G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

Lightroom's strength lies in its organising of images. But only if you are an organised person.
Darktable workflow is shareware on linux
DigiKam builds a simple database processes Raw and edits jpg.

whichever OS you use the file system will find your images. You can choose how to 'name' your files and how to group similar images. smaller systems use calendar or map.

Post processing depends upon your skill and your needs. If you use 'auto edit' a lot, then a simple PP programme will suffice.

There has been a whole raft of PP programmes reflecting the increase in 'photography'. Many are free, many are cross platform, most are easily used (minimal options) some require repetative actions. LR requires a formulaic systematic approach. I am not that organised nor need a multitude of 'search options' and star ratings so stopped using it.

You can use a host of different programmes to achieve whatever PP your image needs....some are more extensive, in certain aspects, than others. I use 6 small programmes depending on what I need.

Suggesting a 'better' programme requires more input as to why exactly LR does not suit you and what you require 'a programme' to achieve.

Trial and error may be your best approach

Larrymc Loc: Mississippi

Take a look at Zoner Photo Studio X. I tried Lightroom and never could wrap my mind around their catalog concept and why I had to submit my many years of photo storage by date to the way they operated their catalog system.

Zoner's catalog has folder view, calendar view, keyword view and location view and I can click on each view for what I need. You do have to define your keywords if you want different ones.

The Develop module is very extensive with some really good sharpening and noise reduction features as well as lens correction profile features and camera profiles. Raw edits are stored in side car files in the same folder as the Raw file which to me is so simple if you transfer your raw files you transfer your side car files too.

The Editor module uses non destructive layers and can use 8bf plugins for external edits.

Its a subscription program but far less costly that the Adobe product, I got my copy for $10/yr with a guaranteed renewal for subsequent years of $49/yr. That's $.83 a month for 12 months and $4.09 a month for subsequent years. I have received three updates since my subscription started so they are continuing to develop the program

Take a look at it.

Larry

chapjohn Loc: Tigard, Oregon

Capture One and Zoner Photo Studio are great programs.

jackm1943 Loc: Omaha, Nebraska

Simple; Photoshop CC

Ednsb Loc: Santa Barbara

I'd watch out for the pricing schemes for some of these products (even though I own them). Both On1 and MacPhun are getting hammered for large upgrades fees for their next releases (2108) at about 70% of the list price of a new licenses. Especially frustrating is that both of them are also getting hammered for having put out buggy 2017 versions (lots of discussion around being unpaid beta testers). I use Lightroom 6 after moving over from Aperature when Apple stopped supporting it. But I won't pay the SaaS pricing for LR and Photoshop because I don't use Photoshop so I don't want to pay for it.

PhotoKurtz Loc: Carterville, IL

If you take Ben Willmore's course on PS (best I ever bought) you'l learn that LR is built in to PS as the Camera Raw component. at $10.95 a month with frequent upgrades, it's hard to beat.

arvath3112 Loc: Lyndhurst, Ohio

[quote=via arvath 3112] I have been comfortable with Lightroom but the program picked up a bug and is out of commission. I've installed ON1 Raw and have started to work with it. My initial judgment is that at could well be a winner.

arvath3112 Loc: Lyndhurst, Ohio

arvath3112 Loc: Lyndhurst, Ohio

To all:
Thanks to all for the suggestions given. You've provided me with some interesting options to consider and evaluate.
You'll have to forgive me in regard to my responses to your comments. Looks like I haven't got the hang of proper formatting.

arvath3112

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Actually, Lightroom isn't a complete post-processing program. It's a powerful organizer, cataloger and batch RAW converter... with limited image editing and optimization capabilities. It's mostly only able to do global adjustments and it's only got very coarse and crude retouching tools.

Photoshop is the "mac daddy" of all image editing and optimizing programs... with limited batch RAW conversion, organizing and cataloging tools.

Lightroom and Photoshop are designed to be used together and complement each other.

Adobe Elements, on the other hand, has "light" versions of many of the most-used features of both LR and PS. Elements is more of a "stand-alone" program than either or the other two Adobe Programs. Elements also has a lot of built in support for new users. You can choose to use it in "Beginner", "Intermediate" or "Expert" mode, for more or less guidance in your post-processing. Neither LR nor PS has any built in support. With them you should plan on buying books, taking classes, etc. to learn to use them. The learning curve with Lightroom isn't bad... But Photoshop is extremely complex and takes a lot more effort and time to learn to use really well.

If you haven't done PP'ing before, I'd strongly recommend starting with Elements... unless you take a very large volume of images and need to archive them and search them frequently, in which case you might want to complement it with Lightroom.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

No, it is not.

Actually, "Adobe Camera Raw" is built into Elements, Lightroom AND Photoshop. ACR is a separate module in PS, and can be updated separately from the remainder of the program... But ACR is so integral to Elements and Lightroom that when updates are done to it, the entire program is replaced. For this reason, folks tend to think that ACR is exclusive to Photoshop... but it's the core RAW converter built into all three programs.

You're probably thinking of Adobe Bridge in Photoshop... It can do some pre-adjustments and batch RAW conversions similar to how Lightroom can. But it's not designed for high volume work and isn't nearly as fast or capable for cataloging and organizing as LR.

Lightroom is sold either as a standalone, perpetually licensed version (Lightroom 6) or as part of a subscription that also includes Photoshop (Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC). Lightroom 6 and Lightroom CC are nearly the same.... LR CC seems to get new features and updates first... some weeks or months before they're offered in LR 6.

Photoshop is now only available via the subscription (PS CC).

Elements is only sold as a standalone, perpetually licensed version. Adobe Elements 2018 has just recently been announced and is starting to be available. The previous version, Elements 15, is still widely available. Compare the features of the last four versions here: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-elements/buying-guide.html

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

None. I had to edit a paid shoot today not using LightroomCC for reasons beyond my control. I don't want to do it again. I came out okay but it took me twice as long and I think I could have done a better job in LRCC. LRCC and PSCC are simply the best in my opinion.

r.grossner Loc: Rockford IL & Sarasota FL

I use the Nikon stuff that came with my camera, GIMP, LightZone, Irfanview and FastStone Photo Resizer. I also use the viewer that came with Windows 10 which has limited editing ability. I shoot Raw to card 1 and JPG to card 2. So far I have $0.00 invested in PP software and am still learning all of them without any favorites yet.