Alternative to LR and PS

[Brian500au]

I have been using LR since version 1 and PS since version 3. With LR and PS CC costing around $14.72 per month ($176.64 per year) and considering how often I use both I am pondering alternative software to edit up my photos.

At the moment I mostly use LR as a digital asset management software and do most of my editing in PS. I am by no means a power user but I do edit everything manually with very little use of present filters. The problem I have is I am so ingrained to LR and PS it will be a difficult move away, so I want to make sure I am doing the right move.

I use both a MAC and a PC so the software I consider would need to run on both platforms and therefore the license would need to be for more than one computer.

Has anybody had any experience in using

1. McPhun Luminar 2018
2. ON1 Photo Raw 2018
3. Capture One Pro

and if so do you think they are an alternative to the LR / PS combo? I know I can download trial versions of each program but I would prefer to have opinions from people who do use the software on a regular basis.

[arthurking83]

I can try to give you my experience with some software over the past couple of years.

1/. note that I've been a dedicated user of Nikon's old Capture NX2 for many years, firstly for it's ability to render Nikon raw files, and more importantly it's workflow(point and click type local editing)
2/. non point and click type local editing isn't my cuppa'tea! .. but I'll give it a go if the software is cheap, renders raw files as I'm used too, and runs nicely(ie. no bugs and now glacial rendering updates).

I tried LR at v4. Had to see what the fuss was about, so I got it too.
First annoyance was the forced asset management. That is, all I wanted was to navigate to the folder I loaded the images into and sort and tweak .. can't do that in LR. Looked for ways to disable the import/library section, no go.
(irrespective of that, I did upgrade to v5 in desperate hope, but it wasn't forthcoming, so I stopped using it there).

3/. I don't like externally sourced asset management of raw files. I prefer all the added tagged data to be included into the raw file, hence my preference for Nikon software, and my search for any software that did it this way. .. Oh! and my dislike for LRs forced asset management system.

In terms of non point and click editing, LR was good. It had a lot going for it for a non PS brush/layers type of image editing person.
But old my old PC, with dual screens, it was a frozen slug to operate. It used to crash randomly and would take minutes to display image preview icons.
I'm sure my new PC would run LR speedily now, but it's too late for me... once bitten always shy!

I tried Capture One. Nice editing tools, great asset management system .. then again any non forced asset management software is 'great'!!

4/. note that my asset management system back then was a program from IDImager. When they made wholesale changes to their software with a new version I stopped using it. Never used image editing software built in asset management tools.
I prefer more simple and flexible systems.

Only used C1 during the trial period and I remember it's ability to render pleasing images from raw files was easier for me, than I ever got out of Lr.
If I had a choice of software where the choices were limited between LR and C1 only .. C1 easily beat LR. C1 did have some missing tools that LR had(can't remember them all, but I do remember feeling left out using C1 in some instances).
Trial over, didn't feel compelled to buy it. If I had too tho (eg. if that's all that was available) .. I would.

5/. if LR was all that was available, I would either give up photography, or try a lot harder to take images that needed absolutely zero local editing, and shoot only jpg and resize only. Lr turned me into a hater!

Tried Affinity only recently, and it was fun to play with, but wasn't entirely impressed. It used some weird format to convert raw files for it to work on the image.
Just like LR and PS don't work directly on the raw files, as all software do .. Affinity was different in that it created gigantosaurus affinity files in some obscure location where you woudn't think to look into to clean up every now and then.
Turned 85-90Mb NEF files into 200+ affinity file types. I assume TIFF based files for it to work on.
If you use it a lot, watch out for the build up of crud in some well hidden directory. it'll clog up a storage drive of small proportions in no time!
Trial over, fun had .. no dice.

I still can't get beyond the point and click editing I like to do. Point and click editing = Nik control point editing workflow. I remember you could get a plug in for LR and PS, but the plugin cost double what LR cost, and 4x what Nikon's CNX2 cost!! err ... thanks, but no thanks.

Note back then about the same time as I tried C1, back in v7 and the very new V9(I think) .. I also tried(for a few moments) DXO's software. Hated it from the moment I opened it. Made no sense, and not entirely pleasing results for most of the time I used it.

BUT! that was back then, and now is not.
So I tried DXO's recently released PhotoLab .. and a world of difference compared to their original software .. and the only reason I tried it is that they bought the rights to Nik's old software system(that Google abandoned) and now I have a way to go forward with point and click(control point) editing.
Note that if you've never used control point localised editing, it makes a mockery of all other editing workflows, other than global edits. Compared to brush/pen type editing, there is none!

6/. I've had to search for non Nikon NEF software for a while now as Nikon have stopped support for their good software and their later software is .. well below subpar!

So as of current, I can highly recommend DXO's PhotoLab, at least as a trial.
Only reason I haven't yet purchased it is that I haven't done much photography of late. In fact I barely get the time to get out maybe once a year now .. where I used too all the time before. So with a lack of time and financial resources being heavily directed in a few other hobbies of late, I've directed my efforts where I can make use of the stuff I do more efficiently.
But the plan to buy it one day soon is set in stone .. Just can't justify doing it until I get this other stuff out of the way before then.

It probably doesn't! .... but I hope this helps in some way.

[Brian500au]

Thank you Arthur for sharing your experiences

[Hamster]

I have capture one and set it up so that custom shortcuts were the same as LR/PS. I was quickly able to get to grips with it. It is said by the pros I know to be a better raw converter than LR so better image quality will result. If you really want an alternative, it’s a good one. The database side of things isn’t as good as LR but even that would have probably work fine given some adaptation. Basically I didn’t switch because I didn’t need to enough to complete the transition. I sometimes go back and edit old images and the fact that thousands of LR edits would effectively be lost, felt bad. I figured that if the improved raw conversion is something I want I can use it on an individual basis. But let’s face it, that difference is minimal compared to the myriad of other aspects that go into a good photo.
Summary, if you want to change from LR, C1 is great alternative and the customizable shortcuts should have you using it pretty quick. There are some nifty colour pallet tools that are probably better than LR or PS.
Others; dunno. Hope that helps.

[Brian500au]

Thank you Hamster. I will admit one big barrier is losing all my edits in LR. I have many hundreds of images finalized in LR and I would need some way to transferring those edits over to the new software.

[CathyC]

I currently use CS6 (standalone purchase - I refuse to do CC) but realise there will come a time when it won't work anymore
I use Bridge to view/manage/cull images, Camera Raw for first edit, then into PS for fine tuning. I also use Nik which is free and can be used as a standalone without PS if preferred.
I am following this thread with interest

[John King]

Cathy, MetaRaw is your friend if your camera is no longer "supported" by CS6. I'm in that position with my Olympus E-M1 MkII. Adobe is not getting a cent more of my money either!

[Hamster]

Thank you Hamster. I will admit one big barrier is losing all my edits in LR. I have many hundreds of images finalized in LR and I would need some way to transferring those edits over to the new software.

When you suss it out give me a shout and I’ll re evaluate the switch. The other thing is, if I’m going to go to town on an image I’m generally in PS so the only advantage of C1 is the raw conversion, and like I say, I honestly think that makes the square root of bugger all’s difference. If I was shooting with a Phase One, ok, lets really get the max out given I’ll have paid $60k for a system and be printing gallery size.....

[Ross M]

I have ON1 RAW 2017 (latest update before 2018 version). I would hope that ON1 RAW 2018 is faster because my version is much less responsive than Lightroom 5 and Photoshop Elements. So much so that I won't spend the time to learn it.

[CathyC]

Cathy, MetaRaw is your friend if your camera is no longer "supported" by CS6. I'm in that position with my Olympus E-M1 MkII. Adobe is not getting a cent more of my money either!

thanks for that. Current PS Camera Raw supports Nikons up to D7200, so I am good I am not looking at making a new camera purchase for quite some time, but will keep your suggestion in mind.

[Bear Dale]

I've had a 30 day trial of Luminar that I'm about three weeks in with and there's a lot to like with it.

Very different from LR & PS.

[Brian500au]

[QUOTE=JimD;1440316]I've had a 30 day trial of Luminar that I'm about three weeks in with and there's a lot to like with it.

Very different from LR & PS.[/QUOTE


Appreciate it Jim if you could elaborate what it is you particularly like about it and it what is it different to LR & PS. This was my number one consideration.

[gcflora]

I'm using the trial version of ON1 RAW 2018 and it's so sluggish and slow I find it painful to use unfortunately 32GB RAM, Intel i7-8700k @ 3.7GHz (12 logical cores), NVidia GTX 970, Win 10 64-bit

[Ross M]

I'm using the trial version of ON1 RAW 2018 and it's so sluggish and slow I find it painful to use unfortunately 32GB RAM, Intel i7-8700k @ 3.7GHz (12 logical cores), NVidia GTX 970, Win 10 64-bit

Useful info here. Well, it looks like I can stop regretting buying the 2017 version, even at a discount price, rather than the 2018 version. I was wondering if the 2018 was any quicker, although I was skeptical because their primary aim seems to be introducing new features. My PC specs are respectable, but not as high as yours.

- - - Updated - - -

I have the Nik Collection installed as an add-on to Photoshop Elements and find it very good. It has control points. I assume they are not as powerful as Photolab, but I must take the time to learn more about them and make more use of them.

[gcflora]

Useful info here. Well, it looks like I can stop regretting buying the 2017 version, even at a discount price, rather than the 2018 version. I was wondering if the 2018 was any quicker, although I was skeptical because their primary aim seems to be introducing new features. My PC specs are respectable, but not as high as yours.

Yeah, it's quite disappointing as the program looks so promising. I'm in the middle of compiling an email with hopefully constructive feedback for the publisher/developers, that I'll send next week as the trial period draws to a close.

[Mark L]

I also use Nik which is free ....

Not free anymore. DXO bought it.

[gcflora]

Not free anymore. DXO bought it.

I wonder why they bought it when it was free

[Ross M]

Not free anymore. DXO bought it.

It's still free, I suppose until DXO release the new version. You have to subscribe to DXO Newsletter and they will email you a link to the free Google version.

https://nikcollection.dxo.com/

- - - Updated - - -

I wonder why they bought it when it was free

It appears they will continue to develop and update it.

This from the Petapixel site last year:
"It seems Nik Collection technologies may also be incorporated into existing DxO software. DxO has just rebranded its OpticsPro RAW conversion software as DxO PhotoLab, and the new update includes the Nik Collection’s U Point technology:"

https://petapixel.com/2017/10/25/dxo-buys-nik-collection-google-will-resume-development/

[Bear Dale]

[QUOTE=Brian500au;1440333]

I've had a 30 day trial of Luminar that I'm about three weeks in with and there's a lot to like with it.

Very different from LR & PS.[/QUOTE


Appreciate it Jim if you could elaborate what it is you particularly like about it and it what is it different to LR & PS. This was my number one consideration.

Hi Brian,
I slipped on a rock yesterday and landed on my right elbow, so I'm limited to one finger typing with my left hand.

Here's the link to the 30 day trial, just give it a go and see what you think -

https://macphun.com/luminar-trial

[Boo53]

I've tried a few different programs over the years, including a paid version of Nik way back when..

Using PS since ver3 and still with it but only occasionally use it now (handles dust bunny's better and content aware fill, etc: ) LR does everything else, almost, for me

It took me a while to start using LR, tried it at ver 4 but couldn't see the benefit but gave it another go at 5 and it seemed a good option for me.

Then on to LR6 and there were a lot of new features that I liked.

When everything adobe was heading for CC I wasn't really happy but I was spending the equivalent of the subscriptions on upgrades anyway so gnashing of teeth but kept using it.

I've given Capture 1 a go and have had a paid copy since ver 8. Some things I like but some things LR does better (for me). More on the+ side for LR at the moment

I was toying with the idea of migrating completely to C1 again a couple of months ago because of the "captive" adobe subscription system but then the latest upgrade to LR came out and moved things to the right a bit further.

I tried ON1 for some time but have given up on it. Too clunky and slow.

I've also got Topaz and have tried Luminaire as well. Useful from time to time but not developed enough to migrate fully to in my opinion

LR keeps improving (slowly) and seems to do enough to just keep ahead of the pack.

Control point editing by general, colour or luminance has moved well beyond Nik for me