Capture One Pro photo editor gains its own color-coded shortcut keyboard

The colorful keyboard puts 107 shortcuts from Phase One’s image editor onto a Mac-compatible keyboard. The keyboard uses the same layout as a typical Apple keyboard, but labels the Capture One Pro shortcuts for a more efficient workflow, or to help beginners learn the program, Phase One says.

The shortcuts are color coded, Phase One Product Manager James Johnson said. Local adjustments are coded in purple, key cursors in blue and navigation in pink, for starters.

The keyboard is designed to help make Capture One Pro workflows more time efficient, Johnson said, but could also help beginners learn the program more efficiently by laying out the most commonly used features in a visible way.

Capture One Pro is both a RAW converter and photo editor, competing with the likes of Adobe Photoshop while the company’s Media Pro SE is more similar to Adobe Lightroom. The software comes not from a software giant, but from Phase One, a company specializing in medium format digital cameras. Now in Capture One Pro version 10, the program boasts a number of advanced features, including a quick engine for faster edits.

Along with the keyboard, the program is compatible with Tangent control panels, which give digital photo editors hands-on controls including dials and dedicated buttons. The Tangent compatibility was introduced just before the end of last year, with the control panels starting at $350.

The new keyboard comes in as a more affordable tool at $139. The keyboard also functions as a normal Mac keyboard outside of Capture One Pro.