greg14

My main question is about updates:
(1)
Does Lightroom do updates or issue a new version every couple of years.
(2)
Am I at the mercy of a Cloud program with the $10.00 if I stop paying, IOW's I own the LR DVD and it is local to my computer, therefore the Catalog cannot be removed or held hostage.

I am an aperture user and have Photo Elements as a B/U.
I use PSE maybe, maybe once a year, I find Aperture covered just about ALL my needs.

Last year at this time I purchased Capture One Pro 8 and was going to use that software, BUT:
The Catalog is difficult to manage
The Forum and CS is poor at best
Their search is useless
It is designed for professionals and is not consumer friendly
Having said that , the process is as good as it gets if you take the time.
I did learn a big lesson from it (CO8), in that I need to have a K.I.S.S. program.

It is not the money, I want the ability to change ad keep my Catalog.

I hope I explained myself, otherwise please ask me additional questions,

Thanks,

Greg

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Greg,

1. Yes, there have been new disk programs about 18 months apart. I bought in at Lighroom 4 and then Lightroom 5. I switched to the $10 plan and now my computers have "Lightroom CC 2015" on them which is almost the same, but not quite. With it I get Photoshop.

2. Lightroom itself, the catalog and your pictures are on you computer. What comes from the "cloud" is the software. It is a delivery and payment plan. Your work and tools stay on your computer. Nothing needs to go to the cloud unless you send it there for sharing.

Lightroom does use the internet to check in and see if you are paying your bill. I think it is monthly if you are on a monthly plan. I think it is 90 days if you pay by the year. The idea is you CAN go on a trip without internet connections but, you will pay you bill.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

There are new revisions of Lightroom every so often to include new raw formats, and there are completely new versions with new features every year or so.

First off - with the Creative Cloud, NOTHING is kept on the "cloud". You software resides and runs on your computer, your images reside and are managed and edited on your computer, the catalog is exactly what you were used to with Aperture, only Aperture kept it hidden.

All the catalog is is the database that Lightroom is centered around, your images will need to be imported, just like Aperture, you work on them in Lightroom and EXPORT finished images. The original images are not touched, just like Aperture.

FWIW - I was an Aperture user myself until Apple announced they were dropping support for Aperture, so I looked at Lightroom, it fit perfectly, in fact I think the raw conversion capabilities were better with Adobe Camera Raw then with Apples Digital Camera Raw.

Advice: Download a 30 day trial version of Lightroom, read up on importing and the catalog, work with the catalog instead of fighting it and you will not have any big problems.

For that $10.00 per month you are getting Lightroom and the full Photoshop version as well - price is hard to beat for sure ;)

FYI: If you unsubscribe at any time, Lightroom will continue to operate in library mode, so you will still have access to your catalog, and your images are stored on disk anyway, not in a LIBRARY file - It is not like a managed library in Aperture - basically Lightroom is an Aperture referenced library.

tsilva Loc: Arizona

From "ask Tim Grey" answers to your questions

http://asktimgrey.com/2015/11/09/understanding-the-creative-cloud/

http://asktimgrey.com/2015/11/10/discontinuing-creative-cloud/

And since I'm not sure you understand updates, the cc version of lr and ps are constantly updated. You have new features as soon as they are available, not having to wait months.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Greg,
No software stays simple and continue to sell well. Nor can you always do it your way. Lightroom can cause a lot of confusion and the evidence is on forums like this one. However, I think you can keep it simple if you study a few of the basics and limit yourself to a few of the basics.

It is a catalog based program. That is how you can do things with your images without ever harming the original. Usually the ones that find the catalog difficult are using other software to move, delete, rename or otherwise manage their image files.

Lightroom must be consumer friendly because it appears they have several million customers. They can't all be pros.

greg14

I guess I should have made another statement, in that I have checked the Tim Grey You Tube videos and I find that the way the Catalog with folders and sub folders is easy for me to understand and use.
My main concern was if down the road the "Greatest" was created and I wanted to switch would I lose anything.
The cloudy statements, Pun intended, from Apple about Aperture and its use and retention is an ongoing concern.
I have already transferred everything to 2 External HD's and put them in Photos as a B/U.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

$10.00 a month is $120 a year, year after year, after year, after...

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

Yes, exactly... $120 a year... now, how much is Lightroom AND Photoshop to buy?

IF you only want Lightroom you CAN buy it outright, BUT, if Adobe drops support for Lightroom standalone, then you are stuck with it and no more updates, so if you never buy a new camera, or just shoot JPG you may be OK.

But throw in Photoshop and it is a no brainer for me... CHEAP at $120.00 a year to always have the latest and greatest ;) It could take at least 10 years worth of payments to break even, IF you could still buy Photoshop I suspect.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Certain disasters could cause a lot of trouble. Adobe can go broke, you could go broke, your computer could break, etc.

The key is where your "greatest" work is stored. In Lightroom, your magic is first and always stored in the catalog. You loose it, destroy it, Adobe ends your subscription, etc., your work will be gone. Lightroom offers convenient ways to keep backup catalogs, but still....

The second key way to store your work is to save finished copies in some favorite format. Lightroom does not have a "save" feature. Instead you think of "exports" and it will make them in about as many ways as one could dream. Export your greatest work to something or somewhere outside of Lightroom.

A third insurance plan is the optional use of "sidecar" or .xmp files. I'm just now getting used to them. There is a checkbox in Lightroom to have your "work" stored with the original in these small extra files. With that file and the original, software like Photoshop or Photoshop Elements can open the file with the work still there. I'm unclear how many non Adobe programs can read .xmp files.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

With humor, I suggest that for $10 you can get:
- a small lunch
- two smaller lunches if you want to take the DW out to McDonalds
- enough ground meat for four if you cook the burgers on your own grill
- about a third tank of propane for the grill
- three gallons of car fuel
- a bad haircut
- about a pint of Bourbon, not a fifth
- a paperback novel
- one or two magazines
- a six pack of canned Budweiser or Coors
- a mediocre bottle of wine
- less than a gigabyte of data on a cell phone plan.

Except for the Bourbon, $10 for Lightroom and Photoshop have a higher priority.

greg14

I prefer Vodka.
My concern is not the money, I blew $289.00 on CO8, with a valuable lesson learned.

I just wanted to make sure that I could protect my images.
As I stated Apple is unclear as to their ability to support Aperture in the future, who knows what that means.

Thanks to everyone for the information and advice.

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

LR has done updates or new versions in the past at various intervals. However I believe they have stated that LR6 is the last permanent licensed version. I believe they have also stated that they will stop updating it in the future. In my opinion, that negates the value of buying a permanent license version of LR.



You can keep your catalog. As noted by others, nothing is on the cloud. However, there is no DVD for the CC version. It's download only and $9.99/month (plus applicable sales tax). If you stop paying, I believe what you lose is the ability to use the develop module. You will still be able to use the software to access the catalog.

The advantages to the CC version are (1) it will continue to be supported (and updated) as long as you subscribe; (2) you will be able to download updates whenever they happen (they seem to happen every few months) so you can always use the up-to-date version; (3) you get Photoshop as well as Lightroom (and Bridge, too, for that matter).

I really find CC to be worth the money. $120/year isn't that much money for an active hobby. A few cups of coffee per month. That amount of money pales with respect to my other photography expenditures. And I find PS a really useful adjunct to LR. All my photos go into LR, where they get adjustments as needed (or deletion as needed). Maybe 10% of the keepers get sent on to PS for specialized adjustments (spot adjustments on irregular areas, combined images for panoramas or focus stacking, combined images for other transmogrification). The images can be sent directly from LR to PS. When PS is done with them they can be sent directly back to LR, where they are added to the catalog.

I did it, and I'm glad.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

:thumbup:

Peeb Loc: NE Oklahoma

Watching this thread!

Doing the trial version of LR right now. Having trouble getting my head around the 'catalog' concept.

I have my images in folders by year, and subfolders by date. E.g.: in my 2015 folder I have a sub-folder called 9-27-15 lunar eclipse. within that folder are my images from that night.

What would LR do to this file structure? I haven't done a whole-hog import yet, obviously. Still figuring this out.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

Greg,

If that is a concern buy the DVD bout your files.. You need to look at the pros and cons mentioned and come up with an answer that makes sense for you. As a senior, I went with the DVD. Don't need the latest and greatest.