Adobe subscription 50% increase - alternatives?
Discussion
Just had an email from Adobe to say my subscription for lightroom etc will be going up soon by about 50%.
Seems like some heavy gouging and I'm reluctant to pay that much for corporate greed, any good alternatives around or cheaper plan options?
All I really use of the package is lightroom classic, but it was cheaper to get the 'photographers package' than lightroom on its own when they got rid of the one-off purchase option.
Seems like some heavy gouging and I'm reluctant to pay that much for corporate greed, any good alternatives around or cheaper plan options?
All I really use of the package is lightroom classic, but it was cheaper to get the 'photographers package' than lightroom on its own when they got rid of the one-off purchase option.
Edited by GravelBen on Saturday 16th August 10:42
There's lots of alternatives out there. I've been helping someone with GIMP. I tried it years ago; didn't get on with the interface, but it's changed significantly. For free, it's unbeatable. I'm impressed.
I use Affinity Photo2. They offer a trial period. You could give that a go. I recommend it, and not only for the remarkably low price. It's recently changed hands and although they've sort of denied they are going subscription, many doubt it. If they do, I'll keep their latest (you buy it outright) and go for GIMP as well.
Paint Shop Pro was great when I used it. I assume it's stayed up to date. I can't remember why I stopped using it. They used to offer a trial.
Capture One Pro. I've heard good things. Not tried it.
PS Elements.
Read the reviews, see what one suits your needs, and then try a free option.
For me, the interface is the critical point. Forget the, 'you have to buy this/that/the best/get what you paid for (really? With Adobe?/whatever'. You'll be using it on a regular basis. If something irritates you, or you find difficult, it will torment you.
I use Affinity Photo2. They offer a trial period. You could give that a go. I recommend it, and not only for the remarkably low price. It's recently changed hands and although they've sort of denied they are going subscription, many doubt it. If they do, I'll keep their latest (you buy it outright) and go for GIMP as well.
Paint Shop Pro was great when I used it. I assume it's stayed up to date. I can't remember why I stopped using it. They used to offer a trial.
Capture One Pro. I've heard good things. Not tried it.
PS Elements.
Read the reviews, see what one suits your needs, and then try a free option.
For me, the interface is the critical point. Forget the, 'you have to buy this/that/the best/get what you paid for (really? With Adobe?/whatever'. You'll be using it on a regular basis. If something irritates you, or you find difficult, it will torment you.
quite a few alternatives to Adobe, I left them years ago and never looked back.
I tried ON1 at first but it was too resource intensive and became unusable very quickly.
I then tried Capture One free, was very impressed with it and got the Sony version. That was stopped and I got the Capture One pro version and am now on subscription. Its a superb RAW editor especially if you take a lot of photos that benefit from batch processing, more detail extracted than LR, colour rendition better, no need to use a catalogue, lots of different AI assist, skin colour and superb retouch tools, and more besides. I use it virtually for all my editing without needing another editor but it's not a cost saving on Adobe (Not sure about the price rise you mention though)?.
If you don't do much in likes of numbers of shots there is Affinity Photo 2 - RAW editing included then as a PS replacement. It is really good and extremely good value if price is important to you.
I tried ON1 at first but it was too resource intensive and became unusable very quickly.
I then tried Capture One free, was very impressed with it and got the Sony version. That was stopped and I got the Capture One pro version and am now on subscription. Its a superb RAW editor especially if you take a lot of photos that benefit from batch processing, more detail extracted than LR, colour rendition better, no need to use a catalogue, lots of different AI assist, skin colour and superb retouch tools, and more besides. I use it virtually for all my editing without needing another editor but it's not a cost saving on Adobe (Not sure about the price rise you mention though)?.
If you don't do much in likes of numbers of shots there is Affinity Photo 2 - RAW editing included then as a PS replacement. It is really good and extremely good value if price is important to you.
I think it depends what your priorities are. I have Affinity 2 and Dxo photolab (7) , i've tried ON1.
I photograph birds and often use very high isos - producing noise. For processing RAW pictures, getting rid of noise and doing lens correction Photolab is great. However it's poor at getting rid of pesky cars people and wires. Not great at weeding out and organising your pics either. Photolab is much cheaper than Lightroom, but much more expensive than ON1 or Affinity
ON1 is much better at object removal - but, astonishliy, my Android phone (Android 15) is much better at that - better than anything else I've used.No good at RAW processing, so you have to do that first, before object removal. i'll give you an instance of the sort of object removal my phone can do. I have a picture where a car completely obscures one leg of a guy sitting on a bench, Using the "magic eraser" the car gets removed and the guy acquires the missing leg complete with matching jeans and shoes in a completely natural pose. It really is "magic"!
Affinity has only limited RAW processing capability, so although it's a good all rounder, I don't tend to use it.
There aare free trials of ON1, Affinity and Photolab, (and other options) so I'd give them all a try
I photograph birds and often use very high isos - producing noise. For processing RAW pictures, getting rid of noise and doing lens correction Photolab is great. However it's poor at getting rid of pesky cars people and wires. Not great at weeding out and organising your pics either. Photolab is much cheaper than Lightroom, but much more expensive than ON1 or Affinity
ON1 is much better at object removal - but, astonishliy, my Android phone (Android 15) is much better at that - better than anything else I've used.No good at RAW processing, so you have to do that first, before object removal. i'll give you an instance of the sort of object removal my phone can do. I have a picture where a car completely obscures one leg of a guy sitting on a bench, Using the "magic eraser" the car gets removed and the guy acquires the missing leg complete with matching jeans and shoes in a completely natural pose. It really is "magic"!
Affinity has only limited RAW processing capability, so although it's a good all rounder, I don't tend to use it.
There aare free trials of ON1, Affinity and Photolab, (and other options) so I'd give them all a try
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