steve_stoneblossom Loc: Rhode Island, USA

$120/year = $0.33 per day
Not free, but pretty damn cheap!

fetzler Loc: North West PA

ialavrez gives some sound advice. A great place to start.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

Yeah, just compare that $10 a month to what we used to spend on film and processing.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

No problem! You have several options:

1. You can use the Canon provided Digital Photo Pro (DPP). That's free and it's "okay". Look for info online. You will also need some sort of organizer & cataloger, which can be a separate, free Canon software or something else.

2. Even better, Adobe Elements 2019 is a perpetually licensed program that costs about $100 and serves as an all-in-one solution, both for editing and organizing. Elements has capabilities that DPP lacks, it's more universal, plus it has a lot of built-in support for new users. You can choose to use it in "beginner", "intermediate" or "expert" mode.

If you want to work with videos too, get the bundle that combines Elements and Premiere Elements (two different programs... Premiere is for video).

You can use Elements as long as it serves your purpose. Unless they add some feature to a future version that you just gotta have, Elements will be fine until the next time you buy a new camera. Then you will most likely need a new copy of Elements to work with it. Adobe rolls out a new version of Elements just about annually... but they generally don't make earth-shaking changes, mostly just bring it up to date to work with cameras that were recently introduced... the older version continues working just fine.

3. There are a number of other, different RAW converters, image processors and organizers (besides the Lightroom/Photoshop subscription). Shop around and see if any of them meet your needs better than Elements... but it's relatively hard to beat. There are some basic/free RAW converters... or there are more fully developed programs that approach the capabilities of Elements or the Lightroom/Photoshop combo.

I agree that the $120 a year subscription to Lightroom/Photoshop is relatively cheap. In fact, the cost works out about the same as I ended up spending on licensed LR/PS upgrades every few years... The cost isn't the problem. As I see it, the problem with LR/PS is their complexity and lack of any built in support for new users. LR isn't too bad... one or two books, maybe a class or two and you can get good at using it in about a month. Photoshop, however, is extremely complex with a very long, steep learning curve. Figure on buying a stack of books, watching hours and hours of videos, taking a year of classes to really get the best out of it. I've been using Photoshop for over 20 years and still learn new stuff about it all the time.... and probably only utilize about 20% of it's capabilities!

Elements can do much of what most people need from LR/PS, anyway. A professional photographer may need LR/PS for some of the things Elements can't do (such as save a 16 bit TIFF and in CMYK color space). These are things that a client or commercial printer might require... But Elements can meet the needs of most other photographers.

By the way, all three Adobe programs -- Elements, Lightroom and Photoshop -- use the same Adobe Camera Raw engine at their core. It's fully integrated into Elements and Lightroom (in order to update ACR you have to update the whole program). It's a module within Photoshop that can be updated independently, to some extent.

The Adobe products seem to have the most third party support... books, classes, plug-ins, etc. are available for all three.

Many of these programs have a "try before you buy" option.... including the three Adobe programs. You can download and install the full program, test driving it for a 30 day trial period. I'd recommend doing that with Elements. It would be fine with Lightroom, too. With either of them, I'd recommend getting one of the guide books in advance, so you are ready to jump in and use it right away. I DO NOT recommend new users do the 30-day trial of Photoshop. That's simply not enough time to get up to speed using it. With PS, only experienced users of earlier versions should undertake the 30-day trial, if they wish.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

For now I am still using Photoshop CS6 I bought as a DVD-ROM for the educational price just before Adobe went Subscription. It was about $360 I think. But once I decide to upgrade, which will have to be on my next newer camera purchase, (Can't go beyond ACR 9.1.1) I'll go with the Adobe Ps & Lr subscription. There are a number of nice changes since CS6, especially to content aware features! I always work in 16-bit and even at times 32-bit, sorry I need Ps not baby PSE.

I have a PIXMA PRO 100 too, I also have an older PRO 9000. I think the PRO 9000 makes slightly better prints (and has a MSLP of $100 more as well), but the PRO 100 has more features and can be used WiFi with Windows 10.

JerryOSF Loc: Bristol, VA

No one has mentioned linux. It has many options for editing. Linux itself is free and so is the optional software. Load it onto your IMac if you have enough disk space or on to an old computer. You can dual boot, meaning linux will load on unused disk space and when you start the computer you have a choice, your original operating system or linux. When you create a linux boot image on a dvd you can try it, and install it or not. If you elect to not install it just reboot, remove the dvd and return to the original system completely unharmed.

Wanderer2 Loc: Colorado Rocky Mountains

I fail to see how the Adobe programs are "affordable" etc. at $120 per year forever. Affinity, a very capable program, for example (there are others that charge similarly or are free), is a one time fee of $50 forever, no charge for subsequent updates. If Adobe PS and LR are a persons preference then by all means use and enjoy them but please don't attempt to persuade those of us who don't want to use them that they are bargains, cheap, affordable, etc. by comparison to other programs. Just my opinion as someone on a restricted retirement income who has to avoid unnecessary expenditures. I do have PSE but prefer Affinity.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

For goals you list Canon RAW, an Imac and and a Pixma Pro 100 for printing.....

For a $10/month rental (nothing up front), Adobe provides you with:

-The traditional Lightroom Classic that will run on an Apple computer.
-A "Print Module" that can be tuned for the Canon Pro 100.
-Ongoing RAW system updates, in case you get a new Canon camera
-A second version of Lightroom aimed at taking advantage of internet connections
-A third version of Lightroom that works on any computer anywhere through any internet browser
-Photoshop that can "do everything" but, more importantly can connect to Lightroom for key tools like object removal, background replacement
-Enhancements to the iPhone, iPad Lightroom mobile apps.
-The "Bridge" file browser program that can direct connect to "Adobe Camera RAW" if you want to work some images outside of Lightroom Classic.
-Competent HDR processing
-Competent Panorama processing
-A "Portfolio" website to show off selected work personalized with your name.
-Multiple ways to send single or selections of images to people
-20GB of cloud storage, expandable for an additional fee.
-Better than HBO entertainment through all the direct links in the Help menu to video tutorials
-Ongoing updates and additions to the provided tool sets
-Endless variety of third party books, local classes, online training systems, free YouTubes, etc.
-A forum based help system staffed by 300 enthusiastic, volunteer Adobe Community Professionals (ACP) from around the world
-An online "chat" system where Adobe staff can, if necessary, log onto your computer remotely in the (rare) chance of installation failure.

tcosmic

I don't watch much TV so no need to pay $150 per month for cable TV. So $10 per month or $120.00 per year is really not that bad. I am in a photography class and the instructor said it is really the industry standard.

RRS Loc: Not sure

As for LR and PS, you only pay monthly, there is no initial or up front cost. You can actually pay one year in advance with no monthly charges. Maybe you could do a free one month download and see if you can even use it or if you think you need it. There is a steep learning curve. If you shoot Canon you could use their free software, DPP4, that is available free with each camera purchase and I believe that Nikon has a similar program.

mawattsjr

I see you are a Canon user. Well Canon offers with their cameras very good photo editor. You may want to check any Cd's that came with your camera or go to "https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support" and see what they have for free. Also Lightroom and Photoshop Element are available stand alone editors with many of the features of their full vesions for under $200.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

"There is a steep learning curve."

Only if you think you need to learn it all at once and in a hurry.

It might take all of 10 minutes to learn how to import a photo, view it, adjust exposure, crop a little and export a keeper in Lightroom Classic.

All the rest is a fun journey.

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

I am an ex adobe user but I agree. And if you compare to other high end programs it usually is less expensive in the long run when considering the updates and additional features.

OTOH there are free programs available that satisfy many users although not as feature rich as some editors they are quite capable.

Eventually you get to the point where the cost is irrelevant and features become most important. Sure some are difficult to learn but the potential results are may be worth the effort.

RRS Loc: Not sure

Good point! I never had much of a problem though I'll never learn or use all that's there. I was referring to someone that has always shot Jpeg's and never ventured into Raw. If you only give yourself a month it may not be enough time unless you had some experience with some form of editing. I know a lot of photographers that got frustrated and just gave up.

DrDon Loc: Hingham, Ma

I would recommend Luminar 3. Why? Because it is easy to learn and you pay $59 once. It has had a bad rap from some people because it needs the latest video card drivers to run well. It is imperative that you do just that. Updated drivers are free. Popular programs at $120 a year means $600 in 5 years! That is no bargain at all.