One time purchase picture editing software.

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soupdragon

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So, what is everyones "go to" non subscription photo editing software?

Up until some comments were made in another thread I had been using Canons excellent Digital Professional Pro software. I know believe the use of this may be causing differences to what I see at home and what is displayed on the web.

I'm not worried about up front cost but I can't deal with subscription based products.

???????
 
soupdragon said:
So, what is everyones "go to" non subscription photo editing software?

Up until some comments were made in another thread I had been using Canons excellent Digital Professional Pro software. I know believe the use of this may be causing differences to what I see at home and what is displayed on the web.

I'm not worried about up front cost but I can't deal with subscription based products.

???????
Click to expand...

From many years experience, it has to be DxO PhotoLab. Download the Elite version 30 day free trial, together with their FilmPack and ViewPoint add-ins.

Unbeatable noise reduction for digital RAW files, but still well capable of processing TIFFs

Great forums at https://forum.dxo.com/. Don't be afraid to ask, even during the trial.

We are just about to do an exhibition of our work, all done in PhotoLab. Here is our Flickr page that the exhibition is based on
 
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If you are looking for a No Subscription model, then the best option in my opinion is Affinity Photo which is a close to Adobe Photoshop as you will get.

Just be aware, products like Affinity and DXO will more than likely charge for ugrades whereas Adobe don't
 
Adobe Photoshop Elements for photos. Around $100. For $150, you can also include their companion video software, Premiere Elements.
 
I think it helps to clarify if you need something that *just* edits (like Photoshop / Gimp etc), or something that does all the file management and library side of things along with non-destructive editing (like Lightroom / Capture One etc)*. My personal choice is Capture One, which is still available as a standalone purchase, is superb, and for most people will do all the editing you ever need, even local edits and a lot of the sort of heavy lifting stuff Lightroom users would traditionally resort to Photoshop for. Handles scans and RAW digital files side by side, same basic workflow.
 
Dave_P said:
I think it helps to clarify if you need something that *just* edits (like Photoshop / Gimp etc), or something that does all the file management and library side of things along with non-destructive editing (like Lightroom / Capture One etc)*. My personal choice is Capture One, which is still available as a standalone purchase, is superb, and for most people will do all the editing you ever need, even local edits and a lot of the sort of heavy lifting stuff Lightroom users would traditionally resort to Photoshop for. Handles scans and RAW digital files side by side, same basic workflow.
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Good idea.
Never thought of that.
 
soupdragon said:
Good idea.
Never thought of that.
Click to expand...

Although, on a Mac especially, you don't really need a separate "fully blown" DAM (digital asset manager). Finder can search under all sorts of criteria, including keywords, tags, descriptions, camera metadata, etc. And I have written a Mac app that can add keywords, tags, descriptions and star ratings, which you might like to try out. I wrote it, initially, to integrate with PhotoLab but it can work in association with virtually any editing app.

A major advantage of my app is that you don't have to "import" images into a "catalogue" because it uses Apple's own Spotlight metadata indexing engine. It also manages the contents of nested folders, so you can browse and search, in a single window, for images without having to keep on delving into sub folders.

Personally, I would give the PhotoLab free trial a go before spending any money. Although Affinity "feels like" Photoshop, it has subtle but significant differences that can be quite confusing. PhotoLab might feel different to start with but you will find it Is much more Intuitive and productive once you get used to it.

Of course, there are some in this forum who are entranced by the Adobe way of doing things and unlikely to try a "better way"
 
My favourite software was Picture Publisher from MicroGrafx, it had many features like layers before Photoshop. It was killed off when Corel bought the company. Although many features were added to PhotoPaint part of the CorelDraw suite.

But I also used JASC Paintshop, from the early freeware days of Windows 3.1. I still use Paintshop Pro, the last JACS version was 9, now it's also a Corel product. It offers everything I need, as I'm on the upgrade path new versions are inexpensive.

I have and sometimes use the Canon DPP software, but my Corel package includes AfterShot Lab, and it’s equally good. I have used CaptureOne as well, and they are all excellent now.

Ian
 
Not sure this is in the right thread but has anybody seen or been following the recent news about Affinity Photo plus their other programmes? It seems that Serif were bought out by another company (Canva?) earlier last year. On October 1 st they stopped all sales of the software pending a big announcement to be made 30 th October. Speculation runs 2 ways, either it is V3 but with much more AI content or it is V3 but with a subscription model as Adobe.
Anybody heard anything else or has other knowledge?
For myself if it goes to subscription I will continue using V2 as I have bought a number of ebooks and a course which I intend to try over the winter. If that all fails I may try Darktable instead. As 90% of my work is darkroom I have no wish to invest more in something I rarely use.
Bill
 
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I haven't heard the news but I am an Affinity user because I don't agree with renting software. If Canva move to a subscription model I'll stick with what I have until it stops working. The biggest attraction to the Affinity suite was the one-off cost and not having to subscribe. If Canva don't appreciate that I wish them luck.
 
I find GIMP and VueScan more than sufficient for all I need to do, with the occasional necessity for Darktable.

For file management I use, er, the file system and a naming convention that makes it pretty trivial to find things.

If I had to work in a studio or advertising environment, I would use Photoshop only because that is the de facto standard in commercial photography.

In fairness, my need for digital anything is minimal as I shoot 99% film with the occasional print scan. The only other application for digital I find is when I go on holidays and have to edit my travel photos with which to bore friends and family ;)
 
To answer Joanna's question, the Photos app that comes (free of course) with your Mac is increasingly capable. It's probably all you need for publishing images on the web.
And it has a built-in filing system.
 
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