Good external editor for Captue One? (not Adobe PS)
I am considering adding an external editor to my workflow and I would like to hear some recommendations of programs that work well with Capture One. My goal is to use something that can heal and repair dust spots out of camera-scanned film negatives. I understand that Photoshop is the industry standard but the product doesn't resonate with me. There was/is a thread somewhere here that reported troubles using Pixelmator.
Thanks! 😊
Thanks! 😊
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PhotoLine (http://www.pl32.com) 0 -
[quote="AAlain" wrote:
In beta, but test 😉
+1
for me this is the first software which has real potential to replace photoshop. even at beta stage it is very useable and rather stable. but what i love most - the developers really listen to comments and suggestions so there is a good chance that at the end it will do quite a few things better than ps.0 -
Affinity Photo is indeed very promising, but at least the first betas cannot handle saving layered TIF and such things which makes round tripping in Capture One of limited use. What I really like is the performance and live preview of any brushes.
PhotoLine is a stable and proven software and already available for Mac OS X and Windows. It has effectively the same feature-set as Affinity Photos and even more: 16bit/channel, Lab, CMYK, non destructive adjustment layers (even for things like Liquify), Photoshop Plugin support, PSD import/export. It also supports layered TIF and the developers are very responsive and open to input in the forum. To me PhotoLine is the only current Photoshop alternative. Actually it is even more, because it also handles vector layers and offer by far more vector operations than Photoshop. You can easily open and save PDF or SVG e.g.
Edit: PhotoLine also has an interesting Option that can be used when the originals are stored referenced: If you open a TIF it will save the TIF back and a PLD (PhotoLine native) file besides it. If you open the TIF again in PhotoLine it will see the PLD and open that. This allows integration in programs like Capture One and still store files with all features - including nondestructive adjustment layers or vectors.0 -
....they are rather different. photoline has a lot of features sure but a cluttered incredible ugly user-unfriendly interface and is missing modern tools like content aware fill which to my own surprise works even better than the adobe counterpart. 0 -
@horseoncowboy
I didn't say they are "the same", but that PhotoLine has (likely) any feature of current Affinity and some more. I agree, that the interface (particularily in older versions of it!) looks a bit dated. But:
1) They did a lot on it in the last releases
I'm using their beta and do not know if that is available in the current release yet.
2) You have to learn your tools
I first thought too, that the program is "user unfriendly" but it actually makes really sense in a lot of ways and the developers did put alot of thought into how it is.
3) You are absolutely wrong about missing modern tools
"Content aware fill" is available as the "Remove Object" function in the tools window if you do a selection (e.g. lasso). Liquify was non destructive even before it was possible to use liquify on smart objects in Photoshop. The list of non destructive adjustments is much longer in PhotoLine than in Affinity Photo (46 vs. 19 adjustment layers). Some basic tools like gradients do not even work yet in Affinity Photo (just on shape objects). Where is "content aware scale" in Affinity Photos? PhotoLine has it (scale a layer in mode "liquid"). When will liquify in Affinity Photo be non destructive like in Photoshop or PhotoLine?
4) Masks are very mighty
You can use any (!) layer or layer group as mask - even non destructively liquified groups of whatever things you want (vector, raster, text). Affinitys masking tools left alot to be desired in its current beta state.
5) Support for loading PSD is (currently) better than in Affinity
There are alot of issues around that in the forum - this is nothing that should surprise - it is a beta version and very new. On the other side Photoline has very good PSD support now for years. The same counts even more when it comes to support for layered TIF.
6) Many dialogs have fine tunable options - by far more than Affinity Photo
Just look at dialogs like when scaling a document or layer or when saving a TIF - there are alot more options and features. Affinity Photo is unfinished in that regard.
Please Horseoncowboy - do not denigrate a very solid and professional and mighty tool like PhotoLine just because you don't know it well enough. I'm mostly using Photoshop CC but also have PhotoLine licensed and use and follow it for quite some years now. It is in many ways better than even Photoshop (I really like the masking concept and the vector tools). The only thing that let me just use Photoshop instead of PhotoLine is, that programs like Aperture (or now Capture One) often roundtrip better with it than with any alternative competitor. The "sidefile" approach in PhotoLine would be a workaround to that problem, but that would mean double the space.
And don't get me wrong: I own Affinity Designer and like it a lot! And I'm actively testing Affinity Photo and really hope they will resolve the missing features and current bugs. As I said - I particularily like the live preview brushes. More competition is good. But to be fair: It is not there yet.
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Jochen H. Schmidt0 -
...well the pl feature list is impressive so why is still nobody using it except some nerdy amateurs ? because features alone don't make a great software, we also need an interface which helps us to work concentrated and fast. pl does make me sick after a short time with all those candy colored tiny icons and cluttered menus resembling an early 90 microsoft interface. ap is in another league in this respect and even with less features it is far more professional. 0 -
@Horseoncowboy
1) It has a steep learning curve (e.g. does alot of things a bit different)
2) It has a mainly German user base (the developers are German too).
3) I think it isn't aggressively advertised internationally.
When I first found PhotoLine I ditched it for the candy looking "Pixelmator" - I gave it a real try later though and it did really pay of. PhotoLine is a very professional software with stellar support. It is true, that particular things like the icons don't look very polished (often a point of critique from the user base) and the website too - but if you are able to come over such aesthetic issues it is a very efficient and well-thought-out UI.
And they actually did overhaul the UI and the icons in the last time - it is alot better than it was in the past.0 -
nobody with a little sense for aesthetic can work with such an ugly peace of software especially not this days where ergonomic and design becomes more and more important. ap is very close to ps in many ways so it is easy to learn if you know ps - a clear advantage . from my point of view i do not need every thinkable feature i only need a limited set of tools for my retouching jobs but those tools should work easy, fit in my workflow and give perfect results. ap wiill for sure become a part of my toolbox. i also ee no problem to jump between ps and ap to accomplish specific tasks like frequency separation or use the wonderful content aware inpaint brush in ap instead of ps.
the developers of pl had a real chance when ps went cc but they ignored it by refusing to improve ergonomics and design.
btw jochen do you use pl professionally on a daily basis or just for fun ?0 -
Wow, with so much conversation about PhotoLine I will have to give it a try! Never knew it existed ... 😊
I heard of Affinity and it seems really powerful.
Thanks for both suggestions!0 -
@horseoncowboy
I use it in professional settings for years now - mostly print and web stuff. Also sometimes "debugging" PDF output of other tools. Its import and export is very very good and if there are problems there is outstanding support by the developers. PhotoLine is one of those pieces of Software I can really wholeheartedly recommend to anyone.
Most of my photography (fashion & products) is held in Aperture libraries - I'm using Photoshop as an external editor there, because this is the only one that really works full featured when round tripping (including Smart objects & smart filters).
I have to say, that I find it really disturbing and insulting from you being called as someone which (according to your reasoning) cannot have any sense for aesthetic! As I've described before - I was driven away by the first look of PhotoLine. I'm really happy that I still have given it a chance because it is an incredibly powerful software which is a steal for its price.
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Jochen H. Schmidt0 -
[quote="6BQ5" wrote:
Wow, with so much conversation about PhotoLine I will have to give it a try! Never knew it existed ... 😊
You really should do that - and give it some time. As I described, it is powerful but has a learning curve. It may also be a good idea to register to the support forum and ask questions if somethings seems to be missing or not working the way you think. In almost all cases the thing I missed was already there.
You really should have a good look at Affinity Photo too - it IS a promising software, even if it is nothing I would use in production in its current beta form.
For what is worth: Even Pixelmator learned some long missing things like 16 bit/channel in its last releases. There is no reason not to try it out too. If you are at it, you even could try out Acorn too.0 -
Hello
On the infrequent need for processing post C1Pro, I successfully use the beta of 16+ bit per channel version of Gimp on my Mac. (downloaded from http://www.partha.com/)
Even as a beta, it works a treat with the functions I require. The modified 16bit TIFF is saved where C1Pro left it.
Regards
Peter0
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