Raz Theo wrote:
Good point. There is "then" and now there's "now". I should have stressed my renewed motivation but I'm still looking for those magic words: intuitive and logical.
Thanks for that.
In that case:
"Intuitive and Logical" all depend on your point of view. Without learning the basics of any program, they will never meet your criteria. The first time I tried Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) my that was "What the ...". Now after some reading, it seems perfectly logical and I would say intuitive.
I use only the Adobe Photoshop bundle, Photoshop CC 2019 and Lightroom Classic CC 2019. Don't make the mistake to using Lightroom CC (note the absence of 'Classic'). Note that the ACR engine is identical in the Adobe Camera Raw program (freestanding) and Lightroom Classic CC. They just have somewhat different interfaces with LR winning in my book. LR also is a great archive filing system. Be sure to start out with a good directory structure for your images preferably on an external HD. Mine is basically:
[home folder name] (I use images-Catalog name)
[Year]
[Location 1] -State or Country
[Sub location 1] - City/county/area (as vague or specific as you want)
[Locations 2] etc.
I always store the processing information in a "Sidecar" file withe the 'XMP' file extension. There are many arguments pro and con on this topic but it boils down to having a copy of the processing steps somewhere other than the "Catalog" in case that is corrupted.
Be sure to back up your Catalog often, preferable to an external drive different from your image drive. Also keep a backup of your images. Update often.
The reason I do it this way is so in January, I can make a permanent Blu-Ray DVD of the prior years images and 'XMP' files to place in the Safe Deposit Box. Even though the processing may change, I always have the originals.
First, check out You Tube for
tutorials for Lightroom Classic CC.
Jeff Schewe also has two good books not Lightroom and ACR processing.
Only once you really understand ACR processing should you jump into Photoshop IMHO.
My initial thoughts. Be aware there are a thousand and one methods of proceeding.