These photo editing tools will make your life in post easier, and will help improve your final edits.
We all love to look at new cameras and new lenses, and many of us believe new gear will help us produce better images. While that may be true to some degree, apart from knowing basic things like understanding how to compose and how to light, knowing how to edit your images and using the right tools for the job is just as important when it comes to creating great photos. Here we will take a look at four photo editing tools that will make your life so much easier when it comes to editing your images.
These four photo editing tools will seriously help you when it comes to creating better images in post. Photo editing software can be a real pain, and remembering all of the different keyboard commands can be a nightmare. Having a good display is also vital. Making sure it is properly color calibrated, so the colors are accurate is critical, especially if you plan on printing. Editing tiny details and doing things like skin retouching can also be time-consuming with a mouse. The photo editing accessories listed here will help solve all of those problems and then some. Take a look at four of our favorite photo editing tools below.
The Loupedeck+
Here are the pros and cons from our review:
Pros
- Improved build quality compared to the first generation Loupedeck
- Mechanical keys provide much better tactile feedback
- Significantly more customizable than the original
Cons
- Lacks basic tilt adjustments
- No wireless connectivity option and cable is non-removable
Buy now ($249): Adorama
Pro Tip: The photography accessories listed here will make your life in post much easier. Soon you will be ripping through your images in Capture One Pro, Lightroom, or Photoshop at the speed of light, But did you know that presets and style packs can make your life even easier? Presets, actions, and style packs can give you the looks you want with a single click of the mouse, and then you can tweak them to your heart’s content. This style pack for Capture One, these presets for Lightroom, and this bundle of actions for Photoshop are packed with tons of great styles, and they’re super affordable too.
The BenQ SW 271 Display
Here are the pros and cons from our review:
Pros
- Screen space – large but not too large.
- Large color gamut.
- 10-bit color depth capable if using DisplayPort or HDMI (with HDMI 2.0 cables).
- Easy to calibrate and profile.
- Ability to create 3D 8-bit or 14-bit LUT as well as matrix profiles when using BenQ’s Palette Master Element software.
- Hotkeys puck for switching between sRGB and Adobe RGB (1998) emulations and black and white mode.
- Gamut Duo function allows you to do a side by side comparison of how an image is rendered in sRGB (1998) compares to Adobe RGB (1998) before you publish it or send it to a client.
- High resolution. 3840×2169 pixels (4K) in a 16:9 aspect ratio.
- A plethora of input options: Display Port, HDMI, and USB Type-C.
- Easy to set up and adjust for the right height and viewing angle.
- Price compared to the competition.
Cons
- No Thunderbolt 3
- A little pricey
Buy now ($1,099): Adorama
Datacolor SpyderX Elite
Here are the pros and cons from our review:
Pros
- We like the design with the lens addition
- White matches lots of Apple’s products
- Works more or less the same
- We like the fact that it now has soft proofing and tablet preview
- ReCalibration is incredibly fast
- This is the fastest Spyder yet
- We had concerns about the lens getting dirty and affecting calibration, but those were put at ease
Cons
- Old USB style
- No Bluetooth connectivity
- It’s still mostly the same product as before
- The software could use a serious graphical and design update
Buy now ($269.99): Adorama
Pro Tip: Photography accessories like the ones listed here will help you no matter what, but to really get the most out of your images, you need to know your editing software inside-out. If you only know how to adjust the basics, your pictures will never look their best. Fortunately, there are now a ton of really fantastic guides and tutorials that can help you understand all of the features of your software. This guide for Capture One Pro 12 is one of the best around, and these complete tutorials for Lightroom and Photoshop will help you get the most out of your software and images.
Wacom Intuos Pro Creative Pen Tablet – Small
Here are the pros and cons from our review:
Pros
- Small and lightweight makes it easy to travel with, and it doesn’t take up much desk space
- Pleasant to use and makes editing fine details easier thank to the 8,192 levels of pressure
- The Bluetooth connection makes setup clutter and cord-free
- Pro Pen is incredibly comfortable to use and offers levels of control that will delight
- Designed for both left and right-handed content creators
- Great battery life
- Works with all major photo editing suites such as Photoshop, Lightroom, and Capture One
Cons
- Initial setup takes a while as you need to input commands and keystroke manually
- Overall, the software is not the most user-friendly program you’ll find
- The plastic used on the tablet is a fingerprint and grease magnet
- The pen stand that houses the extra tips can be hard to open
Buy now ($249.95): Adorama