Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
Other highlights include advanced keystone correction tools in the composition work pane, and a host of focus, sharpening, noise reduction, film grain, moire and spot removal tools in the details pane. A separate pane enables local adjustments for selected areas of images, based on a somewhat rudimentary layers system. It combines the main tools from various other panes, making them available for localised adjustments. However, it falls a long way short of the advanced layer facilities in programs like Photoshop.
Once you've made all your non-destructive edits and adjustments, you naturally need to export the image file so that it can be viewed elsewhere. Various file formats are on offer, including JPEG, TIFF, PSD and PNG. Rescaling options are also available, helping to retain utmost image quality when resizing images. You can also elect to open an exported image directly with another editing program, like Photoshop CC. Conversions from raw files to the image format of your choice are very swift, and the program makes light of big batch conversions.
Verdict
Capture One Pro 9 is a seriously compelling alternative to Adobe Lightroom. It has very good organizational abilities for cataloguing and indexing collections of image files, but its main strength is in the power and finesse of its raw processing tools. On the other hand, its layer system is very basic and no match for that of, say, Photoshop CC.
Capture One Pro 9 doesn't come cheap either, with options to buy the program outright at £246/$299, or sign up to a subscription costing £10.60/$15 per month. That's more expensive than the Adobe Photography plan that includes both Photoshop CC and Lightroom CC. It's also a lot pricier than another of its close rivals, DxO OpticsPro 10 Elite.
Ultimately though, the sheer quality of the program makes it worth the outlay. And if you're a Sony shooter, you can enjoy a cut-down 'Express' version of the software for free.
See also:
