I watched Radiant Photo when it first came out on September. I find this to be a capable editor, primarily aimed at using AI to improve your colors and the overall look of shadows, highlights, and other image parameters. It uses a pixel-by-pixel approach, which the developers claim gives you more creative control over the final result.
The latest version of this Radiant Photo offers a new color grading feature. Color grading started in the film/video industry and is a way to give your output a unique look by rearranging specific colors for a special feel. Think of color correction like what you do when you’ve done a good color or black and white correction.
When you open an image, it detects its content and optimizes it accordingly. In “Quick Edit” mode, users can adjust the results automatically with just a few sliders. In “Detailed Editing” mode, every aspect of photo enhancement can be altered by combining unique smart settings found only in Radiant Photo and some common in photo editing software. With version 1.1, Radiant Photo has a full “Color Grade” workspace that allows users to get creative with an easy-to-use “Appearance” and adjust them to their liking. It also has a powerful set of gradient editing tools for fine-tuning the lighting and colors.
Radiant Image contains what they call “Presets” and “Appearance”. The presets are designed to develop the image based on the predefined settings. Simply put: The preset moves the sliders available in “Detailed Editing” mode. In “Color Levels”, Radiance Photo’s Appearance remaps colors (tone, saturation, brightness) and gives the image a new look while preserving all the edits done manually or by applying a Preset.
This post is not a review. I’ll have a detailed review soon, but I took Radiant Photo for a quick shot with one of my own.
With a few clicks I can easily change the image in a positive direction without discarding my original edit. I think both Presets and Appearance should be considered a starting place rather than a destination. Presented with an Interface, I can then tweak it until I get what I like, instead of what the algorithm chose. But seeing so many different skins and presets, it allowed me to see my images in a different way, preserving, rather than hijacking, my own creative decisions.
The software is also effective for portraits, object photos, food, anything really.
I don’t see it replacing any of my usual editing tools, like Lightroom and Photoshop, and it happily works as a plugin inside the Adobe suite. It does have some sloppy GUI habits, though; for example, when used as a Photoshop plugin on a Mac M1, it leaves the original Photoshop image in front of the Radiant Photo plugin. The only way to access the Radiant Image plugin is to drag the original image off the screen. That is a strange thing.
As mentioned above, Radiant Photo runs as standalone software on Windows and macOS. Radiant Photo is performance optimized for ARM processors, used in Apple’s M1 and M2 computers. It can also be used as a native plugin inside Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom Classic and Corel PaintShop Pro.
Radiant Photo is available online from Radiation Imaging Laboratory. It includes six months of buyer protection: no matter when you purchase, you will always receive six months of updates on your purchased product. While most software companies only offer this level of buyer protection for 15 or 30 days on purchased products, you’ll get six months of free full updates regardless what. Plus, there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee, so every customer has 30 days to try everything out and decide if they want to continue using Radiant Photo.
Radiant Photo prices start at $129 / €139 / £129 for the standalone version or the plugin version. Customers who want both options, standalone and plugin, can choose the plan for $159 / €169 / £159. European prices include VAT.
