•Always wait to upgrade your computer OS! For Macintosh computers read The MacObserver.com site, (or listen to “The Mac Geek Gab” podcast) for Mac upgrading info. For Windows computers check The WindowsObserver.com site to know when to upgrade. Never upgrade your OS until at least the “x.2” version, giving Apple/Microsoft time to squash the usual bugs.
•For Lightroom/Photoshop wait until the “all clear” from Victoria Bampton (lightroomqueen.com) that it’s OK to upgrade Lightroom Classic/Lightroom/Photoshop.
•Finally, NEVER use the Creative Cloud Auto-update function, turn it off in Creative Cloud, screenshot below (Creative Cloud/Account/Preferences/Apps).
•Super Resolution helps create an enhanced image with similar results as Raw Details but with 2x the linear resolution. This means that the enhanced image will have 2x the width and 2x the height of the original image or 4x the total pixel count. This feature supports the same file types as Raw Details, plus additional file types such as JPEG and TIFF. Super Resolution is especially useful to increase the resolution of a cropped image. Tony Northrup’s testing shows it doesn’t improve the sharpness any more than you could do yourself manually, but could save all those old, 3 megapixel shots we took in the 90s!
It is usually a good idea to update your camera firmware and photo processing software on a regular basis. If you don’t know how, ask someone in the club who has experience doing it for help. Updates can usually be obtained from within your current version by clicking on “check for updates”, or you may obtain them from the support section of your camera vendor’s website. If you do it this way and you are downloading Canon software, you may need to input your camera’s serial number for some apps.
If you use the (excellent!) free FastStone Image Viewer (Windows only), the current version is 7.5. You can download it from their website. This is much more than a “viewer”, it is great for resizing images and adding borders for DPI competitions. Ask Edgar Reihl for a walk-through at one of the club meetings if interested.
The new Sony “Creators App” can update Sony software: https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/CCCA01000?source=notify
For most of these, you can get the updates from within the app by clicking on “Check for Updates” (or similar). This way, you don’t have to search for them on the developer’s website.