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Rookies

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Has anyone here manage to come away from the adobe subscription to a stand alone software if so which have you settled on ?
 
I use Adobe Elements 10 which I bought around 6 years ago. It does me for my still photography. For editing video I use Pictures to Exe 8, again which I bought 5 years ago. The only cloud storage I have is YouTube, which is free at the moment, Mediafire which was free last time I used it. I did have Vimeo & another I can't think of the name which are now both pay sites & don't use any more. I also have 2 1 TB hard drives for storage, 1 is full the other nearly full, so I may have to invest in a third, but as I get older my requirements have reduced. I'm happy with MP4 video, so storage is minimal.
 
I got the final standalone version of lightroom and it supports my cameras so I’d ok for now. It’s still available to buy on disc if you look.
I never had photoshop, though I used to use it professionally years back.
GIMP does a fair approximation for nothing at all.
 
I know we can still get the Stand alone think it around £100 but it doesn't support my Camera unless i convert to DNG
 
I changed over to Affinity Photo. I haven't really had a chance to come fully to terms with everything it does, but I love the interface and can do the basics very easily and quickly. Lots of support available - very good Facebook group and loads of video tutorials ("official" and unofficial on both Vimeo & YouTube).
 
I bought Acdsee. In some ways it's great, simple to use and fast, but the raw converter it uses just isn't as good as Adobe (in my opinion) and I ended up subscribing again
 
Skylum Luminar as a Lightroom alternative, specifically as I have a new unsupported camera and I don’t want any part of the adobe subscription model.

Only bought it (and Skylum Aurora) on Black Friday though, so although it seems really promising I haven’t explored anywhere near all its features yet.

For a photoshop alternative I use Pixelmator Pro, and have never regretted the move.
 
Skylum Luminar as a Lightroom alternative, specifically as I have a new unsupported camera and I don’t want any part of the adobe subscription model.

Only bought it (and Skylum Aurora) on Black Friday though, so although it seems really promising I haven’t explored anywhere near all its features yet.

For a photoshop alternative I use Pixelmator Pro, and have never regretted the move.

Skylum will be much better in a couple of weeks when their DAM comes out then i could be a easy alternative
 
Skylum will be much better in a couple of weeks when their DAM comes out then i could be a easy alternative
Yes, I completely agree. They were offering a free upgrade to the upcoming version (and any new features like DAM/libraries), so figured it was definitely worth a go!
 
Skylum Luminar as a Lightroom alternative, specifically as I have a new unsupported camera and I don’t want any part of the adobe subscription model.

Only bought it (and Skylum Aurora) on Black Friday though, so although it seems really promising I haven’t explored anywhere near all its features yet.

For a photoshop alternative I use Pixelmator Pro, and have never regretted the move.
I'm assuming this is a PC-only programme?
In the Apple Store is a programme called Luminar, by MacPhun (gets good reviews), but nothing when I search for Skylum.
 
I'm assuming this is a PC-only programme?
In the Apple Store is a programme called Luminar, by MacPhun (gets good reviews), but nothing when I search for Skylum.
I’m on Mac. I bought it direct from Skylum website (who used to be called
MacPhun - they renamed at the end of last year).

I’m not sure what the one on the mac app store is though - am guessing it will be an older version.
 
I have been a Adobe creative suite user since my college days and have used them in my job for over 14 years. I used to have copies of them for home use but since they went the subscription route and looked elsewhere and after trialing several other software out I settled on Affinity Photo and Affinity Design and have been happy with them ever since.
 
I use Luminar and Affinity. I don't think anyone would be disappointed with them.
Once DAM comes for Luminar it will be very good indeed.
 
Another vote for Affinity Photo. Very good and in some ways easier to use than photoshop. Still quite a learning curve and not quite as comprehensible as it might be. I actually think it’s too cheap! I’ve just got it for iPad too but haven’t got into it yet. I hear good things about affinity designer too.

Pixelmator is good too.
 
Take a look at GIMP. It’s very well featured and completely free
Yes GIMP is really good and a powerful alternative Can be a steep learning curve but it's free!
 
Gimp is great and the more recent versions are much better - I’ve never got RAW conversion working and for me that’s a big deal as converting to Tiff in Olympus viewer is really slow and painful.
I know it’s lazy but turning ORF to TIF to process to JPG then tidy up is a pita I avoid.
If anyone has tips on working directly from RAW into GIMP I’m all ears ;)
 
Will Gimp read DNG files? Adobe do a free RAW to DNG converter.

Like Rfield, I bought Luminar and Aurora on a Black Friday deal - avoided VAT by buying it while in the States, so saved another £20+; at that price point I couldn’t afford not to. And as others have stated, once their DAM is up and running, it should be a true Lightroom contender.

I haven’t opened them up yet though, as I’ve only just bought the camera that is forcing my move away from LR6, as it’s RAW files are unsupported.
 
I’m on Mac. I bought it direct from Skylum website (who used to be called
MacPhun - they renamed at the end of last year).

I’m not sure what the one on the mac app store is though - am guessing it will be an older version.
Thanks - Looks like they're the same version (Skylum.com says v1.3 is the current one, and v1.3.2 on the App Store). The only difference is it's £2 cheaper from Skylum direct... :)
 
I use Affinity Photo and also Designer. Also Skylum Luminar. And my DAM is now Photos by Apple. Works brilliantly together, and goodby Adobe Creative suite.
 
Never bought into the Adobe subs model. I had Elements standalone year on year but got fed up of getting the new version for a new brush or something (I know a bit more went in but it felt like it....).

Jumped to Affinity as have a few here and it is great. I use Apple Photos for the DAM and the extension allows me to use Affinity full edit or six selected quick edits (on a Mac in Apple Photos edit section, not sure what other OS does). Affinity are supposed to be releasing a DAM at some point, be interesting if it will take over Apple Photos and do a different/better job seamlessly.


You can also get in on the Beta when it is available. The forums are helpful and worth a look if you are wondering Affinity | Forum
 
Has anyone here manage to come away from the adobe subscription to a stand alone software if so which have you settled on ?
I purchase Lightroom 6 from Amazon. I'm only a modest amateur, so not a heavy user. The subscription service doesn't make financial sense for me. Lightroom 6 is temendously powerful and does everything I need which is usually just developing and tweaking RAW photos.
 
I purchase Lightroom 6 from Amazon. I'm only a modest amateur, so not a heavy user. The subscription service doesn't make financial sense for me. Lightroom 6 is temendously powerful and does everything I need which is usually just developing and tweaking RAW photos.

Agree entirely - except that, eventually, you'll buy a camera that produces RAW files that LR6 won't read. Which is why most of us looking to move are in this predicament. There are work-rounds, but that introduces another step in the processing, which, when you've been used to the simple operation of importing into LR, is a PITA.

Once Luminar and Affinity have their respective DAM's up and running - they will run amok with people like us hanging on to the older version of LR.

Now, if, they could have a setting that just allowed the basic bare bones of LR-esque editing, they would truly rule the roost - ATM, they are, for me, too close to Photoshop than LR - and most of the time, I don't need all the extra bells & whistles.
 
New beta for affinity was out last Sunday as it happens. Not had a proper play with it yet. Usual caveats for a beta.
 

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