I am excited to announce some awesome news – Macphun’s Aurora HDR will be upgraded later this year AND it will be available for Window’s users for the first time ever!! Aurora HDR has been my go-to HDR program since it first came out and it is so much better than any other HDR programs available. And now Windows users will be able to get their hands on this powerful software.
Aurora HDR 2018 is coming in September. You will be able to pre-order it on September 12 and it will be available on September 28. Get more info from Macphun here and read the announcement on Macphun’s blog here.
Here are the Details on Pricing:
Mixed-computer households can share the same product key for Mac and PC that can be activated on 5 devices.
Pre-order:
- Current users of Aurora HDR may upgrade at a special pre-order price of $49
- New users can purchase Aurora HDR 2018 at a special pre-order price of $89
- A collection of bonuses will also be included with every purchase.
Retail price:
- $59 for current Aurora HDR users
- $99 for new users
What’s New?
In addition to Aurora now being available for PC’s, here is some other highlights of the upgrade.
- Lens Correction Tool – The new Lens correction filter easily fixes all kinds of lens distortion, from barrel to pincushion, to chromatic aberration and vignetting. Based on the screenshots I have seen, there are no lens profiles to choose from based on your particular lens. Corrections are done manually yourself via the sliders.
New Lens Correction Tool for Aurora HDR 2018 - New User Interface – Redesigned from scratch, the modern and responsive user interface brings a powerful, yet joyful experience to HDR photo editing. This new interface looks great and brings the UI much closer to that of Luminar.
- Cross-platform version – Aurora HDR 2018 will be available both for Mac and PC users. Files are interchangeable and mixed-computer households can share the same product key.
- Speed Improvements – Up to 4x improvement in RAW image processing, and up to 200% faster merging and masking performance means that Aurora HDR 2018 is dramatically faster than the last version.
This is what is currently publicly listed as what’s new. There might be some more enhancements coming – we shall see soon.
My Observations
I will be getting my hands on an early beta release very soon and will then have a better handle on the improvements. But based on the screenshots I have seen I can make some initial observations.
For the Windows Users: Your time has come. You are now going to be able to use the best HDR program available. Perfect for both natural and more artistic HDR photos, you will be amazed at the toolset and options now available for you. It is much more advanced than any other HDR program out there. And it even does a great job on single exposure images!
Here are some highlights of Aurora HDR:
- Total HDR editing experience with the most complete set of tools available.
- Fast, powerful RAW processing engine.
- Tone-mapping algorithm to achieve both realistic and dramatic HDR images.
- Over 70 presets that give photos an amazing HDR look in just one click.
- Luminosity masking that automatically makes advanced selections within HDR images based on the Zone System.
- Unique layer system that supports blend modes, custom textures and using original exposures as source images.
- Image Radiance, brushes, masks, lighting, vignettes and much more help users achieve their artistic vision
- Highly versatile batch processing
- Works as a standalone app, or a plug-in to Photoshop and Lightroom
For the Mac Users: For an upgrade price of just $49 dollars you are getting the latest and greatest version of Aurora HDR with a completely new user interface that comes closer to matching Luminar, there is a new Lens Correction Tool, your registration key will also work on a Windows computer if you have one, and you will enjoy much welcomed speed improvements.
The lens correction tool is definitely going to be helpful, eliminating the need of other software to make lens adjustments. And based on the screenshots of the new UI it looks like there will be some interesting workflow enhancements that I will be discussing more once I get a chance to use the program.
“Is it worth upgrading?” “Why do I have to spend money for an upgrade already?” “Am I going to have to pay each year for an upgrade?”
Every time a new upgrade comes out I see these same questions and also complaints. Photographers always appreciate new features, but don’t always like paying for them. The way most photo software companies are now operating are via a monthly subscription or a yearly upgrade cycle. Macphun for the last few years has decided to go the yearly upgrade cycle, meaning they spend a year making enhancements and adding features to their software and offering the upgrade at a special reduced price for previous owners.
I don’t understand why photographers complain about this. Often they reference Photomatix (a very popular HDR program) when complaining, mentioning that their recently released v6 upgrade was free for v5 users. They fail to mention however that they had to wait some 5 or 6 years for the upgrade… Personally I would rather pay a small upgrade fee each year for new features and enhancements to make my photos look even better than to wait years for such upgrades.
Lastly these upgrades are not mandatory. You can still use Aurora 2017 and wait for Aurora 2019. But you will miss out on the new features of Aurora 2018 while you wait 😉
And why wait? Be notified when the pre-order and launch begins by signing up to Macphuns announcement list here.
Will I Have a New Mastering Aurora 2018 Online Course?
You bet!! The plan is to have it available on or around the release date of Aurora HDR 2018. Want to be added to my pre-order list for my course? Let me know by filling out this form:
