Alien skin exposure X3
£116/$149
a Subtle and powerful effects tool
Alien Skin Exposure X3 may not be as well known as most of the programs here, but it deserves to be. It’s a subtle, powerful and efficient all-in-one editing and browsing tool that specializes in analogue film effects that comes with an incredibly large library of one-click preset effects to experiment with.
These are created using a combination of manual adjustments, so you can modify an existing effect or create your own from scratch – or you can just use Exposure X3 as a regular photo editor, thanks to its tone and colour tools, cropping and cloning options.
It also supports layers and masks, so you can blend in different adjustments or even combine different preset image effects. It does not support image layers, however, so you can’t create multi-image composites. All editing adjustments are nondestructive, though, and it’s also possible to create ‘virtual copies’ – multiple variants of the exact same image, which take up no extra disk space.
Performance
Exposure X3 can be a little slow to scan large folders or collections of folders, but once that’s done it’s fast and responsive. You can preview a preset effect on the main image just by hovering the mouse over its thumbnail, and the ability to ‘audition’ multiple presets before making a final choice is clever.
The range of presets available is extensive and also sensitive to the subtle variations of older analogue materials, right down to vignette and bokeh effects. It’s not just a tool for creating vintage looks, however, but a highly effective all-purpose, all-in-one photo editor that more people should be aware of.