Picture ++ is an OS X Photos extension, but is more useful standalone tool

One of the cool things Apple did with last year’s release of Mac OS X El Capitan was to allow the application of third-party image editing extensions within Photos. One such extension is Picture++, which is available at the Mac App Store for $3.99.

It’s an enhancement extension. To enable it, go to System Preferences > Extensions and click on the Photos box under the Picture ++ icon. The utility can analyze images and make enhancements specific to them. You can adjust the intensity of the enhancement by using a slider with a range from 0 to 100%. 

That’s a little helpful, though I found it limiting. However, Picture ++ also works as a standalone app, and that’s where it’s the most useful. As a standalone app, you can use to open, improve, and save most RAW, HDR, and other image formats. In other words, it’s a defaultRAW to JPG converter. Not everyone will need such a tool, but if you deal with lots of images, it can be handy.

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