With Loupedeck's Creative Tool, photo editing feels like a video game
"An elegant mix of physical and touch controls that adapt to the task at hand."
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Great design and build quality
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Touchscreen adapts to different apps
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Ergonomic and fun
Editing photos and videos with a keyboard and mouse feels like work, but throw in a few dials and buttons and it feels more like a game. The original Loupedeck is a "keyboard" for Adobe Lightroom with special dials and buttons for almost every setting in the RAW photo editor. Because Loupedeck + of the second generation added support for other creative apps, including video editing programs, the pre-labeled Lightroom controls weren't translated perfectly.
The new Loupedeck Creative Tool or Loupedeck CT solves this problem. It is an editing console that allows you to seamlessly switch between multiple programs, from photo editing to video editing to audio work and back again. Since almost half of the controls have integrated touchscreens, the controls for the program currently in use can be electronically identified.
Getting started
The CT uses “work areas” to provide access to functions more than physical buttons and dials. Work areas switch between different function sets within a program. For example, Lightroom has a work area for sorting and rating photos, another for basic adjustments such as exposure and white balance, and another for colors.
Hillary K. Grigonis / Digital Trends
The CT is tailored to both photo and video editors. The higher price – $ 550 – and a slightly higher learning curve make it better for serious enthusiasts and professionals.
The Loupedeck CT is connected via USB like an external drive – you are insulted by your computer because you have pulled out the cable without first ejecting it from the operating system. The CT is compatible with both Windows and MacOS and can be customized using the Loupedeck software. While the CT has preset work areas that you can work with, you want to customize the dials and buttons to suit your specific workflow.
We tested the CT with Adobe Lightroom Classic and Photoshop. The CT is currently compatible with many Adobe apps, including Camera RAW, Premiere Pro, After Effects and Audition. Apple Final Cut Pro X; Skylum Aurora HDR; and beta support for Capture One. It also supports the Ableton Live music production app and the Streamlabs live streaming program.
In particular, the Loupedeck CT is not compatible with Adobe Lightroom CC, Skylum Luminar and On1 Photo RAW.
The CT also offers some general shortcuts outside of the app-specific controls, such as: B. the ability to adjust the volume and screen brightness of the computer and quickly access the system settings and the Loupedeck software. The touchscreen dial also turns into an analog clock when not in use.
High-end design
The Loupedeck CT immediately impressed. The machining console feels robust and well made thanks to an aluminum housing. The cord is coated with the braided nylon-like material that does not break open as easily as standard cables. The CT feels like a wonderfully over-engineered video game controller.
While the previous Loupedecks were the size and shape of a keyboard, the Loupedeck CT is closer to the size of a mouse pad. Due to the smaller footprint and the almost square shape, you can work with one hand so that your other hand can use the mouse, keyboard or pen.
There are 12 mini touchscreen buttons in the top half of the CT. The labels change to indicate which feature is active in the current mode, workspace, or custom setting. Because they are touch sensitive, the keys use haptic feedback to compensate for the lack of tactile feedback that physical keys would offer.
In addition to the rows of buttons, there are two mini-screens that identify the function of six small dials, three on each side. The ability to label electronically is a great benefit for a tool designed for use in multiple programs and workspaces, so you can easily see which settings are currently set for each dial. Each dial also serves as a button. For example, if you press the exposure control in one of the Lightroom workspaces instead of rotating it, the exposure control is reset to zero.
A row of eight buttons divides the CT in half. These numbered buttons are color coded with a backlight. Green means that the button changes to another work area. Purple means that the button is set to something else – for example, switching the before and after view. The light goes out when there is no task assigned to the button in the current program.
Hillary K. Grigonis / Digital Trends
Hillary K. Grigonis / Digital Trends
Hillary K. Grigonis / Digital Trends
Below are two sets of six square buttons for basic, commonly used options, including arrow buttons, an undo button, a save button, and a function button that changes the other buttons. In contrast to the rest of the CT, these buttons are pre-labeled, since they are set by default to options that are almost universal for every program. These buttons are simple enough, but it's a bit annoying that the up and down buttons are next to each other instead of the up button, which is actually the up and down buttons below.
The star of the CT is located between these two square buttons – a large dial with an integrated touchscreen. The touchscreen adjusts the setting of the dial. For example, if you adjust the curves in Lightroom, you can use the touchscreen to switch between adjusting light and dark without removing your hand from the dial itself.
The dial contains various controls. Tapping the tone curve in Lightroom opens a list of different options from highlights to shadows that you can scroll through and select. Swiping right will return you to the previous screen. A swipe moves up or down the list once, rather than a free-scrolling scroll that's slower but more precise.
User experience
Hillary K. Grigonis / Digital Trends
With the Loupedeck CT, photo editing feels more like a video game than optimizing images with the mouse and keyboard. It's a nicer thing to take a polished photo with physical controls than with a mouse.
The compromise for the flexibility of CT in multiple programs is a steeper learning curve. Learning what to do and the less obvious controls, such as the fact that the dials act as buttons, required both more time to experiment and more time in the Loupedeck starter manuals than the previous consoles that were designed specifically for Lightroom better approach if you use other applications. The labeled touchscreen buttons and the pre-labeled lower buttons help immensely, but there are still the numbered workspaces that you need to remember.
The standard workspaces are fairly well organized, but there are still a few ways to remember which round button belongs to which workspace and to open which touchscreen controls.
Hillary K. Grigonis / Digital Trends
The learning curve will be overcome at some point, and once the CT is adapted and trained to your workflow, the console is a much more ergonomic and intuitive way to edit.
With the ability to hold one hand on the mouse and one hand on the console, the CT can shorten the processing time. Using the large dial to adjust the brush size in Photoshop felt much faster than working with a mouse, for example. But it's probably a difference similar to learning keyboard shortcuts that save seconds over a long period of time, and not a dramatic difference like halving processing time. If you learn to control first, everything will feel slower.
Some controls on the CT also thought that the mouse was the faster option. The arrow keys react somewhat slowly to tasks such as moving a crop box. For some local editing tools, the large dial moves the mouse, but much more slowly than just the mouse (or a pen).
This does not mean that the CT does not save time – but the tactile feel, the ergonomics and the more pleasant processing experience are greater advantages than the acceleration of the processing process. The time saved depends on your personal workflow, the custom controls and your familiarity with the CT.
With a few adjustments, however, the CT could easily be integrated into a variety of workflows. Thanks to these touchscreens and the buttons that retain their functions, the switch from Lightroom Classic to Photoshop was not a learning of a completely new system.
Loupedeck CT vs. Loupedeck +
Loupdeck CT (left) against Loupedeck + (right) Hillary K. Grigonis / Digital Trends
The Loupedeck CT comes after the company has started expanding the Loupedeck + beyond Lightroom – and the concept of using one console for multiple programs becomes clear. The CT is easier to use for Photoshop and other applications because the Loupedeck + is pre-labeled for Lightroom, without the touchscreen that labels the controls based on the application and work area.
The larger size of the Loupedeck + is really designed to be used with two hands, similar to a keyboard, making it difficult to use a mouse or pen at the same time.
That doesn't mean that CT is better in every way. Since the Loupedeck + was developed for Lightroom, it is easier to jump in immediately – as long as you only use Lightroom. It is also not dependent on work areas and has a special setting wheel for each color in the areas of hue, saturation and luminance. On the CT, you have to press a button to switch between different colors.
The Loupedeck + is also half the price of the CT.
From video editing to video game
Hillary K. Grigonis / Digital Trends
As with the company's earlier consoles, editing with the Loupedeck CT feels less labor intensive. Perhaps it is because every photographer and videographer has an inner child who is still asking to press the buttons in the elevator. Rather, this is because the console makes photo editing physical again, while offering better ergonomics and, in some cases, a slight speed advantage.
One of the hardest things about using Loupedeck + outside of Lightroom is to remember which dozens of controls are assigned. The touchscreen built into the touchscreen greatly facilitates the learning curve, but is partially negated by the fact that you still have to remember which tool is in which work area.
The Loupedeck CT is ideal for photo and video editors who spend long hours at their desks and use multiple programs to make the work feel more like a game. And when the novelty wears off, it is still an ergonomic advantage over a keyboard that can save you valuable time.
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