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Alien Skin Releases Exposure X4
24 September 2018
Alien Skin has released Exposure X4, a major update to its image editing software, featuring improved highlight/shadow recovery, adjustable light effects, perspective control, monitored folders for tethered shooting, smart collections and more.
"Exposure continues to grow, with Exposure X4 giving photographers more creative control over their edits and enabling them to achieve the very best quality possible from their Raw files," said Alien Skin CEO Finley Lee. "It's the fastest, most intuitive way for photographers to create beautiful images."
HIGHLIGHTS
Highlights of the new release include:
- Improved shadow and highlight recovery to extract the maximum amount of detail from Raw images
- Complete control of the placement and rotation of Exposure's light effects
- New transform tools to easily correct tilted or skewed perspective
- Monitored folders for tethered shooting
- Smart collections automatically populate collections based on camera metadata and other criteria you specify
- File exports are now up to 60 percent faster, image rendering is up to 30 percent faster and launch times have been reduced by a third
Additional enhancements include:
- New print presets for standard paper sizes
- A Lightroom migration tool that brings Lightroom organizational metadata such as keywords and ratings into Exposure
- Ability to inspect RGB values at any position in a photo
- Expanded workflow options for image copying and exporting
- Support for additional cameras and lenses, including popular models from Fujifilm, Canon, Sigma, Sony, Nikon and Olympus
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
System requirements for Exposure X4 include:
- Apple macOS X 10.10 Yosemite or newer
- Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit or newer
- An Intel Core 2 processor or compatible
- A monitor with 1280 x 768 resolution or greater
It is plug-in compatible with:
- Adobe Photoshop CS6 or Adobe Photoshop CC 2015 or newer
- Adobe Lightroom 6 or Adobe Lightroom CC 2015 or newer
TEST DRIVE
We opened a couple of recent images in Exposure X4 to test a couple of specific new features: the expanded dynamic range and the new transform tools.
Dynamic Range. Our recent shot looking west up California St. crossing Montgomery is a challenging image because the tonal range climbs from the deep shadows in the canyons of the skyscrapers (where no light ever shines) to the bright sky preparing for the sun to set.
Without even touching a slider, Exposure X4 brought up an acceptable rendering. Then we played around with it a bit to optimize the tonal rendering. And we liked what we saw.
We haven't processed this particular image in any other image editing software yet so it will be interesting to compare a rendering in Camera Raw, for example. Stay tuned.
Transform. Our experience with the new transform tools was less successful. We processed this image and one other with the sliders to try to get parallel verticals but were only partially successful.
We did indeed make improvements but we didn't get where we usually get with Lightroom's Guided perspective control which lets us draw lines on the image which we want to see parallel. In Exposure X4 there are only sliders and on our system they were not smooth.
But we're very glad to see the capability arriving in Exposure. It's become a surprisingly essential edit to images we might never have thought to use it on before.
Output Sharpening. Having pined for Export output sharpening since the first release, we're pleased to see it here. But we also downloaded an update to Exposure X3 today and noticed it is available there as well.
So it snuck by us but we're glad to see it.
PRICE, AVAILABILITY
Exposure X4 is available now from Alien Skin for $149 new and upgrades for owners of previous versions for $99.
Exposure X4 is also available in the Exposure X4 Bundle which includes Blow Up and Snap Art tools for $199. Owners of one or more of the current apps in the Exposure X3 Bundle can update for $119.
A 30-day fully-featured free trial of Exposure is also available.
Alien Skin Software Announces Exposure X4, Advanced Raw Photo Editor for Photographers
Exposure X4 includes improved highlight/shadow recovery -- fully adjustable light effects -- perspective and keystone correction -- monitored folders for tethered shooting -- smart collections -- speed boosts
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Alien Skin Software today announced the release of Exposure X4, the latest version of their award-winning Raw photo editor and organizer. Exposure is a non-destructive photo editor that enables photographers to create beautiful images and complete their full workflow. It is a subscription-free solution that is the choice of today's most accomplished creative photographers.
This release of Exposure X4 introduces significant new enhancements.
Improved shadow and highlight recovery enables photographers to extract the maximum amount of detail from their Raw images and faster photo processing times speed up their editing.
Photographers now have complete control of the placement and rotation of Exposure's high-quality light effects. This makes it possible to precisely place natural-looking effects like sun rays and light leaks in an image, enabling gorgeous new creative looks.
The new transform tools enable photographers to easily correct tilted or skewed perspective, such as keystoning of buildings in architectural photography.
The addition of monitored folders for tethered shooting is great news for studio photographers, who can now edit, cull and share images from Exposure during a shoot.
Smart collections make use of Exposure's robust metadata handling to automatically populate collections based on camera metadata and criteria that photographers specify. Keywords, ratings, folder location and shutter speed are among the metadata that Exposure can query to build a smart collection. This helps to automate the process of image organization, enabling photographers to focus on creative choices.
Exposure's already considerable speed gets a boost with several ways: file exports are now up to 60 percent faster, image rendering is up to 30 percent faster and launch times have been reduced by a third.
Additional enhancements include the following:
- New print presets for standard paper sizes, making it easy to print photos directly from Exposure
- A Lightroom migration tool that brings Lightroom organizational metadata such as keywords and ratings into Exposure, helping those who want to use existing photo libraries with Exposure
- Ability to inspect RGB values at any position in a photo, for accurate color correction and color grading
- Expanded workflow options for image copying and exporting
- Support for additional cameras and lenses, including popular models from Fujifilm, Canon, Sigma, Sony, Nikon and Olympus
"Exposure continues to grow, with Exposure X4 giving photographers more creative control over their edits and enabling them to achieve the very best quality possible from their Raw files," said Alien Skin CEO Finley Lee. "It's the fastest, most intuitive way for photographers to create beautiful images."
Pricing and Availability
Exposure X4 is available now from http://www.alienskin.com for $149. Upgrade pricing is available to owners of previous versions of Exposure for $99.
Exposure X4 is also available in the Exposure X4 Bundle. This integrated collection bundles Exposure with Alien Skin's award-winning Blow Up and Snap Art tools to add high-quality upsizing and natural media special effects. It is available for $199. Owners of one or more of the current apps in the Exposure X3 Bundle can purchase for $119.
A 30-day fully-featured free trial of Exposure is available. Visit http://www.alienskin.com/exposure to learn more and download the trial.
