A Hands-On Review of Alien Skin Exposure X

Exposure X, available for both Mac and Windows platforms, installs as both a standalone program and a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, but its real power is present in the standalone version, which is the one I tested.

For new users, Exposure X is available for $149. Users who purchased Exposure editions earlier than 7 or users of other Alien Skin software can upgrade to Exposure X for $99.

What’s New
Early versions of Exposure were known for their library of preset effects, ranging from bokeh to lo-fi (cross processed), and its ability to customize and save the result as a user preset for later application. The customizable presets are still present, but there were only a few new ones added to the mix and they don’t constitute the main thrust of the update. What’s new is the further expansion of Exposure from an effects-oriented software to an image-browsing and editing program.

Version 7 introduced a simple file browser function to the standalone version of Exposure. This browser is greatly expanded in the Exposure X standalone edition with the ability to add flags, ratings and color tags, the ability to sort using nine different criteria, and the ability to add and read basic image metadata. Also, in the revised browser you can import images directly from your camera card to your hard drive. And since Exposure is a browser and not a database, there is no waiting for images to appear while they are imported into a catalog and prepared for viewing. The speed improvements in version 7 are carried over into Exposure X.

Also new is the ability to edit RAW format files from a wider range of cameras than was the case in version 7 (but not yet from medium-format backs), a revamped user interface, a crop and rotate icon rather than a panel, and a new brush tool designed for portrait retouching with dodge and burn controls, warmth and cooling, skin smoothing, teeth whitening and more.

User Friendliness
New users will find the standalone Exposure X to be one of the easiest programs to simply sit down with and begin working. Experienced users will be equally at home. They may have to look twice to find any major differences, and if they don’t like the arrangement of the new interface, it’s easily customizable. If you are only interested in the plug-in version without the browser, Exposure X retains the ability to preview the category of presets you open as thumbnails in the preset panel, and to quickly apply the preset to the preview image in the main window as you roll your mouse over the individual presets. Clicking on the preset applies it to the preview but may remove any other changes you made in the adjustment panels.

What We Liked
Alien Skin has managed to combine many of the best features of Adobe Bridge with those of Lightroom in the standalone Exposure X. From Bridge comes the ability to import RAW, TIFF and JPEG files directly from a camera card to your hard drive and quickly begin tagging and rating keepers. From Lightroom comes non-destructive image editing and the ability to export images in a variety of formats with customizable settings. Add to this the 15 categories of color look presets and the 12 categories of black-and-white presets with each look highly customizable and you have an extremely capable and useful program.

Photo © Stan Sholik.

What We Didn’t Like
As I browsed through my image files, I was surprised to see that the Exposure X browser did not display an image for my Photoshop PSD and PSB files even though Maximize Compatibility was turned on for them. While I can accept that they could not be opened in Exposure X, I wish they had just been grayed back or a warning displayed over the embedded preview so I could at least see what the image was. Also, with the increased availability of image-editing tools, I find the lack of a histogram to be even more frustrating than it was with earlier versions.

And the Export function still needs work. The version 7 problem with exporting a RAW file in its original format to a new location while retaining the original file in its original location is fixed, but other issues remain. The only renaming option is to add a suffix to the file name. While bulk renaming can be done within Exposure X, I would like the ability to do that on export also. And I found the Image Sizing subpanel confusing. I had no clue what the dimensions in the Width and Height options meant until I hovered the mouse over them for a few moments to discover they were dimensions in pixels. I guess that works if you enjoy math, but if you want to export an image for an 8 x 12 inkjet print at 240 dpi it gets annoying. Even more frustrating: the width and height are not linked so you must do the calculation twice! There are better ways to do this.

How It Compares
The image presets and the way they are handled and adjusted in both the standalone and plug-in versions of Exposure X are first rate and among the best available in the market. The standalone version still needs work if the intent is to draw users from the Creative Cloud (CC) versions of Bridge and Lightroom. Users of pre-CC versions of these programs who refuse to subscribe would be wise to look at the trial version of Exposure X for a comparable tool set, effect presets and comprehensive support of RAW files from the latest cameras. I did find that, when comparing Lightroom and Exposure X TIFF output from a RAW file using each program’s default settings that the results differed slightly in warmth and exposure, but sharpness and other characteristics were comparable.

Exposure X, while not greatly expanding on its core list of presets, is quickly emerging as a full-fledged file browser and image editor.

Stan Sholik is a commercial/advertising photographer in Santa Ana, CA, specializing in still-life and macro photography. His latest book, Shoot Macro, for Amherst Media, is available now.

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