PhotoWorks

Pros

• Versatile image editing
• Selective color processing
• Convenient slider controls
• Supports RAW image files
• Features 80+ filter effects

Cons

• There are other, equally capable competitors

Photoworks is a versatile image editing program. So, if an aspiring photographer's skills need a helping hand, this software will rescue the shot. Add captions, crop awkwardly composed images, color correct dull snapshots, or turn a poorly lit selfie into a portrait-quality photograph, all with Photoworks. Importantly, loaded with all of this pixel manipulating finery, the feature-rich software package still promotes a smooth and intuitive image processing workflow.

The intelligent shot processing sections of the Photoworks window are arranged into five discrete panels. Up top, drop-down menus move from left to right. Left and middle, there's the main photograph panel. The image is updated in real-time here so that the changes can be seen instantly. An adjustments panel and image information window can be found on the far right. From here, the image histogram is accessed and color corrections are entered on a group of sliders. Further refining the controls, there are clickable blocks with handy labels. Print or save, magnify or rotate, those image alterations are entered by mouse-down actions on clearly labeled buttons.

All common snapshot errors are addressed here, so an under or overexposed photograph can receive treatment via the luminance sliders. For the selective color correction tool, a single hue can be locked into the slider. Then, when the slider is moved, only that color is altered, not the neighboring color groups. This fine-tuning tool can be deselected so that the entire image falls under the editing controllers. Hue, color saturation, luminance, all three of the tabbed editing panels live on the far right side of the image processing interface. They do cause large changes to images tones, but it only takes a click of the Undo button to reverse those edits. Alternatively, the Before and After preview window provides visual cues. Using this mode, image editing hobbyists can clearly see whether the digital tweaks have improved the original shot.

Pro-level photograph processing tools are also featured within the Photoworks toolset. There are editing brushes, which selectively whiten teeth, remove skin blemishes, or erase redeye. And, for those snapshot enthusiasts who own multiple lenses, as found on DSLR (Digital Single-lens Reflex) cameras, a distortion correcting tool will make short work of such imaging errors. Of course, the tools are designed to improve photographs, to sharpen or otherwise clarify poorly captured shots, but the Photoworks software package also encourages artistic flair. The program has access to over 80 photo filter effects, each of which activates with one-click simplicity. Using this tool and a handful of others, photographs can be manipulated in many creative and entertaining ways.

Among the editing tools, there's the crop function, sepia or black and white toning, an HDR mode, vignettes, captions, composition tools, and watermarks, all of which can be applied non-destructively

Pros

• Versatile image editing
• Selective color processing
• Convenient slider controls
• Supports RAW image files
• Features 80+ filter effects

Cons

• There are other, equally capable competitors