Is there life beyond Lightroom / Capture One?

[MichaelC]

All the input is greatly appreciated, thanks everyone. I've got the trial of Affinity installed so that is next on the list to try out. Fairly happy with DxO although I miss the Split Toning for highlights and shadows as found in LR and the local adjustments I find are a bit easier also, so hopefully Affinity will bridge any gaps. I didn't have much success with Raw Therapee, as I couldn't get the results I was after. Seems to be a consensus about the quality of Iridient though.

Thanks again for the suggestions

Michael

[IanSeward]

All the input is greatly appreciated, thanks everyone. I've got the trial of Affinity installed so that is next on the list to try out. Fairly happy with DxO although I miss the Split Toning for highlights and shadows as found in LR and the local adjustments I find are a bit easier also, so hopefully Affinity will bridge any gaps. I didn't have much success with Raw Therapee, as I couldn't get the results I was after. Seems to be a consensus about the quality of Iridient though.

Thanks again for the suggestions

Michael

Here is a thread on tips for DXO-PL 2 which might help make the local adjustments tab easier to understand, particularly control points.

Ian

[kirkt]

rawtherapee is free... and Corel still exists - AfterShotPro... both do Win, OSX, Linux... SilkyPix runs on OSX

PS: there is free Phocus from Hasselblad that uses OSX embedded raw conversion

I have used Alien Skin Exposure 4 and SilkyPix Pro 9 - Exposure offers an all-in-one editing environment.  SilkyPix is quirky and, while it provides terrific conversion for my Fuijfilm X-H1 raw files, it is slow and creates massive color changes when the raw files are underexposed by more than two stops.  Now, with CaptureOne including fujifilm film sims, SilkyPix is not necessary in my experience except in very specific circumstances.

The various all-in-one apps like Luminar, OnOne and Topaz Studio offer a varied and wide-ranging set of tools but generally do not produce as high-quality output as a quality dedicated raw converter.  The workflow and editing experience ranges from okay to terrible, in my opinion, and transitioning from one module (OnOne, for example) to another can be painfully awkward and slow.  The emphasis of these applications appears to be "do everything," including the quest to generate the de facto DAM alternative to Lightroom, instead of mastering the essentials.  They all have trials, but trying everything can be exhausting!

I used to use DxO extensively but stopped when I switched from Canon equipment to Fujifilm, as DxO does not support X-Trans sensors.  I beta tested PhotoLab v1 as they introduced local adjustments with the Nik U-Point technology, and it is impressive when it works.  I think they are getting the UI under control and are making using the U-Point and other local adjustments easier and more efficient.

Kirk

[Alan Smallbone]

In on1 photo raw there is no going between modules anymore. It is all layers and effects are added as layers, masks per layer etc. No more switching modules.

Alan

[IanSeward]

I have used Alien Skin Exposure 4 and SilkyPix Pro 9 - Exposure offers an all-in-one editing environment.  SilkyPix is quirky and, while it provides terrific conversion for my Fuijfilm X-H1 raw files, it is slow and creates massive color changes when the raw files are underexposed by more than two stops.  Now, with CaptureOne including fujifilm film sims, SilkyPix is not necessary in my experience except in very specific circumstances.

The various all-in-one apps like Luminar, OnOne and Topaz Studio offer a varied and wide-ranging set of tools but generally do not produce as high-quality output as a quality dedicated raw converter.  The workflow and editing experience ranges from okay to terrible, in my opinion, and transitioning from one module (OnOne, for example) to another can be painfully awkward and slow.  The emphasis of these applications appears to be "do everything," including the quest to generate the de facto DAM alternative to Lightroom, instead of mastering the essentials.  They all have trials, but trying everything can be exhausting!

I used to use DxO extensively but stopped when I switched from Canon equipment to Fujifilm, as DxO does not support X-Trans sensors.  I beta tested PhotoLab v1 as they introduced local adjustments with the Nik U-Point technology, and it is impressive when it works.  I think they are getting the UI under control and are making using the U-Point and other local adjustments easier and more efficient.

Kirk

With ON1 Photo Raw you just go from "Browse" Images to "Edit" now.  The UI is so much better than it used to be.

Ian

[kirkt]

Good to know about OnOne - I gave up on them after I kept having to pay money for each "new" version for the honor of beta testing their software (and I used OnOne 10, etc. before the current Photo Raw incarnation).  Glad they are getting their act together.  They have a marketing juggernaut with their ambassadors, and I hope the folks to whom they appeal get their money's worth, but i finally gave up on their software after deciding I was done giving them my money for their inferior product. 

Kirk

[NigelC]

Now I have DXO Photo Lab I only need Lightroom (6.14) for the print module (not that I find that a good experience with Mac/Epson compared to Win/photoshop). What other programmes might combine with DXO for effective colour management/soft proofing? I don’t need all the layout options ofLR.
Affinity seems the only possibility and offers other things DXO doesn’t do.

[kirkt]

Now I have DXO Photo Lab I only need Lightroom (6.14) for the print module (not that I find that a good experience with Mac/Epson compared to Win/photoshop). What other programmes might combine with DXO for effective colour management/soft proofing? I don’t need all the layout options ofLR.
Affinity seems the only possibility and offers other things DXO doesn’t do.

For printing and proofing on the Mac, have you tried Print-Tool?

https://www.quadtonerip.com/html/QTRprinttool.html

It is a printing and proofing application, not an image editor, but it sounds like that is really what you are looking for to complement DxO.  Otherwise, Affinity Photo is a good choice.

kirk

[NigelC]

For printing and proofing on the Mac, have you tried Print-Tool?

https://www.quadtonerip.com/html/QTRprinttool.html

It is a printing and proofing application, not an image editor, but it sounds like that is really what you are looking for to complement DxO.  Otherwise, Affinity Photo is a good choice.

kirk

That looks promising  thanks although not updated for High  Sierra or Mojave

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

That looks promising  thanks although not updated for High  Sierra or Mojave

For printing, it's hard to beat Qimage.
https://www.binartem.com/qimageone/

And if you're on a Windows Platform, you could also consider Qimage Ultimate which has lots of additional image editing options, and more.
http://www.ddisoftware.com/qimage-u/

Cheers,
Bart

[Jeremy Roussak]

That looks promising  thanks although not updated for High  Sierra or Mojave

That's a potentially serious issue. It's 32-bit software, so although it will run (probably; I've not tested it) under Mojave, it won't run under any future Mac OS.

Jeremy

[NigelC]

For printing, it's hard to beat Qimage.
https://www.binartem.com/qimageone/

And if you're on a Windows Platform, you could also consider Qimage Ultimate which has lots of additional image editing options, and more.
http://www.ddisoftware.com/qimage-u/

Cheers,
Bart

I like the unclog facility!

[NigelC]

That's a potentially serious issue. It's 32-bit software, so although it will run (probably; I've not tested it) under Mojave, it won't run under any future Mac OS.

Jeremy

Actually I emailed Roy Harrington and he said Print Toll is now 64 bit although Quimage is a much more attractive price than I thought.

[David Good]

For printing, it's hard to beat Qimage.

And if you're on a Windows Platform, you could also consider Qimage Ultimate which has lots of additional image editing options, and more.

Cheers,
Bart

Most definitely.I am a longtime user/fan of Qimage Ultimate for it's excellent printing capabilities.

Dave

[VidJa]

I was completely into lightroom and photoshop but when my Mac died I had to do things differently due to financial constraints.

I’m using darktable, rawtherapy krita and gimp on linux now. It took a while and a lot of hours on YouTube to learn the new workflows but now I’m totally confident I can produce the results I want. Best of all, for zero costs.
I pay by submitting bug reports and occasionally even fix code that is broken.

[Lust4Life]

Some time back I bought Luminar and now have Luminar 2018 - will NOT upgrade it to the newest flavor!!
I have found very little I like about it - my impression: Can't stand the library, find interface not well thought out,
and frankly just not a match for far better programs out there.

They constantly bombard you with emails, until you unsubscribe, and I feel their target market is the novice
photographer that is the type with the mindset that "over does" HDR and likes that look.

(Aurora HDR has been useful on several occasions and worth a look when you get to that question in your mind, but Photomatrix Pro is my HDR default.)

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Some time back I bought Luminar and now have Luminar 2018 - will NOT upgrade it to the newest flavor!!
I have found very little I like about it - my impression: Can't stand the library, find interface not well thought out,
and frankly just not a match for far better programs out there.

They constantly bombard you with emails, until you unsubscribe, and I feel their target market is the novice
photographer that is the type with the mindset that "over does" HDR and likes that look.

(Aurora HDR has been useful on several occasions and worth a look when you get to that question in your mind, but Photomatrix Pro is my HDR default.)

Hi Jack,

Thanks for your info. I have only trialed Aurora, but while it looked promising, I found the processing on the heavy side, and it didn't add anything I couldn't already achieve with SNS-HDR.

Luminar does seem to be agressive with emails, so that also made me lose interest somewhat for their other products.

My current workflow, Capture One and Affinity Photo or Photoshop CS6, combined with the help of TopazLabs plugins (and a few others) allow me to achieve what I want.

Cheers,
Bart

[Lust4Life]

Bart, I have found that on most images Photomatrix Pro HDR works great, and yet on others Aurora HRD will work better.
Thus I use both but 90% of the time it's Photomatrix, thus it is by far my favorite.

Jack

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Bart, I have found that on most images Photomatrix Pro HDR works great, and yet on others Aurora HRD will work better.
Thus I use both but 90% of the time it's Photomatrix, thus it is by far my favorite.

Personally, I prefer realistic/natural looking HDRIs and the Realistic Tonemapper added to Photomatix version 6 did help with that. But I haven't upgraded from version 5.1.3 yet, because I'm happy with the tools I already have.

Cheers,
Bart

[Lust4Life]

Personally, I prefer realistic/natural looking HDRIs and the Realistic Tonemapper added to Photomatix version 6 did help with that. But I haven't upgraded from version 5.1.3 yet, because I'm happy with the tools I already have.

Cheers,
Bart

I agree - SOOO much of HDR looks cartoonish and frankly that seems to be the look and tool sets I see coming from the group at Aurora and Luminar.