Question about edit history in Capture One 20
I'm switching over from Lightroom Classic to Capture One Express for Fujifilm 20 (free version), and I'm not seeing a running list of edit history. In Lightroom, I'm used to seeing the history box and I can undo multiple steps by clicking and going back anywhere in the history of edits, similar to Photoshop's history list.
I can't seem to find such a list of the edit history in Capture One Express for Fujifilm, just undo or redo of one step in either direction. Is it there and I'm missing it, or does the feature not exist?
If it's really not there, then if I upgrade to the paid version of Capture One 20 (but still the cheaper Fujifilm-only version), is it going to be in the paid version? I'm thinking of paying to get the more professional features, like noise reduction, but not if there is no edit history.
I haven't bothered installing the trial of the full paid version since I already have the Express version installed and I didn't know if it would harm anything to have both installed. And I don't want to go through the hassle only to find out that the edit history doesn't exist anyway.
Thanks!
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No, you haven't missed anything. Unfortunately, this function is missing in C1 and is - I think - one of the most requested, it's also high on my agenda. It seems the individual editing steps are apparently recorded in the background but you have to go back through them one by one and can't jump back to a specific point directly and that's not version specific.
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If you get to a point in an edit where you think the results are ok as a basis for additional edits and you wish to freeze that point you can create a Variant. Somewhere to go back to.
You can do that as many times as you like in the edit.
In the full (non-express) versions you also have Layer options and most tools can be used in layers.
Layers can be turned on and off providing another way to assess how different edits change your work.
All without having to dredge back through historical edits in order to try to spot the point that might be a reference point one is looking for.
Some years ago I was using an application that offered both approaches - a history and the ability to capture a version for later reference and/or us. I used both - the history looked like a no-effort idea that one could forget about until needed. But in the end I much preferred the "freezing" of a variant at a point in the development processes that one wished to retain. So long as one remembered to do it, it was a much faster and more effective concept. One just need=s to develop the habit.
All in my opinion of course. It may not be ideal for everyone.
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I used LR from V1-5 before moving to C1.
You have two basic types of adjustment in a parametric raw converter like LR or C1, Global and Local.
With Global adjustments you do not need History you simply adjust the relevant slider. You think contrast is too high at 60, then reduce it to 40. You can see the sliders and therefore why do you need a history?
In LR history comes in useful because the UI for local adjustments is a "pin & brush". This UI makes it difficult to relate what pin does what and why.
In C1 you have a layer based local adjustment system. When you make a local adjustment you create a new layer which holds all of the adjustments for that layer. You can name the layers, for example "Sky", "Foreground", "Trees" etc. Thus you automatically know what each adjustment is doing. You can easily review each adjustment layer by stepping through the layers whist the mask is active, and the mask shows in the areas that the adjustment is applied to. You can also turn individual layers on and off to see there impact. If an adjustment looks too strong you can simply reduce the opacity of the layer without having to go into each slider that has been used on the layer to make individual adjustments. Start with the layer opacity at 70% and you can increase as well as decrease the impact of any adjustments.
So in C1 you have direct access to your edits and there is no need, for me, for a history. It is also important to recognise that when you step back in history you lose all of the subsequent adjustments. With C1 and layers this does not happen. Pixel editors do need a history function and in Affinity Photo they have an advanced History function where you can create "branches" in the history, I don't know if this is possible in PS.
I think it would be a good idea to trial the full version of C1 for Fuji to get an understanding of the power that layer based local adjustments offer. Selections/masks in layers can be cleared, filled, copied, inverted feathered, refined and a Luma selection created from the mask, most of these operations are not possible in LR's pin & Brush UI. For example you mask a Sky and then make adjustments, simply create a new layer, copy the mask from the Sky layer, invert it and you have a mask for the foreground.
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Excellent description, IanS. You and SFA explained very well why I never really missed something like a history.
It would be nice though if one could give a variant(version) a name, and if one could more easy identify at the tool itself if it has been adjusted in the currently selected layer, see (and eventually vote for)
https://support.captureone.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/4406797006737--Identify-tools-which-have-been-used-changed0 -
Voted.
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I agree with you, of course you can create variants of certain edits and that is how I solve it, too. Nevertheless, it can be helpful to read out the individual successive steps and the values used in the tools via a history.
You don't have to like things from LR and certainly not transfer it to C1, but the history and dual possibility of snapshots and virtual copies is not wrong to pursue different editing approaches.
We have all adapted our workflow to what is possible in C1 and so I also would like to see at least the independent naming of variants and the visual highlighting of the tools used as a workaround. So, support the request for this features and have also voted for them.0
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