p.1 #1 · Lost Adobe PS & LR, looking for alternatives
I just retired and my employer cut me off of their Adobe Photo-package where I got Lightroom and Photoshop, which I used all the time. Now that I'm retired, I want to dig into 30+ years of travel photos and see if I can really make use of them to bring in some extra cash, not to mention, make myself more available for private shoots. Unfortunately, Adobe is a lot more then it was when it first came out where I was paying it myself ($10/mo) and my income now is very limited at the moment. Can anyone recommend (really) good photo software that is either cheaper then Adobe and is just as good (or near it), or better yet, I'd prefer to buy the software up front, like the old days?
Also, I like monochrome photography, so can anyone recommend software where they also include a good monochrome package in the software, or separate monochrome software that isn't a fortune and does a real nice job of controlling specific areas of the photo where you can burn in sections like we used to do with old-fashioned darkroom paper?
p.1 #2 · Lost Adobe PS & LR, looking for alternatives
FWIW.....I have a 1 year Photography Plan (Ps & Lr +1tb cloud storage) license number that I am not going to be able to use. I was a little late getting the $85 deal at Newegg but I did get it for $120 which is better than the $240 current retail yearly price.
I'll need to get what I paid for it - $120. If you are interested let me know. Disclaimer.....I am not able to accept any type of digital payment so it would be either cash or check transaction.
p.1 #3 · Lost Adobe PS & LR, looking for alternatives
Give Affinity photo a try. It’s free, and can do things like masking, dodging and burning etc. It is not quite on par with photoshop when it comes to healing/cloning, but it’s more powerful than a lot of free options out there. Adobe is a sketchy company that I’d love to not give money to, but photoshop still works the best for me when it comes to retouching.
Capture one express is free, but not sure what cameras it covers. You can get a perpetual license of the full version of capture one, which I think is a better deal long term than Lightroom. I do not miss Lightroom at all
billsamuels wrote:
I just retired and my employer cut me off of their Adobe Photo-package where I got Lightroom and Photoshop, which I used all the time. Now that I'm retired, I want to dig into 30+ years of travel photos and see if I can really make use of them to bring in some extra cash, not to mention, make myself more available for private shoots. Unfortunately, Adobe is a lot more then it was when it first came out where I was paying it myself ($10/mo) and my income now is very limited at the moment. Can anyone recommend (really) good photo software that is either cheaper then Adobe and is just as good (or near it), or better yet, I'd prefer to buy the software up front, like the old days?
Also, I like monochrome photography, so can anyone recommend software where they also include a good monochrome package in the software, or separate monochrome software that isn't a fortune and does a real nice job of controlling specific areas of the photo where you can burn in sections like we used to do with old-fashioned darkroom paper?
p.1 #4 · Lost Adobe PS & LR, looking for alternatives
Hi LB,
That seems like a good deal! I was paying $10/month for years and that's what I was anticipating paying these days. That's when Adobe first came out with their Photoshop online plan. Do you know if I can take over your account without them saying that they won't let me do it? Do I have to play you or is there a way I can just take it over?
Again, thanks for the offer. I really like it and it's a great way to get into Photoshop and LR without paying a fortune for software that I've been paying half that price for over a decade.
I'll let you know for sure in a couple of days.
Bill Samuels
p.1 #5 · Lost Adobe PS & LR, looking for alternatives
billsamuels wrote:
Hi LB,
That seems like a good deal! I was paying $10/month for years and that's what I was anticipating paying these days. That's when Adobe first came out with their Photoshop online plan. Do you know if I can take over your account without them saying that they won't let me do it? Do I have to play you or is there a way I can just take it over?
Again, thanks for the offer. I really like it and it's a great way to get into Photoshop and LR without paying a fortune for software that I've been paying half that price for over a decade.
I'll let you know for sure in a couple of days.
Bill Samuels...Show more →
Bill,
What I have is license key number, much like a Windows license key that consists of 24 letters and numbers. My name is not associated with the number in any way shape or form. It would be just like you going to B&H or Newegg or anyplace that sells license numbers and purchase the license number associated with the Adobe plan you want.
Once you purchase a license number (from me or wherever) you would then go to the Adobe site, create an account if you don't already have one and then choose the one year Ps&Lr Photography plan that comes with 1tb of cloud storage using the license number you purchase from me (or whoever) activate the plan.
Alternatively you could call Adobe customer service and they will guide you through the process. Tell them you want to set up the one year Ps/Lr with the 1tb of cloud storage plan and you already have a license key for it.
p.1 #7 · Lost Adobe PS & LR, looking for alternatives
I'm an Affinity user, and have been since Version 1, though I don't do much heavy editing any more. I prefer to get my own work as perfect in camera as possible, so I no longer need to do much photo editing, but occasionally combine several shots for the desired result. Focus stacking, and eliminating undesired information from the shots is what I do most. I was using Photoshop for many years before switching to Affinity.
p.1 #8 · Lost Adobe PS & LR, looking for alternatives
Larry,
I'm sorry for not responding sooner. I ended up in the hospital for a few days, which is why I had to retire from my job. Anyway, I thought about this and I while going for another year of Photoshop and LR would be great, it's putting off the painful future that I won't be able to afford a long-term subscription to Adobe's photo subscription. When it was $10, which is what I thought it would be, I had no problem thinking I could afford it, but its more then doubled since I had to pay for it so it's time to find alternative software that does what LR/PS does without the huge cost. Thanks for offering this to me. Good luck in finding someone to take over your license.
Thanks again.
Bill
p.1 #9 · Lost Adobe PS & LR, looking for alternatives
Capture One offers a one-time perpetual license as well as a subscription option. You'd only need to upgrade to keep pace with new camera releases. But... if you're like me, sticking with the same camera body for 5 or 7 years, the perpetual license is a fine option.
Affinity Photo is the nearest proxy to Photoshop. Not perfect, but damn good. It's free.
p.1 #10 · Lost Adobe PS & LR, looking for alternatives
I also use Affinity, and I'll vouch for it too. It has a RAW converter built into it, so you could theoretically do everything in Affinity.
For the RAW conversion side of things, I use DXO Photolab.
Because I have never used standalone monochrome software, I can't recommend something for that. I have seen DXO's Nik Collection out there, and people have nice things to say about it, but I've never used it myself.
All of DXO's software is available for sale with a perpetual license. Affinity is free!
p.1 #13 · Lost Adobe PS & LR, looking for alternatives
billsamuels wrote:
Larry,
I'm sorry for not responding sooner. I ended up in the hospital for a few days, which is why I had to retire from my job. Anyway, I thought about this and I while going for another year of Photoshop and LR would be great, it's putting off the painful future that I won't be able to afford a long-term subscription to Adobe's photo subscription. When it was $10, which is what I thought it would be, I had no problem thinking I could afford it, but its more then doubled since I had to pay for it so it's time to find alternative software that does what LR/PS does without the huge cost. Thanks for offering this to me. Good luck in finding someone to take over your license.
Thanks again.
Bill...Show more →
Do you need both Lr and Ps? Lr alone is $10/mo if you prepay the year. I do 99% of my work in Lr so replacing Ps is easy. There are lots of good raw editors. If you spend most of your time in Lr, perhaps sticking with Lr alone for cataloging and just replacing your raw editor would be a good first step.
p.1 #14 · Lost Adobe PS & LR, looking for alternatives
Larry,
That might be a great option. I didn't see that option where you could pay for LR by itself. I did spend 99% of my time with LR because I really never mastered PS. I'll have to look again on the Adobe site to see where I can get LR only. Then I can look for a similar PS software.
Also, any comments on DXO Photo Lab9? I downloaded a free trial and it's a lot like PS and it seems to do a lot, but it also has extensive directions on how to use it, unlike PS. If anything, it's a good combo between PS and LR. However, it's a one-time purchase and it's a bit expensive. If you want to upgrade to a newer version later, you have to pay for the upgrade. It also has individual software that you can add like a film simulator and an upgraded version of the NIK collection of software. If you get 3 software packages, they give you a year of free tech support. My biggest issue is that it is expensive and the upgrades aren't included, you have to start all over again. Plus, I have to learn their software from scratch! If I can get LR for $10/mo plus a free similar PS program, that would be a better deal.
Anyone have experience with both DXO Photo Lab and one of the other apps like Capture One or Affinity to compare?
Thanks again.
Bill
p.1 #15 · Lost Adobe PS & LR, looking for alternatives
I switched from Adobe LR to DXO Photolab probably four years ago, and on version 9, I won't be looking back. The two biggest reasons to use PL9 are body/lens correction profiles and noise reduction. I think they are best in the industry. For any other task, you can achieve an equivalent result using other software.
Upgrades are released once every year. I buy the upgrade every other year, during the Black Friday promotion period, and control costs that way. The upgrade to PL9 in November 2025 cost $99.99. I owned PL7 and PL5 before that. However, you've stated that you're interested in a perpetual license. I think you could use PL9 with no intention of upgrading.
I also have Affinity. The raw converter in Affinity is good, but it won't have the color science, the profiles, or the noise reduction that DXO has. I also don't know if it works with Fuji XTrans sensors. I do know that PL9 does.
p.1 #17 · Lost Adobe PS & LR, looking for alternatives
DXO gives you a free trial period, so you can give it a test run to see if you like it. The do produce some really nice software. That said, about a year and a half ago, I tried out Photolab and it kept crashing on my Win 11 computer, so that waived me off from purchasing it.
In addition to editing, image management is something that LR does really well. While its editing capabilities and features do continually improve, the Library is really what is keeping me within LR. Adobe can be difficult sometimes when dealing with your subscription, so just be aware of that.
p.1 #18 · Lost Adobe PS & LR, looking for alternatives
I've used DXO on about 8 systems with the only issue being the internet activation about each 37 days. But the Adobe has the same ongoing activation hassle. I'm curious if the crashing was on a clean build or a commercial box with preinstalled crapware.
