[BillyCooper]

Hi All,

New Pentax user alert here, and I'm very seriously considering whether or not to dive right into the Adobe ecosystem, head first, full on, or not, (perhaps) all the way down to image cataloging.

First, I'm a full subscription holder already, but I mostly use Photoshop and especially, Acrobat, in my business, which is architecture, not photography.
So Bridge and Lightroom are new to me.

So before you ask me why I would consider anything else when it should be obvious, I'll tell you up front that generally, "ecosystems" that lock one in and are not usually friendly to other platforms, kind of do turn me off. But in the world of today, they are a fact of life. And I am also locked into the Autodesk ecosystem, for instance, for many years, and while that software is essential, sometimes it drives me nuts too, and I do feel trapped. However, I do not archive my work in their cloud, i keep that local, and backed up on multiple drives...

So this, please; I've read through many posts regarding many software options, and of course i'm taking all that advise into consideration, but I've also become acutely aware that there are Allot of people who want nothing to do with ADOBE, so I get why those users don't like Adobe, so it probably doesn't merit repeating here.

Who I would gratefully like to hear from is actual Adobe users, past and present, and why you all believe I should, or not, consider locking into their ecosystem. If I go, I'm going all in, but I also consider that a big commitment, and I really don't wish to have regrets later, and then relearn. But if it's great, great!

Again, I do not wish to offend anyone, but we've probably got enough of the "not my Adobe", threads in this forum, this is something else.

Thanks again to everyone who contributes to this wonderful resource.

My Very Best,

Bill C.

---

Last edited by BillyCooper; 07-25-2018 at 07:43 PM.

[MarkJerling]

Hi Bill

Like you, my business is Architecture. I have been using Photoshop for a long time. For the last year or so, I'have had a Lightroom / Photoshop subscription and I do like working with Lightroom a lot. I am aware that there are free options out there, but seeing as I already used an older Photoshop, the transition to the new Photoshop and Lightroom was easy.

Kind regards,
Mark

[jatrax]

What is your primary purpose with the photos? If just casual hobby then many of the options will work. But if you are serious (and are already familiar with Adobe) then there really is no substitute for Lightroom. Most (if not all) of the objections to LR are because Adobe moved to a subscription system. I totally get that objection but the software itself has few peers.


There are several other options that are getting closer and might one day be a viable option but at this point I would recommend Lightroom in your case. Especially since for you it is already paid for. I strongly suggest you use the 'classic' version of Lightroom and avoid the the new cloud 'CC' version like the plague.

[MarkJerling]

What is your primary purpose with the photos? If just casual hobby then many of the options will work. But if you are serious (and are already familiar with Adobe) then there really is no substitute for Lightroom. Most (if not all) of the objections to LR are because Adobe moved to a subscription system. I totally get that objection but the software itself has few peers.


There are several other options that are getting closer and might one day be a viable option but at this point I would recommend Lightroom in your case. Especially since for you it is already paid for. I strongly suggest you use the 'classic' version of Lightroom and avoid the the new cloud 'CC' version like the plague.

Thank you for your comments.
I should clarify that I use Lightroom Classic CC. The subscription model does not bother me in that most of the software I use for my work are either subscription based, or on an annual update via software maintenance agreement. These costs are therefore nothing more than (manageable) annual or monthly costs with the benefit of always having the latest version of the software.

[darylk]

For business, the Adobe cloud approach probably makes the most sense.

[david94903]

Hey Bill (and Mark).

Like you guys, I too am an architect. And like you I'm attached at the hip to Autodesk and also Adobe. Back in the bad old days, I used Adobe Illustrator because it was the only program around that would allow you to turn a DWG into a PDF. With Autodesk, though I have a shelf lined with multiple versions going back to Autocad 2.3 (1988), I'm using the subscription service, as I need to make sure my DWG files play well with others. My Adobe mainstays since the early 1990's has been with Photoshop/ACR/Bridge and later Lightroom. These days in the Adobe world I exclusively use Photoshop/ACR/Bridge, and Lightroom is mostly for file management. Currently I have not gone over to the Adobe CC version, still using CS5 and LR4, as I do not need to share my PSD/PSB files with anyone.


Personally, I don't see any reason not to jump into the Adobe "ecosystem" as you call it. But you should know which products you want to use. For me, looking at the CC options, I don't need all the bells and whistles. Photoshop and Light room are sufficient.

[pakinjapan]

…First,I'm a full subscription holder already, but I mostly use Photoshop andespecially, Acrobat, in my business, which is architecture, not photography…

You already pay for Adobe subscription. it makes more sense to take advance of the services.

… while that software isessential, sometimes it drives me nuts too, and I do feel trapped. However, Ido not archive my work in their cloud, ikeep that local, and backed up on multiple drives...

I totally understand that. I used to use both Adobe and MacorMedia because I didn’t want to go into Adobe too much, but later on, Adobebuys Macromedia and kills most of their software anyway. Back to your question,For photo editing and file management; my workflow is like…
1.Move all photo file using typical Windows explorer from SDcard to my HDD
2.Open with Bridge
3.Batch rename file names (but keep the number sequence in the file name) using tool in Bridge
4.Edit the raw file using CameraRaw (I think AdobeRaw editor uses the same editing engineas LightRoom)

I don’t save my photo on Adobe Cloud too and I try Lightroom a few time early on, but I end up not using it because It looks like they use some kind of database to manage the files, it would be good If I stay on one computer, but I move my files to multiple hard drives, multiple computer / phone / table both home and office. I found it too much headache using lightroom so I install windows10 RAW viewer patch and simply manage my file using typical windows explorer (Batch rename photo using Bridge first) That’s way,even if I don’t have an Adobe software I still have my photos in the exact order I want on my harddrives and the editing information on each image is embedded into its own self.

IMHO, You might try LightRoom or Bridge + CameraRaw + Photoshop like me, but you already have Adobe subscription, so using their software make more sense to me.

[Barry Pearson]

New Pentax user alert here, and I'm very seriously considering whether or not to dive right into the Adobe ecosystem, head first, full on, or not, (perhaps) all the way down to image cataloging.

First, I'm a full subscription holder already, but I mostly use Photoshop and especially, Acrobat, in my business, which is architecture, not photography.
So Bridge and Lightroom are new to me.

My view is that when I take a photo, the 3 main components are: camera; lens; Lightroom.

Every shot I take (tens of thousands a year) goes through Lightroom. It is how I cull them. (Most of them are captured in burst-mode, in the knowledge that most will have to be culled).

Every shot that is worth using is developed, to a greater or lesser extent, in the Lightroom Develop module. (Even if I'll use Photoshop later).

Appropriate use of the Develop module can make my cameras and lenses appear more expensive than they were. For example, lens profiles; noise-reduction; sharpness.

My Lightroom catalogue now over 140,000 photos, including imported scans of photos taken 55 years ago. Lightroom enables me to find them!

I'm retired and I deliberately don't attempt to make money from photography. It is my main hobby, and I want the best possible results as easily as possible.

[microlight]

I have a basic Adobe CC subscription which gets me Lr and Ps. Or actually, just Ps because I don’t use Lr at all, as I’ve developed my own cataloguing system over the years so I don’t need Lr’s. Camera Raw now has virtually everything that Lr has, and my non-pixel-shift workflow has matured into Bridge->ACR->Ps.

BTW, Bridge itself is free so you can play with it and get used to it for nothing. The more RAM the better though; it used to freeze and crash with Win7/8GB RAM but is fine with Win10/16GB.

[steve_k]

Welcome to Pentax. As you already have the full subscription it is a no brainer. I also have the Adobe photograph subscription. I use Lightroom for all of my basic adjustments. The nice thing about Lightroom is it integrates with a lot of products. I use the following products that have Lightroom plugins Topaz Studio, Aurora HDR, Luminar 2018 and of course Photoshop. Also there are plugins for SmugMug and Flickr which are very nice because they allow you to post your photos without leaving Lightroom. Pretty much the main complaint about Adobe is that it is subscription. If it wasn’t a subscription service I bet that they would have 85% of the market. The only people that wouldn’t be using it are the ones that would refuse to pay for any product or want to run on Linux. So don’t let your subscription go to waste.

Steve

[Rondec]

Just use Adobe's products. They are fine and work well. I think people struggle the most (like myself) who are hobby photographers and often skip generations of software. To us, it feels like a money grab and I don't really want to pay 120 dollars a year ad infinitum, but I'm still using the last generation of Lightroom 6 is and it works well.

[Sandy Hancock]

I just want a simple life. Lightroom works, and with the subscription model it constantly evolves as technology changes. I can't see a reason to waste time staring from scratch in another ecosystem.

[chuck_c]

I just want a simple life. Lightroom works, and with the subscription model it constantly evolves as technology changes. I can't see a reason to waste time staring from scratch in another ecosystem.

Couldn't put it any more succinct than that.

Also, welcome to Pentax and welcome to pentaxforums.com

[MarkJerling]

Hey Bill (and Mark).

Like you guys, I too am an architect. And like you I'm attached at the hip to Autodesk and also Adobe. Back in the bad old days, I used Adobe Illustrator because it was the only program around that would allow you to turn a DWG into a PDF. With Autodesk, though I have a shelf lined with multiple versions going back to Autocad 2.3 (1988), I'm using the subscription service, as I need to make sure my DWG files play well with others. My Adobe mainstays since the early 1990's has been with Photoshop/ACR/Bridge and later Lightroom. These days in the Adobe world I exclusively use Photoshop/ACR/Bridge, and Lightroom is mostly for file management. Currently I have not gone over to the Adobe CC version, still using CS5 and LR4, as I do not need to share my PSD/PSB files with anyone.


Personally, I don't see any reason not to jump into the Adobe "ecosystem" as you call it. But you should know which products you want to use. For me, looking at the CC options, I don't need all the bells and whistles. Photoshop and Light room are sufficient.

You started with AutoCAD even earlier than I. My first copy was AutoCAD LT97. From there, I upgraded to 2000 and in 2005 I went to the subscription model.

[david94903]

You started with AutoCAD even earlier than I. My first copy was AutoCAD LT97. From there, I upgraded to 2000 and in 2005 I went to the subscription model.

I got my original version AutoCAD 1.0 in 1982, came with two 5-1/4 floppy disks, which ran on an IBM 8088 which had two floppy drives, the internal hard drive option didn't come out until 1983. Started using AutoCAD seriously in 1985, I learned in college on version 2.1, which then went to 2.6 in 1987, using an IBM AT 80286 with a green screen monitor. That was the bomb. In 1988 I started working in a office and they had Release 9 (with a VGA monitor that could display a whopping 16 colors, ha!), which later upgraded on Release 10, then Release 12 (because the odd number releases were always lemons), then Release 14, then 2000 (another lemon), 2004 (okay), then 2006 which I used until getting 2012, then 2014 which again I've used until just recently upgrading to 2018 and the subscription service. Ironically, at home for standalone work, I still use 2006. It's rock solid, runs just fine on Windows 10 (with a little tweaking).

.