RedBaron4730

Hello Fellow Photo enthusiast,

Does anyone know where I may obtain a legal copy of Lightroom 6 Classic Standalone CD (Disc)? Apparently Amazon, eBay, B&H Photography no longer have this item in stock and Adobe will only sale a subscription service to use their product. I do not use Lightroom often enough to warrant paying $120.00/yr. subscription.

Or, can anyone suggest a different photo editor that I may use on RAW or DNG format?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

RedBaron…

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

You can't. Adobe has removed all support for the product, including selling upgrades from prior versions and outright sales, even of just the key.

There are plenty of other non-subscription software. Consider the trial period offer for any candidate software. Use one-at-a-time for the entire trial period, including the available training, possibly always against the same set of 20 to 100 images. Make an informed decisions that hopefully gets it right the first time. Consider the online documentation and free video training (u-tube) in the context of your trial-period comparisons.

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

It sounds like you want an editor. LR is an editor, but IMHO not the best one. The value in LR is in the organizational capabilities. If that's not what you're looking for, find another editor.

RedBaron4730

I thank you for your comments.

Red B.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

I bought my LR6 just before they stopped selling disks. The downside is if you buy the latest and greatest camera LR6 will not support it. If you buy one on Ebay or here you will need to fill out paperwork to transfer the serial number ownership to you.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

There are many free editor programs as well as many you can pay for outright. Paid programs includes ON1, Luminar, Affinity, and the list goes on...do a computer search. You can try most programs that you might have to pay for free for a period of time to see if you like them. This topic comes up just about daily so do a search on this site to see what people have suggested.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

I bought one about six months ago from B&H. I don’t know if they still have any leftovers, but you might check.

RedBaron4730

Thanks Jaymatt. I did check with B&H Photo and other like sites prior to posting my search on this media. And no, none of them have a used copy.

Thanks again to all that have responded.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Have you looked at PSE?
Stand alone and no subscription.

CaptainPhoto

Try Smart Photo Editor; Just $29.95 and has tons of processing and presets (free). Mike Moats - famous macro photographer uses it. If it's good enough for Mikey - it's good enough for me.

https://www.anthropics.com/smartphotoeditor/

Al Beatty Loc: Boise, Idaho

Hi RedBarron4730,
I'll second PSE with an addon called Elements + (cost $12.00 one time charge). Elements + adds features PSE doesn't have like Focus Stacking and about 70 others. A year ago I down graded from PS subscription to PSE 15 with Elements + for 15 and have not looked back. You might look into the same. Be aware if you do that you'll need Window 10 if you go with PSE 20; I have an old Windows 7 machine which is why I'm still using PSE 15.

Edit: I've never been a fan of the PSE Organizer; on my machine(s), it ran really slow. I found using the free Adobe proram called Bridge 2020 worked best for my work (writing books and magazine articles). Take care & ...

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

ClaudiaA Loc: Venice, FL

I bought one, used it for 3 years, Adobe shut me down. They said I bought an illegal copy.

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

One of the questions about making software selection is do I buy what I need for now, or do I buy what I might need in the near and mid future? I am in the camp of some measure of future-proofing. I buy/build computers that I can upgrade, and software that exceeds my current needs.

With software in particular, needs are fluid and rarely diminish. I've found that as my skills improve, I like software that can continue to address my needs as I evolve. So the thought of buying an application that has been discontinued and no longer supported (abandoned) would be a waste of money and time. You may think - "well, I don't need all that power" but the reality is that you may need a collection of features that is easily addressed with a robust solution.

I've been a Photoshop user since v 2.5 when it was released for Windows - 1993 I believe. I will never likely ever use all the capabilities in the program, but what I do use is hard to replicate with other software. I estimate that I probably use about 30% of the programs features. Maybe less. I have a similar story with Lightroom - which I started using when Lr4 was released in 2012. I pretty much use 90% of its features, but for me the catalog is the real reason I started using it. With close to 200,000 images in my current catalog,I don't know where I'd be without it.

At $10/mo, or about 1/2 the cost of a single meal of burger, fries and a beverage +tip at a decent pub, I get both LR and PS and the peace of mind that ALL of my current and future needs are met. The last time I purchased CS6 PHotoshop Extended it cost me almost $1000. My first copy of LR cost me $150. So $120/yr is a total bargain. It's not as cheap as free, but by and large it is way better than free and a great value. Of course, if they decide to change the current pricing, I will likely begin looking at alternatives again. But the price has not changed since a few months after the subscription plan was released, so I still think it will continue to be a great value.

So I would suggest you abandon the quest for Lr6 - originally released in 2015 and as of now about a year past its EOL (end of life) - and consider something current that can meet current and future needs. If you think about it, if you use it everytime you use your camera, you are getting your money's worth. And I am sure the camera and lenses cost you a lot more. So I am not sure why "less than full daily utilization" would be a good argument against spending $120/yr.

Jimmy T Loc: Virginia

I own a legal copy and though I hate to be negative even if you are able to obtain a legal copy it will not support some of the "new camera files" needed to support modern cameras.
Me, I'm a huge fan of Photscape X free @ (http://x.photoscape.org/) and Luminar 4 (https://skylum.com/luminar?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Luminar_brand_search_us&utm_term=broad&campaignid=6476185599&adgroupid=81378749201&adid=389513912130&gclid=Cj0KCQjwsuP5BRCoARIsAPtX_wEAT9SXUBzylSKFooQ_TNq0DI1tE2wjrW0qF8pngINsrB50TPAsDhwaAj5FEALw_wcB) I'm also a Huge Fan of Topaz Products (https://topazlabs.com/downloads/) I believe all of the above offer free trials and MANY videos (https://www.youtube.com/c/JimNix/videos, https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=luminar+4.2+tutorial). Best wishes on you photo journey.
Smile,
JimmyT Sends