5 ms·

I would love a real alternative to Lightroom. I'm stuck on version 6, since I refused to go to the rent it model.

by e40 7y ago

DHPersonal 7y ago
I think Capture One Pro is superior to Lightroom in everything but the library system that is offered with Lightroom, though what is provided in Capture One Pro is still very good. https://www.captureone.com/en/store https://www.captureone.com/en/store
- ijpoijpoihpiuoh 7y ago
  I always found the library system in Lightroom to be painful only because of how slow it is. It's hard to imagine enough features to make up for a UI that routinely takes >1s to render images onto the page.
  - StavrosK 7y ago
    That's what got me to switch off Lightroom, and Capture One's excellent other features kept me on the latter. Highly recommended.
- decasteve 7y ago
  I never got into the catalogs/sessions way of managing my library but Capture One is my favourite processing tool. So I use digiKam to manage my library and Capture One to process the individual photos.
  - gorgoiler 7y ago
    Interesting. Capture One is a non destructive photo editor: how does that not force to use Capture One for managing your library as well? Is digiKam able to access the post-process images from Capture One?
    - decasteve 7y ago
      I don't care as much about seeing the unedited thumbnail previews in digiKam as long as I can find what I'm looking for, and then edit and print from Capture One.
- peterhookgen 7y ago
  I was just about to post Capture One!!
- greggman2 7y ago
  Capture One looks great but it's way more expensive than Lightroom. Lightroom is $120 a year. Capture One is $500 and $150 for an upgrade between versions or $240 a year.
  - PetitPrince 7y ago
    Note that you can buy edition that are limited to one maker (Fujifilm or Sony) for quite a bit cheaper than the whole package. Combined with semi-regular sales/promo code (check the fujirumors or sonyrumors website), you can get a perpetual version for very interesting price: I reckon having bought the Fujifilm edition for about 125$. You do have to commit to camera brand though.
    - simon1573 7y ago
      This. I got my Sony license for $50.
wlesieutre 7y ago
Affinity is "thinking about" a digital asset management tool. https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/78025-when-are-damcataloging-and-tethering-features-coming-to-affinity-photo/&tab=comments#comment-408864 https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/78025-when... If they do make one, it may or may not have editing features built in (vs shipping you out to Affinity Photo). But I'm in the same boat. Stuck on CS6, couldn't stand DarkTable, haven't bothered trying any other alternatives.
- mceachen 7y ago
  (I'm building a DAM: check my profile if you'd like to be part of the closed beta!)
  - wlesieutre 7y ago
    I'm interested, but whatever DAM I eventually move to will in large part be driven by how well it can import my years of Lightroom library (including edits out of the xmp sidecar files and at least approximating Lightroom's RAW rendering). I know that's a big ask, don't suppose it's on your roadmap?
    - novok 7y ago
      I imported a 70k item library into mylio and it ingested it fairly well, along with the xmp sidecar files. I try to avoid doing edits on my images, so I haven't tested how well it imports throughly although.
    - mceachen 7y ago
      The current version added support for importing sidecar metadata. It does not apply LR edits to the previews it shows, though (which would require re-implementing swaths of LR...). If you see something you want when you try the beta, please tell me!
krmmalik 7y ago
Have you considered Polarr?
- e40 7y ago
  That appears to be just the editor part. The asset management in LR is really what I use most.
theossuary 7y ago
Same, recently heard about Darktable, planning to give it a shot now that I don't have Lighroom anymore https://www.darktable.org https://www.darktable.org
- sneak 7y ago
  Darktable is abysmal, sadly. It is my go-to example for the failure of f/oss to fulfill common professional software needs.
johnchristopher 7y ago
There is https://rawtherapee.com/ https://rawtherapee.com/ and https://www.darktable.org/ https://www.darktable.org/
PavlovsCat 7y ago
Have you tried AfterShot Pro by Corel? I don't use it, but that's just because I still use (and love) Bibble 5 from 2011, which is the software that was bought by Corel and turned into AfterShot Pro. I had a quick glance at the manual of the latter, and it seems like the batch processing and other things are still intact, so I'm hopeful it still might be worth checking out.
slig 7y ago
Have you tried ON1 Photo Raw?
buzzy_hacker 7y ago
I recommend Luminar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_83opqLxyU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_83opqLxyU
- notmadyet 7y ago
  I can't quite recommend Luminar over Ps/Lr because i've never used the latter, but Luminar seems good enough, and it also seems to be getting better. I've been getting into photo editing recently, and searched online for a few hours to learn about the differences between the various options. From what i gathered, Luminar (which is a pay once for a lifetime license that you can have installed in up to five machines at a time) is a serious contender to Ps/Lr even at the professional level, let alone at the amateur/occasional user level.
Youden 7y ago
I moved from Lightroom to Capture One Pro and eventually settled on Darktable. It took a bit of getting used to (still not a fan of the UI and its obsession with "film rolls" every time I import something) but once I did it's quite nice. Images come out looking good and it has a handy Lua scripting environment and CLI with which you can automate many tasks.
tomduncalf 7y ago
I actually feel Adobe’s Photography Plan is pretty good value. LR Mobile on iPad is excellent, worth it for that alone
- mkasu 7y ago
  Indeed. I used to use LR Classic on my Mac, but since the new LR got more and more features I switched to using my iPad almost exclusively. I don't think I used LR on my Mac in months.

I would love a real alternative to Lightroom. I'm stuck on version 6, since I refused to go to the rent it model.

by e40 7y ago

I would love a real alternative to Lightroom. I'm stuck on version 6, since I refused to go to the rent it model.

I think Capture One Pro is superior to Lightroom in everything but the library system that is offered with Lightroom, though what is provided in Capture One Pro is still very good. https://www.captureone.com/en/store https://www.captureone.com/en/store

ijpoijpoihpiuoh 7y ago
I always found the library system in Lightroom to be painful only because of how slow it is. It's hard to imagine enough features to make up for a UI that routinely takes >1s to render images onto the page.
- StavrosK 7y ago
  That's what got me to switch off Lightroom, and Capture One's excellent other features kept me on the latter. Highly recommended.
decasteve 7y ago
I never got into the catalogs/sessions way of managing my library but Capture One is my favourite processing tool. So I use digiKam to manage my library and Capture One to process the individual photos.
- gorgoiler 7y ago
  Interesting. Capture One is a non destructive photo editor: how does that not force to use Capture One for managing your library as well? Is digiKam able to access the post-process images from Capture One?
  - decasteve 7y ago
    I don't care as much about seeing the unedited thumbnail previews in digiKam as long as I can find what I'm looking for, and then edit and print from Capture One.
peterhookgen 7y ago
I was just about to post Capture One!!
greggman2 7y ago
Capture One looks great but it's way more expensive than Lightroom. Lightroom is $120 a year. Capture One is $500 and $150 for an upgrade between versions or $240 a year.
- PetitPrince 7y ago
  Note that you can buy edition that are limited to one maker (Fujifilm or Sony) for quite a bit cheaper than the whole package. Combined with semi-regular sales/promo code (check the fujirumors or sonyrumors website), you can get a perpetual version for very interesting price: I reckon having bought the Fujifilm edition for about 125$. You do have to commit to camera brand though.
  - simon1573 7y ago
    This. I got my Sony license for $50.

wlesieutre 7y ago

Affinity is "thinking about" a digital asset management tool. https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/78025-when-are-damcataloging-and-tethering-features-coming-to-affinity-photo/&tab=comments#comment-408864 https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/78025-when... If they do make one, it may or may not have editing features built in (vs shipping you out to Affinity Photo). But I'm in the same boat. Stuck on CS6, couldn't stand DarkTable, haven't bothered trying any other alternatives.

mceachen 7y ago
(I'm building a DAM: check my profile if you'd like to be part of the closed beta!)
- wlesieutre 7y ago
  I'm interested, but whatever DAM I eventually move to will in large part be driven by how well it can import my years of Lightroom library (including edits out of the xmp sidecar files and at least approximating Lightroom's RAW rendering). I know that's a big ask, don't suppose it's on your roadmap?
  - novok 7y ago
    I imported a 70k item library into mylio and it ingested it fairly well, along with the xmp sidecar files. I try to avoid doing edits on my images, so I haven't tested how well it imports throughly although.
  - mceachen 7y ago
    The current version added support for importing sidecar metadata. It does not apply LR edits to the previews it shows, though (which would require re-implementing swaths of LR...). If you see something you want when you try the beta, please tell me!

krmmalik 7y ago

Have you considered Polarr?

e40 7y ago
That appears to be just the editor part. The asset management in LR is really what I use most.

theossuary 7y ago

Same, recently heard about Darktable, planning to give it a shot now that I don't have Lighroom anymore https://www.darktable.org https://www.darktable.org

sneak 7y ago
Darktable is abysmal, sadly. It is my go-to example for the failure of f/oss to fulfill common professional software needs.

johnchristopher 7y ago

There is https://rawtherapee.com/ https://rawtherapee.com/ and https://www.darktable.org/ https://www.darktable.org/

PavlovsCat 7y ago

Have you tried AfterShot Pro by Corel? I don't use it, but that's just because I still use (and love) Bibble 5 from 2011, which is the software that was bought by Corel and turned into AfterShot Pro. I had a quick glance at the manual of the latter, and it seems like the batch processing and other things are still intact, so I'm hopeful it still might be worth checking out.

slig 7y ago

Have you tried ON1 Photo Raw?

buzzy_hacker 7y ago

I recommend Luminar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_83opqLxyU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_83opqLxyU

notmadyet 7y ago
I can't quite recommend Luminar over Ps/Lr because i've never used the latter, but Luminar seems good enough, and it also seems to be getting better. I've been getting into photo editing recently, and searched online for a few hours to learn about the differences between the various options. From what i gathered, Luminar (which is a pay once for a lifetime license that you can have installed in up to five machines at a time) is a serious contender to Ps/Lr even at the professional level, let alone at the amateur/occasional user level.

Youden 7y ago

I moved from Lightroom to Capture One Pro and eventually settled on Darktable. It took a bit of getting used to (still not a fan of the UI and its obsession with "film rolls" every time I import something) but once I did it's quite nice. Images come out looking good and it has a handy Lua scripting environment and CLI with which you can automate many tasks.

tomduncalf 7y ago

I actually feel Adobe’s Photography Plan is pretty good value. LR Mobile on iPad is excellent, worth it for that alone

mkasu 7y ago
Indeed. I used to use LR Classic on my Mac, but since the new LR got more and more features I switched to using my iPad almost exclusively. I don't think I used LR on my Mac in months.