Zoner Photo Studio X, a popular photo and video editing application, has been improved in vital ways, including processing images optimized for HDR displays, Zoner announced today. Current users can download the latest version at no additional cost.

According to Zoner’s Thomas Urban, the most significant enrichment of Zoner Photo Studio X leverages true HDR technology that’s baked into advanced monitors. It’s not the multi-image HDR that may first come to mind.

“No — not the old, over-processed bracketing technique that has been called HDR up until now,” Urban explained. “True HDR technology can display a greater dynamic range of light and gets the maximum brightness, detail and emotion from your photos. You’ve never been closer to reality than with HDR and ZPS X.”

A deeper explanation of true HDR can be found on Zoner’s website. Quoting from that article, “True HDR photography is a new way to use technical advances in display technology to show high dynamic range and details that are closer to reality.”

According to Urban, Zoner Photo Studio X is among the first photo editing applications to include support for true HDR. In fact, he told us, ZPS X includes the most comprehensive support for true HDR formats and the highest comfort for editing true HDR photos. The software update has been thoroughly tested on dozens of different monitors supporting true HDR. The only slight downside: it will be necessary to calibrate your HDR monitor as well as ZPS X for accurate results.

Users can present their HDR work fully on Zonerama, Zoner’s online storage and sharing platform that’s free to all. Zonerama has been able to handle HDR content since June of 2023.

Other enhancements to Zoner Photo Studio X include the ability to create unique editing styles with new Develop Module effects. The Glow Effect brightens highlights, making images more dynamic and while emphasizing lens flare. The Halation Effect adds a retro feel to images by adding a subtle glow around objects.

Additional improvements comprise 3D LUT manipulation, color fringe control, new keyboard shortcuts and new features for the video module.  Users can now choose from 36 customizable video transitions, add timestamps while editing video and improved keyframing.

Zoner Photo Studio X is billed as a powerful yet affordable alternative to Lightroom and Photoshop for Windows users. ZPS X consists of five modules that enable users to switch operations without leaving the software platform. The modules are used to perform organization, basic editing, advanced editing, printing and video editing.

Zoner Photo Studio costs $59 per year or $5.99 monthly. Users can download the full version on a 7-day Free Trial basis. ZPS X supports Windows 10 and 11.

∞ Shutterbug Staff

Every so often we all take things too far when making adjustments in Photoshop, and some photographers cancel the enhancement and begin again. But what if we told you there are “hidden undo sliders” that enable you to backtrack your steps incrementally rather than starting over?

In this tutorial from the globally popular PiXimperfect YouTube channel you’ll discover five easy methods for taking a partial step back to modulate the heavy-handed adjustments you just made. Or as instructor Unmesh Dinda puts it: “take a half step back.”

Dinda has over five million subscribers to his channel, and he’s a favorite among Shutterbug readers who appreciate the thorough-yet-concise manner in which he imparts his wisdom. If you never realized you had access to a handful of undo sliders, this episode will quickly bring you up to speed.

The first method Dinda reveals involves using Photoshop’s Fade command to dial things back when editing a portrait photo. And like with his other four tips, he provides keyboard shortcuts that accelerate the process. The problem with this shot occurred when Dinda used a selection to remove bags under the subject’s eyes, but his initial adjustments were excessive.

Another technique, applied to a different portrait image is simply reducing Opacity, and this method works great when you go overboard with color grading and overlays. Here Dinda hovers over the Opacity tab and drags it to left the until the effect looks really good. He also explains the settings required for this particular task.

Adjusting Smart Filter Opacity is another effective method when you want incremental control over reducing various enhancements instead of starting over from scratch. This technique sounds similar to the previous one, but as you see it’s quite different. He uses this method to quickly and efficiently perfect adjustments he made to his shot of a bulldog in the forest.

The are two remaining methods described in the video; one using Mask Density and the other employing Reconstruct in Liquify. All five techniques will save you plenty of time by backing off adjustments that smack you in the face.

Once you’re done watching pay a visit to Dinda’s  instructional YouTube channel that contains a treasure trove of lessons on powerful image-editing techniques.

And on a related note, be sure to check out the tutorial we posted from another post-process expert ho demonstrates why excessive post processing can ruin images with an unrealistic result, and how to do things properly from the get-go.

Experienced landscape photographers often use a technique known as “focal-length blending” to create interesting wide-angle compositions. In this 12-minute tutorial you’ll learn how easy it is to get the job done—both in the field and in Photoshop.

In simple terms, the method works like this: You’ll shoot a couple images at different focal length and then blend them together during post processing. Instructor Austin James Jackson, a Utah based pro, explains the compositing process like this: “Think of it like a focus stack where you’re blending multiple images, but instead of focusing on different spots you’re actually zooming in and out and blending multiple focal lengths.”

This may sound crazy, but it really works when photographing certain scenes like the example in this lesson. As you’ll see, Jackson’s expansive vista was captured with a very wide lens, which deemphasized a key element in the frame. By taking this approach to make this subject a bit larger the final image is significantly improved.

Jackson’s desert scene has a clump of colorful flowers very close to the camera, and a small distracting bush a bit further back on the ride side of the frame. The bush is sort of ugly and adds nothing of value to the photo, so he eliminates if from the composition before concentrating on the flowers.

According to Jackson, the focal-length blending technique works best with images that have a lot of negative space in the midground. He’s shooting at f/9 and making sure each of the images are properly focused for what follows. It’s important to have your camera mounted on a tripod when using this approach.

Jackson demonstrates why it’s not necessary to make a huge change in focal length when zooming in on the subject between shots. You also must be mindful of not getting in so tight that part of the key subject falls outside the frame. In his example, a change of just 11mm makes a huge difference.

Once you’ve captured the necessary photos it’s time to upload them to the computer, open them in Photoshop, and blend them together to create one amazing and very realistic landscape image. If you also focus stacked the images it’s important to handle that first before jumping into the focal length blend.

Jackson walks you through every step of the straightforward process that’s accessible to Photoshop users of all skills levels. For this demonstration he only captured two shots that need to be merged—each at a slightly different focal length setting.

We think you’ll be duly impressed when you compare the before/after images. Then head over to Jackson’s very popular YouTube channel for more eye-opening lessons like this one.

And don’t miss the tutorial we posted recently form another accomplished pro who demonstrates how to master Photoshop’s powerful Clone Stamp tool in barely two minutes.