Luminar Neo – 30% off through February 15th

Luminar Neo 30% Discount until February 15th!

Luminar Neo is a POWERFUL photo editing tool, by Skylum. Developed for photographers and hobbyists of all levels, Neo employs AI and machine learning – as well as user managed adjustments to make your photos convey exactly what you want them to.

Luminar Neo works as a standalone application for Windows and Mac, and also as a plugin for Photoshop and Lightroom.

For a very limited time, if you click my affiliate link, you can enjoy a 30% discount on Luminar Neo.

Click this link to learn more!

Luminar Neo 30% off!

On1 Spring Bundle – Amazing value – Offer Ends March 30th, 2023!

On1 Spring BundleOn1 Spring Bundle – On Sale until March 30th!

Get On1 Photo RAW 2023.1 (and upgrades) PLUS – Includes All of the plugins for Photoshop and Lightroom including their stand-alone apps (which can be used without any Adobe Software) – Click here for more information on either bundle!
Resize AI (the BEST of the resizing Apps, in my opinion)
Effects
NoNoise AI
Portrait AI
HDR

These are bundles – choose On1 Everything, or On1 Everything Plus (click to compare plans)

The plans are amazingly powerful on their own – but both bundles also include the Spring Bundle of Brushes, Presents, Color LUTs, Textures and training on Masking and Adjustments!

To learn more about each module, click here.

Note: Due to these terrific discounts, my usual discount code does not apply to these purchases.

 

Skylum Luminar 4 Sale Has Begun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Skylum Luminar is on Holiday Sale until January 15th!

Suitable for a novice or a photo expert, Luminar 4 provides amazingly powerful tools to enhance, repair, and otherwise edit your photos.

Along with powerful, editable presets, Luminar 4 includes:

  • AI Skin and Portrait Enhancer
  • AI Structure – Detail enhancer
  • Sunrays
  • AI Enhance – slider based adjustments
  • Smart Contrast
  • Inspirational Videos
  • Image Browsing
  • Instant Looks
  • Landscape Enhancements
  • Erase Unwanted Objects
  • Noise Removal
  • Detail Enhancement
  • More…

And, Luminar works on Windows and Mac, and as a plugin app for MacOS Photos, Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Lightroom Classic, and also can be used as a standalone application.

To see more of what Luminar 4 offers, Click here!

Pricing:

$40 discount on Luminar 4 and it’s amazing tools – Now priced $79 for new customers, $69 for previous version owners

$414 DISCOUNT on the Luminar Holiday Bag, – Now priced $129!

Including:

  • Luminar 4
  • Smugmug Pro Plan (regularly $250)
  • PDF Expert (regularly $80)
  • 1 year ViewBug Pro Membership (regularly $139)
  • 1 free Rocky Nook eBook (regularly $45)
  • 20 free prints from Parabo Press (regularly $10)

Skylum Luminar 4 Logot

Luminar 4 Structure AI has SO MANY Improvements!

Introducing the new AI Structure tool in Luminar 4. AI Structure is just one of several tools that received the power of artificial intelligence making it content-aware.

Watch how it automatically detects people in a photo and doesn’t over-process them. As a result, faces and skin look natural, while the objects around them look deeper and richer.

Existing Customers can purchase this pre-sale upgrade PLUS Inspiration Looks (a $49 value) for only $69 by clicking here.

NEW Customers Can pre-order Luminar 4 PLUS Inspiration Looks for only $79 (a $59 savings),
OR they can purchase Luminar 3 with a free upgrade to Luminar 4 on release PLUS the Inspiration looks for $99 by clicking here.

On1 Photo RAW 2019.5 Discount Ends May 15th!!

ON1 Photo RAW 2019.5 - The Best Alternative to Lightroom and Photoshop

$30 OFF On1 Photo RAW 2019.5!

By now, many of you may know WHY I suggested backing up your systems with older versions of Adobe software installed. Unfortunately, I was under NDA, so I could not disclose that as of a few days ago, Adobe has pulled ALL previous versions of the Creative Cloud Apps, leaving only this version and the last most recent version. In this case, leaving only last year’s and this years. An exception to this is InDesign, which, for a while will still offer access to older versions. While this doesn’t affect people who bought boxed versions of software (despite some technical difficulties in accessing the electronic download files at the moment), anyone who was using something from CS6 Subscription, to CC2017 are out of luck in ever restoring these versions, if necessary. This includes me – who started using the subscription model at CS6.

I know that Adobe is not doing this because they want to. I know they have a legal reason for doing so (which was not disclosed to us), but it goes against every promise Adobe made to it’s subscription users from the beginning – the promise that we’d have access to older versions at any time.

For people who have been balking about the subscription model, this has just added fuel to the fire.

The good news for those who need alternative software to Adobe’s Photoshop/Lightroom bundle, there are a few great alternatives. In a previous post, I revealed a discount from Skylum, on their Luminar offering.

But, On1 Photo RAW has extended it’s $30 off discount in it’s software until May 15th.

SO many features to list, but the new ones are:

  • Dual Mode — Easily undock the Browse Module from the Edit Module, use a second display, or make sales or client presentations on a projector or TV. The dual mode will allow photographers to customize how they want to work when browsing and editing photos.
  • Edit History — A full edit history will be added when working on photos. Each editing step will be viewable, along with the ability to roll-back and compare adjustments. Photographers can also revert to the beginning of the editing session.
  • Settings Applied Info — Photographers will be able to quickly view which modules, tools, and filters are applied to a photo. This non-linear approach will also allow photographers to double-click on a setting and jump straight to it for further adjustments.
  • Selective Sync — Enhanced granularity in which settings to apply when syncing your settings (or pasting and saving a preset) will be added. For example, photographers will be able to drill down and only apply a white balance adjustment. The ability to sync cropping, retouching and brush strokes between photos will also be included.
  • Hierarchical Keywords — The master keyword list will now support nesting keywords inside of other keywords. Nested keywords will allow photographers to organize keywords as they see fit. Importing a list of nested keywords from other apps like Adobe Lightroom® will also be supported.
  • Apple® Photos® Extension Enhancements — Integration with Apple Photos now supports the full raw data, improving adjustments to tone and color. It also supports re-editable non-destructive editing and more native ON1 Photo RAW features like layers, crop, and text.
  • First Launch Experience — If it is your first time using ON1 Photo RAW, there will be new walkthroughs to help you learn the basics. This will give photographers a running start and directs them where to learn more.
  • Tool Tips — Tool tip animations will be added to improve the usability and shorten the learning curve for each tool.
  • Layers Enhancements — Create a new canvas of any size or change the size of the existing canvas.
  • Text Tool Enhancements — Add a background color to a text box and control its opacity. Easily control the character and line spacing. New options also will allow photographers to duplicate and change the order of text boxes and automatically insert text from a photo’s metadata.
  • Performance Improvements — Zooming, panning, and brushing are now much faster. A new preview quality option can help increase performance on lower-end and integrated video cards as well. Export is now up to 10x faster when resizing or exporting a photo or photos already edited.
  • Local Adjustments — The Local Adjustments tools will be faster to brush and adjust.
  • Windows High-DPI — Support for high-dpi displays on Windows will be dramatically improved. The scaling of the fonts and controls will work much better, especially on 4k displays and laptops.
  • Keywording — Keywords will be easier to search, add, delete, and modify. Also, keywords are now case sensitive.
  • Soft Proofing in Resize — The soft-proofing feature will also be available in ON1 Resize (Genuine Fractals®).
  • Drag and Drop from Film Strip — Drag and drop photos from the film strip to add them as new layers.
  • Increased Thumbnail Size Range — The range of thumbnail size will be increased, so photographers can go all the way up to two giant thumbnails or down to tiny thumbnails to survey an entire folder.
  • Default Photo Location — Now control the default photo location in Browse. This is where ON1 Photo RAW will look to find photos instead of the Pictures folder.
  • Preview the Resize Algorithm — When using the Genuine Fractals algorithm, photographers will be able to preview the resulting quality at 100% zoom to more accurately adjust the options and sharpening.
  • Persistent Crop Preset State — The crop tool settings will be persistent and remembered across photos.
  • Search by Adjustments Added — Search for photos based on specific adjustments applied such as cropped, retouched, etc.
  • Update to Lightroom Migration — The Lightroom Migration tool will now migrate the pick and reject flags.
  • Added for Support New Cameras and Lenses
  • Many other under-the-hood bug fixes and performance improvements.

On1 Photo RAW works with RAW, jpg, psd, and so many more file formats, you OWN your license in perpetuity, and you can install it on up to 5 Windows and Mac Computers. Check it out, NOW!

Skylum Luminar 3.1 Sale Ends May 14, 2019

For those of you who want to get out of the Adobe software subscription plans and still use POWERFUL image editing software at a reasonable price for a license you own, please note that Skylum Luminar’s Spring Offer is ending in less than a week!

Don’t forget the pricing – and to add SGANS_DISC as your coupon code!

Despite the fact that Under pressure, Adobe has reconsidered it’s “test” of new pricing for it’s photography bundle and gone back to $9.99/mo for Photoshop/Lightroom, this is a serious consideration for photographers who want powerful image editing capabilities. One never knows what’ll happen in the future.

Adobe Hikes the Price of it’s Photography Plan – Some alternatives

Edit (5/8/19): Adobe appears to have succumbed to the pressure. They’ve currently withdrawn their price hike, for the moment.

On May 2nd, Petapixel posted a story about Adobe increasing the price of it’s Photography Plan from $9.99/mo to $19.99/mo. Doubling it’s price!

As you all know, I’m an Adobe person. I love the Adobe ecosystem, it’s offerings, and it’s power. Photoshop was my first “Adobe baby”, when I started using it at Version 2.5 (before layers were invented, let alone, editable text!). I am an Adobe Certified Instructor for Photoshop and an Adobe Community Professional.

However, I don’t know if this price increase is a great idea for Adobe, unless they’re comfortable losing their Photography customers. YES, paying into the subscription plan will keep you up to date on ALL the new features of Photoshop and Lightroom as they come up. YES, Photoshop is still the most powerful image editor out there, especially for people who want to create composites and compositions, include the ability to create video (and work with video clips), and work in 3D in their image editor. It has many graphic features not employed by it’s competitors in the image editing space. However, for those who are strictly focused on their photography, who want power and don’t care about Photoshop’s powerful design capabilities, their 3D, and their video options (and more), there are some AMAZINGLY POWERFUL Alternatives:


ON1 Photo Raw is about to release their 2019.5 version of their incredibly powerful image editing software. This software has functions that replace much of Lightroom, and Photoshop allowing Presets, Filters, Color Look-Up Tables, POWERFUL AI lead masking, retouching, layers, HDR, Panorama,World Class image resizing and more. On1 Photo Raw allows for:

  • Image organization and Editing
  • Working with any file type you throw at it: RAW, jpg, psd, png, and more
  • Installation on up to 5 computers, Mac or Windows
  • No Importing!
  • Direct migration from Lightroom (so you don’t lose the work you’ve done)
  • Tons of tutorials

On1 Photo Raw costs $63.99 (for upgrade), $79.99 Full Version, or $129.99 (including On1 Plus Pro – amazing support, free presets, and more). And you OWN the license – NO SUBSCRIPTION. Buy 2019.2 today, and you’ll receive the upgrade to 2019.5 for free, when it comes out.


Skylum is offering a Discount to their Luminar 3.1 application until May 14th.

Luminar 3.1 offers:

  • AI Image Enhancement (one click enhancements)
  • A Full-Featured Organizer and Editor (with keywording, labeling, rating and more)
  • Powerful Presets to use as they are, or to edit
  • Layers, Blends, Filters (50+), Masks
  • AI Sky Enhancer
  • AI Foliage Enhancer
  • Erase Unwanted Objects
  • Powerful Noise Reduction
  • Non-Destructive Photo Editing
  • Workspaces
  • Activation on up to 5 Computers – Windows or Mac

And, if you order before May 14th, you get a great discount, Plus “Photography 101” Video Course at a SERIOUS discount!

$60 Full Price ($50, with discount code: SGANS_DISC) – regular price $70
$69 including Photography 101 Video Course ($59, with discount code: SGANS_DISC) – regular price $169!
$129 including Aurora HDR and Photography 101 Video Course ($119, with discount code: SGANS_DISC) – regular price $268!

Again, you OWN the license – no subscriptions!


Affinity Photo is also a powerful alternative for Photoshop. And serif.com has created a strong ecosystem of their own – offering an Illustrator and an InDesign alternative as well. Affinity Photo can be purchased at $69.99 (Canadian dollars)

And for those of you who like to work with Donation-ware (FREE, but requesting donations), please take a look at GIMP – a powerful, cross-platform image editor at https://www.gimp.org

If you feel I left your favorite out of this list, please say something in the comments!

EDITED – Hold Off on Upgrading Lightroom CC – A Suggestion

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

 

MacPhun is now Officially SKYLUM – and they’re offering deals!

MacPhun Software has officially become SKYLUM. Over the years, their offerings have become renowned as extraordinary Photoshop Plugins and stand-alone Photo Editing Apps on BOTH platforms, so their new focus is to ensure that people know that the power of these apps are no longer strictly Mac-based (and haven’t been for some time!

Currently, they’re offering Purchase and Upgrade discounts on Luminar 2018 and Aurora HDR 2018, along with some excellent bonuses. But hurry – This offer is only valid from February 15 Through February 26, 2018

Luminar 2018

is a universal all-in-one photo app designed to offer everything a modern photographer needs for photo editing. Luminar features advanced controls that are easy to use. Intelligent filters like Accent AI make it easy to get a great-looking image in seconds. Users will also benefit from new intelligent filters and real-time noise removal. With default and custom adaptive workspaces tailored to match styles of shooting, and scores of one-click categorized presets, Luminar delivers a complete experience that avoids clutter and complexity. – Experience it today by clicking here.

See these sample Before and After photos, to see what you can accomplish with Luminar 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click Here To Download a Trial of Luminar 2018 

The Pricing on this deal is:

  • 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)

Included, are these bonuses:

  • 2 E-books from Andrew Gibson: “The Creative Photographer” and “Mastering Exposure”
  • Ultra Violet LUTs by Richard Harrington
  • Ultra Violet Preset Pack by Richard Harrington
  • Futuristic Preset Pack

 

 

Aurora HDR 2018

(voted Best Mac App of the Year)  is the world’s ultimate HDR photo solution, chock full of new tools and capabilities that will exceed your expectations. As a one-stop tool kit for casual and pro photographers alike, it’s versatile interface features a faster, more powerful, more feature-rich and satisfying experience than any other HDR software or combination of tools. Perfect for single shots or multiple-exposure brackets, Aurora HDR 2018 gives you the ultimate freedom to create.

See these sample Before and After photos, to see what you can accomplish with Aurora HDR 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Click here to download a Trial version of Aurora HDR 2018

The Pricing on this deal is:

  • Current users of Aurora HDR may upgrade for $59 ($49 with coupon code SGANS_DSC)

  • New users can purchase Aurora HDR 2018 for $99 ($89 with coupon code SGANS_DSC )

Included are these Bonuses:

  • “Accelerate Your Photography” Ebook by Anne McKinnell

  • Deep dive Video Tutorial from Trey Ratcliff

  • Warm & Beautiful Preset Pack (15 presets)

To Directly Purchase either of these offers, please visit:
Luminar 2018 February Offer

Aurora HDR 2018 February Offer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Update for Aurora HDR 2018

Macphun, soon to be changing their name to Skylum, has issued a new update to Aurora HDR 2018

Aurora HDR2018 and Luminar 2018 are designed to work together, with our without Photoshop, to enhance photographic images with powerful controls. Check out it out by clicking here, to see what these excellent applications can do, and how intuitive they are to work with.

AND, don’t forget – Luminar 2018 is STILL offered with a significant Black Friday discount of $49 ($39 with coupon code) for current users who want to upgrade, and $69 for new users ($59 with coupon code) – and remember, that coupon code is SGANS_DISC (enter code on checkout)

Here’s what’s new in the Aurora HDR 2018 v1.1.1 update:

Aurora HDR 2018 version 1.1.1 for MAC:

  • Added Luminar 2018 in plugin menu
  • Added “Expand All” feature for filters
  • Added support for Adobe Photoshop Elements 2018
  • Added amount slider for image presets in Batch Processing
  • Improved RAW, DNG support for several cameras including Nikon D850
  • Improved Touch Bar support
  • Improved Batch Processing UI
  • Improved UI and performance
  • Fixed localization issues
  • Fixed several issues related to macOS 10.10
  • Fixed colorspace mismatch issue with Adobe Photoshop plugin
  • Fixed saving issues with Adobe Lightroom plugin
  • Fixed DPI resolution issues on exporting files
Aurora HDR 2018 version 1.1.1 for Windows:
  • Added Luminosity Mask feature
  • Added Resize option to export dialog
  • Added hotkeys for main application modes, brush, zoom
  • Improved stability, particularly app crashes on exporting files
  • Improved UI and performance
  • Fixed issue with Adobe Photoshop plugin
  • Fixed image orientation issue

Getting the Update.

Aurora HDR 2018 is designed to receive all free software updates automatically. However, if for some reason this doesn’t occur, or you want to make sure you’re using the latest version:

  • For Mac choose “Check for updates” in the Aurora HDR 2018 menu in the upper left-hand corner (near the Apple logo).
  • For Windows choose “Check for Updates” in the Help menu of the top bar menu.