SpikeW Loc: Butler PA

This may be simple to many members but I have developed some problems that I hope I can get straightened out.I have been using Luminar 4 and suddenly the program wouldn't open. I contacted Skylum and I got directions but instead of solving the problem my Luminar image still saying Luminar 4 kept coming up Luminar Neo instead. It is like it replaced the original Luminar. I contacted Apple care and the Appcleaner that Skylum said the Apple people said to stay away from. Since I am somewhat computer illiterate this all scares me. Now before this I was considering going over into Lightroom-Photoshop leasing because my age will probably not require a lifetime program. Yes I do not buy new shoes any more. The thing that troubles me with this is in my working with Lightroom I kept losing photos and having to find them again. Any recommendations. Thanks

FredCM Loc: Central Illinois

You have a Mac, Photos has a pretty good, simple editing program. It does not have a selection feature if that's important to you.

brentrh Loc: Deltona, FL

Had wonderful editing programs in past now use Lightroom pay money fee.

Klickitatdave Loc: Seattle Washington

This was an issue with Luminar 4 on Macs and PCs. For no apparent reason it would stop loading and get stuck on the splash screen, or not. Skylum did not appear to have a clue because their support forums were full of users trying to get this issue solved. I personally tried uninstalling and reinstalling the program but that did not solve the problem. At one point Luminar 4 started loading again after an update but just as suddenly and mysteriously it again stopped loading. Ultimately, there was a solution and it didn't appear to have any further issues. I just don't remember what that solution was. I use Windows so even if I could remember what the solution was I'm not sure it would work on a Mac. You might want to check the user support boards and see if you can find the answer. I moved on to Luminar AI and then to Luminar Neo and did not have any issues. The take away is that Luminar 4 was buggy, at least for the PC version.

Personally, I would recommend that you check out Affinity Photo 2.0 because it is not expensive and they do not use a subscription model. Plus, I have found that it is as capable (Or at least very close to being as capable) to Photoshop. Photoshop does have some "Wow" tools which I sometimes use but overall Affinity has all of the basics plus a lot of more advanced tools. However, It does not catalogue photos like Lightroom so that might be a downside for you. Luminar Neo does catalogue your photos so that might be a plus to your work flow.

xposure

I think the best compromise would be to buy Photoshop Elements. It isn't all that lightroom and photoshop cloud have but it does have what most people need to edit and adjust photos.