Software Help

DennyN

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Can others edit my Photos
Photos OK to edit
I am a newbie with minimal experience with real photography. Currently I use GIMP and PhotoScape for editing. I see LightRoom with Photoshop is available now online for $10 a month Compare plans |Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan
Should I consider getting it? I tried the LightRoom free 7 day download but have not tried the Photoshop that comes with the photography plan. Any input would be appreciated.
Denny Noll
 
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You've opened pandora's box of opinions with your question, as the pay to own crowd will say they're right and the monthly plan crowd will claim they're right. I've had both, and by and large I like the subscription plan with Adobe. You always have the latest and greatest updates, and I'm not so sure it isn't the same as the owned license once you figure in the upgrade costs. I can't tell you over the year how many $$$$ I've spent on software only to find that it wasn't that great. I'm afraid the software subscription plan is going to be the wave of the future as more and more companies switch to it. My Microsoft Office switched to a subscription plan, my security software is a subscription plan, and now one of the accounting packages I use will be switching to a subscription the end of this year. The advantage of LR and PS is that for newbe there are tons and tons of free youtube videos out there, plus it seems to be the standard that others always try to emulate.
 
The question is, do you NEED or WANT the extra capabilities of PS?
If not, you would be paying extra for something you don't/won't use.
If GIMP and PhotoScape works for you, there is no reason to go to the Adobe product.
If you want to learn PhotoShop, then you have no option.

There are pros and cons to the subscription model, and one can argue either case.
You have to decide if it works for you.

One advantage with subscription is, you don't have to hassle with upgrading your software, like I have to do.
Example my old PS Elements, does everything I want it to do, but it cannot read the RAW files from my new D7200. I have to upgrade/buy a newer version.

The thing is, you just have to understand how much you are paying. Some times people are fooled by the monthly rate of only $10 a month. But that is $120 a year, every year.
And what is the difference between Photoshop CC at $10 a month, and Photoshop at $20 a month?
 
I have been using Photoshop Elements for many years now at the moment I use the latest version Elements 18. You can buy this standalone programme much cheaper than the Photoshop monthly subscription. I also use various Topaz plugins.
 
And what is the difference between Photoshop CC at $10 a month, and Photoshop at $20 a mont

Both the $9.99 and $19.99/month plans include LR CC (cloud version), LR Classic, PS, Bridge, Spark, and Behance. The only difference is the $9.99 plan includes 20 GB of cloud storage, and the $19.99 plan includes 1 TB cloud storage.

I started out with Correl Paintshop. At roughly $70 it was a competitive clone of PS, but after three years they'd suckered me into 3 upgrades that were basically fixing bugs (crashed without warning) and it still didn't work.

@Jeff15 to each their own, and Elements is a decent software, but it's doesn't have all the features of PS or LR. Plus at a $100 for Elements and another $50 each or so for Topaz plug ins, your're getting back up to the cost of a subscription.

I would gladly drop Adobe in heartbeat if there was a viable feature packed alternative, but the latest update to LR put them so far in front I don't see it happening. The new AI intuitive profiles are great. I've used the NIK collection for quite awhile, but now I never touch it, because profiles are that good.
 
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Lightroom. All one word (proper noun) and no camel case/medial capitals.
Lightroom's Develop Module & Ps CC 2018 Camera Raw both use Adobe Camera Raw making moving files edited from Raw image files directly compatible with both.
Adobe's Photography plan gets you both professional grade application Lr & Ps CC 2018.
Note too that when Adobe went to the subscription pricing model they included Ps Extended's features to PS.
Back when, Ps was a $699 software and Ps Extended was a $999 software. Both only got upgraded every 18 to 24 months.
With the subscription we get upgrades way more often and for the same monthly subscription price.

Ps Elements only has 8-bit editing tools and about 1/2 of Camera Raw's capabilities.

Did GIMP ever develop 16-bit tools? I haven't had a close critical look at GIMP in many years.
 
Back up a bit here. What camera and do you intend to adopt a raw file workflow or make adjustments to camera JPEGs? Do you need or want database capability in the software (catalog and management)?

Joe
 
Lightroom. All one word (proper noun) and no camel case/medial capitals.
Lightroom's Develop Module & Ps CC 2018 Camera Raw both use Adobe Camera Raw making moving files edited from Raw image files directly compatible with both.
Adobe's Photography plan gets you both professional grade application Lr & Ps CC 2018.
Note too that when Adobe went to the subscription pricing model they included Ps Extended's features to PS.
Back when, Ps was a $699 software and Ps Extended was a $999 software. Both only got upgraded every 18 to 24 months.
With the subscription we get upgrades way more often and for the same monthly subscription price.

Ps Elements only has 8-bit editing tools and about 1/2 of Camera Raw's capabilities.

Did GIMP ever develop 16-bit tools? I haven't had a close critical look at GIMP in many years.

GIMP 2.10 now supports 32-bit files
 
Back up a bit here. What camera and do you intend to adopt a raw file workflow or make adjustments to camera JPEGs? Do you need or want database capability in the software (catalog and management)?

Joe
Much of my photography is film and I don't do RAW files on my digital, not that advanced yet, newbie. Don't need a data base.
 
All the opinions aside, for me personally I chose the 10 bucks a month so that I have the tools I need for whatever may arise whenever it arrives. related to stills or video.
As to going from Lightroom to Photoshop. You go to Photoshop if you need to do pixel level work or need more layers than the one you get with Lightroom.
 
If you are just shooting jpegs then I wouldn't bother, they are so limited that you can't really do significant editing anyway. When you decide to shoot raw files then it should definatley be on your shortlist.

But you'll need to decide what it's worth to you, bearing in mind that even with the monthly payments, it's an annual renewal: $120 a year which you can spread over 12 monthly payments.

I decided that, for me, it was worth it. And bear in mind it's not just Lightroom you get, but photoshop as well which is an incredibly powerful piece of software.
 
If you are just shooting jpegs then I wouldn't bother, they are so limited that you can't really do significant editing anyway. When you decide to shoot raw files then it should definatley be on your shortlist.

But you'll need to decide what it's worth to you, bearing in mind that even with the monthly payments, it's an annual renewal: $120 a year which you can spread over 12 monthly payments.

I decided that, for me, it was worth it. And bear in mind it's not just Lightroom you get, but photoshop as well which is an incredibly powerful piece of software.

Thanks. I found out last night by installing the trial that if I decide to get it I will need to upgrade my graphics card to be able to utilize all the PS features. I am leaning toward not getting it for now.
 

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