Lightroom .... my way?

[John B]

I currently use Adobe Bridge to manage my file system and Camera Raw to edit the RAW files. If you've used Camera Raw you know, although possessing most of the very same tools as Lr, it's a little wonky. So what I'm wondering is can I manage and maintain my file system the way I want while using Lightroom Classic?

 

[AlphaWorld]

I don't use LightRoom for pretty much that reason - I have no interest in "importing" all of my images into it. My understanding is that it wants to "import" all the images into its own control, and I don't think you can avoid that.

Not sure what you mean about "wonky", though. I'm happy with how Camera RAW works. I've gone through multiple generations of ACR, and I've owned two or three editions of the excellent "Real World Camera RAW" book that helped me learn how to use it to my advantage.

Here's a suggestion, though: you might like DXO PhotoLab - it has some LightRoom-like features, but works on your own directories - maybe that might suit your requirements?