Ever since Apple discontinued Aperture back in 2015, Adobe’s Lightroom has been the go-to photo editor for amateur and professional photographers alike. And in the latest update, it just picked up a slew of new features that will make your photos look even better.
Using the power of AI, a new feature called Denoise will “remove digital noise from your images to improve quality without losing any details.” As Adobe explains, it’s especially useful when working with low-light photos, when noise and grain can overwhelm a photo. Adobe says Denoise uses AI and machine learning to deliver “natural-looking results with crisp edges, clean shadows, good preservation of texture and small colors, and minimal artifacts (like uneven splotches).”
The feature is compatible with Bayer and X-Trans mosaic RAW files, which doesn’t include Apple ProRaw DNG files, but Abobe says additional file types are coming soon. Lightroom already supports ProRaw for other functions.
Also new in Lightroom is the ability to automatically mask clothing and facial hair, a new Polished Portrait preset that “enables you to quickly smooth the skin on portraits, enhance the lighting, and refine facial features,” and a quick way to turn videos black and white. Finally, a new Curves in masking feature offers “fine control over tonality and color in specific regions of a photo to help you achieve the perfect look.”
The new features are part of the latest version of Lightroom, which is part of the Adobe Creative Cloud. It is available on a subscription basis for $9.99 a month or $19.99 a month with Photoshop.
Author: Michael Simon, Executive Editor
Michael Simon has been covering Apple since the iPod was the iWalk. His obsession with technology goes back to his first PC—the IBM Thinkpad with the lift-up keyboard for swapping out the drive. He's still waiting for that to come back in style tbh.