SPECIALIST B&W SOFTWARE FOR B&W ARTISTS AND PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS
All photo editing software can be considered feature-driven software: you follow no implied structure, and just ‘fiddle’ around. Artisan Pro X is unique in its kind as it is a ‘method driven panel: to put the panel to good use, the implied and suggested method needs to be followed. It is organic, structured, and intuitive: as if working in the analog darkroom with its digital replacements.

Just like in the analog darkroom when developing B&W negatives, color plays no role in the processing. All adjustments with the panel are luminance-based and color-independent. Thinking and seeing like a B&W photographer, means thinking and seeing in luminance values and their differences (contrast) and letting go of seeing and thinking in color.

Artisan Pro X is a software plugin/panel designed around a structured and proven method for B&W processing and around the high-level principles of good B&W photography. Specifically designed for fine art and professional photographers who want to work accurately and without any creative restrictions. This is enabled and supported by automated sequences (one-click presets) for the adjustments that are crucial in good B&W processing and have been optimized for speed, subtlety, and accuracy.

Artisan Pro X is a panel that is designed and built by a photographer, award-winning photographer Joel Tjintjelaar, and highly praised black and white specialist, who initiated and, together with a few other like-minded artists, popularized a visual style in B&W architecture, that has been emulated by an ever-growing worldwide audience over the past decade. The phrase “Fine art B&W Architecture” has become synonymous with the visual style they introduced and popularized. The panel is designed to simplify the elaborate manual workflow and make craftsmanship in black and white processing accessible to a larger audience.

The underlying method and principles of the panel are reflected in the layout and design of the panel that encourages the user to learn those principles together while learning to use the panel. Therefore the Artisan Pro X tutorials and learning curve are necessarily more elaborate to give the user insight into all the important aspects and principles of B&W photography while using the panel. Not just learning an isolated ‘trick’ but also seeing the context to better understand how your artistic vision can be concretized and expressed. Nevertheless, you can also use the panel for its advanced features only but that would miss the point of the panel entirely.

ARTISAN PRO CAN’T BE COMPARED WITH ANYTHING
Artisan Pro X is different from other software for photography post-processing. Not only because it is method-driven instead of feature-driven. It is also different from a technical point of view: unlike many other panels and plugins, the presets don’t represent a one-on-one shortcut to an existing feature in Photoshop. Each preset represents a series of elaborate steps in a method for creating B&W fine art images, that requires a specific sequence to execute. Or they even represent completely new features, ingenuously derived from existing PS features.

The artistic principles that form the basis of this panel are the result of many years of refinement based on close observation of art and B&W processing. The artistic ideas incorporated come from the findings of the great thinkers in art, and from scientific research into how the human brain perceives artistic images.

THE RESULTS OF A B&W MASTER CRAFTSMAN WITH THE SIMPLICITY OF A PUSH-BUTTON
Artisan Pro X’s unique approach produces superior results for fine art images in B&W but also in color. Results that are achieved by fine-tuned components, based on existing PS features, that automate elaborate sequences.
These sequences are complex processing steps not typically found elsewhere.
In other words, you are getting post-processing produced by a Photoshop master-craftsman and placed behind the simplicity of a push-button.

What’s New In B&W Artisan Pro X?
– Added a completely new and groundbreaking section called ‘Creating Depth’ using dynamic gradients. This allows the user to create gradients anywhere and in any direction he wishes accurately. More specifically: this is great for giving presence or depth to buildings, skies, and waterscapes, but the possibilities are endless. What this basically does is fully automate my iterative Selective Gradient Masks (iSGM) technique. The user can now easily add depth or presence to anything, without going through the many steps and many weeks of practice the iSGM workflow would ordinarily require. Darkening or lightening with dynamic gradients is far more subtle than normal darkening/lightening and is THE way to determine the look of an image.
– Under the ‘Creating Depth’ section is also a section called ‘Special FX’. This allows the user to create clouds, reflections, highlights on objects or anything he wishes. These special effects can be used in any size, shape or direction the user wants and is fully customizable.
– The user can shape and stylize lighting effects accurately using the new ‘Restore’ buttons. It was a simple but quintessential part of my iSGM manual workflow.
– The ‘Creating Depth’ section has a total of 200 new functions.
– The ‘Zones’ under ‘Luminosity Masks’ are now replaced with custom-built ‘MicroZones’. These zones come in steps of 1/3. This means, for example, that Zone 1 will consist of ‘Zone 1’, ‘Zone 1 + 1/3’ and ‘Zone 1 + 2/3’. The user now has the option to generate a total of 31 microzones instead of the previous 11. Also new is the option to delete the microzones.
– Added a B&W generator with 4 presets. The generator is based on handpicked values, giving the user a unique and different image each time it is used. The results of the B&W generator are non-destructive and always fully customizable.
– The ‘Default’ and ‘Strict’ buttons under ‘Advanced Adjustments’ have been completely overhauled and now work dynamically. The panel now recognizes the size of the selection and outputs a result accordingly with the right feathering for the right size. In previous versions, very big or very small selections would not give a result or an inaccurate result. This new feature makes sure you will always end up with a workable result.
– The ‘MicroZones’ are also completely overhauled in the same sense as the ‘Advanced Adjustments’ buttons. This means that automatic variable feathering has been included in this section as well and every single part of the image, no matter how big or small the selection is, can be adjusted per zone.
– Added a Split Toning generator with two presets. Just like the B&W generator, the values are handpicked giving the user a unique, a different, and a useable result each time the generator is used. The results are non-destructive and always fully customizable.

System Requirements
PS CC 2015.5 and higher for all versions of Artisan Pro X to v1.3
PS CC 2021 or higher is recommended for B&W Artisan Pro X 2021 and 2022
Mac and Windows compatible
Make sure that your computer can run the latest Photoshop version. See also Adobe’s website for specifics.
The panel runs language independently.