I love using Capture One. Recently, I am working on the latest release: Capture One 23 and Capture One Live. Loved by enthusiasts as well as professionals, this is software packed with features. In this article, I would like to share some hidden and lesser known features of this amazing software.
I thought I could write a book about Capture One and how great it is. However, my patience will end on page 2, and I will run off to write another article about me. Canon 5D And EF 70-200 f/2.8 from 2001. I love software as much, but I’m not a technical photographer writing manuals. With that in mind, let’s dive into some of ‘s amazing tricks and features Shoot One 23.
1. Customize your workspace
Capture One lets you customize your workspace by adding and removing tools, changing layouts, and saving your favorite settings. I’ve customized my workspace to encapsulate everything I need when shooting, when editing, and when exporting files. Out of the box, the Capture One tabs are very useful, but there are some tools, such as the adjustable clipboard, that are hidden. I add them to my workspace to be more productive. Furthermore, I also often create floating tools.
2. Use keyboard shortcuts
Capture One has many keyboard shortcuts that can save you time and make your workflow more efficient. I will write a separate post about my most used keyboard shortcuts. In the meantime, here are my three favorites:
- Cmd/Ctrl+E – edit the image in an external editor (in my case Photoshop)
- Cmd/Ctrl +D – export image
- Spacebar – view images in full screen – perfect for showing customer previews on a second monitor.
3. Create Custom Styles
Custom styles can save you time by allowing you to apply a specific look or effect to multiple images with a single click. I have a bunch of custom styles that I’ve been creating over the years for various projects. They live in the style tab and help me quickly color correct a shot and show the team a more or less final image.
4. Use session
Sessions can save you time by allowing you to dedicate a session to each shot. I use this every time I create a new project and name it like this: dd-mm-yyyy-project-name. This allows you to keep good track of the images and never lose any files.
The Focus Mask tool helps you identify areas in the image that are in focus. No camera is perfect when it comes to focus, and sometimes I like a photo only to realize it’s out of focus. There are times when I forget to turn the switch to autofocus. For such cases, the focus mask is perfect.
The Keystone Correction tool allows you to correct perspective distortion in your images. When working on location, I often want all the lines to be perfect, like in a Wes Anderson movie. This is where the keystone tool comes in handy and I can fix the image and make it look a little better and more pleasing.
The Luma Range tool allows you to adjust the brightness and contrast of specific areas of your image. Working in small spaces, I often want to separate the background from the subject. One of the ways I do this is by using the Luma range tool. This can allow me to more precisely edit the lightest or darkest parts of the image.
The Color Balance tool allows you to adjust the individual colors in your image. Similar to the Luma range tool in terms of accuracy, it works with color rather than exposure. Usually I don’t like the color of a particular item of clothing, so I change it with this tool.
The Skin Tone tool allows you to adjust the color and tone of the skin in your image. If you want to save editing time or the client doesn’t require a lot of post-production, you can “edit” the image instantly using the skin tone tool. Just make sure you don’t overdo it, as it’s a far cry from actual editing.
The Clarity tool allows you to add or reduce texture in your image. Shooting in high resolution, I wanted to make sure the audience saw all the details in the photo. This is when this tool comes in handy. Depending on the image, I can be a bit extreme with this tool at times. I developed a rule to never go over 30-40, but sometimes it’s not enough.
The Noise Reduction tool allows you to reduce noise in your image. This came in handy during my event days when I shot on the 5D Mark II at ISO 6400 and the image looked “a bit” too noisy.
Essentially a basic adjustment tool, the High Dynamic Range tool allows you to adjust the brightness and contrast of specific areas of your image. It has all the basic sliders, but they handle raw files in a much more pleasing way than its Lightroom counterparts.
The White Balance tool allows you to adjust the color temperature of the image. I like to play with this tool and color the images to yellow or blue, just like the photo filter tool in Photoshop. A super powerful creative tool, it can also be used to correct errors when shooting on location.
The Black and White tool allows you to convert your image to black and white. What I like about this feature is that you can adjust the individual colors to make the image better. Once done, don’t forget that you can also colorize the shadows and highlights in your image. A popular technique these days is to color the shadows in a blue-green tone.
The Layers tool allows you to make many adjustments to your image without affecting the original image. This was one of the features that initially made me ditch Lightroom and switch to Capture One. It allows much more creative control over your images. Adding gradient filters, precision adjustments to parts of an image, etc. is made a lot easier with layers. They are almost like layers in Photoshop, which is a great feature.
