Accessing/editing photos after ending Adobe subscription

sluggy_warrior · Aug 31, 2018

Sagittarius said:
sluggy_warrior said:

.... If you organize your photos in folders with some naming convention, the DAM/catalog is usually not needed. But if you tag your photos frequently, assign rating, and/or if you want to search by camera/lens/focal length/aperture/..., a catalog/DAM is very efficient and powerful.

Click to expand...

Recently I needed to find pictures of my father to print for his funeral. I have my pictures organized in folders, so I had to search in a lot of folders. If I had put them in a collection or somehow keyworded, it would of been much easier. Same goes for when you need to find any particular picture.

I had to do exactly that for my parents-in-law's funerals a few years back. Luckily I shared most of the final exported JPGs on Google Photos, and GPhotos face-recognition is scarily accurate :-(

Even with the event description in the folders' name (e.g. "20180827 - karate exam"), it still took 3-4 hours to go through my collection.

But even with DAM/catalog, tagging is still very labor-intensive. Automated tagging still would be best, like how Flickr can add tags automatically: tree, sea, ...

Would be awesome if face-recognition can be used reliably offline to protect privacy. darktable has something in progress, I'm planning to check it out to see how effective it is.

https://github.com/darktable-org/lua-scripts/pull/100/files/024e016df2853c65215d8f517f53b4ce26a49b49

https://github.com/ageitgey/face_recognition

davidedric · Aug 31, 2018

dj_paige said:
Desert Willow said:

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?

Click to expand...

When your Lightroom subscription ends, you can still access all of your photos and edits in Lightroom, and export the edited photos after the subscription ends. You an still use the Lightroom Library Module to organize or find your photos after the subscription ends. You just can't add new edits to the photos (and you can't use the map module either).

And of course, your original photos are not stored in Lightroom, you still have those as well.

So far as I am aware, you can still use the limited edit features in Library.

I don't think I've seen a post from someone who has stopped their subscription, and can confirm what actually happens.

There must be somebody out there!

Dave

Jonsi · Aug 31, 2018

davidedric said:
dj_paige said:

Desert Willow said:

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?

Click to expand...

When your Lightroom subscription ends, you can still access all of your photos and edits in Lightroom, and export the edited photos after the subscription ends. You an still use the Lightroom Library Module to organize or find your photos after the subscription ends. You just can't add new edits to the photos (and you can't use the map module either).

And of course, your original photos are not stored in Lightroom, you still have those as well.

Click to expand...

So far as I am aware, you can still use the limited edit features in Library.

I don't think I've seen a post from someone who has stopped their subscription, and can confirm what actually happens.

I don't think people stop a subscription to keep using a program.

davidedric said:
There must be somebody out there!

Dave

IanYorke · Aug 31, 2018

dj_paige said:
Sailor Blue said:

dj_paige said:

Desert Willow said:

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?

Click to expand...

When your Lightroom subscription ends, you can still access all of your photos and edits in Lightroom, and export the edited photos after the subscription ends. You an still use the Lightroom Library Module to organize or find your photos after the subscription ends. You just can't add new edits to the photos (and you can't use the map module either).

And of course, your original photos are not stored in Lightroom, you still have those as well.

Click to expand...

There is one very important caveat.

If you upgrade your computer and/or install a new OS then you lose the LR program that is installed in your current OS, meaning you can no longer export your LR edited images to TIFF/PSD files.

Click to expand...

While this may be true (or may not be true, I don't know), please state the source of this information. Seems to me if you install LR and enter your userID that worked for the subscription, then LR ought to work in "subscription expired" mode.

Sagittarius · Aug 31, 2018

IanYorke said:
dj_paige said:

Sailor Blue said:

dj_paige said:

Desert Willow said:

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?

Click to expand...

When your Lightroom subscription ends, you can still access all of your photos and edits in Lightroom, and export the edited photos after the subscription ends. You an still use the Lightroom Library Module to organize or find your photos after the subscription ends. You just can't add new edits to the photos (and you can't use the map module either).

And of course, your original photos are not stored in Lightroom, you still have those as well.

Click to expand...

There is one very important caveat.

If you upgrade your computer and/or install a new OS then you lose the LR program that is installed in your current OS, meaning you can no longer export your LR edited images to TIFF/PSD files.

Click to expand...

While this may be true (or may not be true, I don't know), please state the source of this information. Seems to me if you install LR and enter your userID that worked for the subscription, then LR ought to work in "subscription expired" mode.

Click to expand...

The answer to that question is important. With Adobe you need to parse very carefully any statement they make, they naturally use Lawyer speak.

The phrase that appears to be used is "continue to work", I think that means exactly what it says. Reinstall because of computer change, HD, etc. and I think you may be in trouble. Adobe could clear that confusion up quickly if they want to.

Ian

I think it is easy to check. Just sign out of your Adobe account in Creative Adobe Desktop application and see what happens.

sankos · Aug 31, 2018

sluggy_warrior said:
darktable is free/open-source, very similar to LR, you can install as many copies on as many computers you want.

Right, and it even makes a nice interpretation of the Lr-generated xmp sidecar files. I haven't seen such a wide support of those xmp's in a different raw converter.

Mind you, the results won't be identical as you get in Lr for various reasons, but it's nice not to have to re-keyword, re-geotag or re-crop one's files when switching raw converters.

Jestertheclown · Aug 31, 2018

Bobthearch said:
Where it falls flat is working with RAW files. it can work directly with RAW files of course, but the embedded developer has few options. You can buy PSP bundled with AfterShot, a dedicated raw developer, it's not great either.

sankos · Aug 31, 2018

Jonsi said:
Desert Willow said:

2.) You can use it to export your files into a TIFF format and it will save all the layers with your edits? Those files can then be edited by Elements or Affinity or the software of your choice.

Click to expand...

No.

Your layers are gone at that point, and other software won't read those as layers or edits. They will see your TIFs as original files. A starting point.

Yes, but only if you mean the Lr-generated TIFFs (and those will present the flattened version of your edited file, so not the original, unedited tiff -- if you save it appropriately). The original, layered, Ps-generated TIFFs/PSDs can still be read by other software such as Photoshop Elements, Affinity Photo or Photoline but there are some caveats and shifting sands there. E.g. PSE has a problem with 16-bit layered files, so you'll need to flatten and possibly lose the 16-bit mode if you want to further edit the file.

Affinity Photo is better at interpreting Ps-generated PSDs than TIFFs, but there are a couple of things it won't support so some layers might get flattened. Photoline is pretty good with Ps-generated layered files but in my testing Affinity Photo did better.

Bobthearch · Aug 31, 2018

Jestertheclown said:
Bobthearch said:

Where it falls flat is working with RAW files. it can work directly with RAW files of course, but the embedded developer has few options. You can buy PSP bundled with AfterShot, a dedicated raw developer, it's not great either.

Click to expand...

I tried AfterShot once, when I was looking to move away from Lightroom.

It was awful.

Yes, awful. That's what I meant to say.

Not only was the raw developing not that good, but there was no way to keep it from dumping xmp files into my raw archive folders, a behavior which I found unacceptable and was the primary reason I uninstalled.

And for those who want DAM/cataloging, that's not included with the bundled AfterShot. You have to buy "AfterShot Pro" for an extra upgrade price that's almost as high as Paintshop Pro in the first place.

I do like Paintshop Pro overall though as an editor. Many great features that put it nearly on-par with Photoshop. Just have to use another program first to process the raw files.

Steve Bingham · Aug 31, 2018

Their support for some modern cameras seem slow in coming. For example, Sony DSC-RX100V is not supported yet - whereas ACR does support it. August 31, 2018.

Sailor Blue · Aug 31, 2018

Desert Willow said:
I didn't know any of this. Let me know if I have this right...

1The Lightroom Library Module stays on your computer even after you end your subscription, but you can only use it to access or export, not edit your photos.

Right

Desert Willow said:
You can use it to export your files into a TIFF format and it will save all the layers with your edits? Those files can then be edited by Elements or Affinity or the software of your choice.

Wrong. It is as Jonsi said, LR exports a flattened TIFF. If you want a copy with all layers intact then you should save this when you have finished editing in Photoshop. You would then have two versions of the TIFF - one from Photoshop with all layers intact and a flattened one from LR with any additional LR edits applied after you finished in Photoshop.

The caveat here is that any Photoshop edit, especially Smart Filters and those on Smart Objects, might not translate properly.

Desert Willow said:
And when it's time to buy a new computer, which sometimes happens unexpectedly, you need to have those files already exported and backed up or you're very, very screwed. Is that correct?

Can you save your Lightroom Library Module to an external hard drive to prevent the loss of your edits, just as you would normally back up your files?

Yes, I always copy and back up my original files as soon as I add them to my computer. My process has always been to:

Rename my original files

Make one copy to back up on an external hard drive

Then make another copy to edit

Each copy is put in separate folders so I don't mix them up.

The only change I would recommend is to import into your working folder and have two external backups.

Desert Willow said:
That gives me 2 copies on my computer and a backup copy to a different location. I back my work up to an external hard drive pretty regularly. Once I made the mistake of accidentally editing my only original file (badly), and couldn't go back to start over, I didn't make that mistake again! We all do it at least once.

With me it was "50 year" guaranteed DVDs that were totally unreadable after 2-3 years. Now I keep two copies of all image files, the LR Master Catalog, and XMP files (belt and suspenders) on two external hard drives.

Desert Willow said:
Thanks for the info about Affinity. I'll check it out!

Sailor Blue · Aug 31, 2018

Sagittarius said:
sluggy_warrior said:

.... If you organize your photos in folders with some naming convention, the DAM/catalog is usually not needed. But if you tag your photos frequently, assign rating, and/or if you want to search by camera/lens/focal length/aperture/..., a catalog/DAM is very efficient and powerful.

Click to expand...

Recently I needed to find pictures of my father to print for his funeral. I have my pictures organized in folders, so I had to search in a lot of folders. If I had put them in a collection or somehow keyworded, it would of been much easier. Same goes for when you need to find any particular picture.

Most people think of names of people, places, or events, not dates. This is why I recommend using a named folder organization.

I do use YYMMDD dates, but at the end of the sub-folder name. If you rename images you can use the same date format in those names.

An example in Lightroom would be:

France (Collection Set)>Paris (Collection Set)>Eiffel Tower 150813 (Collection) plus Collections for Eiffel Tower 140612 and Louvre 150812.

Using this type of organization, both for folders and LR Collections, lets me easily find specific images both inside and outside LR.

IanYorke · Sep 1, 2018

Sagittarius said:
IanYorke said:

dj_paige said:

Sailor Blue said:

dj_paige said:

Desert Willow said:

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?

Click to expand...

When your Lightroom subscription ends, you can still access all of your photos and edits in Lightroom, and export the edited photos after the subscription ends. You an still use the Lightroom Library Module to organize or find your photos after the subscription ends. You just can't add new edits to the photos (and you can't use the map module either).

And of course, your original photos are not stored in Lightroom, you still have those as well.

Click to expand...

There is one very important caveat.

If you upgrade your computer and/or install a new OS then you lose the LR program that is installed in your current OS, meaning you can no longer export your LR edited images to TIFF/PSD files.

Click to expand...

While this may be true (or may not be true, I don't know), please state the source of this information. Seems to me if you install LR and enter your userID that worked for the subscription, then LR ought to work in "subscription expired" mode.

Click to expand...

The answer to that question is important. With Adobe you need to parse very carefully any statement they make, they naturally use Lawyer speak.

The phrase that appears to be used is "continue to work", I think that means exactly what it says. Reinstall because of computer change, HD, etc. and I think you may be in trouble. Adobe could clear that confusion up quickly if they want to.

Ian

Click to expand...

I think it is easy to check. Just sign out of your Adobe account in Creative Adobe Desktop application and see what happens.

irv00 · Sep 1, 2018

IanYorke said:
Once your subscription is finished Adobe probably remove the account, why wouldn't they?

Ian

Adobe does not remove your account when you let your subscription expire. The main reason is quite obvious: they want to make it easy for you to renew! $$$$$$$$

Desert Willow · Sep 1, 2018

I have family stuff this weekend and was only able to give this a quick read today. I didn't expect it to be such a complex topic! I'm going to go through this carefully either tomorrow or Monday and will ask further questions then. Thank you all for all your responses. You are great!

dj_paige · Sep 2, 2018

irv00 said:
IanYorke said:

Once your subscription is finished Adobe probably remove the account, why wouldn't they?

Ian

Click to expand...

Adobe does not remove your account when you let your subscription expire. The main reason is quite obvious: they want to make it easy for you to renew! $$$$$$$$

Even if they did remove the account, the software will work (except for Library and Map Module) when it finds that you have no subscription.

This is easy to confirm. Sign out, then sign in with a brand new user ID that you have never used.

jsa321 · Sep 4, 2018

I think I can clarify what happens if you end your Adobe subscription, as I did exactly that over a year ago. I am thinking of going back, though, so I have reinstalled creative cloud and Lightroom, though it's the same computer I used before. But I have NOT signed up for a new subscription yet. Here is what I observe:

The library module works completely. I can filter, tag, import, export, create collections, create smart collections. I can apply presets, use auto toning, and do some simple processing with quick develop.
I was able to use face recognition to search my entire catalog for photos of my mother-in-law. I gathered all of those photos into a collection, then went through it with my wife, tagging her "picks".
Printing works. I have printed several photos with my no-subscription copy of Lightroom. I plan to print many of those photos of my mother-in-law for my wife.
The develop and maps modules do not work, as advertised.
I think the book module works. I never used it before except to play around with it a bit, and it seems to still work the same as before, but I can't say for certain.
I can't find a way to send a photo to another program for editing.

As I said, this is the same computer I had Lightroom on before, but I did need to reinstall all of the programs, and my catalog needed to be updated. I can't see how changing to a different computer would be a problem.

yanisha · Sep 4, 2018

jsa321 said:
I think I can clarify what happens if you end your Adobe subscription, as I did exactly that over a year ago. I am thinking of going back, though, so I have reinstalled creative cloud and Lightroom, though it's the same computer I used before. But I have NOT signed up for a new subscription yet. Here is what I observe:

The library module works completely. I can filter, tag, import, export, create collections, create smart collections. I can apply presets, use auto toning, and do some simple processing with quick develop.

I was able to use face recognition to search my entire catalog for photos of my mother-in-law. I gathered all of those photos into a collection, then went through it with my wife, tagging her "picks".

Printing works. I have printed several photos with my no-subscription copy of Lightroom. I plan to print many of those photos of my mother-in-law for my wife.

The develop and maps modules do not work, as advertised.

I think the book module works. I never used it before except to play around with it a bit, and it seems to still work the same as before, but I can't say for certain.

I can't find a way to send a photo to another program for editing.

As I said, this is the same computer I had Lightroom on before, but I did need to reinstall all of the programs, and my catalog needed to be updated. I can't see how changing to a different computer would be a problem.

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

jsa321 · Sep 4, 2018

yanisha said:
jsa321 said:

I think I can clarify what happens if you end your Adobe subscription, as I did exactly that over a year ago. I am thinking of going back, though, so I have reinstalled creative cloud and Lightroom, though it's the same computer I used before. But I have NOT signed up for a new subscription yet. Here is what I observe:

The library module works completely. I can filter, tag, import, export, create collections, create smart collections. I can apply presets, use auto toning, and do some simple processing with quick develop.

I was able to use face recognition to search my entire catalog for photos of my mother-in-law. I gathered all of those photos into a collection, then went through it with my wife, tagging her "picks".

Printing works. I have printed several photos with my no-subscription copy of Lightroom. I plan to print many of those photos of my mother-in-law for my wife.

The develop and maps modules do not work, as advertised.

I think the book module works. I never used it before except to play around with it a bit, and it seems to still work the same as before, but I can't say for certain.

I can't find a way to send a photo to another program for editing.

As I said, this is the same computer I had Lightroom on before, but I did need to reinstall all of the programs, and my catalog needed to be updated. I can't see how changing to a different computer would be a problem.

Click to expand...

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.

Major Jack Reacher · Sep 4, 2018

Steve Bingham said:
Nice tip Jack. But what does it cost for upgraded versions?

I have had one update so far, and it was free. I paid $39.99 for my original copy.

Just an FYI. It will take some getting use to if you purchase this software. It is modeled after Photoshop, but different in quite a few areas. So, expect some relearning. I am struggling with the layers flow, but I am sure I will get it eventually. LOL

I have been using PS for 25 years said:
Major Jack Reacher, post: 61582072, member: 46387"]
Affinity Photo is designed to appear, and operate almost identical to Photoshop. You can edit .psd files just like you would in Photoshop.

At the ONE TIME cost of $49.99, you simply can not beat it, imo of course.

I have had Affinity Photo now for over a month, and simply love the software. If you are familiar with Photoshop, the learning curve for Affinity is very very limited, and you will learn this software very fast.

https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/photo/

Click to expand...

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