There are loads of new features in Exposure 6; many of them came from the advice of users like you. Please continue to share your opinions with us. We’re definitely listening!
We just put the final touches on a very important video tutorial entitled: “What’s New.” We thought you might want to see it. Below the video is a summary of what’s been done to turn this epic software title up a notch.
Creative Focus Effects
Exposure 6 delivers all the powerful functionality of our creative focus and lens simulation program, Bokeh. So you can now draw attention to your subject by manipulating focus, vignette and depth of field. From simulation of fast lenses such as the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 L and the Nikon 300mm f/2.8 through to tilt/shift and motion blur looks, Exposure 6 offers you an endless array of visually creative options.
Instant Previews
Choosing your look is the what Exposure is all about, so we have rewritten the image processing engine to make it lightning fast. No need to squint at tiny preview windows or click and wait for the image to render! Exposure 6 automatically displays full-sized instant previews as you mouse over to help you quickly experiment and define your look.
Improved UI
Exposure 6 features an updated user interface with a cleaner layout for improved aesthetics and quicker navigation. We have made the standard background a darker gray color to facilitate editing of both color and B&W images. The preset browser now also offers a list view as well as optional thumbnails for a more visual experience.
Basic Control Panel
In order to give you even finer creative control over your images, Exposure 6 sports a brand new basic control panel containing sliders to tweak your image’s exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, clarity, vibrance and saturation for faster editing and less reliance on other programs.
New Borders, Light Effects, and Textures
Exposure 6 includes many new lighting effects such as realistic sun flare, and authentic vintage borders from the archives of world-renowned photographer Parker J Pfister. But it doesn’t stop there, you can now import your own custom borders and textures and share them across multiple computers too.
Retina Support
Exposure 6 now supports Apple retina displays and other high-definition monitors for unsurpassable image quality.
So what do you think of them apples? Feel free to share your feedback with us below.
We’ll be back in touch with more updates soon!
-jimmy
PS – For those of you interested in the release date, pricing, requirements, etc. Here’s the scoop:
Pricing & Availability
Exposure 6 will be available in June 2014 through www.alienskin.com for $149 USD. Owners of any version of Exposure may upgrade for $69 USD. Free upgrades will be automatically sent to everyone who purchased Exposure 5 directly from Alien Skin Software in March 2014 or later.
Host Requirements
Exposure 6 may be used as a stand-alone program or a plug-in. When it is used as a plug-in it requires one of the following host applications:
Adobe Photoshop CS6 or newer
Adobe Lightroom 5 or newer
Apple Aperture 3 or later
System Requirements
Apple Mac users need OS X Mountain Lion (10.8) or later
Microsoft Windows users need Windows 7 or later
An Intel Core 2 processor or compatible
A monitor with 1280×768 resolution or greater
Try Exposure Today
What is the difference between digital noise and film grain ? Besides that the former is undesirable and the latter is not.
Hi Lenny,
Good question! There is a fairly large aesthetic difference between film grain, and digital noise. Film grain is usually considered nice looking mainly because of it’s organic behaviors such as clumping and tone specific placement. Digital noise is much more robotic, or manufactured which isn’t as appealing.
I would further add that not ALL film grain is desirable. In the film days, shooting a film such as an ASA 1000 or faster in low light situations would produce significant amounts of grain that could be distracting to a viewer.
Some film grain added in post now is ironically considered desirable when we are attempting to create an analog film look. I say that I find it ironic because in the film days we tried to extremely hard to avoid grain.
At any rate, use creative grain judiciously. Too much of it is NOT a good thing…even when creating analog looks.
I was really looking forward to this as I have version 5, but then I see that it will only work with PS CS6, and I have CS5!
Hi Bob,
Exposure 6 may well work with CS5, it just hasn’t been tested against it to the same level so we can’t guarantee it to work with CS5. Our advice is to download the trial when it comes out and give it a spin with CS5.
We would love to be able to guarantee Exposure against all platforms and versions, but we simply don’t have the time and manpower to do so.
Cheers,
Joe
Hi !
will exposure 6 work with pse ? what hepen for bokeh owners this soft will be stop?
Thanks
Salut Vincent!
Exposure 6 has not been tested to work with Elements, but as with my reply to Bob above, you might want to download it and give it a try. Just because it isn’t guaranteed doesn’t mean it won’t work.
If you have Bokeh, you can continue to use it as a standalone. You can just use it in Exposure 6 in future if you choose to purchase or upgrade that product.
Bonne chance!
Joe
So to be clear on this Joe, will you be discontinuing upgrades to Bokeh in the future since you have rolled in into Exposure or will their still be a Bokeh 3 at some point?
Hi Randall,
There aren’t any plans for a third version of Bokeh at this time. When we implement Bokeh improvements, they will very likely be integrated in Exposure.
Hi Vincent,
I would try it…especially if you are using PSE 11 or 12. Both of those apps should have some of the latest APIs found in PS CS6 or CC. I would venture a strong guess that it will work. Perhaps not every feature at 100%, but certainly enough to benefit from the upgrade.
Seems to be a great update – and I am especially happy that i bought Exposure 5 on the 9th of March ;) Oh, and your voice sounds awesome :P
Andreas, you are my new favorite person!
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE add a ROTATE button in all of the effects panels. i.e. BORDERS, LIGHT LEAKS and TEXTURES.
Hi John,
Exposure 6, like Exposure 5 before it, has the option to flip all these effects vertically and horizontally. Have you used Exposure 5 at all? If not, please could you try the free download and let us know if there’s something else you need us to look at.
Cheers,
Joe
Will v6 allow stacking of filters/effects? (eg like what Nik Color Efex does)? That would be really useful
Version 6 will not have that option. It is however something we’re looking in to for future releases.
If you use any plugin within PS, including Exposure, you can use different filters on different layers. This at least gives you the ability to blend your filters and adjust opacity, etc.
I would like to have a layered workflow built into Exposure. I often save multiple looks under different file names to see which one I like. It’s a pain point for me.
Hi Randall,
You made some good points, but it’s a long-winded discussion. We’ll be in touch to chat through details with you.
Is there any way for the engineers to enable a “save as” option within the interface. It’s possible to create so many interesting looks from a single image that it would be great to be able to save different versions from a single launch rather than having to apply…reload…apply….reload….etc.
Fabulous product. Thanks so much.
Hi Albert,
Exposure 6 allows you to do just what you’re describing when used as a standalone app. The save dialog gives you the option change the filename and save off several iterations of the same image. Once you save, you can revert the image to its original state, or continue to tweak the controls and refine the look. No relaunching needed!
Hope this helps!
-jimmy
Exposure 6 will have enhanced “texture” options.
Will you be able to add a background texture, then mask out the subject?
Hi Don,
Yes! You will be able to import your own custom overlays in Exposure 6. If you import them as a texture, you can use the Protect Location feature to make a hole around the subject.
Nice
Thanks
Hi there! I love ASE, but one of my biggest pet peeves of version 5 is the inability to control the color of the light leaks and flaring. I talked to someone when 5 released about this and they said it was being looked into for future version. Do you know if this has been changed in 6? I would upgrade to 6 simply for this feature as your pre-made flares rarely match the white balance of my photos. Because of this, the photos simply look fake. I know I can manipulate the coloring after the fact in photoshop, but this is a huge pain and if required to do so I skip ASE and use knoll light factory instead.
Thanks,
Greg
Hi Greg,
Thanks for the question. It’s difficult to manipulate the light leak colours as those images are brought in as is. That being said, there are a lot of new ones in E6 and there are many different hues/temperatures available. You can also import your own light effects too, so hopefully that will help alleviate the pain! You can also share them, so maybe we can set up a place for users to create and share? Just something to think about…
Thanks again!
Cheers,
Joe
Looks awesome, great tutorial Jimmy. Really looking forward to the updated version!
Thanks Kate! We’re excited, too!
Looks like a great update!
Does the integration of Bokeh in Exposure mean that Bokeh is now a dead product? if so, is there a good-guy upgrade discount for owners of both Exposure 5 and Bokeh 2?
Hi Jason,
The upgrade price to Exposure 6 is $69. Bokeh 2 is almost 4 years old now, so we’re basically combining both solutions to streamline things so you get the best of both worlds plus all the great new features of Exposure 6: faster processing, enhanced UI, the basic control panel, more borders, textures and light effects, etc.
There’s definitely a lot more to Exposure 6 than Bokeh – the improved speed alone is worth the upgrade for me!
Cheers,
Joe
I’m wondering if there is a way to export (just the corrections) as an overlay?
For instance, I’d like to be able to re-position the light leaks (in photoshop), after they are created in Exposure.
Thanks for any advice.
Hi Matt,
You can run the light effects overlays on a black or dark grey layer, then set the blend mode of the layer to lighten or screen. That will give you more freedom to manipulate and customize it. If you do customize the overlay, I recommend saving out a png and importing it to your own light effects library in Exposure 6.
Every time I get a new version, I think it can’t get better, and then another version comes out that is better, I do digital paintings, and this program helps me bring it all together, pull out the strokes, and tie everything together in a painting, I work in layers, so to have the ability to pull parts of a painting apart to make it better requires a strong program to put it all back together, tie things up and make them look finished.. this program does this for me, and I enjoy it.. also I should add the new Bokeh built in is great… I love this version
Thanks Kenny! I love it too!
Cheers,
Joe
Will an ‘full preview’ of the original image taken into the programme be available alongside the one that is being edited?
Hi James,
There isn’t an option to view the images side by side. You can toggle between the applied preset with the spacebar, or you can use one of the preview split screen options in the drop down at the bottom of the preview panel.
When will it be available? Want it now!
Have patience grasshopper. ;-) It’ll be here soon. Promise.
Just watched this tutorial….LOVE the bokeh and blur options! THANK YOU!
And Jimmy, you sound awesome in the video. :)
Ha-Ha! That’s great to hear, Tosha. Thanks!