Automated masking still needs some human intervention. Removing the old sky between the moving spokes of the rear wheel of the motorcycle worked better than I expected, but not quite as well as I hoped. It worked perfectly, preserving wisps of the rider’s hair against the sky. The enhanced Perfect Brush in the toolbar simplifies masking out complex areas such as hair. Rather than selecting keep and drop colors, you select the Perfect Brush from the toolbar, position it over the color you want to remove, then press and hold the Control key (Windows) or Command key (Mac) while you brush. The masks in version 9 were as good as or better than those I also created in version 8, and the newer masking tools were quicker and more intuitive. But for tougher tests, I used photos with trees against the sky and a motocross rider against a bland California sky. Quick Mask, to easily remove simple backgrounds, is now available in Perfect Layers.įor simple masks, like replacing a boring sky with clouds in a mountain or desert landscape, the Quick Mask Tool is fine. Replacing them are the Quick Mask Tool and the Perfect Brush, along with a few of the masking tools in version 8. The Keep and Drop brushes with their tolerance settings, the Keep and Drop eyedroppers with their keep and drop color sets, and the Magic Brush Tool are gone. Masking functions (with significant changes) are incorporated into the Layers module in version 9.
DNG is available as an option, too, but I would prefer to not have my native RAW file format files changed to Photoshop or DNG files, even if all of the original file information is somehow preserved.Īnother major change in the Browse module is the loss of the Mask module tab from the toolbar. You can do this with the Batch module found in the File menu, and add metadata while importing, but RAW files are saved in the PSD file format, even when “Same as Source” is chosen as the file type for import. One quirk that I found occurs when using the Browse module to import RAW files from your camera or card reader. I would like to see a place for GPS data now that many cameras (and smartphones) have built-in GPS functionality. By selecting multiple images and entering in metadata, you can add IPTC data to all selected files. In addition, a right-hand panel now allows you to add metadata and keywords to an image. While retaining its ability to browse folders like Adobe Bridge, it adds Bridge and Lightroom-style functionality such as the ability to rate, rank, like or dislike, and sort images. The Browse module in version 9 has changed significantly. Users will be impressed by how quickly image previews display, even from very large RAW and TIFF files. Speed enhancements are present throughout this new version. There are significant changes to some modules in Perfect Photo Suite 9 and minimal or no changes in others.
The revised masking tools did an almost perfect job removing the background while preserving the rider’s hair and the bike’s detail, other than the moving spokes in the rear wheel. Both editions are compatible with Photoshop CS6, so you don’t have to subscribe to Creative Cloud if you need to take advantage of Photoshop features, such as text tools, vector shapes, multi-use paths, and 3D options that are not available in Perfect Photo Suite 9. The Basic edition functions as a standalone application while the Premium edition functions as a standalone and plug-in for Photoshop, Lightroom, Photoshop Elements and Apple Aperture. Now in Perfect Photo Suite 9, onOne has added Adobe Bridge and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom functionality along with other tools that mirror Photoshop functionality. With the release of Perfect Photo Suite 8, onOne has advanced closer to that goal with the introduction of Photoshop-compatible PSD files and layers.
Since the introduction of the Quick View Browser in Perfect Photo Suite 7.5, onOne Software seems bent on dethroning Adobe as the go-to post-production software of choice for advanced enthusiasts and professionals.