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Your top 10 questions about migrating from Lightroom

NOTE: This article discusses an older version of Capture One Pro. To learn more about our latest version, click here.

1. What is the main difference between Lightroom and Capture One?

Both Lightroom and Capture One are RAW editors – photo editing software where you can process, sort and edit RAW camera files before exporting them as a JPEG for print, online or social media.

Capture One is designed with feedback from photographers and offers more adjustment and organizing possibilities for your photos – which is why it’s loved by professionals and studios worldwide.

For a detailed comparison, check out this guide.

2. How do you migrate a Catalog from Lightroom to Capture One?

We’ve made that process as easy as possible. Simply go to Files > Import Catalog and choose “Lightroom Catalog.” It’s important that you follow this step before exporting your Collection in Lightroom as a Catalog.

Watch this quick video on the migration process

3. Is it easy to switch from Lightroom to Capture One?

With free tutorials, guides and webinars, you’ll master Capture One in no time. Our Learning Hub is packed with free resources dedicated to migrating your photo editing software – just click on “Switching from Lightroom” at learn.captureone.com.

Capture One also offers a fully customizable workspace, so you can arrange tools any way you want. That means you can design your Capture One interface to look just like your Lightroom workspace.

To create a Lightroom-style workspace, go to: Window > Workspace > Migration.

4. Does Capture One have a Spot Removal tool?

Capture One’s flexible Spot Removal tool gives you several different options – use it in Dust Mode to remove dust from the sky or other plain backgrounds. Or, remove bigger and more complicated spots using Spot Mode.

Check out this guide to the Spot Removal Tool

5. What is the difference between Catalogs and Sessions?

Catalogs and Sessions let you organize your photos based on projects or themes – the choice is yours.

Sessions offer a workflow based on folders, making them ideal for quickly editing a few images, or organizing individual projects within a folder structure. Users can browse any folder on their computer without importing the images.

Like in Lightroom, Catalogs are a database-driven workflow. They’re ideal for organizing bigger projects and long-term organizing. Users can edit ‘offline files’ (smart previews).

Check out this webinar to discover whether Catalogs or Sessions suit your workflow best

6. What are Styles?

What you know as Presets in Lightroom are called Styles in Capture One – instant looks that transform image elements like brightness and contrast.

Each Style Pack includes several different Styles inspired by a specific theme or aesthetic, like vintage film looks or seasonal colors. Many of our Style Packs are developed in collaboration with leading photographers, so it’s easy to recreate their professional aesthetic in a single click.

All Capture One versions come with three built-in Style Packs, completely free.

See our short guide on using Styles

7. What are Process Recipes in Capture One?

Process Recipes in Capture One allow you to export images in different sizes and formats all at once. Unlike Lightroom, this allows you to export images for social media, print and web at the same time – making the export process much faster.

Check out this quick guide to Process Recipes

8. Why are Capture One’s color tools special?

The Color Balance Tool is a powerful, easy-to-use tool which allows you to create the precise color grading you want. Using the Master Wheel, you can edit colors across all aspects of your image, or focus your color editing on Shadows, Midtones and Highlights.

Check out this tutorial on the Color Balance Tool

9. How do I edit skin tones in Capture One?

For more advanced color editing, the Color Editor allows you to separate your colors with the Color Picker Tool or focus specifically on skin colors – you can then adjust the Smoothness, Amount and Uniformity of your selected skin tone to achieve the perfect look.

Check out this guide on achieving perfect skin tones

10. Which Capture One is right for me?

Capture One is available in different software versions, depending your camera:

Capture One Pro is the complete photo editing software solution. It works with files from all major camera brands.

Capture One Express is for Fujifilm users. It’s a free photo editing software with basic editing tools and auto adjustments to get you started.

capture one raw photo editor webinar editing with Reverie styles Lukas Piatek

Editing with Reverie Styles with Lukas Piatek

‘Reverie Styles’ is the first Capture One Style Pack from LOOKSLIKEFILM, meticulously curated and refined by LOOKSLIKEFILM founder, Lukas Piatek.

The Styles’ color palette is very adaptable, and pairs just as beautifully with moody cinematic edits as with clean, film-like looks.

Lukas, will join David in a informative and interactive webinar to show you how to get the best out of Reverie Styles on your photos.

✓How Reverie Styles work with Capture One
✓Practical help to get the best results with your photos
✓Inspiration from Lukas

Length: 60:00 minutes

Download a 30-day trial of Capture One Pro.

Styles – one click magic

NOTE: This article discusses an older version of Capture One Pro. To learn more about our latest version, click here.

On Instagram, you apply filters to give your images a certain look – in other image editing software they’re known as presets. In Capture One, we call them Styles – instant looks that transform image elements like brightness and contrast in different ways. Simply select an image, apply a Style that suits your vision, hit export and voila.

Here’s a quick run-down of how Styles work:

What are Style Packs?

Styles are available in Style Packs. Each pack includes several different Styles inspired by a theme or specific aesthetic. For example, the Spring Style Pack is loaded with Styles inspired by spring colors.

Both Capture One Express and Capture One Pro come with three built-in Style Packs – completely free. That means you can begin applying Styles to your photos straight away.

For even more looks, browse the Capture One store for Style Packs developed by leading photographers, who each bring their unique aesthetic to Capture One. From looks inspired by vintage film cameras, sun-kissed landscapes or black-and-white photography, there’s a Style Pack to suit everyone and every image.

How to install Styles

Now it’s time to get working with Styles. Installing individual Styles or Style Packs to your Capture One photo editing software is simple, here’s how:

After purchasing and downloading Styles from the Capture One store, go to Adjustments > Styles > Import Styles and select the Style Pack from your downloads folder or other destination.

Or, open Capture One and drag-drop the downloaded Styles or Style Pack into the application window.

Applying Styles to your photos

Applying a Style to your photo is just as easy. Simply go to the Adjustments menu, select Styles and choose from Built-in Styles (your free built-in Style Packs) or User Styles (your purchased Styles.)

NOTE: This screenshot is from an older version of Capture One, some tools might look different in the newest version.

Below are some examples of images before and after applying Styles. The photos on the left-hand side are imported directly from the camera without any tweaks, while the second image has a Style applied. Look at the difference – in just one click, my photos come alive and are ready to share.

You can find the name of the specific Style I used under each image.

Before and after applying Film FL021 Style

Before and after applying Latitude Sunbound SB02 Style

Before and after applying Seasonal SN01 Style

Before and after applying Black and White BW07 Style

It’s as simple as that! Now you’re just a click away from amazing images.

To see Styles in action, check out this tutorial on editing photos with Styles.

Capture One Pro supports all major camera brands. Download a trial.

Capture One RAW photo editor LOOKSLIKEFILM founder switched to Capture One blogpost feature wedding couple walking in street in Chinatown

Why the LOOKSLIKEFILM founder switched to Capture One

NOTE: This article discusses an older version of Capture One Pro. To learn more about our latest version, click here.

When I told my friends that I would be switching my wedding workflow from Lightroom to photo editing software Capture One Pro, some said I was crazy – why change something that works fine?

For me, the question was more – why wouldn’t I change? I have been using Lightroom as a photo editor for as long as I can remember, and it has always been good to me. But was it actually the ideal image editing software, or did I simply not have alternatives?

Maybe I was too scared to look for alternatives. I had an established photography and preset business built on Lightroom. But that didn’t stop me from trying out the latest version of Capture One Pro. It was interesting to suddenly feel like a newbie after years of working with a different RAW editor – but I quickly went from feeling overwhelmed to amazed by all I could do.

I played around with the photo editing tools to get the hang of Capture One, plus the Learning Hub is packed with free learning resources so I could watch tutorials and read blogs highlighting the best and most efficient ways to use Capture One.

Capture One’s customizable workspace was immediately useful – it allowed me to reconfigure the workspace and move tools around any way I wanted. That means I could simply mimic my Lightroom workspace and put tools in the same position to make the transition period smoother and faster.

Better results with Capture One

One of the most interesting parts of my switch to Capture One was discovering how much better my final photo could look. Right away, I noticed that my RAW files looked different. There is simply more life to my RAW files in Capture One than in Lightroom. The files look more vivid, sharper and are just generally nicer to look at. The viewing experience is also better, because the customizable workspace lets me see the images on my screen bigger than ever before.

While tools like white balance, contrast and curves are found in both software, they behave differently across the two programs and are far superior in Capture One.

I’ll use the contrast slider as an example. Whenever I edited contrast in Lightroom, I had to adjust the skin tones because they got either too saturated or too desaturated. Meanwhile, the contrast slider in Capture One Pro does not change my skin tones and this makes a huge difference to my workflow. You can see what I mean in the comparison that I have created. The Lightroom result looks muddy and desaturated.

There is so much more I could discuss, but my favorite newfound feature in Capture One Pro is probably the Advanced Color Editor. This was the one tool that I have always missed in my Lightroom workflow. I can finally select any color in my image and edit it like never before.

Lightroom only allowed me to select basic colors – for example, red – and change its hue, saturation and luminance. This means I could never quite get the result I wanted. Using the Advanced Color Editor in Capture One, I can select multiple ranges of red (or any other color) and change them however I want. I can even add multiple layers and mask certain areas, for even greater control of my images.

If you don’t already have Capture One, download a 30 day trial and try it out.

Eager to learn? Access webinars, tutorials and expert help in the Learning Hub – completely free.