Photo enthusiasts together with former Nokia developers have created the Loupedeck photo editing control deck for Adobe Lightroom.

Compatible with both Mac and PC, the Loupedeck specifically works with Adobe Lightroom 6 and later. It emulates a midi controller, with buttons, dials and wheels labelled for specific Lightroom controls.

There are in the region of 40 controls on the deck, including dials specific to edits such as Shadows, Highlights and Exposure, buttons for controls like brush, before/ after and develop, finally wheels that can be customised to operate further controls.

The dedicated controls appear to be paired together on the Loupedeck. You will find shadows and highlights, blacks and whites, vibrance and saturation and so on in their logical place.

A Loupedeck software download is available on the website. The software should provide seamless operation of Lightroom and enables the control deck to be manually customised to taste.

The clear selling point to control decks in general is a quicker and more comfortable workflow. Instead of navigating the screen with a mouse or trackpad to make the edit you want, the edit can be made by using the specific dial/ button/ wheel on the Loupedeck that controls that edit.

Quicker. Less strain on the hand.

With a clear and simple layout covering most of the key Lightroom controls, the Loupedeck control deck should be as helpful for beginners as it is for regular Adobe Lightroom users. When a review unit hits our desks, we expect to get to grips with a Loupedeck pretty quickly.

There are other options like the Loupedeck available; the rather unique Palette Gear kit that features customisable individual modules that are magnetically locked together, as well as regular midi controllers, typically used by musicians, but can work through third party software to control Lightroom.

Yet Loupedeck is one of few control decks designed specifically to control Lightroom, with the hardware built-in. Its single purpose could prove to be either its selling point or downside.

If Lightroom is your choice editing and photo management software, then Loupedeck’s single purpose is a plus. The control deck is designed with Lightroom in mind and appears easier to navigate - an important point when considering a control deck.

There is a further consideration of desk space - the Loupedeck measures 400x150x40mm and weighs 600g. It is essentially the same size as a computer keyboard.

The Loupedeck has certainly caught our attention and we look forward to using one.

Pricing and availability

A Loupedeck can be purchased on the Loupedeck website for £325 and is available from 17th July 2017.