When Capture One released its 15.2.0 update earlier this month, one of the outlined features was an updated Keystone tool. I was excited to try it out, as I found the old version to be somewhat cumbersome, especially when using keystone guides to make adjustments.
After spending some time with it, I’m pretty pleased with the results I’m getting. It’s faster, easier to use … and most importantly, accurate.
How it works
The new Keystone tool is divided into two tabs — Guides and Sliders. The Sliders tab is what you’d expect, with values for Vertical, Horizontal, Skew and Aspect adjustments.
But the real power comes within the Guides tab.
At the top of this tool, you’ll find three buttons for keystone adjustments — Keystone Vertical, Keystone Horizontal and Keystone (which combines the vertical and horizontal options). You’ll also find an Amount slider and a much larger Auto button.
Putting it to the test
I opened up some photos from 2020, which I shot during the COVID-19 lockdown in Michigan. Capturing a lot of empty streets, with architecture, makes this the perfect test.
I started out using the Auto button, to see how accurate it was. This surprised me a bit as most of the time it was spot-on. Check out some of these before and afters:
Then, when using the Keystone buttons, I tried out various different adjustments. I was able to easily adjust the anchor points to draw lines down a building, for example.
Again, Capture One performed the adjustments quickly and effectively. It’s also nice that you can fine-tune the placement of these guides using your keyboard’s arrows.
The only thing I’d like to see with the three Keystone button options is the ability to draw independent lines. As it is now, horizontal and vertical lines are tethered together. Nine times out of 10, this won’t be an issue, but it’d be nice to have even more control here.
All in all, though, the new Keystone tool is a welcome change to Capture One. The model is more effective, and the tools offer more precision for fine-tuning.
