Review: RadLab is a Game Changer

Totally Rad’s new RadLab simplifies photo editing while enhancing creativity.

I have been a huge fan of Totally Rad’s Photoshop Actions and Lightroom Presets for a long time. The team over at Totally Rad have a way of creating easy to use products that enhance photographic creativity, yet are simple and elegant to use.

The Learning Curve Flattened

I’ve been a Photoshop user for well over a decade. It is a fantastic tool and there are many reasons it is the industry standard. The breadth and width of Photoshop software is mind boggling. Take any 10 people and ask them to preform a task in Photoshop, and you’ll likely see 10 unique ways of approaching the task. I’ve often said Photoshop has a learning curve so steep it leans out over you, like a rock overhang.

You can do so many things with Photoshop – photo edit, illustrate, draw, create composite images, drop in text layers with their own multi-dimensional effects, etc.

And therein lies part of the problem. It takes a long time to learn how to use Photoshop and an even longer time to become proficient at it. Many people never get much further than the front door, metaphorically speaking.

RadLab changes all that. It focuses on the PHOTOGRAPHER. Why does that matter, you ask? Because photographers are VISUAL ARTISTS. We view the world, well….through our visual sense. With RadLab you can easily adjust sliders and simply watch the effects.

Doug Boutwell is a Genius

Don’t tell him I said that because it could go to his head. He had taken all of his great ideas and managed to combine them all into one easy to use interface. Among RadLab’s many attributes, the following are the ones that leap out at me as particularly fabulous:

Easy to understand and use basic adjustments
Non-Destructive image editing through the ability to create a Photoshop Smart Filter
Consistent adjustments across all images sizes
Infinite possible combinations of visual effects
And did I mention it’s visual?

RadLab takes what can be a very confusing, complex and time consuming task and turns it into a fun filled blast.