Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Bay Area California |
Well, I realize you're irritated with Adobe; join a big club. But Apple as an alternative? ask the Aperture users how they feel about that. Having dealt with tech support at both companies on numerous occasions for both work or play, I'd say a pox on both their houses.
Photos has only a faint wisp of the capabilities of Lr organizationally. No plugin stuff (extensions in Photos) that work on organization at all. Very miminal batch stuff, even in the new 10.3 version (whoopee...FINALLY got an "edit in..." command). Can't write metadata to file or read it without redoing imports. Can't even do raw from raw images taken with an iPhone without work arounds (like using Lr Mobile).
And yeah, it kept miminal functionality for referenced images. But if you do that, you can't use the library with iCloud Photo Library. That's an all-or-nothing service that only works with one system library. Hence, yes, you should be concerned about all your RAW images' adjustments being stuck there forever unless you export say a finished TIFF. Publishing is also very limited, as is web stuff, and even geo tagging. But hey: free (of course so is Lr CC if you can live without Develop and Map modules). You've got it: import some images and see if it meets your needs. Cuz if it does, then who cares if it's lacking all kinds of stuff?
There are some quite good extensions for it, at least adjusting wise. If you like Aperture, then the guy who did that application (and left...love to know the story) made RAW Power, a very Aperture like extension. Macphun, DxO, and Affinity Photos also have them. The RAW workflow is kinda clumsy, though. You can send a RAW, edit, and get a JPEG back (not many (any?) do TIFF), but if you wanna readjust you have to start all over. Aargh. That's why "edit in.." will be better, cause then you can save in the proprietary format of the editor, like Macphun's format, or Affinities, or Photosshop's, or whatever, and via layers be able to go back. Right now you have to do some working around to accomplish that.
Affinity Photos is nice, but not a Lr substitute, more of a ligher weight Ps. Maphun's Luminar too, although it lacks even stuff like keyboard equivalents for a lot of stuff. But for simple stuff it's fine, especially since it does layers. And it has a very easily used Luminance mask I like. I'd avoid their Creative Kit: they don't say so, but it looks abandoned to me. No updates even though Luminar has been created since, and a new PC version, and another Aurora version.
Another alternative is Mylio. It can read many of Adobe's edits, so that might help with stuff you've already processed. And it's excellent for synching among devices, the best really. But yep, that subscription thing.
Capture One is probably the most Lr-like, and some prefer it's color controls. I didn't think it was nearly as good as Lr for organization (didn't even do hierarchical keywords till recently), and it was pricey (still is). And I had endless online authentication issues. I dropped it, but it's very popular with lots of folks and has a free demo.
Don't overlook Graphic Converter. It can do editing, non-destructive adjusting, filters, georeferencing, all sorts of metadata manipulations and adjustments, convert to HEVC/HEIF (dunno any other non-OEM app that can do that), and has a dandy browser. Might be all your need for one or more of your tasks. And has the best support, bar none, of ANY of these apps (the developer, after all these years, still responds personally to email queries and bug reports and stuff. A true hero).
Perhaps you can get by with just a organization-only tool, and an edit-only tool (like Affinity, or maybe DxO's standalone applications (esp good with lens corrections). Then look at Photo Mechanic. Or XnviewMP, which is free, but has a kinda awkward interface. You might also be able to do a lot with FastRawViewer. At least it works great for culling and sorting into folders and it's less expensive than PM, although can't do as many things. But it's wonderful for anyone who does RAW (and worth it just to study the educational material).
Good luck.
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