AYM 4 Training - Online and Onsite Computer Training » Blog Posts

Category Archives: Blog Posts

Thoughts, ideas, discussions, and other “Cool Stuff”!

On1 Photo RAW 2019 Pre-Order Announced

By | | , , , ,
Leave a comment

Space.728x90

For those of you who want a product aimed at being a full replacement for the Photoshop/Lightroom workflow, On1 Photo RAW 2019 is going to be your answer. On1 is offering a terrific discount on any Pre-Order of this POWERFUL product, which will be released in November. But you don’t have to wait. Buy the 2019 version now, and get the 2018.5 version, and a free upgrade to 2019, when it’s released. that way, you don’t miss the power!

There are just TOO MANY tools to mention in this one post, and there’s a whole video to watch on the new features. To see all that in a powerful intro video, click HERE!

Pricing on Pre-Order:

Note – when you buy On1 Photo RAW, you get a full suite of image editing software, without a subscription. You get free tech support, and, you can activate it on up to 5 computers.

UPDATE: One thing I failed to mention – for those of you who are already embedded into a Photoshop/Lightroom workflow – the On1 RAW 2019 version can import your Lightroom catalogs retaining all the settings you made in Lightroom! This, I find amazing!!!

 

 

 

 

Skylum Aurora 2019 Pre-Order Deal Ends Soon!

By | | , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

Click here to go to website

There’s still a bit of time to get in on the amazing deal for Skylum Aurora 2019 – soon to be released. If you order it Pre-Release, you get all sorts of cool extras along with the great changes.

Pre-Order Pricing:

  • Current users may upgrade at a price of $49 USD ($59 USD MSRP)
  • New users can purchase Aurora HDR 2019 at a price of $89 USD ($99 USD MRSP)

About Aurora HDR 2019:

Skylum’s Quantum HDR Engine harnesses the power of AI for a more streamlined editing experience than ever before. It reduces burned-out colors, loss of contrast, noise and unnatural lighting caused by halos and unstable deghosting.

The Quantum HDR Engine has taken three years to create within Skylum’s AI lab, and contains the vast knowledge of the development team paired with artificial intelligence to bring you seamless HDR editing, be it with a single image or multiple bracketed shots.

Skylum’s developers tested thousands of bracketed shots through a neural network, and used the results to develop the technology needed for creating incredible HDR photographs – whether it’s real estate, landscape, cityscape or any other type of HDR photography.

Here are the most essential changes:

  • New Quantum HDR Engine
  • LUTs support with 11 New Integrated LUTs
  • Photoshop plugins support
  • New HDR Smart Structure filter for realistic and artefact-free structure (can be found in the new HDR Enhance filter)
  • Presets are now called ‘Looks’
  • Improved Adjustable Gradient filter with new sliders for Shadows and Highlights added
  • Improved HDR Details Boost Effect (the photo is shown in high-resolution while fine-tuning the filter)

And when I spoke of BONUSES:

  • Video Tutorial: Getting the Most from Aurora HDR 2019 by Trey Ratcliff
  • Landscape Photography Handbook by  David Johnston
  • Burning Moods Looks by Richard Harrington

Photolemur 3.0 Preorder – Discount available for a Limited Time

By | | , , , , ,
Leave a comment

PHOTOLEMUR 3 PREORDERPhotolemur has announced Version 3.o at very special pricing!

Here’s the Pre-Order and regular pricing:

  1. New users can purchase Photolemur 3.0 Family at a special pre-order price of $49
  2. A collection of bonuses will also be included in every purchase.
  3. Pre-order bonuses:
  4. The Shotkit EBook
  5. The 2018 Gear Guide
  6. $300 Off a multi-day (3+ day) Iceland Photo Tours

Photolemur 3.0 Regular Pricing:

Photolemur – the most astounding AI Automatic Photo Enhancer is now offering the following upgrades in Version 3.0:

  • Automatic Face Enhancement with skin retouching and teeth whitening
  • Smart Eye Enlargement
  • Adding Styles to photos ( Blog )
  • New menu for opacity settings
  • Quick access menu for face enhancement, lens correction and eye enlargement
  • Apply settings from one image to all images in batch
  • SmugMug Export (for Mac version)
  • Performance and stability boost
  • AND, it can be used as a stand-alone product, OR as a Photoshop Plugin, as part of your workflow!

Great product – Great Deal! Check it out!

 

Skylum Aurora HDR 2019 Pre-Order SALE

By | | , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

Skylum Software has announced a Pre-Order special for Aurora HDR 2019- Special Pricing WITH BONUSES!

About Aurora HDR 2019:

Skylum’s Quantum HDR Engine harnesses the power of AI for a more streamlined editing experience than ever before. It reduces burned-out colors, loss of contrast, noise and unnatural lighting caused by halos and unstable deghosting.

The Quantum HDR Engine has taken three years to create within Skylum’s AI lab, and contains the vast knowledge of the development team paired with artificial intelligence to bring you seamless HDR editing, be it with a single image or multiple bracketed shots.

Skylum’s developers tested thousands of bracketed shots through a neural network, and used the results to develop the technology needed for creating incredible HDR photographs – whether it’s real estate, landscape, cityscape or any other type of HDR photography.

Here are the most essential changes:

  • New Quantum HDR Engine

  • LUTs support with 11 New Integrated LUTs

  • Photoshop plugins support

  • New HDR Smart Structure filter for realistic and artefact-free structure (can be found in the new HDR Enhance filter)

  • Presets are now called ‘Aurora HDR Looks’

  • Improved Adjustable Gradient filter with new sliders for Shadows and Highlights added

  • Improved HDR Details Boost Effect ( the photo is shown in high-resolution while fine-tuning the filter)

Offer Availability:

Aurora HDR 2019 is available for pre-order on September, 12, and released on October, 4.

Pre-Order Pricing:

 

Pre-Order Bonuses:

  • Video Tutorial: Getting the Most from Aurora HDR 2019 by Trey Ratcliff

  • Landscape Photography Handbook by David Johnston

  • Burning Moods LUTs by Richard Harrington

  • Exclusive interior Aurora Looks by Richard Harrington

  • 3-month 500px Pro membership

  • $300 USD OFF a multi-day Iceland Photo Tours

Multiple Deals Available for Photolemur!

By | | , , , ,
Leave a comment

Photolemur is the #1 AUTOMATIC Photo Editor. This means, you don’t have to do much of anything to make an “eh” photo into a “WOW” Photo!

It uses artificial intelligence to make decisions to enhance your images, and then you have a few controls, in case you feel you want to use them. There’s nothing simpler, to create great looking photos!

Here are the available deals (click the links to get to the offers:

Single License – 35% Off = $22.74

Family License (5 devices) – 40% Off = $29.40

Family License + Awesome Bonuses – 65% Off! = $39.99   (bonuses included: Photo Enhancement on Autopilot – Picaboo hardcover photo book + The Compelling Photograph by A. McKinnell – Ebook)

Skylum Luminar Jupiter Offer ENDS April 29th!

By | | , , , , ,
Leave a comment

Luminar 2018 Jupiter offer dedicated to the latest update 1.2.0 will be ending soon – on Sunday, April 29th.

Use Coupon Code SGANS_DISC for $10 off!

The update is free for all current users of Luminar 2018.

Current users of Luminar 2017 may upgrade for $49 ($39 with coupon code);

New users can purchase Luminar 2018 for $69 ($59 with coupon code);

The most essential features of the 1.2.0 update are:

  1. Speed (Performance & adjustments): We’ve dramatically increased the speed of editing across all areas of Luminar 2018.

  2. Automatic Lens Correction: Our RAW Develop filter analyzes your image and the metadata to calculate a one click Automatic Lens Distortion fix.

  3. Enhanced image quality on image view:  Most of the demosaic and green equilibration issues have been fixed.

  4. DCP Profiles Support (for the Mac version only. Coming to Windows soon): Luminar 2018 recognizes the industry standard DCP files that you may already have on your computer (or have bought from third parties).

  5. Import speed (for the Mac version only. Coming to Windows soon): re-engineered RAW import, optimized for speed.

  6. Windows version catches up with Mac: Added Batch processing feature, Free Transform image feature, Flip/Rotate image feature to the Windows

 

WHAT’S NEW AND IMPROVED in Luminar 2018 1.2.0:

MAC:

  • Fast RAW opening;

  • Super fast image editing and adjusting;

  • Faster image export;

  • DCP Profiles support;

  • Automatic Lens Correction (fix Lens Distortion, remove Chromatic Aberration and Defringe);

  • Enhanced image quality on image view – most of the demosaic and green equilibration issues have been fixed;

  • Big number of stability fixes;

  • UI and UX improvements;

  • Localisations updated (German, Japanese, Chinese & more).

WINDOWS:

  • Super fast image editing and adjusting;

  • Faster image export;

  • Batch processing feature;

  • Free transform image feature;

  • Flip/Rotate image feature;

  • Automatic Lens Correction (fix Lens Distortion, remove Chromatic Aberration and Defringe)

  • Big number of stability fixes;

  • UI and UX improvements;

  • Localisations updated;

  • Added ability to change localisation language in the application main menu;

  • Fixes with color profiles on export/in plugin mode;

  • Preview mode feature added (F hotkey);

  • Enhanced image quality on image view – fixed most of demosaic and green equilibration.

What’s included in the offer:

  • Luminar 2018: the most powerful and technologically advanced photo editor for Mac & Windows (worth $69) – Luminar 2018 is a fast, versatile, and intuitive image editor, which can take your workflow from RAW file to fully finished image without needing to use any other image editor.

  • The Complete Landscape Photography Guide ebook from Photzy (worth $50) – An outstanding guide written by professional photographer and writer Kent DuFault. This ebook has something for everyone, with 237 pages packed full of information and assignments that will transform your landscape photography.

  • Aerial Photography & Video with Matt Granger (worth $79) – World-renowned photographer, Matt Granger will share planning, shooting and editing aerial stills and video. Matt will also demonstrate editing with Luminar 2018 on his still aerial images..

  • Photography Tutorial by Daniel Kordan (worth $29) – Extensive tutorial with a full workflow demonstration by expert landscape photographer Daniel Kordan. This tutorial includes shooting and post-processing images in Luminar 2018.

  • 119 Dramatic & Romantic Sky overlays (worth $29) – This is an amazing addition to your photo editing workflow, and will help give boring skies that ‘wow!’ factor.

  • Splitsville Presets By Brian Matiash (worth $15) – Add a professional polish to your images with these cool presets.

On1’s Photo RAW 2018.1 Intro Offer Ends 4/27/18 – $50 OFF with my link!

By | | , , , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

Photographers LOVE On1 Photo RAW 2018.1!

The Adobe World is an excellent one. So much so, that even it’s competitor, On1 has made it’s software usable as a plugin to Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom.

BUT, On1 Photo RAW 2018.1 has positioned itself to be a replacement for the Adobe workflow – without having to pay subscription fees! Now, I have to admit, this software is for image editing, refining, adjusting, and it doesn’t have near the capabilities of Photoshop for Compositing, Animation, 3D and more. This is an Image Editor – and a SERIOUSLY GREAT ONE! There are so many refinements and effects, you can take an image you might have thought to throw away, and create something you may want to hang on your wall! If your focus is Photography, this is one you can’t do without! And it’s all available for $69!!!

Of course, you can try this free for 30 Days, if you Click HERE.

Or, if you want to take advantage of this Limited Time Offer – Click HERE.

Skylum Luminar update 1.2.0 JUPITER – released today with a GREAT deal!

By | | , , , , , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

Skylum Logo Luminar Logo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today, Skylum (previously MacPhun) Software released a new update to their amazing photo editor, Luminar (this version called Jupiter).
Of course, Luminar can be used as a Photoshop Plugin, but it’s also positioned to work as a Lightroom/Photoshop replacement for photo editing (all this, WITHOUT a subscription fee!)

Pricing as follows:

Current users of Luminar may upgrade for $49 ($39 with coupon code SGANS_DISC)
New users can purchase Luminar 2018 for $69 ($59 with coupon code SGANS_DISC)

BONUSES Included in this offer:

  • Luminar 2018: the most powerful and technologically advanced photo editor for Mac & Windows (worth $69) – Luminar 2018 is a fast, versatile, and intuitive image editor, which can take your workflow from RAW file to fully finished image without needing to use any other image editor.

  • The Complete Landscape Photography Guide ebook from Photzy (worth $50) – An outstanding guide written by professional photographer and writer Kent DuFault. This ebook has something for everyone, with 237 pages packed full of information and assignments that will transform your landscape photography.

  • Aerial Photography & Video with Matt Granger (worth $79) – World-renowned photographer, Matt Granger will share planning, shooting and editing aerial stills and video. Matt will also demonstrate editing with Luminar 2018 on his still aerial images..

  • Photography Tutorial by Daniel Kordan (worth $29) – Extensive tutorial with a full workflow demonstration by expert landscape photographer Daniel Kordan. This tutorial includes shooting and post-processing images in Luminar 2018.

  • 119 Dramatic & Romantic Sky overlays (worth $29) – This is an amazing addition to your photo editing workflow, and will help give boring skies that ‘wow!’ factor.

  • Splitsville Presets By Brian Matiash (worth $15) – Add a professional polish to your images with these cool presets.

We have a TON of new and updated features in this one:

Speed improvements to get more done in less time

Skylum has dramatically increased the speed of editing across all areas of Luminar. Now images open faster, filters apply quicker, and the entire application is more responsive.

  • Most users will see snappier sliders as they’ve gained performance boosts of 3-25x for easier adjustments.
  • Luminar better uses the operating system for faster performance, with many operations seeing significant boosts.

Luminar Jupiter also got numerous interface and user experience improvements based on users’ feedback for an improved editing experience. The new version has several “under-the-hood” enhancements to add stability as well as to improve performance when editing even the largest of images.

Better RAW conversion

  • Better exposure calculation. Refined initial brightness setting for RAW files produces a perfect match to how a camera saw the scene.
  • Cleaner gradients. Improved de-mosaic process for even cleaner image conversion, i.e. smooth transitions in areas like skies and shadows for accurate color and less noise.
  • Fewer halos.If an image has high contrast areas, the improved Defringe option will help with backlit areas or strong contrast.
  • More cameras, better compatibility. Now even more RAW formats can be edited natively with the RAW Develop filter. Plus, a large set of existing camera modules have been refined for even better RAW conversion.
  • Reduced chromatic aberration. If a lens shows color artifacts in high contrast or backlit areas, the new Auto Chromatic aberration removal option will help to get rid of green and cyan shifts.

Automatic lens distortion removal

Getting the perfect shot is now easier than ever. The RAW Develop filter analyzes an image and its metadata to calculate an Automatic Lens Distortion fix that can be applied in one-click. This is a perfect tool to get rid of wide angle distortion and get truer perspective lines and more attractive portraits.

Advanced support for DCP Profiles

Luminar recognizes the industry standard DNG Camera Profile, or “DCP” files, that users may already have on their computers (or have purchased from third parties) to ensure accurate and consistent colors. Users will also be able to use DCP profiles from DNG files. This feature is currently available for Mac and will be available soon for Windows.

Essential New Features for Windows Users

The Skylum team has put a lot of effort into making the Windows experience be world-class and significantly faster. In fact, the PC version now matches the Mac version for all core features with Batch Processing, Free Transform and Flip and Rotate tools.

Here are some Windows-specific additions

  • NEW: BATCH PROCESSING. The powerful Batch Processing workflow saves time and effort.
  • NEW: EASY TRANSFORMATIONS. To easily transform the shape of an image, the Free Transform tool can scale and position an object as needed. Plus users can easily Flip and Rotate an image using the Image menu commands.
  • Better cloning. Users can quickly call up the Clone & Stamp module by pressing Ctrl + J. Softness, opacity, and size of the brush can also now be modified.
  • Cleaner zooms. Accelerated zooming now delivers a cleaner image at all sizes. Images appear sharper when the zoom is beyond 100% for detail work. Plus the new version provides a cleaner preview when zoomed out to see the whole image.
  • Preview mode.To check out a photo free from any distractions users can now use Full Screen Preview – a great way to really study an image in detail.
  • Localization support.It’s even easier to use Luminar in a different language. The localizations have been improved for greater accuracy and can now be changed from the File menu in Windows version.
  • Better masking controls. Users can create masks more easily when painting masks. Holding down the spacebar and dragging with the cursor, pans and moves the image when masking.
  • Improved workflow with other applications.When using Luminar as a plugin with other applications, color profiles are properly included. This change also improves image exporting with attached profiles.
  • Shared workspaces.Users can now share their custom workspaces.

If you’ve been waiting for a great time to buy or upgrade your version of Luminar – THIS IS IT!

Here are some before and after images, made in Luminar:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDITED – Hold Off on Upgrading Lightroom CC – A Suggestion

By | | , , , , ,
Leave a comment

EDIT: I have removed the link to the website – his post is great, and I’d had good experiences with this website before, but he has a bait and switch link for free presets, that leads to a SALE page. I have NO respect for that – so although I appreciate his email, I will no longer endorse his site!

This past week, Adobe released a bunch of updates, with some EXCELLENT new features for Adobe Lightroom CC. However, an email from LightroomPresetShoppe.com an excellent resource for some very cool Lightroom presets, has sent out a warning for Lightroom Classic CC users to HOLD OFF on updating until the next version, if you do use presets and keep them organized. Here’s their message, and hopefully, we’ve caught you in time (my recommendation – never do run updates as soon as they come out – watch forums, and wait to let OTHERS “beta test” the update). In fact, there’re a lot of threads on this on the Adobe Lightroom forum at https://forums.adobe.com/community/lightroom/lightroom-classic-cc/content

Here’s the content of that email:

Hey,

How have you been? Hope you are doing great 🙂

This week…Adobe Lightroom had a major update & I just wanted to write to you guys about my thoughts on the same.

The general consensus about the update is very promising & exciting.

But…if you haven’t updated Adobe Lightroom Classic CC to the latest version i.e. 7.3…I would highly recommend you to wait until the next update even though this update has been an exciting one!

Here’s why:

1. The new update has made Adobe Lightroom a little bit slower for quite a lot of users & most importantly

2. This update has completely messed up the order of Lightroom Presets inside a Preset Folder / Group!

Q. What does this mean to you?

A. Simply put…if you have downloaded or purchased any presets either from us or any other Preset Vendor, you will observe that the order of the presets is completely messed up.

Ever since the new update…a lot of adobe forum threads have been opened up to report the preset order bug & the speed & performance issues.

The amazing engineers at adobe have already made a note of the same & have ensured that they are working towards fixing the above issues in the upcoming updates.

So we highly recommend you to wait until the above issues get sorted via the next few updates.

We are keeping a close watch on the updates & once everything looks good…we will inform you guys to go ahead with the update.

Until then…please hold on to updating Adobe Lightroom to the latest version.

In case you have already updated to Adobe Lightroom 7.3…there is not much you can do to correct the order of your presets in Lightroom at the moment.

Your best bet is to wait for adobe to release new updates which will fix the issue that a lot of people are facing with the latest version.

That’s it for now.

We hope that this gets sorted out real soon 🙂

Have a wonderful weekend & talk soon!

Best Regards,

Amit Desai.

CEO & Founder

? Lightroom Preset Shoppe

 

LAST Day to get On1 Photo RAW 2018.1 at a HUGE discount

By | | , ,
Leave a comment

This is it. Last day to get On1 Photo RAW 2018.1 with it’s Spring Savings Event – $69 for the whole enchilada!

Remember, you get:

  • HDR, Pano, Masking Courses ($74.97 value)
  • D.A.M. Course ($49.99 value)
  • Master Class eBook ($39.99 value)
  • 100s of free videos to get you started
  • Activate on 5 computers (Mac & Win)
  • No subscription
  • 30-day money-back guarantee
  • ONLY $69!!!!