Wanderer2 Loc: Colorado Rocky Mountains

I have been using Photoshop Elements (14) for that past couple of years and for various reasons am interested in trying a different program. The intended use would be almost exclusively for landscapes. I would like to capability to do composites and focus stacking. The Adobe dehaze filter has been very useful and I would like any new, to me, program to have a similar feature. Naturally ease of learning is also desirable (my computer literacy is not high). I am not interested in the Adobe subscription package.

Affinity and the new Luminar have received a lot of positive comments recently. I've seen advertisements for Landscape Pro and it being designed specifically for landscapes has some appeal but I have no specific knowledge about using any of these three. Any comments and opinions about them, or any other programs anyone would recommend, would be much appreciated. I know I can probably get a free trial subscription for any of the three but would like some advice before doing that. Thanks in advance.

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

Since you are already familiar with Photoshop Elements 14, why not upgrade to Photoshop Elements 2018? Unless you just want to change for the sake of change.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

Landscape Pro is fun to use, but I cannot get my head around it as a serious tool.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

I know you don't want the subscription, but between the two packages Lr and Ps - you have a complete, pro-quality solution with the best support (mostly third party) on the planet - for only $120/yr. And you are always current and never pay for upgrades. Over 9,000,000 subscribers seem to agree. Landscape Pro is weird and not at all intuitive, and the results are nothing special.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

I believe that most all of the higher level programs available in the market place today are quality programs, so LR, PS Elements, PS, Affinity, MacPhun, Luminar, ON1. It really comes down to what it is you want from a program and how much control you want over what you do. All of the programs are different in some way. Some of the programs were created as a replacement for Photoshop, such as Affinity and On1Raw. Try them all and see which one suits you and your style of working. I use Lightroom and Photoshop and highly recommend both; but I also use On1, MacPhun, Topaz, Nik and other programs for a variety of uses. Only you can determine what is right for you.

Wanderer2 Loc: Colorado Rocky Mountains

Thanks to all four of you for the feedback. I greatly appreciate it.

<<Landscape Pro is fun to use, but I cannot get my head around it as a serious tool.>>

It would be very helpful to me if you could explain why you don't see it as a serious tool. I've been on their website and I found it difficult to determine exactly what Landscape Pro can and cannot do. I'm wondering, can it do all of the functions I listed in my original post? OTOH, I must say it would be a nice change having a photo editing program that is fun to use. All too often I've found it closer to agony than fun. :o) Thanks.

SusanFromVermont Loc: Southwest corner of Vermont

Via the Lens gave you a nice list of the best editing programs. If you don't want the subscription [which can be cancelled at any time], cross those off the list. Then download free trials of whatever else you want to consider. Only that way can you truly explore what they have to offer and whether you can comprehend them enough right from the start to know which is the program for you!

Dennis833 Loc: Australia

Forget about Landscape Pro. Buy Affinity Photo and download Nik Software for free. For your landscape images use Color Efex Pro.

Wanderer2 Loc: Colorado Rocky Mountains

Thanks for the additional comments. I do plan to try the free trials that are offered for these programs and have also been reading reviews and the companies websites that list the features of the different programs. Regarding trying the programs, the thought of doing that for 4 or 5 programs fills me with dread and the time it would take me makes that seem nearly impossible. Not only is my general computer literacy poor but my progress in learning the photo editing programs I have tried has been very slow and largely confined to the basics. I'm an old timer who has photographed for decades but was very slow to move into the world of digital photography and the old saying about not being able to teach an old dog new tricks seems to apply to me. I've also had problems with the the time available to devote to learning this field over the past 1 - 2 years but I hope that situation improves soon. And to be frank, there's a motivation problem involved - I would much rather be out in the field shooting than sitting in front of a computer, much as I desire to achieve some degree of competence in processing my images. I find what can be done now with processing to be utterly amazing.

I very much admire and respect the expertise to be found on this forum and hoped that it would help me to narrow the preferred choices to no more than two. If that doesn't happen I'll bite the bullet, so to speak, and try as many programs as it takes to make a decision.

Thanks again to all of you who have helped.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Photoshop Elements can do all you're asking for, maybe you should be using it first for those things, before thinking of changing to another program!

Wanderer2 Loc: Colorado Rocky Mountains

I've had one problem after another using PSE. The two most recent - I can't download the update Adobe keeps sending me notices about. I've tried many times but it always stops at 2% downloaded and gives an error message. Secondly, I've at times had problems related to file uploads. About three days ago I attempted to upload my best image for the day and got the message from PSE that the file was corrupted. I closed out PSE and attempted to view the file using the Win 10 photo viewer and it said the file was damaged and recommended the repair process. I tried that and the file disappeared, completely and permanently. Since I did this before backing up the days work I lost my best photo of the day, lesson learned. PSE has been a frequent struggle, mostly my fault I'm sure, but I would like to try something different that is hopefully simpler to use. This experience is why I'm thinking of trying another program, hoping there is more to gain than to lose but admittedly I could be wrong about that.

SusanFromVermont Loc: Southwest corner of Vermont

If you are reasonably comfortable with PSE14, perhaps just upgrading to PSE18 would give you what you want. On the other hand, if you were to go with the Adobe CC subscription, with both LR and PS, you might like it better. That is why the free trials are such a good idea. PSE has the ACR for basic edits, and LR is basically the same as ACR, but the user interface is much more friendly. For me it is, I never got along with PSE. You would probably be able to jump right in and start using it! And PSE is like a mini-photoshop, so you would also be able to use the tools you are familiar with right away, and learn others as you want to.
Thanks again to all of you who have helped.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

I purchased Landscape Pro to replace dull skies with clouds. Yes, I know you can do that in Photoshop, etc but I was never able to master that function to my satisfaction. I turned to LSP, but found I was spending the same amount of time and still not getting acceptable results. Perhaps I did not give it enough time, will try again.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

Well, maybe I spoke too soon......

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