ACDSee’s most powerful image editing software suite for PCs, Photo Studio Ultimate 2020, has been given an overhaul and several new tools. Of particular note to portrait and wedding photographers, they have improved Face Detection and Facial Recognition detection with embedded face data. That gives several ways to organize and manage imagery as if faces were traditional image metadata. Like metadata, this information is saved to the files for later reference.

Face Detection and Facial Recognition have three tools for notation and indexing: Suggested Names, More Ways to Search and Embedding Face Data. The software will comb through compositions as they are imported to find human subjects which can then be “named” manually, or automatically, via the software. This then gives fast searches and automatic tagging based on the faces of your subjects as if they were objects in a picture.

ACDSee’s new Blended Clone Tool looks to be a very easy way to copy and paste parts of an image without any complicated layering. The Blended Clone Tool combines their previous Smart Erase and Clone Tool modes to paint in clones without any telltale harsh edges. It will also darken and lighten the lighting on the cloned subject to match contrast wherever duplicates are placed.

Multi-stack HDR capabilities increase the dynamic range in photos by combining different exposures into a single image. Similarly, Focus Stacking has been added. Focus Stacking will take the focused aspects of multiple exposures and merge them for a single, highly detailed image that has sharpness from top to bottom. 

The Text Tool can now be used in layers for non-destructive edits that can be revisited as needed. The new Resize Canvas will give further options with text and other corrections, as you can rotate, expand or crop layered content. Solid backgrounds can also now be added in Resize Canvas for composite work.

Rulers/Guidelines is a complementary tool to Resize Canvas that will give measurements of the image in units like inch, centimeter and pixel. These guidelines can be dragged and snapped to layers, selections and text.

RAW support for a number of recent cameras has been added, including the latest Hasselblad models. In addition to RAW files, the ACDSee software can be used for DAM (Digital Asset Management) of multiple file types, like PDFs. The program can utilize GPU card solutions for even faster rendering and image managment. 

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2020 is available through perpetual license for $149, however it does not include an upgrade to the next update. The subscription rate at $69-a-year does include future updates.

While Photo Studio Ultimate 2020 includes all available tools, the company also offers several lower-priced bundles with ACDSee Professional, ACDSee Standard, ACDSee Home and ACDSee Photo Studio for Mac. A free trial is available on each for 30 days.

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