DrPhrogg Loc: NJ

I'm not interested in a subscription. I don't do enough to make it worth while. Since Lightroom is no longer available as a stand alone, and I can't update my original (ver 5) I am looking for options.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Did Adobe say they can't help? People surely have saved the install file. It can't be installed without your valid key, so it's not like licensed software is being shared incorrectly. It's valid to think about what might need to be next, but don't give up too easily without pursuing some free, low-effort ideas that can still yield success to get LR5 updated.

bleirer

Photoshop Elements probably has the most similar workflow and a good organizer. Elements of both Lightroom and Photoshop. Free 30 day trail.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

B&H still has a few version 6’s available at last report.

I’m liking both Luminar and On1 a lot.

Wanderer2 Loc: Colorado Rocky Mountains

You have many options available. IMHO Affinity Photo would be a good choice, a $50 one time fee (future upgrades free), free trial available.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

The website at B&H has stand-alone LR6 listed on DVD ... and discontinued with no price & none for sale.

But, maybe you can get Adobe to still sell it to you. Things change over time. As a registered LR5 user, I started a technical support chat with Adobe and bought the upgrade to LR6 in March 2018, after the software had been removed from sale by Adobe. These change and this may not be an option 18-months later, but again, it's free to ask.

Rathyatra Loc: Southport, United Kingdom

HI - I had a similar problem as update is described as only applicable to Classic CC - I ignored the message and downloaded the updated anyway and it update my version - worth a try.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

With 7 billion people on the planet, there is room for lots of "Photo Editing Software". It's all good or market pressure would force it out of existence.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Photo+Editing+Software&oq=Photo+Editing+Software&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

But, actually replacing Lightroom might be hard. Maybe impossible. It has evolved into five versions. Included in the monthly price is pixel level editing and a personal website.

I take my wife to lunch once or twice a month. On a cheap day her plate is $10. I'd continue my subscription and take her to lunch one day less often if the money gets to tight.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

Adobe Elements. Best of luck.

johngault007 Loc: Florida Panhandle

If you don't use it often enough to justify buying anything, what about the software that is provided by your camera manufacturer? I'm not sure what camera you have, but I'm pretty sure most major brands have software, and it's free for download.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Infinity is a great program, but its primarily a replacement for PhotoShop, not Lightroom. Yes, Infinity does include the raw processing Develop persona, but that module is a lightweight compared to Lightroom or any of the other higher end raw converters/processors.

Wanderer2 Loc: Colorado Rocky Mountains

Did you mean Affinity instead of Infinity? Since you refer to the Develop Persona, terminology that Affinity uses, and mispelled the word twice, I assume so. And the full name is Affinity Photo, Affinity producing several other programs.

If so, is Affinity Photo a "lightweight" compared to Lightroom?!! Looking at the features of the two programs it would not seem so, at least for my uses. LR doesn't even do layers or focus stacking (AKA merging) on it's own, both done very well in Affinity Photo which is a full featured photo editing program but without a file organizing feature. Elements can only focus stack two images at a time - if more than two files are to be stacked two must be done, then the process repeated with the stacked file and the next file, and so until all the desired stacks are done, a very laborious and time consuming process. In contrast, Affinity can stack multiple files at once, using about four mouse clicks, and the files are all up loaded, aligned, and being stacked in a few seconds. A review of the best programs used for focus stacking ranked Affinity 5th of 6, the first 4 all being programs that specialize in focus stacking, with Photoshop being 6th (https://windowsreport.com/focus-stacking-software/).

I use focus stacking/merge for this example because this is a much used and valued feature to me for landscape photography. I don't believe Lightroom does layers for composites either, also an Affinity feature, and so on.

The Persona terminology Affinity uses is different than that used in other programs and this seems to have created confusion as to how Affinity designed the program. They make it clear in the description of the program that the Develop Persona is used to prepare the files for developing in the other "Personas" which seem to me to simply be other groupings of tools in the program. It doesn't matter to me where the program does a function but rather that it does it and how well. Thus, the Develop Persona is not meant to be a full fledged editing program in itself, as it seems Adobe users expect.

Obviously I strongly disagree that Affinity Photo is a lightweight, especially as compared to Lightroom which has many editing limitations by comparison with programs that focus entirely or mostly on editing and not file organization and storage. Btw, I've personally used both LR and Elements in the past and very occasionally still use Elements. I do use a lot of editing tools but not all of them and do not consider myself an expert in the field. That does not stop me from having opinions, of course. And in my opinion referring to Affinity Program as a lightweight is an injustice and might prevent persons looking for a very useful editing program from trying it, which might be unfortunate.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

I was tired when I wrote that and should have known better than to spell Affinity incorrectly even once, much less twice. In my defense, my wife also drives an Infiniti G37x which occasionally just confuses the issue in my mind even more.

With regard to my comments you will see that I indicated that Affinity is a great program and in the main is certainly not a lightweight. I was specifically discussing the capabilities of the Develop module which is the only way to compare it to Lightroom, and which is a lightweight by comparison.

As I indicated Affinity is not a replacement for Lightroom. If anything, it is a replacement for both Lightroom and Photoshop together, but with limited raw processing functionality. You mention functionality in Affinity which is important to you, but none of it is related to raw processing. However, even that line is being blurred today in some of the better raw converters. Many of us believe that using the best raw functionality available is very important to the development of an image before subjecting it to a pixel editor. The Develop persona's functionality is unfortunately weak in a number of significant ways compared to the competition, most notably Lightroom, Capture One, DXO PhotoLab and ON1. Those for whom raw processing is not a critical component in the development process will probably be very happy with Affinity and the Develop persona.

This was all discussed in a recent thread and I won't repeat it here and turn this into another Affinity Develop persona discussion.