Alternatives to Adobe RAW?

[snegron]

I currently have a subscription with Adobe (mostly for Photoshop; never been a fan of Lightroom). Like many others, I'm not a fan of the monthly subscription model.

What other RAW editing programs do others here use?

 

[Richard A]

DxO PhotoLab is what I use alongside Photoshop, Bridge and Camera Raw.

 

[lodbrok]

Affinity Photo 1 - bought version 2 but still go back to version 1. They started now with a subscription model due to an online A.I. thing but I think you still can get Affinity photo 2 without subscription.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

I'm still happy with ON1. You can subscribe or buy a perpetual license for a particular year's release.

 

[Phil Vetra]

Affinity Photo 3 is free and you can add on the AI if you wish for a fee.

 

[Killtimer]

Nitro on a Mac.It's from the Aperture programmers, quite lean but adequate for my needs.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

darktable: I guess I'm in a tiny minority here!

The free demo goes on for ever. The upgrades are free too. You can even get your hands on the latest development version (if you have a little bit of courage!) .

And no, it is not just for Linux nerds. Very much alive and well on Windows. I'd say Mac too, but I don't know the current situation with some signing thing those people have.

 

[Richard A]

I currently have a subscription with Adobe (mostly for Photoshop; never been a fan of Lightroom). Like many others, I'm not a fan of the monthly subscription model.

What other RAW editing programs do others here use?

I just want to make a point here. Photoshop is not a RAW editor. It is a pixel based editor and always has been. Although RAW editors features have increased massively over the last 20 years or so, there is still a lot of stuff Photoshop can do that a RAW editor can't.

 

[Sean2260]

Sad thing is that even some software applications that went subscription but kept a perpetual are now doing away with even the perpetual! Ugh.

Anyways, I would give a thumbs up to Capture One. Years back Sony promoted this as Capture One did have a "Capture One for Sony" version (actually they were all specific to the camera at that time). It was basic but allowed me to tweak photos. When I got serious about editing, I ended up going with full Capture One Professional with perpetual license. I am happy with it.

One I would give thumbs down to is Corel's After Shot Pro. I had purchased Paint Shop Pro version that included this for free. I have looked at it several times, and found that the changes it applies are not good. For example, say you want to bump up saturation. I found images while color was increased, it increased badly in regards to specific colors. Reds could be overblown, blues hardly touched.

But the best suggestion of all, download demos of these programs like ON, CaptureOne, DXO, etc.. and try them out simultaneously to see which software you are most comfortable using, and can trust and rely the editing will fit your style.

 

[THXGEEK]

For RAW, I've become a dedicated fan of DXO PhotoLab v9.0!

For 'quick and dirty' jpg management, I still use Cerious Software's Thumbs Plus! (Sadly, no longer supported after the death of its creator, Phillip Crews)? (But perhaps soon to be resurrected?)

For me, I will move between DXO, Topaz, Radiant and/or Thumbs Plus to achieve my desired end results.

As always, YMMV.