Phase One’s Capture One; Raw Workflow PRO And LE Page 2

5) The sharpness and noise controls let you get a very close look at details at full resolution if desired and allow for very fine controls and adjustments.

6) There are fly-out menus for some quick fixes and changes, including Effects and, shown here, various "looks" of an image. There's even a very handy black and white conversion tool with three options.

7) The Preferences toolbar is where you can take complete control of many of the image conversion options. Once you create these preferences you can call each preference set up for certain types of images, from portraits to still life to landscapes. This becomes a shortcut to creating a workflow and output to meet your exacting specifications.

8) You can choose to process an image at any point during the workflow or batch convert by selecting groups of images to which you apply changes. I chose to process and open in Photoshop CS2, which allowed me to make final refinements before the image is done. While the program's very comprehensive nature means there is some learning curve, once the basics are understood it becomes a very efficient and flexible program. Here are three options on an image photographed with an Olympus EVOLT E-330 digital SLR using Olympus' ORF raw file format, which Capture One PRO handled with ease:

a) This image is straight from the camera saved as a TIFF with no changes. I opened it in Capture One PRO and immediately hit the process button.

b) This is a one-click solution, using the Capture One "Effect" fly-out menu and choosing the "Ektachrome" look.

c) This is the "final" (right) which was walked quickly through the Capture One PRO workflow with a Shady white balance, reduced EC (Exposure Contrast), and +30 percent sharpening and moderate noise reduction. This workflow goes naturally through the progression of considerations you would normally make with any image and was handled with speed on my MacBook Pro.