructively adjust exposure, clarity, sharpness, lighting, color, noise, details, and additional image attributes.
Layer-Based Editing
The Layered Editor workspace enables working in a non-destructive manner while applying parametric photo adjustments. By working in layers, individual edits and effects can be refined at any time without affecting the original image file.
Digital Asset Management
Helping to find, sort, move, organize, and share imagery, files can be complemented with ratings, hierarchical keywords, categories, location data, visual tags, and customizable color labels for faster and easier identification of imagery.
Additional Editing Tools
Helping to remove unwanted objects from an image, a Smart Erase function lets you cover areas of an image with content-aware fill for a seamless finished appearance.
A Liquify tool offers the ability to distort objects without sacrificing quality. Images can be shifted, pinched, bulged, or restored for more a free-flowing quality, or Liquify can be used in conjunction with other retouching tools for a well-rounded finished appearance.
The iOS and Android-dedicated ACDSee Mobile Sync app enables wireless transferring of files from a computer to a paired mobile device.