FotoMagico 5–The Best Slideshow Software Now in 4k

FotoMagico 5 makes creating advanced slideshows super easy

Back in 2013 when Boinx software asked me to take a look at FotoMagico, I was getting tons of requests to do reviews, but I only had the bandwidth to write about the best of the best products. After taking a quick look at FotoMagico 4, I was very impressed and gave a very favorable review.

Fast forward to 2016, and it was me reaching out to them as I was excited about the release of FotoMagico 5 which features 4k output plus lots of great user interface enhancements (see the press release below for full details).

This past weekend when I did my review, I found myself loving this newest version much more than its predecessor as it felt more like the ScreenFlow and Camtasia video editing tools that I am more comfortable using. What’s more, I was able to quickly create a 4k video with my images in less than 15 minutes which I repeated for this video tutorial here:

Click here to view the tutorial on YouTube

To save me even more time, I could upload my video directly to YouTube in 4k and the whole upload process only took 3 minutes on my 2015 MacBook Pro:

Upload your videos to YouTube in 4k

With impressive intro video, lots of free music, and rolling credits – I had a video that was impressive to view on any resolution display. Here’s the final output which looked wonderful on my NEC PA322UHD 4k display: 

Click here to see on YouTube and be sure to view full screen

More info from the Press Release

Boinx Software has just announced a new version of its premier slideshow creation tool, FotoMagico 5. This updated software program brings a combination of brand new editing tools and advancements to pre-existing features. Among many enhancements, FotoMagico 5 now features a slideshow interface with pre-built stories called “Snippets,” Audio Envelopes and Fades to control audio levels, an Audio Marker Assistant to provide more precise sound editing capabilities, improved text editing and placeholders, and much more.

“FotoMagico is made by photographers for photographers,” states Oliver Breidenbach, CEO, Boinx Software. “This is why it puts the needs of photographers front and center. It’s easy to learn, as photographers want to spend their time taking photos - not learning a slide show app. The Snippets feature gets you magical results more quickly than ever. FotoMagico 5 slideshows look brilliant on 4K TVs as well as on YouTube. That’s why thousands of photographers rely on FotoMagico to tell their stories.”

FotoMagico 5 Updates Include:

• New “Snippets” feature allow users to insert their own photo and video content into these pre-built stories to create beautiful slideshows; FotoMagico pros can create their own Snippets to streamline the production of slideshows, perfect for those working with clients
• New Dark User Interface, designed for users of all skill levels, to make photos and videos stand out even more against a more modern backdrop
• Music Snippets come with free CC licensed music by Josh Woodward and Kevin MacLeod to set the mood; pre-loaded with perfectly timed audio markers means your story is synchronized with the matching music, while an attribution slide keeps users out of copyright troubles
• Animation Assistant designed to automatically make your slideshow move, while accounting for a variety of photo aspect ratios like portrait and panorama, movie and text properties
• New Audio Marker Assistant (Pro only) offers more precise control over timing than ever before, with perfectly synchronized music and slides creating the right dramatic effect
• New Audio Volume Envelopes and Fades (Pro only), the most requested feature, provides audio level controls that enable users to make the music softer when one intends to speak if presenting the slideshow, or to let the video audio take center stage
• Improved Text Editing and Text Placeholders (Pro only) for the most intuitive way to edit and format titles yet

Additional new features available only in FotoMagico 5 Pro include the timeline view; record narration; access to Lightroom and Aperture libraries; teleprompter support; chapter support; masks, borders and color correction; and additional sharing options, such as the Standalone Player, ProRes video, and custom video.

Conclusion

The best way to create slideshows for your images just got way better with this release. It’s a no brainer upgrade for existing users, and a great addition to any photographer’s software workflow. It’s fast, easy to use, and the results are extremely professional looking at up to 4k resolution!

It should be noted at this time this product is for Apple OS X only and there are no known plans to offer a Windows version any time soon.

Where To Order

CLICK HERE to order or click here to learn more.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• Ron’s Recommendations 
• Aurora HDR – Fantastic HDR software for the Mac
• NEC PA322UHD 4k Display Review
• More Free Photo Editing Software
• Nik Collection by Google is now FREE
• Topaz Texture Effects Review
• Imagenomic Portraiture Review

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

More Free Photo Editing Software

on1 has joined Google after this weeks free Nik Collection announcement to offer their Effects product for free!

In other exciting news, Athentech – makers of one of my favorite tools, Perfectly Clear – are also offering a new product called Perfect Exposure for free here when you click this link.

Perfect Exposure for free here when you click this link.

Conclusion

You can’t beat great software for free, so enjoy it while it last!

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• Discounts on other software and services 
• Perfectly Clear Review
• Flixel Cinemagraph Pro
• Topaz Labs Texture Effects
• Imagenomic Portraiture Discount & Tutorial
• Ron’s Recommendations 
• Mylio–Your Life’s Memories on All Your Devices
• What plug-ins should I buy? (for Photoshop & Lightroom)

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

Nik Collection by Google is now FREE

CLICK HERE to learn how to get the Nik Collection by Google for Free

At one time, the Nik Software Suite (later renamed the Nik Collection by Google after its acquisition) was the industry leading tools for photo editing. Despite having $295 per product price points, they were a bargain for the functionality they offered compared to anything else on the market. What's more their industry leading "u-point" controls made applying effects to a specific area trivial by creating complex masks under the covers simply by putting a point on the color you wanted to make a change to. It was brilliant and it had no competition. Simply put, Nik software had the world of photo editing under its grasp and their products made photographers of any level able to create post-processing results that looked as good as the best Photoshop gurus.

Fast-forward to today, and now all of these glorious products are free to anyone:

• Analog Efex Pro
• Nik Software Color Efex 4 Video Tutorial (Review)
  • TUTORIAL: Nik Software Color Efex Reflector Effect Video–NOW WITH Audio
  • TUTORIAL: Using Nik Software Color Efex Pro 4 & Special Offer
• Nik Software Dfine 2.0
• Nik Software HDR Efex Pro 2.0
• Nik Software Sharpener Pro 3.0
• Nik Software Silver Efex Pro 2.0
• Nik Software Viveza 2.0
• Nik Software Viveza for Lightroom

At first this may sound wonderful, but I do have serious concerns about Google's commitment to these tools now that it is free. Simply put, free means that they don't have to make any investments in it, so if it is a critical part of your workflow and it stops working because of some breaking change by OS X or Adobe (which does happen regularly), then they could in theory choose to do nothing. I'm not sure if that is the motivation behind this, and it is pure speculation on my part, but it is certainly a serious concern that I have.

In the meantime, do rejoice and go get your free copy today if you are one of the handful of people who hasn't bought it yet. If you have bought it, then don't feel too bad as you had one of the best products on the market for a dirt cheap price.

Alternatives

If you are looking for new places to invest your funds now that you don't have to pay for the Nik Collection, or if you are a working pro that needs a company that has a financial incentive to issue updates and take support calls when you are trying trying to meet tight deadlines, then I'd suggest considering on1 Photo Suite, Macphun Aurora or one of these products by Topaz Labs:

• Topaz Adjust 5.0
• Topaz Labs B&W Effects 2 (B&W Products Comparison)
• Topaz Labs DeNoise 3.0
• Topaz Labs Glow 1.0
• Topaz Labs InFocus
• Topaz Labs Lens Effects
• Topaz Labs ReMask 5.0
• Topaz Labs Restyle 1.0
• Topaz Labs Simplify 4
• Topaz Labs Star Effects
• Topaz Labs Texture Effects

Don't forget about my Discount Coupon Codes page too where you can get discounts on these products and more

CLICK HERE to learn how to get the Nik Collection by Google for Free

REVIEW: Aurora HDR by Macphun & Trey Ratcliff (includes Tutorial)

UPDATE: Now with over 270,000 downloads (as of 3/21/16)

Aurora HDR Screen Shot (link goes to MacPhun)

Trey Ratcliff has long been known for his popular HDR images, but in the past he’s always talked about doing his work mostly in Photomatix or sometimes HDR Efex Pro. Now he’s decided to team up with Macphun, a company known for phenomenally well designed software, to create the first HDR software that isn’t for geeks.

At first I was a bit skeptical, but when I saw this image made from 8 bracketed shots he got my attention:

8 Exposure HDR of Shackleton Hut in Antarctica - Copyright (c) Trey Ratcliff

As you learn more about the user interface in this video you quickly realize it has the same great fluid responsiveness and ease of use as the current line up of products in the Creative Kit.

I’ve spent a day kicking the tires and I’m very impressed. If you’ve seen my HDR software comparison, then you know what I think of the industry leading products in this space. While Lightroom and Photoshop have definitely improved their HDR support, I still think it sucks compared to what all of the third part solutions offer. As a result, the question becomes where should you put your hard earned dollars?

Well, at this point I’d have to say that HDR Efex Pro seems dead and Photomatix really hasn’t done anything revolutionary in a while, so it was a delight to use a fast, fluid and powerful new product in this space. The results speak for themselves and the speed at which you get a final product that needs no other editing is worth the price alone.

Ron’s Aurora Review & Tutorial

I’m no Trey Ratcliff, but I’ll give you my 2 cents in this 30 minute tutorial where I demonstrate how I use Aurora and my thoughts about it along the way:

The cool thing about this video is that there’s no smoke and mirrors and it’s done on a 2010 MacBook Pro with 8GB of RAM and 512KB video, but it performs very well.

Watch Trey use Aurora HDR

 

Don’t Miss This Video Playlist

Here’s some great videos that pretty much go through everything from A to Z in these 6 videos from Macphun (+2 from Trey). They are direct and to the point, so if you are one of those people who wants to know what something does before you click it, then this video set is definitely for you!

Conclusion

When I found out that Trey had teamed up with them to build an HDR product I quickly knew this would be something special, and it is.

It is very disappointing that Macphun doesn’t make Windows software, but they do promise that one is eventually coming (woohoo). The user experience for their products is fantastic and the user interfaces are super smooth and responsive. This is HDR software that anyone can easily use and understand to achieve great results quickly – with no other products required.

If you don’t have a Mac, then you might want to start considering picking one up from Amazon or at B&H (no sales tax outside NY) if you can’t wait until the Windows version comes out next year.

My only gripe thus far is the lack of support for an auto edge detection brush when creating masks like you’d find in Lightroom. This is a minor quibble since no other HDR product I’ve tested is as feature rich as this one anyway. It also has a lot more features and works significantly faster than HDR Efex Pro and Photomatix, so I think Mac users are going to be thrilled – especially those new to HDR.

Where to order

Coupon Code RONMART saves 10%

Click here to learn more or order at Trey Ratcliff’s StuckInCustoms.com store, or click here to buy directly from MacPhun. My friends at Macphun also have it available here with a 10% discount using the coupon code RONMART. Please note that my discount coupon code for everything at StuckInCustoms.com does not apply to this one product, but you can use it if you add any other products to your cart besides this. Be sure to search for “customs” on my discount coupon code page for the latest code.

If you aren’t familiar with Macphun products already, then go ahead and try out the free trial below…

While it lacks a lot of the features of the stand alone desktop version (see below), you can get a lightweight version of Aurora HDR via the Apple Mac App Store:

The following features are missing from the Mac App Store version, but you can get them with the full version here:

• Multiple license - 5 Macs
  
• Native RAW support
  
• Unlimited number of layers
  
• Unlimited number of brackets
  
• Trey Ratcliff signature HDR presets
  
• Photoshop plug-in support
  
• Lightroom plug-in support
  
• Aperture plug-in support
  
• Luminosity masking
  
• Chromatic aberration reduction
  
• Gradient masking tools

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• HDRSoft Photomatix Pro 4.x (4.2 Update)
  
• HDR Software Comparison
  
• Flixel Cinemagraph Pro
  
• Imagenomic Noiseware Discount & Tutorial (iOS Version)
  
• Mylio–Your Life’s Memories Protected on All Your Devices [Discount Offer]
  
• Perfectly Clear 2
  
• Topaz Labs B&W Effects 2 (B&W Products Comparison)
  
• Topaz Labs Glow 1.0
  
• Topaz Labs ReMask 5.0
  
• Topaz Labs Restyle 1.0
  
• Topaz Labs Simplify 4
  
• Topaz Labs Texture Effects
  
• Ron’s Recommendations
  
• Printing Series
  
• NEC PA322UHD 4k for Pro Photo & Video Editing
  
• SIGMA 50mm f/1.4 Art Series (includes comparisons)
  
• Sony a7R Mark II with 24-70mm

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

Topaz DeNoise 6 is Now Available (Special Offer until March 20)

Only $49.99 with coupon code NOISEFREE (until March 20, 2016)

I’ll do a review at some point in the future, but I wanted to get this offer to you as it is only available for a limited time. They have some cool before and after effects on their web site, so click here to learn more.

Other articles you may enjoy

Here’s some of my Topaz Labs software reviews:

• Topaz Texture Effects 1.0 Review
• Topaz Adjust 5.0
• Topaz Labs B&W Effects 2 (B&W Products Comparison)
• Topaz Labs DeNoise 3.0
• Topaz Labs Glow
• Topaz Labs Lens Effects
• Topaz Labs ReMask 3.0
• Topaz Labs Restyle 1.0
• Topaz Labs Simplify 4
• Topaz Labs Star Effects
• January 2016 Webinar on Texture Effects 
• Topaz Labs Webinar Video #1 (includes Treehouse, New York, Seattle and other tutorials)
• Topaz Labs Webinar Video #2 (includes Staircase & more)
• October 2014 Webinar Video #3

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these articles:

• Ron’s Recommendations

• Printing Series
• Trey Ratcliff's Lightroom Presets (Discount Offer on all Trey Ratcliff Products)
• Mylio – Keep all your memories, on all your devices, seamlessly!  
• What plug-ins should I buy? (for Photoshop & Lightroom)

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

Japanese Fusuma Photography by Kenji Wakasugi Opens Today in New York

Kenji Wakasugi, Eclipse
2015
Composite film and digital capture

Japanese Fusuma Photography by Kenji Wakasugi

- Synthesis -

March 10 - April 22, 2016

Opening Reception with photographer Kenji Wakasugi

Thursday, March 10, 6 - 9 P.M.

12 E. 86th street, # 507, New York, NY 10028

( T: 212-967-4899 )

Wakasugi combines views of nature he has photographed while traveling the remote regions of the world with fusuma, decorated sliding doors. These particular fusuma have been taken from a Japanese room with over four hundred years of history, and his photographs have been artfully inserted into them.  This represents a synthesis of opposing worlds-of interior and exterior, light and dark, stillness and motion, film and digital, old and new.

Fusuma are a form of spatial device employed in traditional Japanese architecture.  These sliding doors are comprised simply of wood and paper and although flimsy and have no locks, they represent a spiritual boundary, separating one side from the other, absolutely.  Japanese rooms are not divided physically with walls, but spiritually, using fusuma; this allows people to interact freely with the space, sometimes removing these fusuma to create a large hall or reinserting them to produce a small room.  Fusuma also respond gently to nature, reflecting the four seasons.  The pale brush-and-ink paintings illuminated by mid-day's light reflecting off the tatami mats on the floor; the gold and silver leaf in designs that appear to float bewitchingly in the light of the moon; all transmitting the poetic charm of the period.  The 16th century artist, Kano Eitoku, sublimated these household fittings into art through his magnificent brushwork and the Japanese people experience a microcosm of nature through these paintings, in which a unique, two-dimensional expression of the world unfolds.  This synthesis of art and nature on the doors dividing a space may be said to spring from the Japanese views of life and death. 

Wakasugi says that poetic sentiment exists in the space between memories. 

Using digital technology to boldly remove the paintings applied to the fusuma by the artists of the past, he carefully replaces them with his own photographs, creating a time and space that does not exist in reality, thereby challenging the past. 

I think it is no exaggeration to say that Wakasugi Kenji's photographs inherit the traditions of the gorgeous world of fusuma painting that were developed by such great artists as Tawaraya Sōtatsu or Ogata Kōrin.

March 2016

Shoko Aono

Director, Ippodo New York

For more information, please visit our Exhibition page, or see our official press release.

For viewing online catalogue, please ask mail@ippodogallery.com

Copyright © 2016 Ippodo Gallery, all rights reserved.

REVIEW: Epson Legacy Baryta & Video Tutorial (Legacy Series 5 of 5)

Epson Legacy Baryta Paper

Epson Legacy Baryta paper is a cotton fiber substrate that uses photo black ink to create archival quality fine art prints. Here are a few important facts about this paper:

• 100% Alpha Cellulose
• Image Permanence: 200 years color / 400 years B&W (when used with Epson HD and Epson HDX Ink)
• 12 mil / 305 Mu caliper
• Acid and lignin free / pH buffered
• Minimal levels of Optical Brightening Agents (OBAs)
• Smooth surface / Satin finish

Unlike the other Legacy Papers, this is the one and only paper that does actually have OBA’s, but my sources at Epson tell me it only a trace amount. If this is an issue for you, then I’d strongly urge you to consider using the fabulous Legacy Platine instead.

Check out the Print Your Legacy landing page with videos here to see what some well respected photographers think of this and all of the Legacy papers.

For more on my thoughts about this paper, continue reading.

Geeky Comparison

If you aren’t a geek you might want to skip this section.

When comparing Baryta next to a variety of other Epson papers you’ll see that its color gamut is outstanding even against Exhibition Fiber Paper which was my previous favorite:

Epson Legacy Baryta vs Platine, Exhibition Fiber Paper (EFP) and Metallic
Click  for a larger view

If you compare the color gamut as a 2d chart (from ColorThink Pro) against Exhibition Fiber, Platine and Luster papers then you’ll see that Legacy Baryta is by far the best with Platine coming in a very close second followed by Exhibition Fiber (EFP) and Luster coming in last:

Epson Legacy Baryta vs Legacy Platine vs  Exhibition Fiber vs Luster Color Gamut
on a Epson SureColor P800

In The Hands Analysis

This paper is rigid enough not to flex when you hold the edge, but it is 1 mil less than Exhibition Fiber (EFP) yet its 2 mil thicker than Luster. Surprisingly, Platine is statistically thicker at 17 mil (vs 12 mil), but it doesn’t feel that way in your hands.

The texture is super smooth without the teeth that you feel on the non-print side of Platine. In fact, it feels almost identical to EFP, but under the light box it seems even smoother with less texture than EFP and significantly less than Platine. If you are the type who finds Luster to have too much texture for your taste on the print side, then you’ll be very happy with this paper. It’s smooth, but without having a cheap glossy look and feel.

The colors are simply jaw dropping, and better than any paper I’ve seen before it. The blacks are incredibly deep with its nearly 2.8 Dmax and the colors just pop off the page better than most displays can render the color. I was so thrilled when I saw the results that I wanted to stop everything and start reprinting all of my favorite prints over again on this paper – it’s that good!

Does that last statement seem familiar? Yeah, I said the same thing about Platine too – because they are both phenomenally good. For images where I want a little texture – because the image content has texture, I’d probably choose Platine as my first choice. For images where I want the smoothest paper possible that isn’t going to gather light from its texture, then I’d probably use Legacy Baryta.

I wasn’t able to try rolls with this paper, but I suspect it would perform about the same as EFP in roll format so I’d probably choose Platine over Baryta for jobs that required rolls over sheets (i.e., panos, 16x24”, etc…).

Real World Print Analysis

Epson V850 scan of Legacy Baryta on a Mac (16-bit)
(Click for Original Mac Version above or Windows Version Here)

The photo below is a scan of a print made using this paper, but even the scan is so vivid that it looks like the original photo (just like Platine did too)! The following photo was used by permission of National Geographic photographer, Jim Richardson and the colors and detail in the scarf just leap off the print in an almost 3D-like experience for the viewer:

Actual Epson V850 Scan of a Print from SureColor P9000 on Legacy Baryta

The scan simply can’t do it justice as too much of the real world experience is lost (and I’ve not altered the scan in any way). Here’s another one by me which is available as a full resolution 24MB TIFF scan, which again doesn’t do it justice because the blacks are so much deeper in real life:

Full Resolution Tiff V850 Scan of a SureColor P800 Legacy Baryta Print
using Epson Advanced Black & White Mode

On a scale of 1 (worse) to 10 (the best I’ve ever seen), I’d give it a 9.9 whereas I’d give the Exhibition Fiber Signature Worthy papers a 9.4. It’s outstanding and extremely pleasing to the eye with everything I love about EFP, but only better.

Compared to Other Favorites

Scan of a color print from a Canon PRO-1 on Canon Pro Platinum paper
Original image was sepia, so this is a faithful rendition vs the ABW versions

I’m a big fan of Ilford GALERIE Prestige Gold Fibre Silk Paper (also a Baryta) and when using my PRO-1 printer, Canon Pro Platinum (more info) and Canon Fine Art Photo Rag are my go to papers on my Canon printers. All of these papers are excellent, but Ilford Gold is a bit too warm for my taste, the Pro Platinum has a bit more of a traditional glossy sheen, and the Photo Rag suffers the same thick and stiff challenges that encourage scuffing that EFP suffers from.

When comparing the papers together, and after a lot of scrutiny, I found myself favoring the Epson Legacy Baryta the most – especially when printing color using a good ICC profile.

Tutorial Video

This video teaches you how to print on this paper in both Photoshop CC 2015 and Lightroom CC 2015 on Windows 10 using both color ICC profiles as well as Advanced Black & White mode. See my first two Legacy paper reviews for ones that were done on OS X El Capitan:

If you’d like visual instructions, including Advanced Black & White, then be sure to check out the visual tutorial in the Epson Legacy Papers Reviews & Tutorials video which covers both Windows and Mac.

The printer paper profile you use will be in the format <printer> LegacyBaryta_PK_<version>.icc (or sometimes icm) so for the Epson SureColor P800 you’d choose SC-P800_Series LegacyBaryta_PK_v1.icc

Conclusion

I’ve saved the best for last, because this really is the best of the Legacy papers and the best paper I’ve ever personally printed on. If there’s a better paper out there, I’d like to try it, because my eyes haven’t seen anything that outperforms this paper.

For this and the Platine reviews, I almost didn’t even include the scanned images because I feared they might give people a false impression of the quality. Simply put, my scanner can’t capture the detail and fidelity that you experience in real life with either of these papers, even when viewing the scans on my NEC PA322UHD 4k display! To truly understand how good they are you you have to see it for real life, so your best bet is to find a friend who has it or pick up the Legacy sample pack or get free print samples here and see for yourself!

I highly recommend this paper as the best paper I’ve ever put through any of my Epson printers, and thanks to a great ICC paper profile – you should be able to get phenomenal results too!

Yes, even with legacy printers like the 3880 (profiles link). 

Where to order

Click here to learn more or order at Adorama or order at B&H here.

Just want to try it out first? Try picking up the Legacy sample pack (also at Adorama) that I used for testing!

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• Epson Legacy Papers Reviews & Tutorials – Intro article that links to all of the Legacy Series paper reviews
• REVIEW: Epson Legacy Platine & Video Tutorial (Legacy Series 4 of 5)
• REVIEW: Epson Legacy Fibre & Video Tutorial (Legacy Series 2 of 5)
• REVIEW: Epson Legacy Etching & Video Tutorial (Legacy Series 3 of 5)
• Printing Series – Tons of resources on printing and print related tech
• Epson SureColor P600 Review
• Epson SureColor P800 Review
• Epson Exhibition Canvas Natural Gloss Review
• Epson Hot & Cold Press Papers
• How To: Using Epson’s Advanced B&W Photo (ABW) printing feature
• Getting great 4x6 prints without any hassle
• Choosing The Right Display Calibration Device
• NEC PA242W Monitor Review (PA241W & PA271W Review)
• NEC PA302W Monitor Review (PA301W Review)
• NEC PA322UHD 4k for Pro Photo & Video Editing
• Ron’s Recommendations

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

Ask Ron: Using Photoshop and Lightroom on a 4k/5k UHD Displays

A reader was telling me today that they didn’t care for using Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom on a 4k, 5k or UHD display because the UI elements were too tiny. The good news is that if you are using CC 2015 or later editions, it’s easy to fix this problem.

For Photoshop you simply need to open the preferences dialog and select the Interface page. From there, you just change the “UI Font Size” to Large and “UI Scaling” to 200%. While the latest version seems to work ok with the “Auto” setting, it doesn’t work  properly in older builds of Photoshop CC 2015.

Here’s an animated GIF that illustrates what values that need to be changed:

Photoshop CC 2015 - Preferences | Text UI Font Size & UI Scaling

Lightroom works in a similar way, but you only need to go to the Interface page and change the “Font Size” setting to “Larger – 200%”. 

Lightroom CC 2015 - Set Font Size to Larger 200%

Naturally these are recommendations as some will prefer the smaller UI and extra screen real estate, while others like the bigger UI but have a tolerance for smaller fonts. The good news is that this is the general pattern to fix the problem so you can choose the values that meet your needs best.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• NEC PA322UHD 4k for Pro Photo & Video Editing
• NEC EA244UHD 4k Display
• Panasonic DMC-G7 (Features 4k Video)
• Sony a7R Mark II with 24-70mm (with 4k video)
• Ron’s Recommendations 
• Printing Series 

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

Government Claims Against B&H Seem Suspicious

All my visits to B&H have been great experiences

I remember a government case against a big software company that had about 400 million users that ended up in it being ruled a monopoly because it didn’t let you choose a default web browser or media player.  In 2016, I don’t see a way to change my default browser or media player on the 700 million iPhone’s, and countless other Apple and Android based devices. 

I point this out because there are often times the government has gone on a witch hunt after a company because of a political axe to grind or some other motivation. In the case of that software company, one particular politician seemed overly motivated to prosecute a software company that had legitimately beat a company in his state in the market place. Yet ironically, we’ve never seen him go after Google, Apple or any other company with similar business practices. Why is that?

Deplorable? Really?

Katrin Eismann, a well-respected photographer and author of successful Photoshop books, recently posted these pictures in a Facebook album that I think shed some light on reality versus the claims in question:

Do these conditions look "deplorable" to you?
Images used by permission and link to Katrin Eismann’s Facebook Album

While neither Katrin nor I are not labor relations experts, these photos certainly don’t seem much different from the many warehouses I’ve toured. In fact, it’s actually a lot better than some that I’ve been to for other companies.

In an article entitled, B&H Responds to US Govt Lawsuit, Calls Claims ‘Inaccurate’ and ‘Bizarre’, B&H says:

“The allegations you have been hearing about are largely made by people who have never set foot in a B&H facility,” the store writes. “We can declare outright that B&H does NOT have any segregated bathrooms by race or religion, and anyone working at B&H knows that to be true. Additionally, any similar contentions are not only inaccurate, but bizarre.”

I’ve visited B&H many times both alone and with B&H representatives, and I’ve never witnessed any conditions that support the governments claims.  While I don’t work for B&H or represent them in any way, as a long-time customer I have a hard time believing these claims are true for if they were why – after all these years – are they just now coming out? 

With states going after big online retailers using Nexus laws that are targeted at sales taxes lost from out of state online transactions, one could only wonder if this might have to do with something more than the issue at hand.

As a tax payer I’m disappointed to see our government wasting money on this, but I also believe everything has a reason. I’m optimistic this investigation will ultimately help B&H by having concrete evidence that these claims were not true and the respect and honor for which they’ve run their company since 1973.

UPDATE

B&H warehouse photos taken in October 2015

B&H has provided their own photos of their warehouse here on Facebook.

Disclosure

Katrin Eisman is not a journalist nor labor relations expert, so her post is purely her photos of what she has observed.

I am not a legal, tax or labor laws expert. The views expressed here are my own and do not reflect those of any company or third party.

I’ve been a satisfied customer of B&H since 2006. When founding my blog, I chose to link my articles to the store where I purchase my own gear . Linking did result in a situation where this blog was able to earn a small commission for those referrals, just the same as I’ve done with Adorama, Amazon and others. However, B&H has never asked me nor paid me to do anything on their behalf and all of my interactions have been at my request to them as a source where people can learn more (much like Wikipedia) or order the products I enjoy blogging about.