chevman Loc: Matthews, North Carolina

Just buy the perpetual version for $149.00 and it's yours for as long as you want even if Adobe goes out of business, you can still opt to use the cloud or not to use, I don't use it because I'm not a professional and don't need all the continuous up dates for new lenses not already in the current version which is 6.9. The only thing my Lightroom dosen"t have is HAZE removal and it's in several other PP tools I already have so I don't need that either. I do highly recomend Lightroom I find it is easy to use and does almost 95% of all of my post processing and this goes for many professional photographers as well so I don't think you can go wrong either way, buy or rent from Adobe.

chevman Loc: Matthews, North Carolina

By the way if you do choose to purchase your copy of Lightroom you also can continue to use your present software simply by entering it in the edit preset and you can do your pixel editing then save it and return back to Lightroom and your edit version will be there to view or edit in another app, exactly the same as if you were using the "CC" version which includes Photoshop and that's how it works too.

Doug RC Loc: Western Massachusetts

I LOVE it . . . BUT . . . it is Wonderful and has many features that (similar to a great DSLR) one wonders about but never sees fit
to "use" due (mostly) to ignorance. No matter what software you purchase for the job . . . you'll need to do a bit of study to really
'master' it.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

You won't lose your edits if you save xmp "sidecar" files rather than relying on the Catalog to save all the details.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

If you only use LR the xmp files are not necessary. All the information on edits is in the catalog.
If you send your images to external editors from LR (e.g. Photoshop) then the xmp files are necessary to carry the edits over because PS doesn't read the catalog.

SusanFromVermont Loc: Southwest corner of Vermont

1. LR is a powerful organizational tool. You decide on a format, whatever suits you. Whatever system you use now can be continued and never change it unless you want to.
a) Your images reside on your computer's HD. Once you have set up LR and have your images "Imported", all this means is that now LR knows where they are on your HD and can "read" them. You can look at them in either place.
b) Moving files should always be done from within LR, because that way LR's connection to the image location is not broken.

2. LR is designed to allow movement between it and other editing programs. It is very well designed in this regard.
a) When you edit an image in LR after creating a "proof copy", that edit is NOT seen in your HD folder unless it is either exported to it and converted during export to another format [.tiff or .jpg]. The edit is contained in an .xmp "sidecar" to the RAW original, as a set of instructions for presenting that edited version.
b) When you send an image from LR to PS [or another editing program], there you can use the "save as" function and choose the format. That image is saved to the folder on your HD, and because of the connectivity between programs, LR will "know" where it is.

3. If you decide you do not want to continue with the Adobe CC plan, nothing will happen to your images. All you will lose is the ability to view and edit them through LR. For this reason, and because of concern about losing my edits if I lose my LR Catalog, I ALWAYS convert images to a format where it is free-standing as opposed to being a sidecar! Then you can delete that .xmp file.
a) I like keeping my original RAW file untouched, so prefer to do my edits on a copy. You could also do edits in LR on the original, move it over to PS, continue editing, then save as .tiff on your HD. Then the edited original can be "reset" which removes the edits from it.
b) There are multiple ways of doing this, whatever works for you. I just like to clean out those "proof copies" and .xmp sidecars once I have finished editing and saving the image.
c) Since it is up to you to organize and manage your image folders, there is no need to worry about trusting Adobe. Your images and format will not be "hijacked"!

4. Multiple backups of your images as well as of the LR Catalog are important ways to protect your work. As you can see, when backing up the Catalog, you are NOT also backing up your images.
a) I have an external HD set up to automatically back up my images daily. I have an additional xHD for the same thing. About once a week I do a full manual backup that overwrites the previous one. A lot of discussion has occurred on this forum about the best way to configure a back-up system, but all are in agreement that it is of great importance to have one.

Collie lover Loc: St. Louis, MO

Check out Corel PaintShop Pro X9. It's reasonably priced, easy to use and no monthly fee.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Susan is generally correct. However I believe if you discontinue your CC subscription you will still be able to search for and view your images through LR but you will lose the ability to edit them.
Saving edited images in a free-standing format is important for other reasons. It will allow your successors to view and copy the edited images without having to learn how to use LR. Changing the name to something descriptive of the subject of the image will also help your successors find what they're looking for. I don't consider the .xmp files a nuisance. I just leave them with the original files. They're small and don't take up too much of my disk space. I leave them in a folder with the original files so they don't get in the way of the edited copies.




This is important for everything on your computer, not just your images.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

But with the XMP files, if the catalog gets crapped up, then I can rebuild the catalog with ease and not lose my edits.

Shootist Loc: Wyoming

Thanks.

Shootist Loc: Wyoming

Thanks, I will look into this.

Shootist Loc: Wyoming

Good info, thanks.

Shootist Loc: Wyoming

Thanks for your input.

Shootist Loc: Wyoming

Thanks.

Shootist Loc: Wyoming

That is my concern, I can loose a lot of editing time if Adobe decides to go to another mode or method. I have been bitten by software providers on multiple occasions when they decide to change the way their programs work. Also, once committed to Lightroom nothing keeps Adobe from jacking up the price to whatever they think helps them the most. Once bitten always wary I suppose.