Nisolow

Greetings.

I see that most of you on the Hog use Lightroom for processing of your photo images. I have both ACDSee 8 (current version) and Lightroom 5. I have used both of these and just find Lightroom to be a little bit of a pain in the way that it handles files independently of windows and it's file structures. I do a lot of photo processing but rarely do any extensive graphic editing that would require powerpoint or an equivalent program. I really like the way that ACDSee handles the nondestructive photo editing as to me it seems much more intuitive especially the lighting equalizer that allows you to deal with lighting like a graphics audio equalizer from within the image. It is also extremely fast when looking through images and does not require images to be imported separately to a different catalog (great for when my family is importing images to the computer). It seems to be way faster than lightroom and I have a current computer.

I really can't see any difference in the photo developing / processing between these two programs yet everyone seems to feel that lightroom is better. So be gentle and fire away as to why I should switch over to light room. If it is really better in the way that it processes images and adjusts raw images, I want to know!

Thanks so much.

JimKing Loc: Salisbury, Maryland USA

Some of this just doesn't seem quite right. ie.: "handles files independently of windows and it's file structures" Lightroom will put the images in a folder with the date the photos were taken but if you copy them to the drive manually you can put them wherever you please and Lightroom will not move them, however once imported you cannot move them in windows or Lightroom will not know where they are. Lightroom has no "graphic editing", no text or line drawing. It never changes any RAW file but creates a sidecar file with edits. It allows you to create catalogs if you wish but you can place every photo (I have 35,000) in the same catalog with no problem. I have not used ACD See for over 10 years so I'm way out of date on that. I do use Lightroom nearly every day.

mdorn Loc: Portland, OR

I'm a long time ACDSee user and fan. However, about 6mo. ago I switched to Lightroom. Switched is not really accurate... I use both applications now. However, I do most of my post processing in Lightroom. Both apps are great, but I wanted something that was more integrated with Photoshop. For 10 bucks a month, Lightroom CC + Photoshop was the obvious choice for me.

Both apps are non-destructive, so don't let anyone tell you that Lightroom is better for this reason.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

I've used ACDSee since it was freeware maybe 20 years ago.
I'm now using Pro 8 version and really like it.
I use it for browsing files, re-naming, re-sizing, keywording, changing file format & color space and imbedding original file names in the metadata of jpegs I send out so I can find the original raw files. (for some reason, clients like to change the file names).
The editing part has really grown up over the years and it seems to work really well now, but I'm so used to Photoshop I use both programs for different reasons.

Actually, when I first import (ingest) files from big jobs, my go to program PhotoMechanic.
I don't think any program lets you view files faster.
It makes culling bad shots a breeze (if I ever get any :lol: )
Previews are almost instantaneous.
It does not have the editing capabilities as Lightroom, PhotoShop or ACDSee, but it does the initial file handling reeeally well!

I tried Lightroom, but I could never get it to work with a server.
We have 8 people who have access to the same server.

ACDSee Ultimate 8 (Different than Pro 8) now has layers, but I have not tried that one.

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

You might want to take a look at this:

https://photographylife.com/reviews/acdsee-pro-8

Picdude Loc: Ohio

If ACDsee is working well for you right now, maybe you should NOT switch over. I've tried 2 versions of Lightroom myself and just never really got the hang of it. BUT....I'm not particularly interested in cataloguing all my photos at this time, and I don't typically try to apply edits to a batch of photos at the same time, and these are two of the areas where Lightroom really shines. Since I really only process one photo at a time, I find the Adobe ACR module (which is what the editing part of Lightroom is based off of in the first place) works just fine, and when I'm done with ACR I take the image to Photoshop to finish, so Lightroom seems kind of redundant to me.

By all accounts Lightroom is a great product and you're right, many people here swear by it. But if you're workflow doesn't require the capabilities that Lightroom excels at and ACDsee is currently doing everything you want/need, maybe it isn't time for you to switch to Lightroom (yet?).

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

Don't switch if you are comfortable with what you already know.

JFleming Loc: Belchertown, Ma

I have and use both LR6 and ACDsee 8 as well and I much prefer ACDsee 8 Pro for the simple editing tasks (viewing, exposure, cropping, etc.).... I agree, ACDsee does seem more intuitive and straight forward though I think LR is the more powerful of the two with more advanced features.

I've suggested ACDsee to my friends who are basically looking for and easy to use program and they all love it. This is not to say that I don't use or recommend LR - it all depends on the level of control people want to get involved with in their images - some people just want to do the basic touch-up and nothing more.

Nisolow

Again, thanks for all the input. I think that I will stay put for now!