Editor’s Choice! Anthropics Portrait Pro 17

Now in version 17.5.1, Anthropics’ Portrait Pro editing software has been updated with some interesting and useful features including Snapshots, which allows you to save an image during the editing process and then revert back to the same stage. You can also edit image backgrounds and access more makeup options, among other things. Portrait Pro is available in two versions: Studio and Studio Max (the latter with batch processing).

Price: $80+
portraitprofessional.com

Fundy Designer 2018

With this latest release, Fundy Software has made some major updates by adding Card Designer to its suites, along with a number of pre-designed cards like save-the-dates and baby announcements. Also newly launched is the company’s cloud-based Design Library, a portion of which will be free for all users; other assets will require a subscription. The Design Library assets include hand-lettered card designs, album design sets and more. The update is free for Lite, Album or Pro Suite users (upgrade pricing is available for owners of previous suites).

Price: $249+
fundydesigner.com

Iris Works + Booking

Iris Works studio management software has added a great new feature to streamline the booking process and, at the same time, ensure efficiency. With + Booking, you can send the user a dynamic link with a series of potential scheduling times. Once the client selects a time, their session will be scheduled and whatever type of workflow and reminders the photographer has implemented for that type of shoot will kick into gear. The new feature will be an additional $10/month (with a 15% discount when billed annually).

Price: $25+/month or $270/year
iris-works.com

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC

Lightroom users now have dual options for their workflow: Lightroom CC and the original Lightroom Classic. The “new” Lightroom CC provides some interesting features including automatic file backup, automatic tagging and intelligent search. While Lightroom Classic is desktop only, Lightroom CC allows users to work on the desktop, mobile devices and the web. You get both versions, along with Photoshop CC and 20GB of Cloud photo storage, as part of the $9.99/month photography plan.

Price: $9.99/month
adobe.com

Excire Search/Search Pro

Using AI, this Lightroom plugin makes short work of finding images by automatically adding keywords, using facial recognition and deep learning technologies. It’s available in two versions: the simple Search uses 125 keywords and Search Pro, a more sophisticated version, uses 500 keywords. The latter is best for pros with large catalogs and a need for more refined keywords. It’s an interesting and useful plug-in that promises to ease the organizational pain we sometimes experience.

Price: $69+
excire.com

Phase One Capture One 11

Capture One version 11 has expanded its features and functionality with additions such as the ability to add notes directly to an image (ideal when sending a file to a retoucher). You’ll also find Lab readouts, the ability to use levels and color balance as a layer adjustment. And that’s just scratching the surface. Update to Version 11.1 for a new Normalize tool, new shortcuts and a number of other enhancements.

Price: $20+/month or $299 (full license)
phaseone.com

Corel PhotoMirage

Adding motion to a still image can be a little complicated and expensive. But Corel’s new PhotoMirage makes it drag-and-drop simple to animate an image, and it doesn’t require a subscription. Once you’ve placed your anchor points, you can adjust the motion points and automatically tweak image attributes. The software is Windows-compatible but images are exported in MPR, WMV or GIF formats so they can be easily shared and viewed.

Price: $70
corel.com

ON1 Photo Raw 2018.5

Tons of improvements have been made to ON1 Photo Raw, including the ability to choose non-destructive camera profiles such as Natural, Portrait and Landscape. You can also add Color LUTs (look up tables) inside of Effects—ON1 even bundles lots of LUTs in the software. With this free-for-version-2018 users update, you’ll also get improved performance, nested albums, nested presets, the ability to export in the background and much, much more.

Price: $100 (upgrade), $120 (new)
on1.com

Related: Eight Awesome Apps and Plugins for Beauty Portrait Photography

The Hidden Gems in 22 Different Workflow Programs

12 Impressive Pieces of Photo Gear That Just Hit The Market