Accessing/editing photos after ending Adobe subscription

[yanisha]

Can you import new photos, add keywords, etc.?

Yes to both. Every type of metadata I have tried to edit (mostly copyright, title and caption, as well as keywords) I can do. I can also edit my keyword list - change the keyword hierarchy, remove keywords, etc. I have not found anything in the Library module that I can't do.

Thanks for the info!

 

[Desert Willow]

Thank you all for your comments. It really helped me figure out my future needs and wants.

I spent a little time looking at Dark Table but it seemed so unfamiliar that I decided to go with Affinity Photo for a Photoshop replacement. It looks like it will be a fairly easy transition. Affinity will be coming out with DAM this year and the upgrade will be free for those who purchase Affinity Photo 2018.

I've spent the last couple of weeks reading reviews and watching tutorials, and the other piece of software that I'm considering is Luminar. I follow Anne McKinnell, who has done a review on it, so it was already on my radar. In another forum I read that some people use Luminar for the basic work of developing RAW to exposure and color corrections and then move to Affinity for all the more complex work, just as one would use LR and PS. Both Luminar and Affinity handle RAW processing, so I can try them out and decide which I prefer before buying. I think that both can be purchased for just about the price of one year's CC subscription and updates look very reasonable.

I'd honestly prefer using LR and PS, but am glad that I won't be tied to a subscription. I feel pretty good about the alternatives that I've come up with and really appreciate your help in thinking it out.

Becky

 

[Jonsi]

Affinity will be coming out with DAM this year

They say that every year.

 

[Desert Willow]

Affinity will be coming out with DAM this year

They say that every year.

Well, dang. Guess I should start looking for something else. <sigh>

 

[graybalanced]

Affinity will be coming out with DAM this year

They say that every year.

Indeed...I've been watching their forums, and it's been years since they first said that.

There's a thread on their forums titled "Affinity, we need clarification: are you or aren’t you working on a DAM ?" The first post says

For the past two years it was mentioned several times here in these forums that you are working on a DAM. However, we haven’t really seen an update on that topic in the past weeks and months.

In the meantime they have put out a beta of Affinity Publisher. I think their resources went there.

Someone in that thread posted a Twitter search for DAM in the Affinity feed. The first mention is 2015. ("we do have plans to create DAM software in the future "). The last mention is August 2018. ("It's still very early days but we are starting to look at a DAM")

Three years later and they are still saying they're "starting to look at a DAM"...

 

[TheUpsideDown]

One of the major negatives for the Adobe subscription model, in my mind, is the need to continue to subscribe forever if one wants the ability to return to and edit old photographs. If I spend the next 10 years or more subscribing to Adobe, and then end my subscription, will I be able to use Photoshop Elements (or something similar) to continue to access and edit my photographs?

I have a Nikon D7500 and am still working on acquiring the rest of my equipment. I'm trying to make a decision about which software to use over the long haul. I like Photoshop and am comfortable using it but haven't updated since it moved to a subscription model. It's time.

I'm at the age where I know I won't always want to spent in excess of $1000 a year for editing software and I'm trying to think ahead. I've used both Photoshop and Elements and think that Elements should be adaquate for when I'm ready to cut back on the cost of photo editing.

Would it be wise for me to save my files in TIFF to keep my options open?

Thoughts?

Maybe I am missing something here but a file is a file, TIF, JPG, raw files are all usable by most editing applications out there.

Your files aren't tied to Adobe at all so I don't understand your concern.

 

[sluggy_warrior]

Maybe I am missing something here but a file is a file, TIF, JPG, raw files are all usable by most editing applications out there.

Your files aren't tied to Adobe at all so I don't understand your concern.

I think you're missing the PSD format, which is proprietary and only a few programs can open it (Adobe released the specs but restricted its use).

XCF, the GIMP file format, being open-source has its specs completely open and free, and they're moving toward a better interchangeable format called OpenRaster.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenRaster

__

It's not the software that's free; it's you

Free Software Is Even More Important Now - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation

www.gnu.org

 

[TheUpsideDown]

Maybe I am missing something here but a file is a file, TIF, JPG, raw files are all usable by most editing applications out there.

Your files aren't tied to Adobe at all so I don't understand your concern.

I think you're missing the PSD format, which is proprietary and only a few programs can open it (Adobe released the specs but restricted its use).

XCF, the GIMP file format, being open-source has its specs completely open and free, and they're moving toward a better interchangeable format called OpenRaster.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenRaster

Yes, I thought of PSD files but made the assumption from reading the OP's post that he/she wasn't using PSD files, just like I don't think most people don't use Adobe PSB file types...

 

[dj_paige]

One of the major negatives for the Adobe subscription model, in my mind, is the need to continue to subscribe forever if one wants the ability to return to and edit old photographs. If I spend the next 10 years or more subscribing to Adobe, and then end my subscription, will I be able to use Photoshop Elements (or something similar) to continue to access and edit my photographs?

I have a Nikon D7500 and am still working on acquiring the rest of my equipment. I'm trying to make a decision about which software to use over the long haul. I like Photoshop and am comfortable using it but haven't updated since it moved to a subscription model. It's time.

I'm at the age where I know I won't always want to spent in excess of $1000 a year for editing software and I'm trying to think ahead. I've used both Photoshop and Elements and think that Elements should be adaquate for when I'm ready to cut back on the cost of photo editing.

Would it be wise for me to save my files in TIFF to keep my options open?

Thoughts?

Maybe I am missing something here but a file is a file, TIF, JPG, raw files are all usable by most editing applications out there.

Your files aren't tied to Adobe at all so I don't understand your concern.

Yes, the original photos can all be accessed outside of Lightroom. It is the work done on the photos, the edits, which are stored inside of Lightroom that is the concern. As stated in this thread, even after the subscription ends, you can access your edits, and export the edited versions of your photos as JPG or TIF or PSD.

 

[TheUpsideDown]

One of the major negatives for the Adobe subscription model, in my mind, is the need to continue to subscribe forever if one wants the ability to return to and edit old photographs. If I spend the next 10 years or more subscribing to Adobe, and then end my subscription, will I be able to use Photoshop Elements (or something similar) to continue to access and edit my photographs?

I have a Nikon D7500 and am still working on acquiring the rest of my equipment. I'm trying to make a decision about which software to use over the long haul. I like Photoshop and am comfortable using it but haven't updated since it moved to a subscription model. It's time.

I'm at the age where I know I won't always want to spent in excess of $1000 a year for editing software and I'm trying to think ahead. I've used both Photoshop and Elements and think that Elements should be adaquate for when I'm ready to cut back on the cost of photo editing.

Would it be wise for me to save my files in TIFF to keep my options open?

Thoughts?

Maybe I am missing something here but a file is a file, TIF, JPG, raw files are all usable by most editing applications out there.

Your files aren't tied to Adobe at all so I don't understand your concern.

Yes, the original photos can all be accessed outside of Lightroom. It is the work done on the photos, the edits, which are stored inside of Lightroom that is the concern. As stated in this thread, even after the subscription ends, you can access your edits, and export the edited versions of your photos as JPG or TIF or PSD.

Thank you for clarifying that, that genuinely had me confused. Next time I will have a coffee before replying... ;-)