CyberLink PhotoDirector 4

Even at its debut, I was surprised at what a user-friendly yet powerful digital workflow app PhotoDirector was. It had nearly all the bases covered?support for camera raw files, keyword tagging, and even local adjustment brushes. But it still lacked advanced features like face-tagging and corrections for chromatic aberration and geometry offered by competitors like Adobe Lightroom 4 (, 4.5 stars), Apple Aperture 3 ($79.99, 4 stars), and ACDSee Pro 3 ($99.99, 4 stars). Not only does the latest PhotoDirector release address all of those omissions, it adds some nifty tricks like content-aware object removal, HDR effects, and even a body slimming tool. It also brings the first Mac OS X version non-Apple-built pro photo editor to support Retina displays.

Setup/Signup
PhotoDirector is available as a free 30-day, full-function trial, as part of CyberLink's $149 PhotoDirector 4 Suite, which includes our Editors' Choice consumer video editor, PowerDirector, or as a standalone for $99.99. I had some difficulty installing the program on a 64-bit Windows 7 PC. Setting up PhotoDirector generated error messages, though this could well have been due to issues with my particular Windows setup. The installer stopped from two different causes: First it couldn't install Microsoft C++ Redistributable Service Pack. Second, I got a message saying that I needed to install on a 32-bit OS. I was running 64-bit Windows 7, but that can run 32-bit apps, too.

Installing the Mac OS X version on a Retina MacBook, by contrast, was a snafu-free breeze.

Interface
PhotoDirector 4's interface still manages to be less intimidating than those of competitors. It's even more uncluttered and friendly than consumer-level competitors like Corel PaintShop and Photoshop Elements. PhotoDirector bypasses the annoyance of Photoshop Element's separate Organizer app?you can do everything in the one PhotoDirector app.

As is common among pro and near-pro-level photo workflow apps, PhotoDirector uses "modes." That just means there are global tabs or buttons that switch the interface among different functions, usually organizing, editing, and sharing. PhotoDirector started with just three modes, but two more?Edit and Print?have been added to the original Library, Adjustment, and Slideshow. Unlike Lightroom 4, PhotoDirector doesn't let you choose which of these mode buttons appears, so, for example, if you never print, you still can't remove the Print mode button.

Switching between the modes is as simple as it is in Lightroom, but I actually noticed even more of a delay when switching modes than in Adobe's photo workflow app. And within each of PhotoDirector's modes, a left-side panel offers mode-appropriate options. In the Library and Adjustment modes, as in Aperture, the panel is further broken down into two tabs, Project and Metadata for the first, and Manual and Presets for the second.

The main viewing area is flexible, with a few options of its own. In Library mode, a large view of the photo sits above a filmstrip-style look at other pictures in the folder. Alternatively, buttons at the top let you see just the photo, a gallery browser of thumbnails or filenames, or a full-screen view of just the current photo. Instead of viewing one large image, you can also compare two or several in Library mode.

The gallery view can be filtered by photos you've flagged, color labeled, or those you've edited. Hover the mouse over a thumbnail in gallery view, and you'll see star rating and flagging buttons for easy rating and selecting. When viewing one large image, the same choices appear along the bottom, with color labeling added; optionally you can add controls for rotation and back and forward arrows.

In Adjustment mode, you can see a split view showing before and after your edits. Flipping through images was snappy and delay-free, as was overall program response?even on a less-than-stellar 2.5GHz dual-core laptop. Like Lightroom, PhotoDirector only lets you zoom to preset sizes?25 percent, 33 percent, and 50 percent, and so on?rather than having a full-range slider like ACDSee's. But a single click switches between zoomed and unzoomed, which is convenient.

Like most photo apps at this level, PhotoDirector makes good use of keyboard shortcuts for most actions. As with Lightroom and Aperture, the F key switches you to full screen view. You can also view the image on a separate monitor, and four shades of gray for the background. This last choice doesn't change the whole interface color as Lightroom's more helpfully does, just the area behind the photo, but the rest of PhotoDirector's interface is a dark enough shade to stay out of the way of your concentration on the images.

You can't detach the programs panels to float anywhere on screen as you can in ACDSee. Undo is well implemented, and an excellent adjustment history panel not only shows all previous tweaks, but also a thumbnail at the top displaying a mini view of those tweaks' effects. Clicking on any history entry applies that point to the full image view. So for interface, PhotoDirector gets very high marks indeed.

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