Software recommendations

[Ian Grant]

For Linux, Corel's Aftershot Pro is a reasonable alternative to Lightroom.
The license you obtain permits use with Linux, or Windows, or Mac.
Unfortunately, Corel's Paintshop Pro is not available in a Linux or Mac version.
Here is a link to the Aftershot Pro web info: Aftershot Pro Link
And here is a screenshot from my installation


View attachment 329886

I'm a long term user of Paintshop Pro, in fact I used the early version Paintshop around 30 years ago I get to add the sister programs at a discount that's AfterShot Pro and also Ben Vista Photo Zoom. It's a shame it's not available for Linux or Mac.

I've never been a fan of Photoshop (I have used various versions), that was probably because I used Micrografx Picture Publisher which had Layers (called something different) a year or so earlier. I seem to remember using Aldus Photostyler which was bought by Apple to incorporate its enhanced features into Photoshop.

Aftershot pro is good, none are perfect

Ian

 

[koraks]

What I will say is this: if you opt for a "free" alternative, don't be surprised if you find out you are paying for it in other ways, RE: privacy, etc. There's no such thing as "free" in the software environment.

What would the privacy implications of using GIMP be? I get what you're saying and it's certainly true in the case of e.g. Google where the saying goes "if it's free, you are the product", but it's not necessarily always the case. There are exceptions, and especially in the realm of open source, they're quite common.

 

[VinceInMT]

So Vince, why do you need anything of you already use something?

I offered up my solution for cataloging since there are plenty of DIY-types here.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Pay heed to @Steven Lee 's comments.

Adobe's software reigns supreme in terms of effectiveness, usability and productiveness. But you pay for it, and I refuse to buy into their extortion licensing scheme because I can't justify it for my hobby use. Had I been professionally engaged in image-processing, I'd just pay up, because then it would be worth it IMO.

GIMP & Darktable or RawTherapee (I prefer the latter) works alright. Frankly, I don't see the need for either Darktable or RawTherapee unless digital camera raw files are involved. Given a decently transparent folder structure with sensible names (e.g. date followed by subject/keywords), a bunch of png's/tiff's/jpg's in folders has always worked fine for me by means of an 'indexing' system.

GIMP has come a long way in terms of usability and functionality. Especially recent UI improvements are meaningful IMO. Subjectively I'd say they're roughly at the level where Adobe was around Photoshop 7 in terms of effective productivity (features + usability/accessibility). This puts them 'only' about two decades behind Adobe. But keep in mind PS7 was already pretty usable as a photo editing tool. It's not a bad performance for something that's free to use.

The main problem with GIMP is the lack of dynamic adjustment layers. With GIMP, you're limited to making duplicates of layers and then using whatever adjustments you want in combination with masking. This removes the possibility to 'adjust the adjustments', which is a huge benefit of the Adobe approach. In terms of performance (speed, memory use), Adobe also has a fundamentally better approach IMO.

All considered, I'm quite happy with GIMP as it is, especially given the cost. But it takes some getting used to if you come from Adobe, and there's some things that Adobe will just always be better at.

RawTherapee I use only occasionally since I don't shoot all that much digital, but for me, it gets the job done and it's more packed with features than I really need. For critical digital photographers, I would suggest carefully evaluating image quality performance against e.g. CaptureOne since there are very real differences also in this area between raw converters.

with so many negative comments, I need to say this: IMHO, Adobe software has no match, and the subscription model works well for me. always up-to-date premium professional software! Thanks, Adobe; just don't get any more expensive!

 

[koraks]

Adobe software has no match

This I never denied!
Had their licensing scheme been more reasonable for home/non-professional users, I would have seriously considered going along with it. For instance, I happily pay my annual MS Office 365 subscription. Unlike Adobe, Microsoft has somehow managed to understand that it makes sense to segment their market in a more meaningful way.

Adobe's scheme doesn't make much sense from a couple of perspectives, such as amateur users, nascent entrepreneurs or people with low incomes (i.e. 85% of the world population).

 

[Steven Lee]

@koraks how's $9 bucks a month not good enough for a home user? Find me any consumer subscription for anything (music? TV? Netfilx?) that's cheaper. Seriously, I am not aware of anything valuable you can enjoy for less than $9 per month. For a hobbyist Adobe's subscription is a bargain. It's basically equivalent to 1 roll of film.

 

[koraks]

Last time I checked the subscription I'd need runs around €300/year.
Everyone makes their own decisions. I don't find Adobe's service worth 3x that of Microsoft's - in my particular, subjective case.

 

[brbo]

Last time I checked the subscription I'd need runs around €300/year.

But that means that you need solutions way beyond photography or that you need simultaneous access to software for more than one user.

And, of course, it's subjective. Adobe Photography Plan (LR + PS + some minor stuff) is 9.99 EUR + VAT per month. Not really cheap, but before I could never justify to myself buying standalone Photoshop when it was never less than 700 EUR in my country. On the other hand there are regular promotions for standalone lifetime (non-subscription based) MS Office licenses in the range of 25 - 40 EUR. Compared to that, Office 365 subscription (with 69 EUR per year for a single person licence) doesn't seem like that insanely great a deal to me.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

The thing with Microsoft Office is that you have to pay for it again when the old machine craps out. Then you need it also for your laptop as well as your desktop. In 25 years, I probably bought the program a dozen times just so I can type a letter.

 

[VinceInMT]

I was gifted (through a grant thing) a copy of Office 98. It still runs fine. However, I use generally use OpenOffice and it does everything I need an office app to do and the price is right: free.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I was gifted (through a grant thing) a copy of Office 98. It still runs fine. However, I use generally use OpenOffice and it does everything I need an office app to do and the price is right: free.

I had Office 98 once. Can you run it on newer operating sytems?

 

[koraks]

The thing with Microsoft Office is that you have to pay for it again when the old machine craps out. Then you need it also for your laptop as well as your desktop. In 25 years, I probably bought the program a dozen times just so I can type a letter.

I can have it running on two machines plus my phone concurrently within the same license.

 

[VinceInMT]

I had Office 98 once. Can you run it on newer operating sytems?

I just pulled the CD out and it's Office 97. I went ahead and installed it to see. This is on a Lenovo laptop running Windows 10. It installed just fine and all the apps work.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I can have it running on two machines plus my phone concurrently within the same license.

Well I haven't bought a new laptop in twenty years. But I thought the Office that came with my recent Dell desktop is only licensed for that machine. Isn't it?

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I just pulled the CD out and it's Office 97. I went ahead and installed it to see. This is on a Lenovo laptop running Windows 10. It installed just fine and all the apps work.

Microsoft must have let that one slide by. Usually they make changes enough so you have to upgrade apps especially old ones to get you to spend more money for the same product.

 

[MattKing]

There is infinite variety in the terms of licenses. As one never actually buys most software - only "rents" it - the potential for creativity knows few limits.

 

[plummerl]

Microsoft must have let that one slide by. Usually they make changes enough so you have to upgrade apps especially old ones to get you to spend more money for the same product.

I'm running Office 2013 on multiple machines, thru several OS upgrades, now on Win 10. Office still gets nearly monthly updates from MS.

 

[runswithsizzers]

Does Office come with photo editing software now?

 

[aparat]

Either my search skills are weak (possible) or there's not a lot of discussion, at least not recent, about what software to use in a hybrid workflow. Shooting on film, process the negs, then scan them in... now what? Now I need to create and manage an image library, and do some basic post-processing of raw (or jpeg) files to then print them. Preferably that will be in one unified software suite, but not necessarily. And I'd really like something open source and Linux compatible, I have Macs but don't want to be locked into Apple's walled garden any worse than I already am!

There are a few programs out there that I've heard of, or just see in some searching, but I'd like to learn what folks here use. Darktable, digiKam, RawTherapee and maybe showfoto seem to do what I need, and I'll probably try them all over time. But if I can get some advice and pointers here while I do, that should make things a lot easier.

So, share what you do and let's see what I can find out!

Thanks all

I have been using Linux exclusively on my workstations and laptops since 2001. In addition to the RAW software you mention, I guess Shotwell is the closest to image ingesting and organizing software for Linux.

I wrote my own scripts for organizing and tagging my music and image libraries. I know this is not the answer you were looking for, but that's Linux. Some people love it, some hate it.

 

[koraks]

But I thought the Office that came with my recent Dell desktop is only licensed for that machine. Isn't it?

Current Office subscription licenses allow for multiple concurrent installs. I don't know what kind of license Dell bundled with your device.