Lightroom Suggestion and Question

[Traverse]

Hi,

Since getting my first Mac in 2011 I've used iPhoto as my DAM and basic photo editor. Well, it got to the point that I wanted more features and the day before I was going to buy Aperture, Apple announced they were ceasing development.

I've been looking at my alternatives and it looks like Adobe Lightroom will be my best bet, but I have a few questions first.

- I know version 6 will be out soon, but I'm afraid that it will be subscription only which is overkill for a hobby right now. Are adobe products good about lasting various OS X versions? I realize that no one can say for sure, but has Adobe traditionally been like Parallels where you need a new version every year or two to keep working?

- How do you sync Lightroom to iOS devices? Do I have to go through iPhoto? I don't mean the Lightroom app (which requires a subscription) I just mean sync albums/events to the stock Photos app.

- I'm going to try the free trial, but based on your use, do you like Lightroom?

 

[Chung123]

I thought the subscription model was crazy at first, but I recently signed up for the Photographer's package for $9.99 a month which includes access to the latest versions of Photoshop and Lightroom.

If one considers how much an upgrade for Photoshop had cost every year or so, (And the initial outlay to purchase the program) I think it is a pretty good deal.

Lightroom is really easy to use and makes processing RAW images easy.

The Lightroom iOS app is free, so if you go for the $10/month, you also get access to the iOS app.

Syncing is basically creating a folder that you want to sync between devices. You can edit your pictures taken on the iPhone(and edit in app) and sync back to the desktop app.

It all depends on your needs, maybe Apple's new Photos app will solve all this?

 

[Traverse]

maybe Apple's new Photos app will solve all this?

I don't have faith in Apple's software development right now. Photos will probably be a glorified iOS port with instant post to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at once "innovation" or some crap like that.

 

[MCAsan]

I have used LR for years as my DAM. I liked the Aperture user interface much better. Since I have an Apple ecosystem being able to easily put edited images on an iPad is important. That is easy using Aperture or iPhoto,,,,,not so with LR. LR and iTunes don't play well together.

I just upgraded to LR 5.7 but did not need the new Aperture/iPhoto import plugin. I look forward to seeing how the Photos app will deliver a DAM and support plugins like Nik, Perfect Photo Suite,,,,etc.

It ain't over until the fat lady sings.

 

[robgendreau]

MCAsan, I assume you meant iPhoto and LR, not iTunes? Or maybe you were listening to music while editing photos and something went awry?

Dunno if 6 will be out soon. Dunno if Adobe will drop perpetual licenses for LR; I have one, but will jump ship to subscription at that point. We've debated the sub model endlessly here; for me, it's probably cheaper than what I've paid Adobe over the years. And definitely a better deal than Parallels, which sorta forces a subscription with it's frequent upgrades. I'm still using a perpetual license CS 6; Adobe has issued regular updates and I haven't had to pay anything on it for quite a while. But the Cloud version does have some newer features.

I can't speak as to whether your hobby justifies $120/yr. I paid less than that, in essence, over the years for iPhoto, although recently it got free. But that's all it is worth IMHO right now. FWIW most of the other DAMs are about the same price as LR.

One alternative, though, is not a DAM per se. More the browser model, and that's Graphic Converter. It actually does some things the DAMs don't, especially in regard to its core conversion. But it has a fine browser, does geolocation, has tons of tools for metadata, and would be all many people ever need. I still use it a lot although I have LR and Aperture. Worth a download and a test since it's a more affordable choice.

 

[MCAsan]

MCAsan, I assume you meant iPhoto and LR, not iTunes? Or maybe you were listening to music while editing photos and something went awry?

Nope I meant iTunes. If you want to synch an LR collection to your iPad or iPhone to show your images to folks.....no straight forward way in LR to do that. But if you have albums defined in Aperture or iPhoto, you can easily tell iTunes to slap those onto your IOS device. The parts of an Apple ecosystem usually work together. But LR does not go out of its way to put completed images in collections on an IOS device. So it be very interesting to see how well Photos plays with other Apple ecosystem devices, provide a good DAM, and supports editing plugins from other companies.