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For most editing, Lightroom and Photoshop, with a little bit of Nik thrown in (which I use as plug-ins to the Adobe products.

 

There are two basic kinds of editors. Lightroom is a "parametric" editor, meaning that it stores the math for all of your edits and uses that to translate from the original image to the final image. It doesn't change the original file at all, so everything is reversible. Photoshop is a "pixel" editor. You can make some steps reversable--for example, by putting an adjustment on a layer, which you can then delete or (in some cases) modify, but many of its edits change the image file. As a general rule, pixel editors are more powerful. It is certainly the case that Photoshop's editing capabilities exceed Lightroom's in many respect.

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I've used many free or inexpensive "as good as" products over the years. In my experience, the most expensive part of production software is the time it takes to learn. Too many times the cheap programs were modified without regard to backward compatibility, or discontinued altogether.

 

Adobe products are expensive, though less so in the "rental" age. I have a full package for $50/month, which is less than half the cost of updates in the past. Another $25/month gives me Photoshop, Lightroom and Adobe Acrobat in a third computer (laptop) and Windows partition in my iMac.

 

Adobe products are the basis for "as good as" claims. If you need help, Adobe is there to oblige, but so many people use their products, help is readily available on the web. I've been using Photoshop since 1994, and it still has the same basic interface, even with many improvements. Judging from Wall Street reports, Adobe is doing very well and likely to continue well into the future. They do everything I need for work and recreation, and most weeks I become aware of a new feature I can use.

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Adobe products are expensive, though less so in the "rental" age. I have a full package for $50/month, which is less than half the cost of updates in the past. Another $25/month gives me Photoshop, Lightroom and Adobe Acrobat in a third computer (laptop) and Windows partition in my iMac.

 

But if all you want is Lightroom and Photoshop on no more than two computers, the Adobe subscription is only $10/month. That's all I have.

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For free, one cannot beat Darktable 3.0. My older photo editor but still viable is Corel's Aftershot Pro3.

Today, I use ASP3 for quick editing, then tweek needed images in Darktable or ACDSee.

 

Darktable 3.0, at the time of writing, is still in final testing. While anything that makes it to the 'release candidate' (RC) stage is generally pretty stable, it's not considered finished code and anyone using darktable for professional/mission critical use should still be on 2.6

 

That said, darktable is great software and my primary photo editor.

 

(2.6 here, will upgrade to 3.0.x once it's been out a few months)

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But if all you want is Lightroom and Photoshop on no more than two computers, the Adobe subscription is only $10/month. That's all I have.

$10 per month is $120 per year (if Adobe does not raise the price).

 

I purchase a perpetual license for Lightroom 6 three years ago for $146. I purchased a perpetual license for Photoshop CS5 (actually CS2 with an upgrade to CS5) for a total of about $500 over 9 years ago. Total cost Lightroom and Photoshop was about $650 (rounded).

 

If the subscription model were in effect at the time I upgraded to CS5, I would have spent $1080 so far with more expenses to come. No thank you. I'll stick to the old software I have until it will no longer run. Since I run Windows, that could be quite some time.

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If the subscription model were in effect at the time I upgraded to CS5, I would have spent $1080 so far with more expenses to come.

Yes, but you are stuck with CS5. Had you subscribed to Creative Cloud, you would now be using PS version 21. Sixteen upgrades at $180 (or more) each would cost $2900. If you upgrade to a 64 bit OS, you are S.O.L.

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Yes, but you are stuck with CS5. Had you subscribed to Creative Cloud, you would now be using PS version 21. Sixteen upgrades at $180 (or more) each would cost $2900. If you upgrade to a 64 bit OS, you are S.O.L.

 

I would be SOL only if I were running an Apple machine. I am running Windows (as I wrote in my post above) on hardware I put together. I have both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Photoshop CS 5 running on my 10-year old computer (an Intel i7-860 on a Gigabyte P55 motherboard) under Windows 7 SP1 x64. Of course Lightroom 6 is 64-bit. Shortly after I receive my new motherboard (an ASUS AMD 570 based board), which is on backorder almost everywhere, both Photoshop and Lightroom will be running on a Ryzen 7 3800X under Windows 10 1909 64-bit version. I do not expect any problems.

 

I believe Microsoft, unlike Apple, took to heart a lesson I.B.M. learned in the late 1960's. When they came out with System 360, in the late 1960's I.B.M. promised customers that code - object code, the complied binaries - that ran on the first 360's would run on all subsequent 360's and later 370's. And for the most part it did. Code compiled and linked in 1969 ran on machines in 1990 without needing to be recompiled or relinked. It is one of the reasons businesses flocked to I.B.M. I suspect Microsoft is trying to do the same with Windows 10.

 

True, I am missing some new features. Do I miss them? No, I do not think so. I can do everything I want with what I have. I am happy with my images. So unless, for some odd reason, I just have to have the latest and greatest, that $2900 stays in my bank account plus the money I saved by not paying $120 per year. If I ever absolutely need the latest and greatest, I can always start a subscription. Until then, I am content, and Adobe seem to be eking out a profit without my contribution. ;)

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Apple is much more aggressive about weening out old technology from both their OS and their hardware. The advantages are a simpler and more reliable operating system and it forces developers to modernize their apps. The downside is that if you're buying new Apple hardware, eventually your old software and hardware will no longer work. That still takes a long time though. They give plenty of warning and generally there are typically workarounds.

 

The 32 bit app support in Windows 10 is limited and a big reason for moving to 64 bit in the first place is to allow applications to use larger chunks of RAM. And photoshop really likes RAM.

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In other words a fast computer with lots of RAM is kind of wasted on a 32 bit version of photoshop anyway. If you really want to run a 32 bit version of photoshop on Apple hardware you can stick to Mojave or do it on a virtual machine, - which is kind of how Windows 10 runs 32 bit apps.
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I keep around multiple programs, but most often used are two lines:

 

1. Windows Explorer plus Nikon Capture NX-D to convert raw files to sRGB jpeg for sharing, I assume this is like Nikon would want it to be.

2. Dolphin plus DCRaw to convert raw with fixed whitelevel for home inkjet printing in Nikon ViewNX2. Sometimes this gives more natural tones.

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I use:

Canon Digital Photo Professional 4 (best lens correction that I have found for my older Canon 17-35mm f:2.8 L lens. Photoshop CC does not have correction for this lens)

Photoshop CC

Affinity Photo

Photoshop CS5

Apple Aperture

 

I agree with Phil that Affinity Photo is the best replacement for Photoshop that does not require a subscription. And, the price is only $50, even cheaper when on sale. I have a one year subscription to Photoshop CC and Lightroom CC, but do not use Lightroom because I do not want to be tied into continually renewing the subscription. When my subscription runs out in nine months, I may replace Photoshop CC with a combination of Affinity Photo and Photoshop CS5. The more that I use Affinity Photo, the more that I like it. I use NIK plugins (the free Google versions) in Affinity Photo and Photoshop CC and CS5.

Edited by Glenn McCreery
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Darktable 3.0, at the time of writing, is still in final testing. While anything that makes it to the 'release candidate' (RC) stage is generally pretty stable, it's not considered finished code and anyone using darktable for professional/mission critical use should still be on 2.6

 

That said, darktable is great software and my primary photo editor.

 

(2.6 here, will upgrade to 3.0.x once it's been out a few months)

Thanks for pointing that out...I have been using using the newest version without any problems so far. It seems pretty stable but your caution is valid and appreciated. Thanks!

GR

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  • 7 months later...
There is no universal app. Or at least I haven't found one. If anyone knows, let me know please. Actually, it depends on what you wanna do with the photo. For instance, I use Snapseed for some interesting filters and if I need to make some photocorrection stuff. If I want to change the body shape or to delete an annoying object from the photo, I use RetouchMe. Read here, if you haven't heard about it. Very useful app, as for me.
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