Photoshop, Lightroom
or something else?Q
I’m thinking about buying
post-processing software like
Lightroom or Photoshop, or
some other program. As I mainly like to
take landscape shots I’m not sure which
program to get. Which one is the best
and easiest to use?
Malcolm Way, Picnic Point, NSW.A
This is a big subject, and a
difficult question to answer!
Much depends on your personal
preferences, your style of working, as well as
what you need to achieve.
Photoshop remains the default “industry
standard” for pre-press, graphic design,
and working professional photographers
who require pixel-level editing capabilities.
However, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s
the “best” for your purposes. It can be used
for 3D production, video editing, and other
functions which might not be applicable for
your requirements, and only serve to clutter
the interface, making it harder to access
what you really need.
On the other hand, “easiest” usually
requires a program to be purpose-
designed and built for a specific use.
An example is XnView image viewer
(which also has some editing capabilities).
In this program the GUI is designed
so that the most-commonly performed
tasks require the minimum number of
keystrokes; zooming an image can be
achieved by the mouse wheel, etc.
Another thing to consider is whether
you want to be locked in to a particular
program, which involves a given company
and the way that you’re made to fit in to
their way of thinking and doing things.
Recently, the users of iPhoto have been
forced onto the new Photos for OS X.
And professionals using Aperture havebeen abandoned, with many of them
choosing to go with Adobe Lightroom.
Has everyone been able to successfully
migrate their catalogues, containing all
their edits and other work? Lightroom,
and similar programs, work their magic
by creating and maintaining a catalogue
(a proprietary database).
Lightroom is a very comprehensive and
versatile program. It covers all the aspects
of digital imaging from start to finish, from
transferring images from your camera’s
memory card, to editing and adjustments,
keywords (“tagging”), image management
and organisation, printing, and sharing
(uploading to various online services).
It continues to improve and it handles
more of the tasks which once required a
“round-trip” to Photoshop. For instance,
the latest Lightroom CC (“Creative
Cloud” – the ongoing subscription-based
model) and Lightroom 6 now have HDR
(High Dynamic Range) Merge and
Panorama Merge tools, both of which can
be useful to enthusiasts. Photoshop has thesteepest learning curve of all: it’s powerful
but not what I’d call “easy”. Lightroom
is more user friendly. There are dozens
of other programs worth considering.
Doing an online search for “Photoshop
alternative” or “Lightroom alternative”
(without the quotes) will give you a quick
indication of these possibilities.
Try: http://alternativeto.net which
has alternatives to many different kinds
of software.
Some image editors you might wish to
consider would include:
ACDSee Pro; BreezeBrowser; Corel
AfterShot Pro (previously Bibble);
Corel PaintShop Pro (I recall using early
versions of this over two decades ago, as well
as a more modern version); and DarkTable,
a Lightroom challenger.
For Mac OS X, FreeBSD or
various Linux distributions think
about: DxO OpticsPro; Affinity Pro;
FastPictureViewer Pro; FastStone Image
Viewer; Gimpshop; LightZone; Paint.
NET; Photo Commander, by Ashampoo;12 AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
AUSTRALIAN PHOTOGRAPHY + DIGITAL SEPTEMBER 2015Prashphutita
A. Greco AP answers yourphotographic queries
ABOVE RIGHT
The right software
can make your life
easier and more
productive.
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