If you use presets in Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw, here’s a new approach to them that you may find interesting. Visual Flow’s “lighting condition-based development” is a new way of creating presets. As the name suggests, it takes into account lighting conditions in the images, which makes these presets different from others currently in the market. There’s also a retouching toolkit that lets you do all the retouching work in Lightroom and ACR. So, let’s jump right into these and see what they offer and how they work.
Visual Flow is the result of a collaboration between SLR Lounge and DVLOP. They have come up with “lighting condition-based development,” which is a patent-pending approach to image processing. So, how is it different from other presets you can buy or make yourself?
Well, the guys explain that most presets don’t work because:
- They only work in perfect lighting and weather conditions,
- they ignore color differences between camera makers,
- they require significant tweaks and adjustments,
- or they lack intuitive names and organization.
How do Visual Flow’s presets work?
SLR Lounge explains that image development starts with DVLOP’s camera profile technology. It “unifies raw files between camera makes/models and provides more consistent color toning through its use of Dual Illuminant Profiles.” Then, Visual Flow’s lighting condition-based development comes to the scene.
As the user, you need to identify the primary lighting condition in the image and then select the preset for that lighting condition. “The Visual Flow algorithms take over and apply the Color Engine while correcting it to the selected lighting condition.” This means that Visual Flow presets are practically a one-click solution we’ve always wanted to get with presets (but to be honest, we never have. At least so far).
Here are a few examples of images before and after editing. All of them were edited in Lightroom, and most of them with just one click, according to Visual Flow’s website:
Backlight preset
Soft light preset
Hard light preset
Retouching Toolkit
Other than the innovative presets, Visual Flow has also launched a retouching toolkit for Lightroom and ACR. There are 47 retouching brushes and 26 tools for advanced editing directly in Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw.
What does this mean for photographers? Well, things you used to do in Photoshop can now be done in Lightroom or ACR. You can retouch skin, eyes, and lips, dodge and burn; add sun flares; enhance skies; and more. I personally love this, because I prefer working in Lightroom only and I miss some of these things, I have to open Images in Photoshop to do them properly.
Again, here are a few before/after examples:
Dodge and burn
Sun flare
If you’re interested, you can get three different packs on Visual Flow’s website. They contain presets and/or retouching toolkit, and they’re priced between $95 and $165. You can also check out more photos on Instagram.
[via SLR Lounge]
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