The Fall 2022 update to the powerful Windows-only Zoner Photo Studio X has arrived with a host of improvements and enhancements. Where the Spring update focused primarily on video, the Fall update concentrates on improving the still photography experience.

Targeted as a direct competitor to other high-end image adjustment programs, the subscription-only Zoner Photo Studio is available for $5.99 per month or $59 per year—a $10 increase in the yearly subscription from the Spring update. Included with the subscription are 20 GB of Zoner on-line storage, 15 free 4×6-inch prints per year, free downloadable presets, and access to the software from any computer, anytime, anywhere. And if you decide not to renew your subscription, you keep the current program and your work, you just don’t receive future updates.

Zoner Photo Studio X: What’s New

While the most obvious improvements to legacy users will likely be the interface enhancements, the most significant change is the new native support for RAW file formats. By taking photos both in the studio and the field with a wide range of digital cameras, Zoner created custom camera profiles that faithfully represent the digital information captured by the sensor. All full-frame mirrorless cameras are supported along with many other popular models. A full list of supported bodies is available on the Zoner website.

In the interface, a new Full View option, is available in the Manager and Develop modules. You access it with an icon next to the Preview icon in the toolbar or using Shift+Enter keyboard shortcut, hides the side panels, giving you a full screen view of your image. However, you can restore the side panels by hovering over the edges to access the folder tree or appropriate right panel for the module you are in. The default background for Full View is black, but it can be changed to white. If you select multiple images, they are all displayed in Full View, making comparisons large, easy, and uncluttered. This also permits you to apply Develop module adjustments to all of the images at the same time.

[Read: Lightroom Just Expanded to Video Editing in Major Update]

Other noticeable changes in the top center toolbar are the Map button that is no longer hidden beneath the Browser button, and the Viewer button moved to the end of the top toolbar next to the other Zoner modules.

The Fall update also simplifies the renaming of files on export and the viewing of photo information below previews. Zoner now does this with metadata tokens, These are prefilled cells that point to metadata in the image or of your choosing that save you from entering the information manually as required previously in Zoner using format strings.

A final interface enhancement appears in the Develop module. By double-clicking an image in the filmstrip at the bottom of the Develop module, the image appears in a gallery just as it would in the Manage module. When you have done this, you can now select multiple images to export or apply presets directly from the Develop module.

User Friendliness

The new interface changes serve to make the Fall 2022 update significantly more user friendly. Since Zoner combines the functions of Adobe Bridge, Lightroom, and Photoshop in one program, the interface seems more cluttered that those of its competition. Yet it is easy to navigate, with functions moving in a logical order from left to right, and icons providing quick access to essential functions.

Users moving from Adobe software will find that most of the keyboard shortcuts they are familiar with are identical in Zoner. Users migrating from other imaging software will find many of the same tools and sliders found in other image editors. Users new to image editing should be able to quickly come up to speed with the logical layout of Zoner and the help available by clicking the “?” in the top toolbar. This icon can take you to help contents including a list of keyboard shortcuts, a form with which to contact support, the Zoner website, and teaching topics for learning photography and photo editing.

What Works Well in Zoner Photo Studio X

The new native support for RAW files produced excellent results from files captured with my Nikon Z6 and D780. Although not identical to the results from Lightroom, it is easily possible to make them the same, or, with the tools in Zoner’s Develop module to adjust them to your liking.

As I use GPS through Nikon’s SnapBridge and my phone for location photography, I appreciate the Map access now being available in the top center toolbar. The new tokens ability will take me a little time to learn to use efficiently, but I can see their value in speeding renaming and adding metadata.

But what I found most useful was a feature I didn’t know I wanted: the ability to view a single image or compare multiple images with an unobstructed black (or white) background and still be able to call up the Zoner editing functions in the Develop or Editor modules by moving my cursor over the right side of the screen.

What Doesn’t Work as Well

I found no issues with any of the latest enhancements in the Fall 2022 Zoner X update. However, despite the speed improvements in some areas such as navigating and opening files, the program still doesn’t feel as responsive as the competitors when selecting, masking, and applying adjustments. And I’m still awaiting a content-aware fill tool for removing unwanted elements in an image.

How Zoner Photo Studio X Compares with Other Programs

With the Fall 2022 update, Zoner X continues to provide competitive features to all other professional Image editing programs, even exceeding those programs that do not include video editing capabilities. However, it is available only for Windows hardware and on a subscription basis. If these restrictions meet your needs, the latest update to Zoner Photo Studio X is worth a serious look. A 30-day free trial is available at zoner.com.

Stan Sholik is a photographer and writer based in San Clemente, CA.