Ysarex Loc: St. Louis

It's been a couple versions since I've checked PSE so I could be out-of-date, but yes it does have the core basic functions that are in the PS version.




The one critical item I missed in the PSE version was the ability to remove CA while processing a raw file. That can not be done as easily after the conversion is complete.

Joe

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Here is a person who has never spent anything on impulse purchases.

Yes, it's $120/year, $1200/decade, $12,000/century....
This argument is frequently made to make the numbers sound larger than they really are. You also find this technique in politics a lot.

Can you really say you never spend $10 on a purchase that gives you pleasure for maybe an hour? Something like a fancy cup of coffee or a delicious dessert? You spend the money, experience the momentary pleasure, then it's over. OTOH, a program like LR/PS can give you results that last. That is the reason I am a subscriber. I get value for my money, value that far outlasts that impulse purchase I made a few days ago.

This is my opinion. I understand that not everyone needs LR/PS and they are entitled to their opinion.

anotherview Loc: California

I can recommend Adobe Camera Raw for processing your RAW files. This powerful editing program offers many adjustments for bringing out the potential of a photograph.

In fact, I venture to say that ACR can process a given photograph enough that it requires not much more than refinement in the full Photoshop.

Adobe Bridge can organize all your photographs.

Yes, ACR and PS along with Bridge come as a subscription. Last I looked, however, together they cost only $9.99 per month. This subscription includes periodic updates to all programs at no extra cost.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

There are some PP adjustments that can be described as generic. These include adjustments for WB and Tint, luminance (Brightness/Exposure, Whites, Highlights, Shadows, Blacks and in some cases Mid Tones), Contrast and Clarity, saturation, sharpening and denoise, cropping and straightening. Any good editor will have all of these functions arranged in an easy to use format.

Other functions that most people would expect in an editor include the ability to make selections for targeted adjustments, a tool for lens corrections (auto or manual), fringing correction, transform functions (perspective corrections, stretching and rotating), an HSL tool (for adjusting individual colours' Hue, Saturation and Luminance) and an Effects tool for adding vignettes and grain (and possibly other effects like sepia and film simulations).

The ACR section in PS Elements is a good place to start because it ticks all of the above boxes and it's simple and easy to use. Whatever editor you choose, it should have those characteristics.

There are refinements like sophisticated sharpening and denoise and the like, and while they are desirable, they aren't a necessary part of a basic editor.

dkguill Loc: Elkhart, IN

For what it's worth, I agree with you regarding ACR and PS. You really don't need anything else. I might also suggest that JPGs benefit from adjustment in ACR. I always shoot in RAW but I regularly use ACR to tweak JPGs. Many of the same ACR features used on RAW files are available when you open a JPG in ACR. Also note that batch adjustments in PS are a convenient feature

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

Lightroom's learning curve has to do with its excellent digital asset management feature - its catalog. Editing raw files is generally very easy because you are dealing with a very small set of commands and adjustments compared to using Photoshop where there is an endless list of things you can do with an image and an even bigger list of ways to do these things.

How you pay for a software title should not have any bearing on whether you want to get it. You should be making your decision solely on how it can work for you. Whether you pay monthly, or with every upgrade - you still pay, and at the end of the day, you are only paying for the privilege of using it - a license. You own nothing. Even if you get a "permanent" license, it is only valid for you current state - change or add a camera, lens, computer etc - there is a good chance you'll need to update or upgrade your "so-called" permanent license.

Any new software is going to be full of unknowns, and all come with learning curves. How steep that curve might be has more to do with how motiviated you are to learn it, how much time you spend with it, how well you can critique your own work to determine what needs to be done to it, and your level of patience.

I can teach a rank beginner - like a strictly cellpone camera user getting their first "real camera" where all adjustments are available - so clearly not at all a sophisticated user - to use Lr's edit module in about an hour. The file management part may take longer. PC users tend to have higher skills with Windows Explorer and file management than Mac users have with Finder. But even that can be taught - it just takes a little longer (learning curve).

In any case, learning curves, payment methods, unknowns are not reasons to select/reject software - do it based on what your needs are. The rest of the "stuff" you are concerned about will go away in due time.

Mfgr's software is free and usually not that bad. But it only really reflects what you can adjust on the camera. Most third party software offers more.

phlkrg

Many thanks. I’ve subscribed to LightRoom.

Wanderer2 Loc: Colorado Rocky Mountains

Some specific questions about Lightroom: Does it now feature layers? Can it do focus stacking of more than two files at a time? Can a file edited in another program be transferred to Lightroom and stored in Lightroom's excellent organizing and strorage feature (without any further processing in LR)? Thanks.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Layers - No
Focus Stacking - No
Files edited elsewhere - Very much yes

anotherview Loc: California

Well put: "That is the reason I am a subscriber. I get value for my money."

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Subscriptions cost you more than they buy.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Sometimes true. Sometimes false.
Also subscriptions cost some people more than they give in value. Depends on how much you use the subscripted item.
YMMV.

I note that there are a lot of bored people out there now that they're locked in. Sitting at their computer responding to 5 month old dormant threads.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

I've noted the boredom too and the resurrection of zombie posts, but haven't found the 'perfect' quip yet to hit them in the head with ...

Wanderer2 Loc: Colorado Rocky Mountains

Thanks for the information. It surprises me that a program as highly popular as Lightroom doesn't have those two features (they are essential for me).

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Regarding layers, that's why the Adobe subscription is to both sides of the coin: LR and PS. You haven't been able to buy LR alone since Dec 2017.

The team at Adobe also recognized the overwhelming majority of photographers, from beginning through award-winning professionals, do not need the complexity nor capability of PhotoShop to edit and complete their work. LR became their for-the-masses toolset, covering the majority of needs for the majority of images from the majority of photographers.