ACDSee, just like Adobe, is quite a veteran in the photo editing game. And their photo editing software has been there since the early days of the industry.
Like Adobe Lightroom CC, ACDSee Photo Studio Professional is also a RAW file editor and organizing system with a photo editing workflow.
The best thing about this tool is that, from every now and then, ACDSee adds new features or improve the existing ones.
That’s why the software is filled with essential functions and offers a full-fledged image editing solution.
Having said that, there are many areas where this tool produces a lackluster performance or trails its competitors like Lightroom or DxO Photolab.
And in the following section, I go through these points in detail.
So, without wasting any time, let’s dive in.
ACDSee Photo Studio Professional Pros
#1. The biggest strength of ACDSee is its editing and organizing features.
The software is capable of doing all the primary level things like cropping, trimming, or applying filters.
However, I found the software to be hot and cold as I moved to more advanced functions.
What impressed me the most about ACDSee is its color correction system that enables you to maintain the right color contrast in a picture.
It does so by copying the pixels from a source area to the target area. And using this tool, you can hide unnecessary objects, uneven color tone, and blemishes from your photos.
Similarly, ACDSee offers various Lookup Tables (LUTs) to quickly apply and see different color looks. Or you can use their new ‘Develop Brush’ tool to adjust colors, vibrance, and white balance.
On top of that, the company has introduced a new ‘Smart Erase Tool’ that helps you remove specific objects from your photos.
Now, when it comes to processing RAW files, which is one of its primary functions, the tool does a decent job. But the quality is nothing like what you get on Lightroom CC or DxO Photolab.
Similarly, the program is okay-ish in reducing noise and correcting optical flaws as it does a decent job overall but misses out small details.
That said, I really liked the face detection or face recognition feature, which was on point.
Once I named a few faces, it automatically recognized and tagged all the other photos with those faces.
Additionally, you are also allowed to add color labels, Geotagging, and keywords to organize your photo library.
So, full marks go to ACDSee in the photo organizing section.
And at last, the feature that is worth mentioning is the ACDSee Light EQ – a patented technology of the company.
This smart feature takes color correction to the next level. It lets you adjust the lighting of specific areas without affecting the rest of the image.
For example, if a particular area is dark, you can make it look brighter and vise versa.
So, in short, ACDSee is a feature-rich program that does a great job in a few aspects. But in many sections, the image editing tool is just okay.
#2. ACDSee comes with batch import and export functions.
So once you’re done with the editing work, you can export all the images together to your computer.
Sure, it might take some time, depending on the quality and quantity of your images. But it saves you from the headache of manually exporting images one-by-one.
Plus, you can share your images directly to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and SmugMug. Or you can send your photos to email, too.
And all these activities happen in ACDSee Photo Studio Professional’s 365 mode.
#3. Though ACDSee products do usually come with cross-platform support, the Photo Studio Professional works only on Windows computers.
However, that doesn’t mean Mac users can’t use the photo editing software of the company.
The company has a dedicated product for Mac computers called Photo Studio for Mac 5.
This product is similar to Photo Studio Professional but barring a few key features like Face Recognition or Smart Erase Tool.
#4. With the ACDSee subscription plan, users also get free SeeDrive cloud space from the company to store their files.
Initially, when you sign up for the ‘Home Plan’, you get 50GB of the SeeDrive cloud space and 5 user activations. But you can also buy an additional 50GB for $25 or 100 GB for $50.
ACDSee Photo Studio Professional Cons
#1. Usability is a major area where ACDSee needs to work on.
The user interface of the software is quite busy and one of the most daunting in its category.
To give you a quick overview…
The viewing area is in the middle, while the left-hand side consists of the image source folders, and the right-hand side panel has tools and properties.
Apart from this, for better user experience, ACDSee uses mode based editing. And the interface is mainly divided into edit mode, develop mode, view mode, photos, and manage.
Though the mode based interface might look simple, it still has a steep learning curve. And an entry-level user will have to spend a few hours just to get the basic functionalities of the software.
However, the silver lining is the availability of several video tutorials on the official website.
You can use these videos to learn the ropes quickly or polish your current editing skills.
#2. With no dedicated Android and iOS app, ACDSee can’t be used on your smartphone or tablet. However, you can install the ACDSee Sync app on your phone to send photos to the desktop software directly from your smartphone.
ACDSee pricing plans and payment methods
As per payment plans, ACDSee gives you the freedom to choose between the subscription model and one-off fee.
You can buy the software outright for $99.99 or go with their ‘Home Plan’ that costs just $89/year or $8.90/month if you choose to pay every month.
(Prices during a special discount offer)
There’s also a Home Pack for $189 that gives you access to the top 4 ACDSee products with 3 device activations.
Above all, the photo editing software comes with a free 30-day trial. And even if you buy but don’t like the product, you can get a full refund within the first 30-days.
Finally, when it comes to payment methods, ACDSee accepts PayPal as well as all major credit and debit cards.
Do I recommend ACDSee Photo Studio Professional?
To be honest, my answer would be no.
Even though the software is cheap compared to other products, it still leaves asking for more.
There are a few areas where ACDSee does an excellent job like the color correction or Smart Erase Tool.
But it would be better if they simplify their user interface and improve RAW file processing, noise reduction ability, and lens correction.