[rawr]

and you'll never know how it might have turned out with someone else.

By the same token, you can waste a lot of time 'playing the field', spending a lot of time and money developing superficial relationships that don't help you grow, and which offer you little when you need support.

I've been through a bit of that with photo editing software. Probably all I ever needed to do over the years was to get really proficient with Lightroom, which is very capable as both an editor and asset manager, and which I've had installed since at least v.3. But instead I've spent probably too much time and money over the years playing with other tools, chasing the perfect software - C1, DxO, Aftershot Pro, RT, the vendor software from Nikon, Pentax, Sony, you name it. It's been a distraction. To keep things simple and improve my productivity, I'm concentrating on Lightroom now.

[Dartmoor Dave]

For those who want Photoshop without the monthly fees, I can highly recommend using Elements with the Elements+ plug-in installed. It unlocks many of the features of the full Photoshop that are actually there in Elements but just hidden from users, with the only real limitation being that you only get 8 bit layers. It's pretty cheap to buy, but there's also a free version that unlocks a handful of features such as curves.

[pschlute]

.I tried "SilkyPix" that comes with most newer Pentax models

If you want a very deep raw converter, try Silkypix DS Pro. It is not at all the same thing as the Pentax bundled software, which uses the Silkypix engine, but that is all.

[Des]

To keep things simple and improve my productivity, I'm concentrating on Lightroom now.

I'm doing the same with DxO. To me it's not really worth investing time in learning to use something else unless it offers additional features that really matter or unless the current software falls way behind or becomes obsolete or ceases to support your hardware. Despite the negativity sometimes directed to DxO (because of its financial troubles last year) what I'm seeing is progressive improvement in their software, most notably the inclusion of local adjustments with the release of PhotoLab.

Another vote for DxO....super easy to use if you need it to be and has all the complicated bits also if need be. Add on the NIK collection and it really rocks

Do you mean the free Google version or the DxO one Charlie? I've tried the former (HDR is good) but not the latter - because it isn't integrated with PL as it is with PS, Elements and LR.

[johngs]

Its surprising that this article doesn't mention Luminar, which to my mind is currently the best alternative to Lightroom.
Luminar can do layers, which gives it some Photoshop like abilities as well as its Lightroom similarities.
Luminar is a once only purchase and that's a plus for those of us looking to shrug off the subscription software models.
The new version, Luminar 3, comes out in a few days and will now include a digital asset management cataloguing module.

[edri]

Vote for Luminary as well.
This is an inappropriate review for 2018. For example, for DXO and Capture One, there are newer versions than those described in this paper. Perhaps the author has an Adobe arrangement, Elements can not be over Luminar, Capture One or DXO. Raw Therapy is also a free software with a good reputation.

[BarryE]

By the same token, you can waste a lot of time 'playing the field', spending a lot of time and money developing superficial relationships that don't help you grow, and which offer you little when you need support.

I've been through a bit of that with photo editing software. Probably all I ever needed to do over the years was to get really proficient with Lightroom, which is very capable as both an editor and asset manager, and which I've had installed since at least v.3. But instead I've spent probably too much time and money over the years playing with other tools, chasing the perfect software - C1, DxO, Aftershot Pro, RT, the vendor software from Nikon, Pentax, Sony, you name it. It's been a distraction. To keep things simple and improve my productivity, I'm concentrating on Lightroom now.

I agree, totally. In fact I wrote something similar about keeping simple and productivity, but then deleted that part as it was getting too long. Pleased someone else said it ...

[newmikey]

The best photo-editing software in 2018 | Digital Camera World

Pure Adobe-sponsored hogwash unworthy of the word "journalism". Cheap way to fill a webpage.

[johnc]

I'm with Lightroom/PS and pay the subscription...They are my main bread and butter RAW development and editing applications. The subscription model is annoying but with the deals you can get it hasn't (so far) cost more than I used to pay in update fees. And some of the features I really thought were missing in Lightroom have been added over the last year or so.

I also have DXO Nik Collection (use that a fair bit), Luminar, and Aurora HDR. All those were supposed to be 'pay once' purchases, but have needed paid updates (at a cost) from time to time to get new versions at times (keep it working on more recent equipment/operating systems and get new features). I usually subscribe to the emails and wait till there's a really good offer to get the updates.

Basically I think it's a question of 'pick your poison'. There's plenty of options available, and almost all of them have a LOT of good points nowadays!

I try to choose ones that will persist in the marketplace because having to change is a pain. If you have years of work saved in a format that gets discontinued it is a bad situation.

Just my 2c!
John

[sawitar]

Free software is not included as they wouldn't sponsor.

[CharLac]

I'm doing the same with DxO. To me it's not really worth investing time in learning to use something else unless it offers additional features that really matter or unless the current software falls way behind or becomes obsolete or ceases to support your hardware. Despite the negativity sometimes directed to DxO (because of its financial troubles last year) what I'm seeing is progressive improvement in their software, most notably the inclusion of local adjustments with the release of PhotoLab.


Do you mean the free Google version or the DxO one Charlie? I've tried the former (HDR is good) but not the latter - because it isn't integrated with PL as it is with PS, Elements and LR.

No, I have Dxo PhotoLab Elite....all the bells and whistles...and like I said, with NIK, it is really great

[BrianR]

Weird to see that Darktable isn't included in the article. I can understand that it's not everyone's cup of tea, but it's right up there with Lightroom in terms of capabilities... and it's free.

Thanks for mentioning darktable. I'm downloading it now as I've been meaning to try it and the price is certainly agreeable.

[pid]

the way Capture One controls colors is way better than all others. It has Layers and since Version 12 genious luminosity masks. Worth to look at it!

[BigMackCam]

Thanks for mentioning darktable. I'm downloading it now as I've been meaning to try it and the price is certainly agreeable.

It takes a little getting used to, as some of the tools work differently to Lightroom (and others). But if you read the online documentation and search YouTube for tutorial videos, you should get the hang of it quite quickly. In my view, it's well worth the effort...

[microlight]

Ps/Camera Raw via the subscription for normal work, DCU5 for pixel shift before exporting as a tiff and then using the above.