VTdude

Huh. I'll take a look at GIMP, just for giggles. Cool.

DJCard Loc: Northern Kentucky

If our UHH group is representative of the majority of photographers out there, it will be interesting to see how Adobe responds to our response to their subscription format. Competition in the market is nearly always a good thing for the consumer. I’m staying with LR Classic for now, but I may experiment with the others mentioned above. I shoot with Canon and Nikon but have a personal preference ... maybe the same will happen with pp software.

papa Loc: Rio Dell, CA

And after you've found it's as good or better than Adobe's KY Jelly CC ripoff, then you can laugh with others out loud all the way to the bank. Have fun.

Dewey8

You also might want to take a look at ACDSee. I've tried a lot of photo editing programs and it works the best for me.

10MPlayer Loc: California

You can do just about everything you need to do in Lightroom if you're just taking photographs in RAW format and processing the basic stuff. If you want to get into graphic art then Photoshop will be right for you. You can do just about anything your imagination can come up with using Photoshop. Take a look at their website and see many examples.

bel air bill Loc: Bel Air Maryland

I use Photoshop, but I took a Community Collage Course and it was not expensive while very helpful. Good Luck.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Yes, as inexperienced as you sound, like some earlier responses, I'd also recommend Adobe Elements. It will probably do all you need, has a lot of built-in support and is reasonably priced. Elements 2018 has just been announced and there are sale prices on the previous version Elements 15 right now (note: Premier Elements 15 is for videos and is a similar, but separate program. Don't buy it for still photo images by mistake, but if you need it there are deals where the two are bundled together).

With Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop it's not one or the other... it's BOTH. They are designed to complement each other. LR is a powerful organizer, cataloger, manager too... with fairly simple, minimal image editing capabilities. Photoshop is the "Mack Daddy" of all image editing programs... with minimal organizing and almost no cataloging capabilities.

Neither LR nore PS has built in support. With LR, figure on buying a book or two and maybe taking a class or two, to learn to use it well. With PS, figure on buying a stack of books and taking a year's worth of college level courses to learn to use it well.

gmcase Loc: Galt's Gulch

I am happy wih the current Adobe subscription cost as it is lower than what I was previously paying for updates on LR & PS. The near seemless updates are also appreciated. I do keep an eye on new products and developing alternatives as at some point I believe Adobe will get greedy, or greedier, depending on your perspective. Some greed makes the world go around but there are tolerable limits though subjective to judge.

I purchased Affinity Pro and have casually started the learning curve. I do complex composites and Affinity does have some selection capabilities that I believe are better than PS. I think their "personas" have a silly name which is a mild irritation when I hear them referred to on youtube videos. 😜

I see someone mentioned Affinity Pro as an alternative to LR and that is incorrect. It is a good alternative to PS, not LR, and is getting better as it is developed. It has no cataloging features, yet. Cheap and it has an iPad version which is excellent. They even have an alternative to Illustrator though it is in its infant stage, comparatively speaking.

I see several references to On1. My research shows it is a little expensive and paying for updates as they come along will probably result in little savings, if any, over the current photgrapher's bundle CC. I have my eye on Luminar next year as they claim it will be able to read and utilize LR catalog info. We'll see. If it can and has solid editing for photographers it could be a solid contender to LR but not yet. **edit** just lookd at their website, $120 full, $80 upgrade, $150 annual subscription option. That would be about $80 annually just to replace LR. **end edit**

I downloaded the Aftershot Pro trial and it is a snap to use but is limitated to tiff and jgp file formats though it can open and edit raw files. It cannot see gif, png, pdf or PSD files so is not a viable solution for me. It is a hybrid cataloging program. If you import an image it will do non destructive editng as does LR. If you just open a file without importing to a catalog it will edit it but it is destructive editing. If it expanded its file reading abilities it could be a solid alternative.

I am staying with Adobe until it becomes best not to, for me, but I am watching their competitors, at least the viable ones with solid alternative software. I also invest some time on the learning curves for those alternatives so I can evaluate objectively and switch rather quickly if needed down the road.

SWFeral Loc: SWNM

I don't laugh: I used Picasa for years and actually had very good results.

SusanFromVermont Loc: Southwest corner of Vermont

With the Adobe CC subscription, you don't have to choose between LR and PS - both are included. LR is the place to start, since it has a lot of sliders which make it easier to make adjustments. PS has a more complex system of tools which is an additional learning curve. I had only LR for several years and it satisfied my editing needs. Only as my editing skills improved did I start thinking about adding PS. I now use both programs - they are complementary and work together very well.

You do not provide much information about whether you are shooting in RAW, or what computer system you are using. There are some programs that are not compatible with the Apple/Mac systems. Also, a program like LR needs more computer power/RAM than some of the others. It would also help to know your photographic objectives. For instance, do you just want to make basic changes, or do you want to take the editing to a different level? This is important because a lot of people want a simple program and do not want to spend a lot of time editing, while others enjoy the more intensive editing that can be done with a more complicated program.

Using the free trials of different programs can help you to decide what works for you. Some people love LR, others do not. Some people love PS Elements, others do not. It is partly a matter of how you think, whether you "get along" with one program versus another. I had Elements before LR, never could get comfortable with it. You may very well find that you like Elements, and cannot get comfortable with LR!

For now, I am sticking with the Adobe CC subscription, but am keeping an eye on the options. LR and PS are considered the best programs for professionals to use, but if the price goes up or any other problems arise, I will definitely consider a switch. A lot of people are unhappy with the change from stand-alone programs to a subscription-based system. But I suspect for Adobe it was a business decision that they felt would ultimately improve both their bottom line AND their ability to deliver the best products.

Hope this helps.
Susan

bull drink water Loc: pontiac mi.

don't apologize , I use Picasa 90% of the time with "good for me" results.

UKBillyBoy Loc: Central Texas

I'm surprised no one has mentioned PhotoScape X Pro for Mac or Windows 10. It edits both Raw and JPEG, and is free for the editing features that I use. For $29 you can get the expanded version which offers more special effects and several other features that I never use anyway. It is very easy to use and serves my purposes for birding.

sabrejet

Take a look at ON1 RAW 2018.

papa Loc: Rio Dell, CA

Yup! I found out long ago that the short way to the top of the mountain was around it,
so READ THE INSTRUCTIONS AND MOVE FORWARD ONE STEP AT A TIME. It's something a lot of people just don't seem to do.