ACD Systems releases ACDSee Photo Editor 6 with new Raw functionality

ACD Systems has released ACDSee Photo Editor 6, the company’s photo editing software for enthusiasts. Among the highlights in version 6 are support for Raw files as non-destructive object layers and Lighting and Contrast Enhancement (LCE) technology that promises to improve the quality of poorly lit photos. Selective color editing tools have also been added. The software is available at a retail price of $49.99.

Press Release:

ACDSee Introduces an Easy Way to Get Professional Photo Editing Results

Advanced Lighting tool, powered by ACDSee’s patented LCE (Lighting and Contrast Enhancement) technology.

Seattle, WA – March 13, 2013– ACD Systems International Inc. today announced ACDSee Photo Editor 6, a powerful and feature-rich creative photo editing software solution for amateur photographers and enthusiasts. Ideal as a companion to the ACDSee Pro 6 and ACDSee 15 products or as a standalone application, ACDSee Photo Editor 6 allows photographers to quickly correct common photo flaws, perform advanced edits, work with object layers, and apply professional effects and filters to completely transform their images.

A full suite of editing features gives photographers the ability to turn any image, including those shot in RAW, into an extraordinary one. Correct lighting, fine-tune color, erase imperfections, and use fast-fix tools, including red eye, dodge, burn, sharpen and smudge, to quickly improve every aspect of any photo.

Key to the versatility and power of ACDSee Photo Editor 6 is its flexible work area where photos, text, and other objects, like shapes and lines, are arranged in object layers. Users can group these object layers, change their order, experiment with opacity and blends, and selectively adjust any object or apply changes to the entire layout. The original photos are always safely preserved.

“With ACDSee Photo Editor 6, photographers now have a way of unleashing their inner photo editing genius,” said Doug Vanderkerkhove, Founder and CEO of ACD Systems. “We’ve incorporated our user-focused design and patented technology to create a photo editing solution that delivers professional results with simplicity and ease.”

New features in ACDSee Photo Editor 6 include:

LCE Technology – Take control of brightness and contrast with the Advanced Lighting tool, powered by ACDSee’s patented Lighting and Contrast Enhancement (LCE) technology. Harness the power of LCE to improve the quality of poorly lit photos, and achieve HDR photo results from a single image. Use sliders for precise edits or adjust the internal curves by clicking and dragging on a photo.
Lighting fixes – Quickly rescue photos that are too light or too dark. Lighten shadows and reduce highlights in one click, adjust sliders to fine-tune shadows, midtones and highlights, or click directly on light and dark spots for instantly improved photos.
Advanced rich color tools – Enhance hues or change individual colors to completely alter images. Adjust the saturation, brightness and hue using sliders, or click directly on precise color ranges in photos for arresting results.
Creative effects and filters – Transform the mood and atmosphere of photos in a click with new Instagram-inspired artistic effects: Collage, edgy Lomo, etched-in Granite, and ethereal Orton.
RAW support – Edit high-resolution RAW files as objects in photo layouts. Non-destructively adjust color, apply effects, correct lighting issues, and more.

ACDSee Photo Editor 6 also offers these features to meet the creative editing needs of photographers:

Automatic editing – One-click Auto Color Balance, Levels, Sharpen, and Contrast take the guesswork and time out of editing.
Layouts tools – Easily select from among overlapping objects, and choose the exact place to paste elements. Open, load and utilize brush files. Resize, crop and rotate photos, and incorporate drop shadows, transparencies and text.
Dynamic adjustments – Quickly modify existing effects, switch their order for a different result, hide them, or delete them at any time. Original images always stay intact.
Stylize photos – Add a creative flair using vignette, blur and color tools. Try a sepia effect or heighten drama with the comprehensive black and white mode.
Batch editing – Save time by using the Batch Processor to edit groups of photos. Fix color, lighting and sharpness issues, or apply artistic effects, to everything all at once.
Add text to photos – Change the font and color of just a single word or an entire block, and wrap text inside a shape or along a custom or preset text path.
Work with metadata – Add and edit EXIF and IPTC metadata to help keep track of important photo information.

Pricing & Availability

ACDSee Photo Editor 6 is available online at a suggested retail price of $49.99 (US). More information, including full system requirements, can be found online at www.acdsee.com.

Comments

$49.99

Digital Negative (DNG) support is included, which is very good!

This reminds me of U-point technology used in Nik Software.

Why another product from ACDSee? They have Pro 6 and ACDSee 15.. .so where the heck does this fit in and why? Another money grab? I’m confused!

i wonder why dpreview promotes al crap acdsee software that has not even full working color managment support and ignores other (better) software completely? even when you inform them about new releases.

What software are they ignoring? I am considering a purchase so want to know of options. Thanks

dpreview completely ignores Photoline www.pl32.com – it is an extremely capable photoshop alternative which not only fully supports 16bit colors, but also 32 bit and also CMYK.
Unlike other photo software it also has vector and text support, PDF import and export, layers and non destructive editing.

I really like Acdsee products. They are just so easy to use. I having been using their software for at least 14 years now.

RAW support seems to be limited at this point, no support for Sony A99, Nikon D600 or Canon 6D.

Supported Raw Formats