Photo Editing Software

[somapop]

AFFINITY PHOTO is a new Photoshop clone, it will do everything Photoshop can do for about £50, Check You Tube for reviews and tutorials

Will definitely take a look at that. Trial version around? Could never fall in love with GIMP, but I think that was more the I was used to PS (and the clone tool was much easier to manipulate for me).

Thanks.

 

[somapop]

I've just started using Lightroom and it's a game changer for me. I don't think there's anything it can do that Photoshop can't, but it's just such a better workflow, especially when you've got a bunch of photos to edit. And Adobe's products are all so well integrated that it's very easy to switch to Photoshop when you need to do something beyond the colour grading, cropping, etc. You can download it for a month's free trial with full functionality and the photography-only Adobe CC package is fairly affordable. Granted when you want to add the video and sound editing stuff, it gets a bit more pricey.

Thanks mate. As I said above, I could really do with the whole package...my FCP Studio suite is creaking with age and is sat on an old Mac I can't currently start up...same with Logic Pro and they're pretty old versions. I haven't needed them for some time and when I do I'll probably renew to Adobe (prem pro et al).

 

[Meatbag]

I use Capture One Pro. Nice results.

 

[Trevor Morley's Tache]

Thanks Trevor...Lightroom seems a winner. TBH I could do with the whole suite...meddled in all the arts over the years (from Final Cut Pro to Logic Pro...design software...) and there are some very good clones and open source out there (I use Inkscape over Illustrator at the moment for design stuff). Might trial that Lightroom for a month.
Thanks very much.

I have been using it since LR v4.

With the CC version, it is always up to date, so when new camera/lens profiles are released, LR will release an update. Lens profiles autocorrect images for lens distortion and vignette, so its really good to get updates for new lenses There are also regular tech updates. One of the more recent updates was range masking (colour/luminosity) when using local edit tools (brush/Linear grad/circular grad), which often saves me having to go into Photoshop.

Definitely give the trial version a go.

If you decide to go with LR, you can have multiple catalogue files, so if you wanted to have separate external HDD's for say work and personal photographs that is easily possible. This means that when you load a particular catalogue, you will only see the images from that catalogue which can tidy things up and smooth your workflow.

I have dabbled in other CC programs (Audition and Premier Pro) as my wife has access to the full CC package through University. Everything within the CC environment integrates seamlessly, so file management is dead easy. You also get 20GB of online storage with the CC photo suite, so you can save files you are working on to the cloud and use them on another machine, or share them with another CC user.

 

[somapop]

Sounds perfect...especially for someone with a little OCD. I'd need to flip seamlessly...when you want to create you don't really need to be wazzing around sorting out incompatibility issues et al. God knows how much all that would be a month, but might be essential soon enough.
Btw - Audition looks stunning. Started off years ago with Cubase then eventually transferred to Logic Pro - used Soundtrack Pro a fair bit.
I'm actually using Inkscape as my graphics program and its one of the best free/open source pieces of s/w I've ever used...but I could certainly try Illustrator...
I had a muck around on the lattes iPad Pro recently with the new pen...unreal the capabilities...although if you haven't got the eye for detail in all this, it won't make a great deal of difference...or will it? AI making music soon...?

 

[somapop]

...just priced the whole CC suite up...£60 per month or £600 per year (£50 per month).

 

[Trevor Morley's Tache]

...just priced the whole CC suite up...£60 per month or £600 per year (£50 per month).

CC Photography sets me back £10/month, and for that I also get LR CC edition, which I have on my mobile phone and laptop. CC Edition is a cloud based editor, so anything I edit on my phone automatically sync's to my laptop and vice-versa. The mobile phone edition also allows my phone camera to shoot in RAW file format which is a really useful feature.

 

[Second Skin]

Will definitely take a look at that. Trial version around? Could never fall in love with GIMP, but I think that was more the I was used to PS (and the clone tool was much easier to manipulate for me).

Thanks.

I would also recommend Affinity Photo, you basically get Lightroom and Photoshop for £50. I found it easy to use and they have some really good tutorials on their website.

They also do a scaled down version for Ipad as well.

 

[somapop]

Thanks - short term Affinity sounds ace. There's a good possibility I'll need the other stuff in the future so may consider the full suite.
£10 per month isn't too bad for light room however. Some really good food for thought here folks. Something quick and easy to edit RAW 'on the go' with my laptop in hand...in saying that, those ridiculous USB-C/Thunderbird ports on my MBP (just two of them!!) means I have to either carry a USB hub around or buy new cables (and I'm presuming there's a camera to USB-C cable out there!