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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.

Editing with Mastin Labs

Mastin Labs have now released their second pack for Capture One, Fujicolor Original.

Prized for its clean skin tones and vivid three-dimensional color, it’s the originator of the light and airy look.

Kirk Mastin is back to Join David in a informative and interactive webinar to show you how to get the best out of Fujicolor Original Styles for Capture One.

✓How the Mastin Labs system works perfectly with Capture One
✓Practical help to get the best results with your photos
✓Inspiration from Kirk

Length: 60:00 minutes

Download a 30-day trial of Capture One Pro.

capture one raw photo editor changing it up with Capture One by Michael Clark using Fujifilm GFX100 Sparky Go (5.11) on the Sparks Wall in Indian Creek, Utah.

5 reasons to switch to Capture One Pro

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

Over spring, I got the chance to try out the FUJIFILM GFX 100 ahead of its launch in May 2019. I knew that Fujifilm had partnered with Capture One for tethering and much more, and that the GFX 100 RAW image files were supported by the photo editing software even before the new camera had launched. It seemed like the perfect time to try out Capture One Pro and see how it compared to my workflow using Adobe Lightroom Classic.

Now that I’ve been using Capture One for four months, I can confirm that it is a very powerful image editing software with some new features that I have not seen anywhere else. One of the best things about trying out a new RAW editor is the sense of discovery – my Capture One Pro images had a new and exciting look to them. I also really like the straightforward, professional approach of Capture One Pro. There is no fluff in this image editor – it’s all business.

One new favorite feature is the Color Balance tool, which allows for easy color grading of specific part of the images, as well as tools that allow for a speedy and efficient workflow. In this blog post, I’ll list the top five features that have transformed my RAW editing workflow.

Focus Mask

The Focus Mask feature (found under View > Focus Mask) is the most useful feature I have seen in any RAW editing platform ever. With the Focus Mask turned on, I can quickly scan a grid of images and highlight any images where the subject is not in focus. The tool applies a green overlay mask to the aspects of the image which are in focus, so I can immediately identify where the focus points are in any image.

As an adventure sports photographer who often captures images with a fast frame rate, this allows me to instantly figure out which images are sharp and which are not, so I can cull faster and really speed up my workflow.

When you double click on any image from the grid, the Focus Mask remains overlaid on the larger preview image, so you can look more closely at the focus. This one feature alone is a reason to make the switch to Capture One Pro.

Auto Levels Adjustment

Another amazing Capture One Pro feature is the Auto Levels Adjustment in the Levels tool. I would typically never use auto anything in a RAW processing app – especially not in Lightroom – but Capture One’s Auto Levels Adjustment gets it right almost every time. The tool gives me a huge head start on adjusting levels. I use it as a departure point – it’s often the first thing I apply before diving into any further editing, which then makes the overall editing process go much faster.

In the above example I have only applied Auto Levels Adjustments without any further editing, which already dramatically improved the image. All I needed to do was add a Gradient Mask to darken the bottom of the image and add clarity.

Layers

For those of us that use Photoshop, Layers are a huge part of any digital imaging workflow. The way layers are incorporated into Capture One feels very similar to Photoshop —and maybe is even more powerful. Basically, anything you can do on the background Layer can be done on a Mask. No other raw processing software that I know of has that capability.

I use a lot of Linear Gradient Masks for my images so that I can help push the viewer’s eye around the image. Having all of those masks on a separate layer and being able to adjust much more than just the exposure or brightness of that Gradient Mask is very powerful. Additionally, the option to go back and adjust the opacity of any layer is also a huge bonus.

The upshot is that with Layers in Capture One I can take my raw processing further before I go into Photoshop to finalize the image.

Color Editor Tool

Capture One’s Color Editor includes both an eyedropper sampling tool and a color wheel which allows me to color edit specific parts of an image in an intuitive and simple manner. To use the tool, simply choose the eyedropper in the Color Editor tab and then use it to sample an area of the image. You can then fine-tune the area selected by manipulating the range that shows up in the color wheel above the sliders. To see exactly what part of the image is selected, click “view selected color range” at the bottom of the dialog.

In the example above, I used the Color Editor to adjust the hue, saturation and lightness of the reddish-brown rock wall. I also used the Color Editor to dial in the purple color of the sky in the background. This tool is incredibly useful for getting creative with color or to adjust specific colors so that they are as accurate as possible.

Customizable interface

I can work much faster thanks to Capture One’s customizable interface. You can move pretty much anything anywhere you want it. You can pull tools out of the sidebar and make them bigger or smaller as needed and you can make tools appear and disappear as well. It is also easy to accommodate dual monitors – you can even locate your tools or a grid of images on the second monitor.

For those coming from Lightroom, you can set up Capture One to mimic a similar layout, which makes the transition much easier.

One of the most useful keyboard shortcuts – especially for those coming from Lightroom – is to edit the keyboard shortcut to “Show/Hide Viewer.” Simply go to “Edit > Edit Keyboard Shortcuts…” and then open the View section.

Scroll down to “Show/Hide Viewer” and set that keyboard shortcut to something that makes sense for you but isn’t already used. For example, I have it set to use the “~“ key. By using that keyboard shortcut, I can go in and out of the “Show/Hide Viewer” mode super fast, as shown above in the two screenshots.

Switching doesn’t have to be hard

Learning any new software might seem intimidating – but switching to Capture One is not really a case of learning everything from scratch but finding the comparable tools in the new photo editing software.
In the case of Capture One Pro, I was thrilled to discover completely new tools that dramatically sped up my workflow and allowed me to take my images further in the raw processing stage. I am deeply impressed with the results so far and excited to keep using Capture One to improve my digital workflow.

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.