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N00bie to photo editing, any suggestions?


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Adobe has gone to subscription, not necessarily to the cloud.  I have Lightroom CC Classic, but don’t use the cloud.  If the cloud were mandatory, I would look dump Adobe.  For 10 bucks a month, Photoshop is included.

You might still be able to purchase the last standalone LR version, I believe 6.14.  There are threads here if you do a quick search.  This will not, however, include all the latest LR features.  

There are also other recent threads on alternative software (Luminar, Affinity, Capture One, etc), as many folks aren’t happy with Adobe.  I still am... for now.

Jeff

Edited by Jeff S
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41 minutes ago, Jeff S said:

Adobe has gone to subscription, not necessarily to the cloud.  I have Lightroom CC Classic, but don’t use the cloud.  If the cloud were mandatory, I would look dump Adobe.  For 10 bucks a month, Photoshop is included.

You might still be able to purchase the last standalone LR version, I believe 6.14.  There are threads here if you do a quick search.  This will not, however, include all the latest LR features.  

There are also other recent threads on alternative software (Luminar, Affinity, Capture One, etc), as many folks aren’t happy with Adobe.  I still am... for now.

Jeff

Thanks Jeff.

 I just want to buy the software once and be done with it. I'll look into LR 6.14. If I buy that off B&H for example, will i get the latest version? Thanks!

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39 minutes ago, jcatral14 said:

Thanks Jeff.

 I just want to buy the software once and be done with it. I'll look into LR 6.14. If I buy that off B&H for example, will i get the latest version? Thanks!

A bit contradictory. Software improves all the time, making updates or purchasing new versions of interest to somebody who asks for :

"the latest version"

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It's an oddly steep learning path for digital image processing because there are many questions you should address.  Such questions include: are you going to calibrate your monitor, are you going to print, are you only posting to the web, do your subjects want to look better than they actually are, are you going to start with raw or jpeg, do you expect your pictures to look as good as the best ones you see posted, etc, etc?  You may want to take an image processing class at your local community college or perhaps offered by your local camera dealer.  The small expense will get you started more quickly and on the right path.  Then you can download the free trials of the myriad of apps out there and know what features you are looking for.

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42 minutes ago, jaapv said:

Actually, I find the Adobe subscription model cheaper than their updates used to be.

The interim LR updates were free, and the new LR iterations cost $79 here. So, $120 per year is definitely more for me, but Photoshop (which I rarely use) is now included.  Still well worth it for me.

Jeff

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On 2/15/2019 at 5:30 PM, zeitz said:

It's an oddly steep learning path for digital image processing because there are many questions you should address.  Such questions include: are you going to calibrate your monitor, are you going to print, are you only posting to the web, do your subjects want to look better than they actually are, are you going to start with raw or jpeg, do you expect your pictures to look as good as the best ones you see posted, etc, etc?  You may want to take an image processing class at your local community college or perhaps offered by your local camera dealer.  The small expense will get you started more quickly and on the right path.  Then you can download the free trials of the myriad of apps out there and know what features you are looking for.

Thanks! I think I'll go this route 🙂

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If you are more of a book-learning type, the Adobe family of programs is well served for beginners by the books of Scott Kelby, despite his atrocious jokes, and there are plenty of excellent tutorials on the Adobe website.

Other programs offer this service as well.

A program I can thoroughly recommend is ON 1. It is not very hard to use, beginner-friendly by offering a large number of modifiable presets, and has an extensive library of tutorials on its website. It is cheaper than Lightroom too.

Luminar is a good choice as well, for much the same reasons. Affinity is a bit more complicated, more a Photoshop competitor than a Lightroom one.

Have a look at Photoshop Elements too. Nothing wrong with it.

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Julieanne Kost free Adobe videos are easy to follow, and full of good information and tips....

http://blogs.adobe.com/jkost/lightroom-training-videos

There are more on Photoshop.

All software can be learned; the more practice, the easier.  One tends to like the one that receives the most time and attention. The far harder part is judging when, where and to what degree to apply the edit tools. This is much the same as using a camera; the interface can be easily learned, but the most valuable tools are between the ears. 

Jeff

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  • 2 months later...
On 2/15/2019 at 2:22 PM, jcatral14 said:

Thanks Jeff.

 I just want to buy the software once and be done with it. I'll look into LR 6.14. If I buy that off B&H for example, will i get the latest version? Thanks!

I think this is a bit of an old thought considering now that the photography pack from adobe is soooo inexpensive and it completely keeps itself up-to-date.  I use adobe CC classic, and on occasion, Lightroom CC.  Adobe should have given these products different names, it's a little confusing, but essentially, I store nothing in the adobes cloud except the files I actually want to.  once I learned how to move them around, I was like DUH!  facepalm.. it's really easy.  So occasionally I want to sit on my back porch with a cigar and make some rough edits, no problem.  ... I add photos that I want to do that to a "synced collection" and poof, they are available on my iPad, AWESOME.

OR I'm out and about, and my iPad is with me.  I can move photos to my iPad, edit them if I want over coffee, when I get home, there they are sitting right in my computers cloud folder, I can then move them right to my hdd, remove them from cloud service and keep working.  Pretty nifty stuff once you get the hang of it.

The monthly price tag is low.  Years ago it was common to buy the newest version anyway when it came out or shortly after.. this is really no different.

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On 2/17/2019 at 12:35 AM, jaapv said:

If you are more of a book-learning type, the Adobe family of programs is well served for beginners by the books of Scott Kelby, despite his atrocious jokes, and there are plenty of excellent tutorials on the Adobe website.

Other programs offer this service as well.

A program I can thoroughly recommend is ON 1. It is not very hard to use, beginner-friendly by offering a large number of modifiable presets, and has an extensive library of tutorials on its website. It is cheaper than Lightroom too.

Luminar is a good choice as well, for much the same reasons. Affinity is a bit more complicated, more a Photoshop competitor than a Lightroom one.

Have a look at Photoshop Elements too. Nothing wrong with it.

Yes, this is why I prefer Martin Evening's books!
I used Julieanne Kost's video a lot on my learning curve for LR, but swapped to the book for PS.

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