Starting today we added the latest Artisan Pro X 2022 for UXP platforms to our B&W editing software series to comply with the latest advancements and requirements from Adobe and developments by processor manufacturers. The UXP panels will work on any computer with PS CC 2022 with Intel processors or with the new Apple Silicon (M1) processors without needing to add Rosetta emulation. To know what more changed besides the change of a new platform, scroll down to the What's New Section.

Background info

If you have the most recent Artisan Pro X 2022 (non UXP released last year) or Artisan Pro X 2021 or have the no longer supported version of B&W Artisan Pro X without the year-signifier (2021 or 2022) then these panels are so-called CEP panels that work as a plugin in Photoshop by accessing and activating it via PS > Window > Extensions (legacy) after successful installation.

However, if you have the latest Mac with M1 processors and Artisan Pro X 2021 or 2022 then these CEP legacy panels can only be accessed and activated by starting Photoshop 2022 or higher in Rosetta emulation. Windows and older (Intel) Mac users can access the panel as usual without the Rosetta emulation step.

With the new UXP panel release our panel will now work on any platform directly and takes advantage of the latest technology by Adobe and processor manufacturers

New Artisan Pro UXP only available through the Adobe Marketplace store and discount

If you are interested in purchasing the new panel then be advised that the new UXP panel is not available anymore through our regular store but only via Adobe’s Marketplace store (Adobe Exchange) that you can find here.

Depending on what version of the panel you have and when you last purchased or updated it, you have received an email with a personal discount.

We keep supporting your current version if you don’t want to upgrade

We can understand if you don’t want to pay for an upgrade. Therefore we ensure that you can still work with your current copy of the Artisan Pro X 2021 or 2022 (CEP legacy) panels and we will support that version for as long as Adobe supports the use of legacy CEP panels.

On the other hand, since we now distribute the panel via the Adobe store, we can do updates much faster and we will provide several free new features this coming year for the UXP panel.

Older panel versions without the year-signifier will not be supported anymore as we announced by the end of 2020 already. Note that if you have Artisan Pro X 2021, you should have received an email last year to upgrade for free to Artisan Pro X 2022 (non-UXP).

Existing YouTube Video tutorials and recorded webinars still relevant

All existing video tutorials and webinars and what has been explained in those videos still apply and are still relevant. All one needs to do is to map the new simplified presets and sliders to the old presets using the descriptions in this short manual. Redoing all Artisan videos on Youtube with an estimated production time of more than 220 hours not to mention the impracticality of redoing all five 4-hr live webinars, just for a changed layout that works the same doesn't serve any reasonable purpose. Of course, there will always be another free webinar in the near future with the new panel.

We are continuously working on new features that we can now easily ‘push’ through the Adobe store to make the update/upgrade available much faster and more frequently than before in the old situation.

No more newsletters via email - only via Cloud button on panel

Now we can only offer our panels through the Adobe Marketplace store and not through our own web-store, we don’t have any information about users of our panels anymore. Updates and other information about the panel will be announced via our Artisan Pro page on the Adobe Marketplace store in the release notes.

Upcoming (free) webinars, classes, and other events will only be announced via this Artisan Pro information page. If you’re interested to know about any of those events, it is advised to regularly check the news section in our Artisan Pro page or sign up for the newsletter here.

What’s new and improved besides UXP compared to Artisan Pro X 2022

Apart from completely rebuilding the panel from the ground up to comply with the necessary changes of technology platforms by Adobe, Apple, and quite possibly other computer manufacturers as well in the near future, we also implemented the following changes:

Changed User Interface (UI). This was largely prompted by specific UI requirements imposed by Adobe but also by the need to make our layout easier to understand and more intuitive to use. All existing features are the same and work the same, albeit with some layout changes that are described in this short manual

Increased performance. The UXP platform, especially on Macs with M1 computers, in conjunction with the complete rebuild of the panel, has increased the performance of the Artisan Pro panel noticeably to significantly depending on the type of computer.

Zone-preview: in Micro Zones under Tools (formerly Pro Tools) or under MicroZone Adjustments, when you select a zone and hover your mouse over the button, the image will show what areas are in that specific zone. This Zone-Preview can be turned on or off.

Auto-blending (can be turned on or off): This can be found under Tools. This is a very powerful new feature that works similarly to the auto blending with Advanced Adjustments and MicroZone Adjustments and will be demonstrated in an upcoming Youtube video. The concept: simply quick select with the lasso tool and adjust and it will blend smoothly with the rest of the image without the need for restore. Background info: the Pro tools section is my personal favorite section since it gives you far more control over adjustments than the Advanced or MicroZone adjustments, but it requires a bit more knowledge of the panel and especially on how to evaluate and use luminosity masks. Also, you need to be proficient with using the restore features. The downside however is that with the Pro tools adjustments in the old situation you can only use rectangular selections to make the Restore feature useful and effective. There are plenty of cases in which an adjustment using rectangular selections is nearly impossible and you need a random amorphous selection. Now in Pro Tools you have the choice to use restore with rectangular selections and auto blending turned off (preferred since this gives you the most precise and granular type of restore) or to turn on auto blending and then use the lasso tool selection, intersect it with a luminosity mask and it will blend automatically with the adjacent image areas. No restore is needed. Also, the auto blending can also be used to ‘stitch’ masks together in a seamless way in channel mode. Anyone who has witnessed my Advanced Masking method will know that I often mask in sections.

Sky mask which can be found under Pro Tools. This is based on the existing PS > Select Sky feature but now enhanced with my specific masking techniques. There are 3 different sky mask generation buttons and 2 adjustment buttons to conceal/reveal more.

Multi-Zone Adjustments can be found under Adjustments. Essentially the Zone contrast adjustment presets are meant as final tweaks in the post-processing phase and apply subtle corrections that I believe will benefit most people as it benefited me. This zone contrast adjustment feature will adjust contrasts between 3 large zones to balance the image visually to your liking. This happens by using wide range luminosity masks in the background that target 3 zones: the shadow areas (zone 0-3), the mid-tones zone (zone 4-6), and the lights zones (zones 7-10). There are 3 presets:

1. Darks will make the shadows and mid-tones darker, while at the same time increasing the highlights to balance it out.

2. Lights will increase the highlights and mid-tones brightness values and the addition of a bit of shadows will ensure the image doesn’t look faded and will still be ‘grounded’.

3. Midtones will reduce the contrast overall but in a subtle way.