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Make light work of editing Zoner Studio makes adjustments faster and more flexible with AI-enhanced masking and easy-to-master tools
If you’d rather spend more time shooting and less time slaving over the computer to edit your work into stunning, finished shots, it’s time to move over to Zoner Studio. The latest update puts intelligent masking, finely finessed adjustment tools and creative layouts at your fingertips. Zoner Photo Studio X has always been a compelling and better-value alternative to the industry’s most expensive editing software. As the platform is now smarter, faster and more powerful than ever, it’s been rebranded as Zoner Studio. And it’s ideal for everything from subtle portrait retouching to dramatic landscapes. The headline feature in the latest update is a major overhaul of Zoner’s masking tools. It’s welcome news for anyone who has ever spent far too long carefully selecting skies, people or objects to apply local adjustments. The new AI-powered masking engine can now automatically detect key areas in an image – including subjects, backgrounds and skies – and generate precise masks in a single click. This means it’s simple and fast to instantly brighten a face, darken a cloudy sky, boost contrast or even apply selective colour tweaks without ever reaching for a manual brush tool. It dramatically cuts down on time-consuming selection work, allowing you to focus on the creative side of editing. That same AI power extends to batch editing, too. Once a mask is created in one image, it can be applied intelligently across an entire set – such as a wedding, sports shoot or landscape series. The software automatically adapts the mask to suit each new composition, so a group of images can be edited consistently in a fraction of the time it would take using traditional tools. Photographers working with the latest gear will benefit from expanded file format compatibility for HEIF and HEVC
The new masking interface also allows combining different selection methods into one flexible, non-destructive adjustment. Whether you’re selecting by brightness levels, colour range or taking advantage of AI subject detection, you can now create complex yet refined edits without jumping between tools. This is especially helpful for portraits, where subtle refinements to highlights, shadows or skin tones are often needed. There are additional improvements designed to support creative flexibility and efficient sharing. A new layout tool allows
the fast creation of dynamic collages and Instagram-style carousel posts, splitting a single image across multiple frames for a striking, interactive effect. These can also be printed as diptychs or triptychs, adding to Zoner’s appeal when it’s time to turn digital files into tangible prints. Photographers working with the latest gear will benefit from expanded file format compatibility, too. Zoner Studio now fully supports HEIF and HEVC formats, especially useful for HDR photography. And that’s not all. A new feature is the ability to apply Clarity separately to highlights and shadows – ideal for refining contrast without overcooking the entire image. Adding bite to clouds without messing up your shadows, or smoothing out skin while enhancing mid-tone textures, is all possible in just a few sliders. Inspired by the look of vintage optics and classic film cameras, the chromatic aberration effect adds colour fringing. It brings a cinematic look to high-contrast edges, and is great for adding character to stylised portraiture or moody landscapes. All of these improvements are included as part of the regular Zoner Studio subscription, including a clean, user- friendly interface that makes advanced editing approachable – even for beginners. New users can try the full software free for seven days, and existing subscribers
receive all new features automatically, reinforcing Zoner Studio’s reputation for user-focused development. It’s no wonder Zoner Studio is gaining traction among enthusiast photographers, content creators and professionals looking for a fast, reliable and all-in-one solution for professional- level photo editing.
IN THE ZONER As well as fast masking using AI tools, the software helps create Instagram- ready carousel posts and dynamic collages quickly and easily
zoner.com
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