[BarryE]

I create folders and put my pictures in them. I guess I am my image organization software

Yup, me too. The folders are dated and location/subject in filename. I then drop the folders into subject folders, eg holidays, landscapes, portraits, business, etc. The folder name eg "20200101 Derwent Water" is sufficient for me to recall the day and if it isn't a peek inside certainly is. Worked for years with no problems.

I suppose I could tag individual photos in a database so that I could locate all the "cow", "red hat", "sunset" photos, for instance, but I've never felt the need, nor would I ever keep it up - life's too short. I can't even find myself calibrating my monitor regularly - I've just noticed it's 114 days overdue So fat chance with tagging...

[ramseybuckeye]

I'm hooked on Lightroom (Adobe Photography Plan) and it does all I need, I can also have it on an iphone and ipad, It includes Photoshop, Premier Rush, and a few other programs that I haven't tried and probably don't need. There are actually two Lightroom programs, Lightroom Classic and Lightroom. Classic is like LR6 but advanced farther, and the other version is the web version that can use cloud, which is nice for traveling and switching between devices.

I have set up auto file naming and folder naming on import that work for me. I know that part did only work in LR Classic, not sure if it has changed for the web version.

[Des]

Many of us here use DxO Photolab. Very capable, nice layout, autocorrection modules for most modern lenses, outstanding AI-based noise reduction, many film camera and film emulations available (esp with the optional Filmpack plugin). It's sold as standalone, not subscription, but a new paid version is released in October each year. Version 5 has just been released (amongst other things, adds support for the K-3iii) - the upgrade cost $US69. Photo management has been a weak point, but has been substantially upgraded in v.5, including ability to read LR sidecars.

I'd suggest trialling different programs and seeing which one you like best.

[3by2]

Another Lightroom user, still on 5.7 but it works with DNG files and nearly all of my lenses and I use a lenstagger extension for the ones it doesn't know about. I have used acdcee, I do have Darktable and things and I have trialled a few programs but none of them work as well for me as Lightroom, plus I spent some time learning it. My file structure is leftover from film and slide binder days when I used imaginatively titled index cards like bw-35-01 or sc-120-01 and I've just carried that on to pen-01 etc.... I hardly ever tag things or even grade them but I do use collections, when I remember to.

[Tas]

what raw processors do people like and what are folks doing for image organization?

I don't know if it's possible to export the keyword heirarchies into another program.

I've been using On1 Photo RAW for years and like LR it's an organiser and a RAW Processor. Unlike LR it does layers and has many workflow tools beyond organising and a RAW workflow including cloud options and a mobile app I've been meaning to try. Details on the website for all of this stuff.

There is a Ligthroom migration tool and you can read about it in the Knowledge Base on their website to see if it does what you're looking for. There's lots of detail about what the migration tool will & won't do to make an informed decision on whether it's right for you or not.

On1 Photo RAW can be bought as a standalone product or subscription. The Standalone gets updates for one year then you can either stay with that version or update it in a year for a reduced price.

You can try it free for 30 days and see if it fits the bill and keep or delete as suits you.

There's so many quality PP options around these days, take your time and make use of free trial periods where you can as something will be out there to meet your needs.


Tas

[Paul the Sunman]

ON1 Photo RAW 2022. I prefer to have file organization, editing, noise reduction etc all in the one application.

[Kiwizinho]

I have an Adobe subscription, and I think compared to other perpetual licensed options, if you buy upgrades for those competitors, Adobe is competitively priced, as you get Lightroom, Photoshop, and a portfolio website for the price and a few other odds and ends.
For image organisation, Lightroom's hierarchical keywords and geotagging functionality make it the best option I've tried. (With geotagging, if you sync your camera and phone time, and record a track log on your phone then import it into Lightroom, you can automatically geotag all your photos based on their capture time.)
For actual Raw processing, I'm tending to use DxO PhotoLab more, although for images that don't need much done to them, I'll stick with Lightroom, and the latest sky select and object select features make it a bit easier for lighting adjustments. So far, I haven't seen anything that can match PhotoLab for noise reduction, so for high ISO raw files, it's my go-to tool.
PhotoLab has some image organising features, but it's not up to Lightroom's standards, however the two can compliment each other.
With DNG files, Lightroom can save any metadata to the DNG, so my workflow generally involves import in Lightroom, keyword, geotag, add copyright and other metadata, then sync back to the DNG files, then if they need adjustments beyond what Lightroom can do well, I'll open the files in PhotoLab, do the adjustments there, then export a high quality JPG back to Lightroom from PhotoLab, which comes back with all the metadata intact.

Obviously using two commercial apps does mean I've spent some money, but along with my humble K-70, it's considerably less than someone with a K-3 III for example, and they seem to be happy with their investments. I also spend considerably less monthly than some people spend on eating out, and yet I think the amount of enjoyment I get for my investment is more than I would for the cost of a single meal at a restaurant.

I've got nothing against free solutions though. I've played around with RawTherapee and if I couldn't afford commercial software, I'd probably use it.

[boriscleto]

On1 Photo RAW 2022

[The Squirrel Mafia]

I create folders and put my pictures in them. I guess I am my image organization software

Same here.

I use RawTherapee 99% of the time & PDCU5 1% of the time.

[ashurbanipal]

I have them organized in folders by date, and then use digiKam for further organization (keyword tagging, geotagging, advanced search, etc.).

[seventhdr]

I have a subscription to Lightroom and Photoshop and I don't mind paying to get constant updates with new features and improvements with on-going support.

Ditto this.

Just had a major upgrade to Lightroom and Photoshop and it's all for the cost of my monthly subscription.

Just do it. Upgrade now!!!

Regards

Chris

[fs999]

Corel PaintShop Pro with Topaz Bundle.

[wirrah]

I have a LR/PS subscription. Apart from anything else Lightroom allows me to write plugins for organising and searching beyond what it can do out of the box. Haven't investigated any other s/w for this as yet.

[biz-engineer]

For file management (import, preview, for cloning and for batch finishing): FastStone Image Viewer
For RAW works: Silkypix Pro 10 (includes masking features like LR, does focus stacking, noise reduction stacking, motion removal), PDCU5 (rarely) and Rawtherapee (for pixel shift, eventually).
For layer masking: Gimp 2.10
For image prep for printing: Topaz AI Sharpen
For image stitching: Hugin and ICE
For HDR: Photomatix

[BigMackCam]

Just an additional comment, regarding the asset management (organisational) side of things...

Manually organising image files using a folder structure and naming conventions works well if it provides all the granularity you're likely to need for locating specific images or groups of images. Lighroom, digiKam and some other DAM tools come in really handy when you want to search for (or filter) images on very specific criteria that may not be known at the time of import. So, for instance, if I want to see all the photos I've taken with a specific camera or lens, at a specific focal length or ISO range, with or without a flash, taken in DNG or JPEG format, at a specific time range during the day etc., that's difficult to achieve without DAM software unless your folders are structured at this level of granularity (which is highly unlikely, and probably impractical).

If you're certain that you'll only ever want to locate photos based on granularity of the folder structure you create, manual organisation is a great option - straightforward to manage and navigate, truly cross-platform, costs nothing and has zero learning curve. If you're not sure how you might want to locate photos in future, or already know that you'll want to locate them using a variety of EXIF data properties, a DAM tool is the way to go, IMHO...