Photo editing programs: Lightroom, Luminar, Affinity Photo, Darktable, FastStone, ACSDSee and more

[wordie]

For those of you running top end Mac hardware to handle your pics.... especially large RAW files, check out the new Lightroom beta software that Adobe have just released.

It looks really good, considering it's a beta software release designed to give Apple a run for their money on the slow and clunky Aperture software. (And I say that as a dedicated Mac user....)

Adobe say they are working on a Windows version as well, which I guess Apple won't be doing.

Would be interesting to hear others opinions.

 

[5T3R30TYP3]

I was gonna post a thread about this, but, tbh I'm never gonna use it anyway so I thought it a bit pointless. It looks good to me. My understanding is that you would use it as a lightbox (obviously) to select and make adjustments to your raw camera files before you import them into photoshop. I think you could miss out photoshop if you wanted to, innit? E.g. if you just wanted a quick sharpen, levels, resize and then convert to jpg. Would you also use it for similar purposes as what you'd use iView MediaPro for (i.e. cataloguing your finished images)?

 

[wordie]

I was gonna post a thread about this, but, tbh I'm never gonna use it anyway so I thought it a bit pointless. It looks good to me. My understanding is that you would use it as a lightbox (obviously) to select and make adjustments to your raw camera files before you import them into photoshop. I think you could miss out photoshop if you wanted to, innit? E.g. if you just wanted a quick sharpen, levels, resize and then convert to jpg. Would you also use it for similar purposes as what you'd use iView MediaPro for (i.e. cataloguing your finished images)?

Well I don't think the object is to miss out Photoshop. That would seem to defeat the object of the whole Adobe CS software.

And yeah, I reckon it's an organisation tool in the style of iView but with some extra editing and cataloging tools, primarily designed to compete with Aperture, which only runs on a Mac G5 and is incredibly slow even then!

I downloaded the beta of Lightroom and it zipped along quite acceptably, and since I use Photoshop a lot, it looks like a better bet to me than Apple's new contender. Oh, and I can't use iPhoto as a library/organiser anyway... another piece of Apple software that simply doesn't work as fast as it's competitors...

 

[editor]

I've just been sent a copy of ACDSee Pro and that looks pretty good too - http://www.acdsystems.com/

I've tried just about every photo management tool on the market, but still find myself going back to ACDSee for everyday tasks...

 

[wordie]

I've just been sent a copy of ACDSee Pro and that looks pretty good too - http://www.acdsystems.com/

I've tried just about every photo management tool on the market, but still find myself going back to ACDSee for everyday tasks...

That looks good Ed, but I can't even try it as it's a Win only app.... But it does look cheap in comparison to Aperture or even my current RAW processor/organisation software which is the exceptionally efficient, but way too expensive, Capture One Pro.

ACDSee Pro looks like a very similar product to iView, which is both Mac and Win.

Does anyone know of a comparison of these different digital management tools anywhere on the web?

 

[editor]

ACDSee Pro looks like a very similar product to iView, which is both Mac and Win.

I've got iView Media Pro and it's a great image management tool.

Thing is, like all such programs you have to import your images into the program for them to be catalogued, whereas ACDSee is more of a digital management/image browser tool rolled in one.

I guess that's why I've always ended up going back to it despite some other programs being more powerful - it's just a lot more handy than using two programs.

 

[wordie]

There's an interesting review of Adobe Lightroom here!

 

[editor]

There's an interesting review of Adobe Lightroom here!

Gotta be logged in to read it

Can you give us a summary please?

 

[editor]

In depth first impressions here:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/software/lightroom1.shtml

 

[wordie]

Gotta be logged in to read it

Can you give us a summary please?

Sorry.... forgot about that!
Here's the bottom line.

CONCLUSION

Adobe has come out with a product that will appeal to many photographers. It’s easy to use, intuitive, and fun to work with. It makes quick work of sorting, culling, keywording, and adjusting your photos. Edits are done to RAW files in a non-destructive manner. It can be used by itself, to create final output for web or print. It can be used in conjunction with Photoshop CS, CS2 or Elements, or your image editor of choice. For my work, it suits my style and workflow. Does it have a place in yours?

Additionally, there's a reprise of this review here!

And you can browse Adobe's Lightroom forum here although you may need an Adobe/Macromedia password if you want to post!

 

[pengaleng]

I had a look at this yesterday actually on computer arts... I just breifly skimmed the article and the adobe site and thought naaah cant really see myself using that, I dont take enough pictures, I can kinda see how it might be useful though...

 

[wordie]

In depth first impressions here:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/software/lightroom1.shtml

And this quote from that Lightroom review is pretty much how what I've heard about Aperture.....

If you've read my Aperture comments you'll know that I found the program to be almost unusable in its current form. Too slow on today's hardware, too many bugs, using a restrictive unitary database architecture, Mac only, fancy looking but under-featured, and not able to produce competitive raw conversions. I wrote that I believed that the program has great potential, but that in its current form I can't use it myself, or recommend it to others. Great promise though.

Shame really, but it costs way too much to be so slow..... Maybe Apple will get it running properly, but by then, most serious photogs will probably have gone with The new Adobe offering, to compliment their Photoshop software. I certainly will be.

 

[sovietpop]

Are there any free photo organisational photo for macs that people would recommend (the Adobe demo ends in june)? For the PC apparently Picasa (googles product) is good, but its pc only.

I've been using iphoto 5 which has managed to loose all my cataloguing information twice, so I have to move on to a product that does what it says on the box.

 

[5T3R30TYP3]

Are there any free photo organisational photo for macs that people would recommend (the Adobe demo ends in june)? For the PC apparently Picasa (googles product) is good, but its pc only.

I've been using iphoto 5 which has managed to loose all my cataloguing information twice, so I have to move on to a product that does what it says on the box.

I don't know of any free ones. I know of ones that you could obtain for free, but that would be illegal...

edit: Actually, you might be able to get Photoshop Album for free. It comes free with a lot of stuff like scanners and cameras. I don't know if it's any good though.

 

[Crispy]

I don't know of any free ones. I know of ones that you could obtain for free, but that would be illegal...

edit: Actually, you might be able to get Photoshop Album for free. It comes free with a lot of stuff like scanners and cameras. I don't know if it's any good though.

iphoto 6 is supposed to be much better...,.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

Hmm. I wondered why iView MediaPro 3 - released in November last year - had something called "lightboxes". I've not even tried them actually, but that's not a beta, it's a finished product that also does lots of other stuff. Perhaps Adobe's does more. Or, well, perhaps it doesn't.

 

[wordie]

iphoto 6 is supposed to be much better...,.

iPhoto is not really a very good organisational tool for digital media because it makes so many aliases of original files and puts them into folders that you can't name or store where you want. If you move something outside the heirarchy that Apple decides then it sort of screws up your organisation....

So, it may be simple for home users, but not really much good for people that need to orgaise and catalogue lots of images.

And it tends to be slow!

 

[FridgeMagnet]

iphoto 6 is supposed to be much better...,.

It gets better with every revision, but it's still not much good for anyone but an occasional snapper. That's probably okay for a lot of the consumer market, but I'm not a pro and every version I've tried has absolutely choked on my photo album. Which is why I paid for MediaPro.

 

[editor]

Hmm. I wondered why iView MediaPro 3 - released in November last year - had something called "lightboxes". I've not even tried them actually, but that's not a beta, it's a finished product that also does lots of other stuff. Perhaps Adobe's does more. Or, well, perhaps it doesn't.

The one thing that ACDSee has got which others don't appear to have (and I could be wrong here) is an 'image basket' which lets you make an ad hoc collection of images from all over your folders and then print/edit them ets. It can also look directly at new image folders without having to import them first, so it's a great all round image fiole browser.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

Hard to say without having seen the image basket thing... I know that iView lets you organise items into arbitrary groups, and then only view/act on items in those groups. I use that for image galleries sometimes. I don't know if that's the same sort of thing.

An image browser would certainly be a good idea. At the moment if you want to import just one or two images from a folder into MediaPro, you have to drop them on from the Finder or go through an Open... dialog, which is not at all ideal.

 

[Crispy]

The one thing that ACDSee has got which others don't appear to have (and I could be wrong here) is an 'image basket' which lets you make an ad hoc collection of images from all over your folders and then print/edit them ets. It can also look directly at new image folders without having to import them first, so it's a great all round image fiole browser.

Picasa will do that (the basket thing) - there's always a box in the bottom left which shows the currently selected file(s). Click the 'hold' button next to it and you can go and select some more files.

When you go to import, you get a page of thumbnails in your source - so you can see what you're browsing before you import, but I expect ACDSee is a bit better on this one.

I'd really reccomend you give picasa a try, ed. I find it very useful. The fact that all the image edits are non-destructive is a real plus for me. When you've got to publish them somewhere, you can just export to a folder at a resolution of your choosing. It's incredibly easy to use and doesn't mess around with any of your folders or filenames (only downside is that its folder display is flat, ie no subfolders) Plus it's free!

 

[editor]

When you go to import, you get a page of thumbnails in your source - so you can see what you're browsing before you import, but I expect ACDSee is a bit better on this one.

I've had a look around but I suspect that with over 35,000 images I need something a bit more flexible and able to handle RAW.

 

[wordie]

The one thing that ACDSee has got which others don't appear to have (and I could be wrong here) is an 'image basket' which lets you make an ad hoc collection of images from all over your folders and then print/edit them ets.

Well, as I understand it, you can make arbitrary collections with LightRoom, and as far as I'm aware you can do the same with iPhoto - in much the same way you create a playlist in iTunes.

You can also do it in Capture One Pro, but it's a fiddle.

Obviously, in both lightroom and iPhoto, you can then go on to edit and print from that collection, but if you want to do serious work on an image (or collection) you need to get out of both apps and get into PhotoShop.

To be blunt, I tend to use PhotoShop CS and it's browser as much as anything else, although I understand CS2 has got rid of the browser and has something called "Bridge" which is also supposed to be an organisation and cataloging tool....

Get's confusing doesn't it?

 

[wordie]

This looks like an interesting place to learn everything you need to know about Lightroom.

 

[5T3R30TYP3]

editor,

can you do AND searches in ACDSee? For example if I wanted to make the program only display pictures that were in colour and were of bmx riders and were taken in Birmingham. iView doesn't let you do this, and at the time when I was using iView I was on a mac so couldn't have ACDSee. Now that I'm on Windows I'm thinking of getting it, but only if it lets me do AND searches....

 

[sovietpop]

I've been playing with I View Media Pro and it looks pretty good. But I have a question. What is it like in terms of doing back ups of your photos? The problem I had with Iphoto is that when I backed up my photos and then copied them back onto my hard drive (after a crash), I lost all my folders etc etc etc. Will this happen with I View? Is it possible to back up the catalogue info?

 

[snadge]

If people are after an excellent free raw converter for windows ( with loads of function) try this

 

[5T3R30TYP3]

I've been playing with I View Media Pro and it looks pretty good. But I have a question. What is it like in terms of doing back ups of your photos? The problem I had with Iphoto is that when I backed up my photos and then copied them back onto my hard drive (after a crash), I lost all my folders etc etc etc. Will this happen with I View? Is it possible to back up the catalogue info?

I'm pretty sure this is possible, in fact I'd be surprised if any program labelled "Pro" wouldn't let you do this (even though it doesn't let you do 'and' searches). I think you have to export some sort of database. I'd tell you how if I had the program, but you'll have to find out. Wait! I remember now - you can export the catalogue, because I did it before. It's easy as pie - you just save the catalogue (again, you'll have to find out how but it's a piece of piss). The file extension of the catalogue is .ivc , all you need to do is back this up with your photos.

 

[sovietpop]

ta

 

[GarfieldLeChat]

Is this the best app ever? and atm for free? it's a beta and avaliable from here

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom/

you need an adobe id and password to download it.

It comes in both mac and pc format and is basically like irfanviewer or acdsee but from adobe with photoshop links so it can cross polinate etc between the cs/cs2 range.

It works like and image viewer but also allows you to sort and store your photos from their native storage place into shoots and collections which means no more hunting for that shot you took back in ...damnit when was it again... it also allows you to convert your exisint photos into digital negative format which is wundarbar and add keywords/descriptions to your images.

the other features are slide show (kinda pointless but i guess good if you are to show clients their images before sign off) Print which allows you to quickly set up everything from one page prints to multiplies and contact sheets. and there's the Develope feature whish is bacially a histogram and tonal/exposure changer with some filters thrown in for good measure. There's the usual features you'd expect from a cut down image editor too such as crop and rotate etc.

For me the thing which sells it though has to be the shoot's feature...

Anyone else using it? have any settings tweaks perferred methods of using etc?