bbradford Loc: Wake Forest NC

I want to get Lightroom or something like it. I read that I need to have Adobe first, is this true?. I have never used any kind of this software. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks Bryan

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Not sure of the specifics of your question. The Adobe products are primarily by $10/month subscription although you can make a 1-time purchase of PhotoShopElements. Download the 30-day trial of LR/PS or any of the several candidate softwares before purchasing anything. Google against u-tube for "getting started" for each software title and see what you think. You can even watch some videos first before doing the trial.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

There are lots of folks here who know a whole bunch more than I do, but I'll answer quickly. Adobe is the company name. Lightroom is the program name. Photoshop is also an Adobe program. If you get stand-alone LR, it's helpful to also have PS, but not required. The same is true of PS. I had it for years before ever getting LR. If you do the monthly rental thing, I believe it's all in the same package, so you do get both.

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

The Lightroom and Photoshop bundle is $10/mo. Adobe is a large company that develops graphic applications. There is no such thing as "getting Adobe." When you subscribe to any of Adobe's software, you get a Creative Cloud account that provides the downloading of software and updates/upgrades for which you pay nothing more than the subscription fee. There really is no single software package that provides as many features as LR/PS - which is pretty much the industry standard for working pros, academia, enthusiasts and artists.

Lightroom is not capable of high-quality photo finishing. That is what Photoshop is for. But you can certainly create a great set of proofs, and do the heavy lifting that is best done at the raw file level, and use PS to finesse the image.

bbradford Loc: Wake Forest NC

Thanks, CHG Canon you are always helpful. Bryan

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

Bryan,

The best thing to do is to get the free Adobe trials and see if the application (LR) works for you. PS will be very much beyond your capabilities at first so I would suggest you not even try that. Try LR. Before you try LR read the help manual online at the Adobe website to see how the Library Module works. Once you get the hang of the program it will work well for you. In spite of what someone has said on this thread, about 90% or so of your images will only need LR processing. It processes using the same tools that PS RAW processing does. PS is useful for more detailed processing, for removing items, and for building layers for many reasons. There are also many other programs that you can try for free that might work out for you, too. I've used LR for 8 years and love it, but I also use many other programs, too.

rwilson1942 Loc: Houston, TX

If you go with the Photographer's bundle $10/month, I would suggest that you use the Lightroom Classic CC option as it is the version that stores all of your images locally on your hard drive or external drive.
The Lightroom CC version stores images on the 'cloud' and is primarily intended for people who need to have access to all of their images from anywhere they can connect to the internet, not something, I suspect, most of us here need.

bbradford Loc: Wake Forest NC

Thanks to all. I'm going to try the free trial after I read operating manual.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

Here is the link: https://helpx.adobe.com/support/lightroom.html. Click on User Guide. Read up on Library Module, which explains import (where people get into lots of trouble), export, and how to use the module to arrange and sort images.

JessM Loc: Port

We've used Lightroom (LR), an Adobe product for more than 10 y, probably much longer -- I'm forgetful.
Our LR was of the standalone type. I don't know if it's still available. You can get the "cloud" version though. I'm not sure of the cost, so I won't recommend the cloud.
I am very pleased with the stand-alone version of LR. We use it as a data base for several thousand images and for post processing as well. Help doesn't appear to be available any more for the Stand-alone. If you can manage to acquire it, be sure to buy a book. We have Scott Kelby's Lightroom 5 Book for Digital Photographers, and I consult it often (see above reference to "forgetful"). It's probably out of print, but look for it in one of the used book specialist sites, or in Amazon.

Probably, whatever software you buy will have a fairly steep learning curve, and you may find little of it to be intuitive. But stick to the program you choose and all will become (fairly) simple before you too become "forgetful."

BTW, if all you wish to do is keep track of your image collection -- and post process with another program -- you might consider Adobe Bridge. Good luck and, above all, enjoy the journey..... 73... ~jessM
PS: Not sure what you mean by "... have Adobe first..." Both products are from Adobe, and you may be required to pay, either a one-time price, or a monthly fee (for a 'cloud' product). …. But see this about a "free" Adobe Bridge cloud:
https://prodesigntools.com/free-adobe-bridge-cc.html

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

As I understand it, Adobe is no-longer offering Adobe LIghtroom as a stand alone product. The ONLY way that you can get it is through the Cloud. I think that the last or the version before last was the end of the stand alones.
I moved to the "ADOBE Cloud" when it first released. It seems that people get hung up on the term "Cloud". The "Cloud" for Adobe is the distribution agent. Adobe Lightroom Classic, Adobe Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, and Adobe Camera Raw reside on my computer and their ONLY connection to the Cloud or the internet is that they check your serial number for validity prior to opening... (Note: if you are in an area where internet is not available, it is my understanding that Adobe gives you 3 days of use before the program stops... and this is for those that pay monthly. It is my understanding that if you paid the annual price up-front that the "disconnected use" time is longer. Having said that, I have never had a problem with my laptop connecting to the cloud for authorizaiton when on the road.) Now, the Cloud it's self is a point of confusion. While the Cloud IS used to distribute updates to your computer, your subscription also includes a certain size of Cloud storage. This "Cloud Storage" (I think mine is 20gb) can be used to upload images to share with other members that share your "Cloud Subscription". The Adobe Cloud allows (the basic package is 2) a certain number of computers to be logged in at a given time. This works good for me, as my wife can be logged on her laptop while she is in Philladelphia, while I am logged in at Clearwater on my desktop. She can upload images to the cloud from Philly and I can download them to my computer (or computer network) in Florida. Now, her desktop, here in Florida also has the Adobe Cloud (including Lightroom, Photoshop etc.) installed on it as well as mine, Her laptop, and my two laptops. As long as no more than 2 computers are logged into the Cloud at any given time, Adobe doesn't care which two it is. If a third computer attempts to login, Adobe will ask the user if it wants Adobe to log out one or both of the current logged in computers. YES, people can (for more money) elect to have more than two members of the group.. but for me, 2 works nicely and is the basic (minimum) subscription. By the way.. the $9.99 works out to $119.88 per year for Lightroom, Photoshop, Adobe Camera Raw, and 20 gb of cloud photo storage.

Note: I only use the cloud storage to share images between my computer and the wife's. Otherwise, I keep it empty. I have my WDCloud storage on my network and several hundred terrabytes of hard drive space on my LAN for general storage. The Cloud just gets used for transfer when one of us is out of town.

Now, I understand that different people have different needs/uses.. but this works for me. And, $10 per month is nothing compared to the money spent on my cameras, lenses, gear, computers, etc. I'ts roughly the price of 2 hambergers at a fast food place or some other expenditure that is meaningless. Heck, a tank of gas for the car, a subscription to a magazine or many other things are as much or more.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Some processing alternatives -

Affinity
https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/software-review-affinity-photo-1-5-2
http://www.shutterbug.com/content/affinity-photo-software-review-has-photoshop-met-its-match#d1c5lY5EQ03QoLjh.97
http://www.diyphotography.net/affinity-photo-can-give-adobe-run-money/
https://www.tomsguide.com/us/affinity-photo-1.5,review-4257.htmlOthers

Others
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/best-lightroom-alternatives
http://digital-photography-school.com/a-beginners-guide-to-choosing-the-right-post-production-software/
https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/photo-editing
https://www.reviews.com/photo-editing-software/
https://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-photo-editing-software,review-1972.html
http://www.redmondpie.com/best-adobe-photoshop-alternatives-for-windows-and-mac-list Affinity
http://www.shutterbug.com/content/affinity-photo-software-review-has-photoshop-met-its-match#d1c5lY5EQ03QoLjh.97
http://www.diyphotography.net/affinity-photo-can-give-adobe-run-money/
https://photographypro.com/photo-editing/

For free -

https://www.lightstalking.com/how-to-edit-rawtherapee/
https://www.lightstalking.com/free-photography-software/
http://www.techradar.com/news/the-best-free-photo-editor
http://fieldguide.gizmodo.com/the-best-photoshop-alternatives-that-are-totally-free-5974500
http://lightzoneproject.org/

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Amazon -
https://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=lightroom

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

Yes Jerry, but Adobe is saying that they will NOT upgrade or update those older versions... Their ONLY supported version is now the Cloud. Lightroom 6.14 is last version of Cloud Lightroom Standalone . None of the stand alone versions are supported by Adobe anymore. The December release of Lightroom 6.14 was the last of the "stand alone" versions of Lightroom updates. Everything from here forward will be through the Cloud.
http://blogs.adobe.com/lightroomjournal/2017/12/6-14-now-available-last-perpetual-update-of-lightroom.html

So, if you buy it through Amazon, it will NOT be supported after the 6.14 update.