Originally posted by stevebrot It depends on what aspects of Lightroom one uses. There are several good suggestions above for RAW processing, but for LR's broader functionality, I found
no realistic contenders when I did full market research about a year ago. Missing or inadequate from the competition are:
- Digital asset management
- Comparable virtual copy functionality (probably LR's strongest suit)
- Soft-proof for publication
- Color management for editing and publication
- Integration with external editors
- RAW processor performance (not universally poor, but some contenders are slower than molasses and quite simply suck overall despite having attractive interfaces and pricing)
- Migration tools that are able to leverage LR processing metadata to the new environment
Yes, Adobe is (traditionally) in league with the Devil in regards to their sales model, but a realistic replacement remains elusive.
If I'm reading them correctly, these are strong points, Steve - especially for those who need them.
Where darktable is concerned, digital asset management is - as I previously mentioned - it's big weakness compared to LR. It does, however, offer good virtual copy functionality, using one input file (the original image) and saving to individual XMP sidecar files. Full soft-proofing and gamut checking, too. Colour management is excellent and flexible, IMHO. I believe it's missing integration with other editors (at least, in the version I'm running) - however, I manage my own workflow from digiKam, and tend to approach things in a serial manner. It hasn't proven an issue in the last couple of years. Raw processing performance is very good, though certain specific tools - some of the noise reduction options, for instance, and especially the "watermark" facility - require a fairly decent processor for good performance. Migration from LR is non-existent, and was perhaps my biggest concern. As it stands, I rely on the TIFF files I created during my LR workflow, or else start again with the raw. It's a tough decision to move, but I'm generally glad I did...