Adobe Photoshop

[Ysarex]

Another fan of Affinity here. For the price, it cannot be beaten! Plus, there are tons of tutorials on Youtube etc. I can highly recommend it.

OK -- two mentions of AP deserve one more mention. Affinity Photo is an excellent raster editor and a terrific deal $$$. However it is a raster editor. If your goal is to process raw files Affinity isn't such a great idea.

If you can you're better off processing raw files with a parametric editor. In a raw workflow Affinity forces you to edit destructively (not in the sense of damaging your original but in the sense of losing re-edit access to your work).

Affinity supplies a very simple raw converter (Develop module) for people who need to process raw files and don't have something better (nearly anything else is better). That simple raw converter in AP has problems.

If you do adopt Affinity for post processing at least learn to use some other raw converter to get your raw files into an RGB format Affinity can work with.

 

[smoke665]

Well since the cheap options have been covered, how about some more expensive options that might actually compare to Adobe for the more demanding user. There's Capture One for the low price of $449 you can buy the license ( oops there's some add ons extras) or you can subscribe monthly for $19/mo. Then there's file management, you'll have to supply that as well as online storage.

Hmmmm think I'll continue paying $9.99/mo where less is actually more.

 

[Ysarex]

Well since the cheap options have been covered, how about some more expensive options that might actually compare to Adobe for the more demanding user. There's Capture One for the low price of $449 you can buy the license ( oops there's some add ons extras) or you can subscribe monthly for $19/mo. Then there's file management, you'll have to supply that as well as online storage.

Hmmmm think I'll continue paying $9.99/mo where less is actually more.

Yep, I switched to Capture One back in 2012. Not because of the impending subscription cost of Adobe. I have full access to the entire Adobe Creative suite right now.

I switched to Capture One and gladly pay more for it because nothing does a better job of keeping me away from Photoshop. We all have different priorities and appropriately so. Really high on my priority list is a raw workflow that is 100% non-destructive and non-linearly re-editable -- that means hands off a raster editor. With C1 I can edit hundreds of photos for weeks on end without having to take a single photo into a raster editor. Would I pay $100.00 more a year for that? In the blink of an eye. LR is good as a parametric editor and would be my 2nd choice, but C1 is the most capable parametric editor.

 

[smoke665]

@Ysarex if memory serves me right CS6 back in 2012 was right at $700 for the single user license. Adjusting for inflation that would put it over $800 today. People like to ***** and moan at the subscription model but how many people, other than professionals or businesses could afford it. Sure you could buy it and use it for maybe 4-5 years if you were lucky before it was obsolete and needed an upgrade but the subscription model for 5 years is only $600, still cheaper than the 2012 price, and you get LR & Bridge.

 

[jeffashman]

I just shelled out a lot of dosh for a Sigma 50-500mm lens, so no more big purchases for a while. My next big purchase will be a pre-owned EOS 5D, so no budget for high dollar software. I like the subscription model, because it brings the software into reach for me, and so far I like what I’ve seen with PS.


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[Ysarex]

@Ysarex if memory serves me right CS6 back in 2012 was right at $700 for the single user license. Adjusting for inflation that would put it over $800 today. People like to ***** and moan at the subscription model but how many people, other than professionals or businesses could afford it. Sure you could buy it and use it for maybe 4-5 years if you were lucky before it was obsolete and needed an upgrade but the subscription model for 5 years is only $600, still cheaper than the 2012 price, and you get LR & Bridge.

Right, as I said the Adobe cost didn't influence my decision to switch to something more expensive. But that's really not fair to say because I get Adobe for free if I want it. I think the point is we're both left somewhat dumbfounded at people who will spend hundreds and then thousands of dollars on cameras and lenses but don't want to pay very low and reasonable costs for essential software. Adobe is $120.00 a year. C1 costs me $150.00 a year. For Pete's sake I just bought a new used lens for $500.00 but I don't want to spend a fraction of that to be able to use it to full advantage? Good software isn't optional.

 

[NancyMoranG]

Thanks for this thread, I need it.
At any moment I need to decide on a program.
I really want to make some videos to music for my family /friends and was going to order PSE 20 and Premiere.
But everyone says get LR!

And I am never going to sell or do much with my photos so do I need a subscription program?

For where I am at, decisions, decisions...

 

[jeffashman]

FWIW, I have PSE, and it’s an ok program, essentially PS Lite, and it hides a lot of the complexity in PS. The PSE organizer tends to hang for me when trying to import my image library, due to a size limitation and a suspected memory leak. Given that, I have a PS/LR subscription, and learning those is slow, because there is a lot of stuff. I use Bridge in place of PSE organizer, it’s faster and doesn’t choke. Buuut, I broke down and got the Topaz Labs image quality bundle, so the PS sub may or may not last. Right now I’m using all of them together, and the nice thing about a sub is that if I don’t find it useful, I can canx it.


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[NancyMoranG]

@jeffashman Ugh, I am so un-tech. Give me a roller coaster, upside down with hands in the air!
Bridge, Topaz, plus PS , LR subscription...where do I begin?

I just want to make a few photos look a little better than I took them... :}

good night all.
Ok, rhetorical question.

 

[jeffashman]

@jeffashman Ugh, I am so un-tech. Give me a roller coaster, upside down with hands in the air!
Bridge, Topaz, plus PS , LR subscription...where do I begin?

I just want to make a few photos look a little better than I took them... :}

good night all.
Ok, rhetorical question.

I know you said your question is rhetorical, but PSE is good for that. I just have this unending need to overdo things. [emoji16]


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[PaulR70]

I have the $9.99 subscription to both PS and LR (it is actually $10.59 now). I love PS but very seldom use LR. I also have both of these on my iPad, no additional cost. The Photoshop on the iPad is not very useful for me but I do use LR on the iPad. I also have Photoshop Express(free) on my iPad. When I am out shooting I can download pics from camera to iPad and use PE to send pics to my desktop at home, if I am connected to a wi-fi or use my phone as a hotspot). I think the Photoshop+Lightroom package is well worth the money even though I just do photography as a hobby