I evaluated the following digital photography tools, almost all of which are available in Mac and Windows versions. Universal RAW file support, easy metadata review with fast mass embedding, templates for often repeated information, batch renaming and basic image toning that’s easily applied to groups of photos.Īn image editor must support layers and channels, offer intuitive masking, selection and feathering tools, tone and colour adjustment, metadata access and Photoshop standard plug-in support.
There are features that any new image editing and management software must have for me ( Why I’m doing this).įor a browser, fast previews of large datasets of images are my first requirement, followed closely by clear-cut tagging systems for sorting. So, how do you replace Photoshop and Lightroom/Bridge in 2018? It also gives me control over each vector node or point.Above: Luminar 2018. Affinity DesignerĪffinity Designer differs from Procreate and Paper in that it allows me to create and export vector illustrations or designs. But for beginners, I’d recommend watching tutorials and other artists to get the hang of all the hidden features. Overall, Procreate is fantastic software for digital drawing and sketching. Some of the functionality, specifically around finger gestures, is so hidden I only discovered it watching other people sketching. I’ve been using it for a few months and am still discovering new functionality. The downside of Procreate is its steep learning curve. Procreate does a fantastic job pairing with the Apple pencil to get a variety of textures and depths, much like using a real pencil on paper. It offers all sorts of functionality for digital sketching and art, including brushes, layers, and several hand gestures that can be used instead of the stylus. Procreate is touted as one of the best sketching apps on iPad. In addition, because Paper lacks some of the more advanced functionality of tools like Procreate and Affinity Designer, it’s easier to focus on the content of a wireframe rather than layers, custom brushes, or creating a pixel-perfect design. My favorite “brush” to use for prototyping is one that snaps your slightly wiggly lines or uneven circles into straight lines, rectangles, and circles. I’ve been a fan of Paper since it’s FiftyThree days, but the reason I continue to use it for wireframing is that it comes with web and mobile templates in-app, as well as storyboarding templates.
It has a limited number of brush/pen options (some are only available with Paper Pro), plus cut/paste and duplicate functionality. Paper is an application that lets you sketch ideas in a journal-like format.
Paper by WeTransferįree, optional Paper Pro $11.99/year ( App store) My top three are Paper, Procreate, and Affinity Designer. Luckily, there are now several applications for iPad that let you sketch and create quickly (typically with a stylus or Apple Pencil), and allow easy digital export. However, it can be a pain to get a paper sketch to a client! There are similar frustrations if you are sketching for fun and have no way to capture the physical sketch. As a designer, I often have opportunities to sketch out ideas for clients – I might be in the wireframing stage of the design and want to get ideas on paper quickly, or I might need to create a logo or illustration.