Tools to simplify migrating away from Lightroom?

[Sandokan]

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Is there another Photo Library tool (or digital asset management tool) that can import my keywords and ratings from Lightroom? 

 

I can understand why it would be very difficult to import all the cropping, white balancing, image retouching (etc.) into another tool from the Lightroom database, but I would think the keywords and ratings fields to be easy to read? 

 

I am preparing to move away from LR as I do not wish to subscribe to their cloud service and am annoyed at their big brother tactics of dictating to me as a consumer. 

[uffehagen]

Capture One Pro has an import function to import your LR database, including keywords and most other settings. You could take a 30 days trial and give it a try

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[Exodies]

Is there another Photo Library tool (or digital asset management tool) that can import my keywords and ratings from Lightroom? 

 

I can understand why it would be very difficult to import all the cropping, white balancing, image retouching (etc.) into another tool from the Lightroom database, but I would think the keywords and ratings fields to be easy to read? 

 

I am preparing to move away from LR as I do not wish to subscribe to their cloud service and am annoyed at their big brother tactics of dictating to me as a consumer.

 

Lightroom has two subscriptions - CC which is a cloud service and Classic CC which isn’t. You choose cloud or not. There’s no big brother coercion.

[hoppyman]

Ravi, I wasn't aware that Capture One was capable of importing keywording etc from a database. However at least when I looked some years back, neither C1 nor Lr recognised edit instructions done in the other. 

 

The subscription models (Adobe is not the only major player using those) seem to invoke strong reactions while also are sometimes not completely understood.

Here are the facts as I understand them on the Adobe options.

 

Lr 6.12 perpetual standalone licence is the final version as far as updates of that. No Cloud involvement. Once its automatically activated online on install there is no further connection to the mothership (since there will be no more point or version updates for it).

Lr CC 2015.12 is the previous Creative Cloud program set version usually bundled with Ps CC as the best value subscription plan for photographers by far.. You do not have to use the Cloud storage /sync capabilities of this or its replacement at all if you wish. It requires occasional internet connection to verify your plan currency (perhaps every few weeks) but you can work entirely off line with it otherwise.

Lr Classic CC 2018 (7.1) is the newer version of that which otherwise operates in the same manner. Note that again you can ignore the Cloud if you want. It will 'phone home' to verify your licence periodically too. Some tools are better and some new irritating bugs are now being addressed I understand. If you install this it does not by default remove the previous version now nor its catalog. The confused way the new releases were announced caused problems for a number of their users.

 

Lr CC is the cloud based version. If you work that way synchronising across multiple devices etc then it might be OK. It's new and will doubtless grow but it is much less capable than the desktop based versions right now. I don't think its a good choice for serious photographers currently

 

If you have a subscription and let it expire, your own files remain and the apps are not unintstalled by default. You cant use DEVELOP for example. Providing you had a late licence version of the perpetual licence, that would still be able to read your catalog. Only edit instructions performed with tools not in the version would not be understood

Edited December 31, 2017 by hoppyman

[plasticman]

Hoppyman, that’s a good summary of the options. There is indeed often a misunderstanding about the ‘cloud’ element in the different packages - the user doesn’t need to be constantly online, or store all their images on Adobe’s servers. But there are several reasons why people are rightfully doubtful:

- at work, the price of my package subscription has been raised several times. Not sure how much over the years (haven’t properly paid attention), but the fact remains that Adobe can raise their prices anytime and by however much they want.

- if you go through a photographic dry period, or economic hardship, you can’t choose to stick with your existing software package - you have to keep paying the subscription to be able to edit your images

- Adobe’s main focus is no longer on improving the user experience or utility between upgrades (the incentive to upgrade), the central focus is the revenue stream. Naturally making money was always the company’s aim, but the need to convince users to upgrade by significantly improving the software is no longer the central aim.

[Keith (M)]

Just stumbled across this article:-

 

Fast-track guide from Lightroom to Capture One Pro

[Sandokan]

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Thank you for your summary of the different packages. It is for the reasons given by Plasticman that I am starting to look for alternatives. 6.12 is the last perpetual version they have issued. Economically, subscription software is justified if you only plan on a short term usage of software or are a small user/company with limited capital. As I have been using LR since day 1 and would continue to use it until day DotDotDot, it is going to cost me a lot more than I think it is worth. And that is the important point - what I consider it to be worth. 

 

It is also important to remember, if enough people acted like me, Adobe would be forced to re-continue the perpetual license. 

[jaapv]

Hoppyman, that’s a good summary of the options. There is indeed often a misunderstanding about the ‘cloud’ element in the different packages - the user doesn’t need to be constantly online, or store all their images on Adobe’s servers. But there are several reasons why people are rightfully doubtful:

- at work, the price of my package subscription has been raised several times. Not sure how much over the years (haven’t properly paid attention), but the fact remains that Adobe can raise their prices anytime and by however much they want.

- if you go through a photographic dry period, or economic hardship, you can’t choose to stick with your existing software package - you have to keep paying the subscription to be able to edit your images

- Adobe’s main focus is no longer on improving the user experience or utility between upgrades (the incentive to upgrade), the central focus is the revenue stream. Naturally making money was always the company’s aim, but the need to convince users to upgrade by significantly improving the software is no longer the central aim.

The second reason is not correct. You can suspend your subscription with Adobe, retain the settings,catalogs etc. on your computer and reinstate it at a later point of time. In the meantime a cheap but good solution like Luminar or ON1 should see you through.

 

As for the last reason I cannot quite see that it is justified. Since the beginning of Photoshop CC a number of updates have been implemented gradually. Seen as a package they would have made me upgrade by now. So the subscription model has not lost me money.

[jaapv]

Thank you for your summary of the different packages. It is for the reasons given by Plasticman that I am starting to look for alternatives. 6.12 is the last perpetual version they have issued. Economically, subscription software is justified if you only plan on a short term usage of software or are a small user/company with limited capital. As I have been using LR since day 1 and would continue to use it until day DotDotDot, it is going to cost me a lot more than I think it is worth. And that is the important point - what I consider it to be worth. 

 

It is also important to remember, if enough people acted like me, Adobe would be forced to re-continue the perpetual license. 

True, and it chases people away. For the moment Photoshop is irreplaceable for me. But Lightroom has several serious competitors that are quite likely to lure customers away from Adobe.

[Exodies]

Until they run out of cash and need to start making a living

[Luke_Miller]

My impression is Adobe is not concerned much with the casual user.  I have the full Creative Cloud subscription and have access to virtually all Adobe products.  If one looks at the full spectrum of applications and on-line collaboration features it is easy to conclude that Adobe's emphasis is on businesses and professional users.   

Edited January 5, 2018 by Luke_Miller

[mdemeyer]

While I, in principle, don’t like the subscription model if you consider the cost of regular (or semi-regular) paid version upgrades, I’m not sure it actually cost much more. Using old software is a false economy in the long-run in my experience.

[zeitz]

I believe the Lightroom business model is changing due to a recognition of the changes in the photo industry in general.

 

-  Customers who bought perpetual Lightroom licenses, but who don't buy updates, stopped being customers long ago.  They don't hurt Adobe's revenue stream at all when they move to other software.

-  There are two groups of "photographers" out there now with the almost total death of the compact digital camera.  Those who use smart phones and those who use DSLRs (Leica M is in this second category).  The first group is growing and the second group is dwindling (just ask Nikon).  The growing first group views laptops, tablets, and smart phones as access points to information.  So it makes sense to store files on a cloud and access the files from whatever device is currently in your hand with software that works on all of them.  For many professional photographers this approach also works for their multi-media customers.  Adobe is betting on this group with newLightroomCC.  Will we ever see full Photoshop work on tablets or smartphones? 

-  Darktable is open source software and free.  It won't go anyway.  The commercial alternatives to Lightroom will be winnowed out and many, if not all, will disappear.  The parallel situation is Microsoft Office and Open Office.

-  It will be interesting to see what Capture One does.  We know what big Apple did with Aperture and its loyal following.

 

In the end Adobe is a corporation that sells a full suite of products to imaging professionals and returns a profit to their owners.  If Lightroom stand alone is no longer worth the effort to Adobe, it had to be abandoned.  There is no one who can take on the full Adobe suite that the imaging and publishing professionals need; that monopoly will continue for a long time.

[fotoism]

I think the last update for Lightroom perpetual is 6.14.

 

http://blogs.adobe.com/lightroomjournal/2017/12/6-14-now-available-last-perpetual-update-of-lightroom.html

[hoppyman]

Thank you for your summary of the different packages. It is for the reasons given by Plasticman that I am starting to look for alternatives. 6.12 is the last perpetual version they have issued. Economically, subscription software is justified if you only plan on a short term usage of software or are a small user/company with limited capital. As I have been using LR since day 1 and would continue to use it until day DotDotDot, it is going to cost me a lot more than I think it is worth. And that is the important point - what I consider it to be worth. 

 

It is also important to remember, if enough people acted like me, Adobe would be forced to re-continue the perpetual license.

 

Hi Ravi. My post was actually just asking about functions of Capture One I don’t know about and providing a summary of facts about Lr as I understand them.. I don’t think people’s viewpoints change from these discussions do they?

To add my opinion, the subscription model is compelling for ME and bundled with Photoshop in the photographers plan it’s very good value.

No one is compelled to move to the subscription models.

On the popularity of their subscriptions, anecdotally 5 million people have taken up one for their products so you have some minds to change to make a difference

[Jeff S]

I bit the bullet and moved from perpetual upgrades to LR Classic (bundled with Photoshop). The only thing that would cause me to abandon Classic is if Adobe forced cloud storage structure (or abandoned Classic).

 

I do, however, hate Adobe's deliberate attempts to make it harder to sign up for and upgrade products that they really no longer want you to use. First it was the perpetual (standalone) package, and the experience to sign up for LR Classic (and its confusing naming within LR CC) is now similarly muddled. I wonder if the Classic package is doomed to the same eventual fate once the cloud based version is more mature. Apple is doing the same thing with desktop machines.... abandoning user upgrade ability and jacking prices.

 

Jeff

[Tom R]

Out of curiosity ... has anyone looked at Affinity, perhaps in conjunction with a "front end" tool, such as PhotoMechanic? Or, is this combination not adequate for the OP's needs?