fjrwillie Loc: MA

Paintshop Pro

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

Re-think. Absolutely the best post-production software in the world for $10 a month. Thousands upon thousands of helpful tutorials for free on YouTube. I have all the software applications available and I still use Lightroom/Photoshop CC when I really want to do a good job of post-processing. I use a lot of programs for plugins, like On1, Nik, DxO, Topaz, Luminar and others but, LR/PS rules.

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

Is being a hobbyist code for I don't want to pay for software? I am now a hobbyist myself, but I did shoot professionally for over 52 yrs, and digital since 1990. Here is the dilemma - there are tons of decent software titles out there - many of them free. Each has it's good points and bad points. But in the big picture, none can complete for a total solution for working with images. Raw converters, are just that - they use parametric commands to make coarse adjustments to images, kinda like painting a wall with a roller. Following the analogy, would you choose a wide paint roller to paint wood moulding and trim? Instead, you'd likely use a narrow, long bristled soft brush with an angled tip - which would give you the control you want to put the paint exactly where you want it.

This is why Photoshop is the anchor for a complete editing solution - it has a raw converter, it has the finesse of a pixel level bit map image editor (tiff, jpeg, psd). Lightroom is an image catalog with the same raw converter found in Photoshop but with a slicker, better organized interface - making it very fast to get a lot done.

Together they are as complete a solution as is currently available today - and the choice of nearly 10M users. And the best part is that it costs very little for what it offers - $120/yr.

Comparing that with one of the more popular alternatives - On1 Photo Raw - you may find it lacking in some areas, but similarly fast at what it does. But it isn't cheap. It costs $100 to purchase, and every October you get emails inviting you to purchase the annual upgrade, for $80. They use the fact that it is not "supscription" software as a positive - somehow trying to make you think that how you pay for a software package is somehow related to the user experience and quality of the product. It isn't. And $80/yr starts to sound like a subscription plan at the end of the day, anyway.

The dozens of free and public domain programs out there range from pretty powerful with correspondingly long learning curves, to very fast and easy to learn and use, but quite limited.

There is one more thing - your desire for an editing program today is likely to change as your skills improve, and along with that your need for features and capabilities. I started with Photoshop 2 on a Mac in 1991, and moved to PC and version 2.5 in 1993. Before that I used Paint Shop Pro and in 1994 I added Digital Light and Color's Picture Window software, and I've used/tried at least a dozen or more editing programs since. Bottom line, I'm still using Photoshop, and added Lightroom when it was version 3. Today I am happy to pay my $120 a year and never have to worry about new gear not being supported by my software, and I rely on it to do whatever it is I need it to do - even those things that come along that I didn't even know I could do.

I am not saying that what works for me should work for you. But I am saying that I like to spend the least amount of time in front of a computer and the most amount of time looking through a viewfinder and pressing the shutter. No software I've tried in the last 28 yrs does that as well for me as Photoshop and Lightroom.

I do like Capture One Sony which I use together with Lightroom for my Sony camera, for pretty much the same reasons I use PS/LR for everything else. I also use DXO PhotoLab and Viewpoint for it's strengths, and On1 for it's speed. But everything comes back to LR and added to the catalog when I am done in the other apps.

So the question for you is - do you want to go through the time-consuming process of looking for something that may not really exist - the perfect free photo editing app - or do you want to standardize on a reasonably priced industry standard that you will never outgrow? BTW, the last paid version of Photoshop - CS6 - used to sell for $1000, and Lightroom used to cost $150. Personally I don't think $10/mo is so terrible.

If you don't want to spend any money - then use the software that came with your camera. You already paid for it, so you might as well make use of it.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

I’m still using LR 5.7--no need to look elsewhere if you still have LR. The old versions still work just fine.
Adobe's new ransomware is a little fancier, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the older versions.

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

Other than the don't support newer cameras and lenses. Not a big deal if you don't ever plan to get a new camera or lens. Calling it ransomware is a bit dramatic, don't you think? Ransom is something you pay to get something that was taken away from you. Like when you go to a malware website, and you get a message that your computer is locked up and it will cost you $1,000, payable by Bitcoin, to get the passphrase to unlock it. Not sure how Adobe software fits that description. It's more like leasing a car - you pay to use it, and when you are done you either renew the lease or just give it back. But in this case you get to keep the work you did, including the catalog, your edits and the means to access them (yes, Lightroom is still on your computer after you cancel the subscription). You just can't perform any new editing when you stop paying. Ransomware, hmm . . .

User ID

In your own words:
"Ransom is something you pay
to get something that was taken
away from you"

Plain enuf right there that Gene51 has chosen
a very appropriate word to accurately express
what he meant, and along with a zillion other
users I heartily agree with Gene.

.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

Lately I've been using PhotoDemon for many editing tasks. Easy to learn, tons of features and it's free.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

You own the perpetual license version so it will still work.

Seems like a good idea to try to fix the problem rather than abandon a program for which you paid $79.