Today’s Question: I was an early adopter using the Palette Gear editing console with Lightroom Classic. Some features really improved my workflow. Support is beginning to fall off as they have discontinued the first system and moved to something different. So, I find myself back in the market for a replacement. Would you care to opine?
Tim’s Quick Answer: While I have mixed feelings about using an editing console to supplement a keyboard and mouse configuration, they can certainly be helpful, and they generally work with various applications including Photoshop and many more. It appears the product lineup that started as Palette Gear has now been totally discontinued, but you might look at Loupedeck Creative Tool (https://bhpho.to/3XDppTF) as a somewhat similar alternative.
More Detail: Some time ago the Palette Gear hardware was released, providing a variety of physical knobs, wheels, and sliders that could be paired to specific software features. For example, you could have a physical slider for adjusting the Exposure adjustment or use two knobs for Temperature and Tint adjustments.
While many photographers found these consoles helpful, I didn’t personally find that they improved my efficiency. I did prefer the ergonomics of physical sliders and knobs, but I also found it slower to switch between controlling different sets of adjustments, and it didn’t feel practical (or cost-effective) to have a particularly large number of console components.
More importantly, the Palette Gear products (which had more recently been rebranded to the Monogram brand) appear to have been completely discontinued, with many customers indicating that they never received their orders from as much as a few years ago.
The only other product that I know of that provides similar capabilities is the Loupedeck Creative Tool (https://bhpho.to/3XDppTF). The Loupedeck console is different from the previous Palette Gear console, in that the Loupedeck console revolves around selecting an option (such as an adjustment) and then using a single dial to change the setting for that adjustment. This might not make it a good solution for someone who is accustomed to having multiple physical controls that can each be assigned to an individual adjustment at a given time.
And, of course, if any readers are aware of a product that is similar to the Palette Gear and Monogram products that is still available and supported, please let me know!
