In the last few years, I have reviewed quite a lot of ACDC products for the channel.
I genuinely like their stuff, and today I have another product for you to look at.
This one is called Gemstone Photo Editor 12,
but I hear you ask,
they already have Photo Studio Ultimate, so what is the point of this?
I'm so glad you asked.
ACDSee Gemstone Photo Editor 12 is a Windows-only product.
Gemstone appears to have been created for picture aficionados who desire a lot of editing power
yet want to manage their files themselves.
It, in my opinion, has a nice collection of tools that will suit most photographers and image editors,
although it does not have the same breadth of tools as Photoshop.
It enables non-destructive editing
(which allows you to reverse changes up to a certain point)
and raw file processing for a surprising number of proprietary formats,
just like its main competitors.
When you sign up, there are also some helpful online lessons to assist you
in exploring the various features.
Gemstone has a GPU-accelerated layered editor with the following features:
Graphic Design Tools, Colour Tools, Efficiency Tools,
Photography Tools, Repair & Restoration Tools.
Gemstone also has an AI-powered selection tool.
Select your subjects with a click.
Remove unwanted backgrounds from photos quickly.
Blur image backgrounds with ease.
Instantly turn the background of your photo black and white.
Gemstone brings an MDI interface that allows multiple photos to be opened
concurrently.
From there, you can copy, paste, and transfer edited elements in between
photos easily.
The interface is, unsurprisingly, like Adobe's Photoshop.
This, of course, is not a bad thing.
People are very familiar with that interface,
but Gemstone does appear a little empty in comparison to the Photoshop interface.
The main editing interface follows the norm
we've come to expect from most editing software,
with the toolbar on the left,
an image window in the middle, and tabs on the right for Layers,
histogram, and history.
Although there is a main menu at the top of the interface,
much of the information can be found in the panels on the right.
I found Gemstone got easier to use after a period of time.
At first, I felt there were a few
bugs that stopped me from using it the way I wanted and needed it to.
After a few restarts, everything seemed to be fine.
I am not sure if the problem was on my end or theirs.
If you've used Photoshop before,
you should be familiar with a programme like this.
For system requirements, your computer should have at least
an AMD or Intel processor with 64-bit support.
ACDSee recommends an Intel i5 for ideal software use.
You need 2 GB of available hard disk space.
You need to run Microsoft Windows 7 SP1,
Microsoft Windows 8, Microsoft Windows 8.1,
Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit or Microsoft Windows 11.
You can buy Gemstone Photo Editor 12 for $79.99 or £59.99.
This is a one-time charge.
Photoshop, on the other hand,
is £238.42/year in the UK and $239.88/year in the US. Quite the contrast.
As for what I like about Gemstone, I like their competitive pricing.
It has a familiar interface and usability.
It also has a decent selection of features.
It's a promising product for the future.
You could argue it's a good first attempt.
You can also use it to edit photos like in Photo Studio, and only lose a few features.
What I don’t like about Gemstone.
Its quick actions were very hit and miss.
It's not ready to take on Adobe’s Photoshop.
The programme also feels a little sparse.
I believe more advanced users will notice this issue.
Finally, another issue I'm thinking of bringing up is product confusion.
Many users will confuse Gemstone with another Photo Studio-style product.
Gemstone is very ambitious.
It’s trying to take on Adobe Photoshop and many others.
This is going to take time and many updates.
It’s still early days yet.
If you are a photographer, I would recommend ACDSee Photo Studio.
If you want to create something original by combining and mixing
multiple elements from multiple photos, you will want to use Gemstone.
I still don’t think it is ready to for prime time, but one day it could be.
At the moment, I still favour Photoshop.
But you can test it out for yourself with the free trial from their website.