Photoshop / Lightroom - Best Plan?

[dr_gn]

All,

I'd like to get Lightroom / Photoshop, but only need it for occasional use. What's the best way of paying for it - Is the £10 per month plan the cheapest/best option?

Thanks.

[Dave.]

It would be more cost effective to buy an older version outright.

[dr_gn]

Dave. said:

It would be more cost effective to buy an older version outright.

OK great - I could only find plans on their website, but must admit I didn't look to far.

I think I bought Photoshop Elements years ago, but according to my account it's no longer there.

[Dave.]

You might have to go secondhand or through a reseller rather than direct to Adobe.

There are a few on eBay, but I haven't checked the legitimacy of any of them.

[dr_gn]

Dave. said:

You might have to go secondhand or through a reseller rather than direct to Adobe.

There are a few on eBay, but I haven't checked the legitimacy of any of them.

OK thanks.

[Gad-Westy]

Double check RAW file compatibility with your camera if you go for an older version.

[dr_gn]

Gad-Westy said:

Double check RAW file compatibility with your camera if you go for an older version.

TBH after a quick Google, I can't find an old version for sale outright.

Best I can see is a bout £90 per year for PS & LR, from Amazon, which at £7.50 a month isn't the end of the world I guess.

I have no idea how the storage function works, and if you lose images if your subscription lapses.

[StevieBee]

dr_gn said:

I have no idea how the storage function works, and if you lose images if your subscription lapses.

The originals you import and the edited versions are stored on a library on your hard or external drive. You can upload to Adobe's cloud server but this is more a back up rather than an 'instead of'

[shed driver]

Affinity is getting good reviews - one time purchase and free updates.

SD.

[craig1912]

There are good alternatives if it’s only for occasional use. I have a Luminar 4 and ON1 both of which are pretty good.

[Derek Smith]

shed driver said:

Affinity is getting good reviews - one time purchase and free updates.

SD.

I'll second this. There is also the facility to link the Affinity trio. It's very efficient and I bet it will appear on Adobe soon.

Ex-Photoshop here. Never going back.

[dr_gn]

I need something that will deal with RAW files, and the shake reduction function in PS is very good (for scanned images), so that would be essential too. Things like adding borders and text is also good.

I'm not hung up on Adobe stuff, so if some other software has the functions I need I'd be much happier paying a one-off price and be done with it.

Cheers.

[hyphen]

If you don't need the latest features, perhaps pickup an old version second hand? So a one off cost.

[Nigel_O]

I picked up a legitimate copy of Lightroom 6 for about £80 - perfectly capable of handling the relatively lightweigh post-processing I'm capable of

[dr_gn]

Nigel_O said:

I picked up a legitimate copy of Lightroom 6 for about £80 - perfectly capable of handling the relatively lightweigh post-processing I'm capable of

Where from?

[andrewcliffe]

photo forums - people upgrading from old version of lightroom to Adobe CC. I possibly have a LR5 licence spare.


I'm now on the Subscription service. I buy a 12 month pass on Black Friday or New Years Sales, typically £ 80 per year and top up my subscription. I also use offers here and there which may give me a months free to extend the subscription plan.

For those who choose to pay on the rolling subscription - even after a year its not a rolling monthly subscription as a phone contract would be - your agreeing to a 12 month period and if you choose to cancel Adobe will seek to recover the rest, and normally settle at 50% of whats currently owing.

[OnaRoll]

Nigel_O said:

I picked up a legitimate copy of Lightroom 6 for about £80 - perfectly capable of handling the relatively lightweigh post-processing I'm capable of

I have lightroom 6.

I take it, it's not supported anymore? I was hoping upgrade to a mirrorless Canon.

[Sophisticated Sarah]

Derek Smith said:

shed driver said:

Affinity is getting good reviews - one time purchase and free updates.

SD.

I'll second this. There is also the facility to link the Affinity trio. It's very efficient and I bet it will appear on Adobe soon.

Ex-Photoshop here. Never going back.

Same here. Felt quite liberating to delete the Adobe suite

[Drogo]

Would Capture One work for you?
Not hard to learn but file system can be strange at first.

25% off at the mow and you can get cheaper versions for one camera system, IE Fuji, Nikon.

As said Affinity is also an option although I've not used it, think I paid £20.

[steveatesh]

Drogo said:

Would Capture One work for you?
Not hard to learn but file system can be strange at first.

25% off at the mow and you can get cheaper versions for one camera system, IE Fuji, Nikon.

As said Affinity is also an option although I've not used it, think I paid £20.

I use Capture One 20 Sony and Affinity Photo, they work well togther and the round trip from C1 to AP is easy. I had LR then ON1 and now C1, in my opinion C1 is a better RAW editor in any case (other opinions are valid too) .