Zoner Photo Studio

History

This software line was originally published under the name Zoner Media Explorer. In 2004, it was renamed to Zoner Photo Studio, because the product focus switched to strictly digital photography only. A new version has been published each year during the software’s history.

Key changes brought by recent versions:

Version 12 of Zoner Photo Studio introduced the program’s division into "modules": a Manager, Viewer, Editor, and RAW module, to increase the ease of working with photo management/editing/etc. simultaneously. This was also the first version with a default charcoal gray interface, intended to ease photo viewing. Version 13 brought support for dual monitors and 64-bit versions of Windows. Version 14 brought support for batch upload to the developer’s Zonerama web gallery service and for GPU acceleration via CUDA and OpenCL. Version 15 added the new Import module. Version 16 completed the Editor’s switch to using the Side Panel. Version 17 revamped the RAW module and made the Catalog more central to the Manager. Version 18 brought a major interface change. The five modules were distilled into three: Manager, Develop, and Editor. Develop enables non-destructive edits to RAW files and other supported files.

Interface

This is all-in-one photo software, that is, its has features for all of a photo workflow, rather than e.g. only editing. The interface is divided into what the company calls "modules," each addressing a certain major task in that workflow, such as viewing, editing, managing, or "importing" (downloading) photos.

Import module—downloading photos onto a computer

The program’s Import module is used for copying or moving photos from a camera, a card, or other external media onto a computer. It offers various automatic actions during download, such as assigning keywords and other metadata.

Manager module—organizing photos

The program’s Manager module is for organizing photos. It can display "metadata," that is, information about pictures, stored in the Exif, IPTC, and/or XMP standard. This metadata includes titles, descriptions, author info, keywords, audio notes, digital signatures, GPS data, ratings, colored labels, etc. Metadata can also be edited here, or used for filtering. The Manager supports batch work. The program works with image files on disk directly—they are not imported in and later exported out. However, it does have a Catalog database that serves as a "card catalog" for metadata. The Manager has several different views—besides the standard "Browser," these are "Preview," "Map," and "Compare." Their purposes match their names.

Viewer—full-size picture viewing

The Viewer is for quick full-size picture browsing.

Editor—photo editing

The Editor is used for photo editing. This is a classic bitmap editor, built for retouching purposes only and thus without full layer support (just a temporary layer upon which edits "float" until they are applied). This editor offers selections and a selection mask.

RAW module—RAW file development

The program’s RAW module enables conversion of RAW-format data into files in standard bitmap formats. The native support does not cover all the newest cameras at any given moment, but can be expanded to support them by integrating a free DNG converter. Version 17 of the program added support for automatic lens defect corrections during development using LCP profiles.

Photo Studio 15

Zoner Photo Studio was released in October 2012.

Import Module—photo downloading

The photo-download process was completely redesigned for version 15.

Side Panel introduced

The Side Panel was first added to the Editor in this version, where it already replaced the major editing dialogs (for e.g. colors, brightness, white balance, etc.). Version 15 is thus also when full-screen previewing first replaced small preview panes for most edits. This version saw the addition of "Quick Filters," designed for quickly applying multiple edits at once to give a certain look (e.g. "Polaroid," "Cross Process," "Lomo").

Automatic Backups of Original Version

Each photo is automatically backed up to a local database the moment a user first edits that photo in the program. The program offers a "Restore Original" function powered by this database. This function is optional, but on by default.

Synchronization

A tool that synchronizes photo collections in multiple locations against each other.

Tilt-shift

This feature works like a Tilt-shift lens, that is, it blurs a picture’s background (with controls for where and how much to blur).

Zonerama

Zonerama is a web gallery service run by the developer of Zoner Photo Studio. Zoner, Inc. provides it for free to both users and non-users of the program. Albums can have configurable privacy, visibility, etc. Version 15 introduced integration between the program and this service, although version 15’s integration is outdated today. This integration includes e.g. editing of Zonerama pictures directly from the program.

Zoner Photo Studio 16

This version was released in October 2013.

Improved touch-controls support

Version 16 improves the program’s usability on tablet PCs and with touch monitors.

Manager

This version saw the Manager’s main area split into several views—the traditional Browser, plus Preview for quick full-size viewing, Map for work with pictures’ GPS coordinates, and Compare for visually comparing photos side-by-side. Version 16 added a miniature map to the Manager’s Side Panel, along with support for drag-and-drop of GPS coordinates.

Editor

This version saw the vertical toolbar brought from the left side to the right side, and absolutely all edits moved to the Side Panel. Editor features added in this version included a "Content-aware Resize" that preserves the size of important content during shrinking.

Photo Studio 17

Zoner Photo Studio 17 was published in September 2014.

Import

This version added the ability to assign keywords and rename pictures during import.

Manager

In this version the Manager’s Side Panel was expanded to include a small picture preview. Photo ratings were changed from numbers to stars, and the ability to batch-keyword-tag photos in the Information pane was added. As of this version, the Catalog indexes pictures in the background (i.e. it is non-blocking) and auto-indexes the Windows Pictures library, and the Catalog section holds a more prominent place in the folder list on the left. The Catalog section also contains the controls for the DLNA capabilities added in this version. A tool for finding and deleting duplicate files was added in this version.

RAW

This version saw a full reworking of the RAW module’s interface, with some elements removed and some added; one addition is an Automatic button that auto-suggests settings. The most important newly adjustable development settings here are for histogram curves. As of this version, Manager thumbnails immediately reflect changes in the RAW module. This version also adds support for lens defect correction using LCP profiles during RAW development.

Zoner Photo Studio 18

The English version of Zoner Photo Studio 18 was released on 1 October 2015.

Interface

Zoner Photo Studio 18 is divided into three sections – Manager, Develop and Editor. It replaces the former Viewer section with a standalone viewer, while Import is replaced by a button at the bottom left.

The three sections share one structure – a "Navigator" on the left, a picture or pictures in the middle, and a histogram and tools on a panel on the right.

Catalog

The Catalog enables filtering by folders, keywords, and the date when the photos were created. As of version 18, it also supports work with external disks.

Develop

The Develop section enables non-destructive edits to RAW, JPEG, PNG, and other bitmap file formats. Changes are saved to separate files, with the original photos remaining unchanged.

HD Video Presentations

Sets of photos can be turned into video presentations with music and animated transitions.

Sharing

Photos and albums can be shared to Facebook, Twitter, and E-mail; Zoner Postcards can be sent straight from inside the program.

Other New Features

System requirements

(Windows Vista and Windows XP are no longer supported in version 18)