topic Re: Photo Editing Software I can buy outright in Camera Software

Photo Editing Software I can buy outright

WJ_Big — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 17:36:26 GMT

I have an older copy of Photoshop Elements, which I usually find OK for cleaning up my photos. There are some shots, though, that I really want to make them extra nice, and I am falling short, and I'd like to upgrade my software. I have a few friends who swear by Lightroom, but I would much rather buy whatever package outright, and not be stuck with a subscription. Is there one choice of photo editing software that stands out above the rest that I can buy outright?

Re: Photo Editing Software I can buy outright

jrhoffman75 — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 19:26:05 GMT

Welcome. I don’t think you will get a useful direct answer to your question because different folks use and swear by different products as being the best.
Some perpetual license products that are popular are DxO, Capture1, ON1.
Most software products have trial versions.

Re: Photo Editing Software I can buy outright

shadowsports — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 19:46:02 GMT

As of this writing DxO Photolab is #1, even over Lr. "Industry standard" or not, people are leaving Adobe CS in droves. Adobe has bought up all of their competition and are now using this IP for their AI. People are not taking too kindly to this.

All of the perpetual license products do a good job. They are free to try. I suggest you try a few and pick the one you like best. (cost, features, device support, fits your workflow, etc). I like DxO personally.

If you have Canon glass, then Canon's DPP is hard to beat, and its 100% free. 😃 Its my go to when I'm "on the road".

Re: Photo Editing Software I can buy outright

WideAspect — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 20:31:18 GMT

Here's a direct answer, Serif Affinity Photo. Currently, a one time payment of $70, That's right, no subscription. They also have a try before you buy option. There is a version for Windows, as well as, the Mac and iPad – they have won significant 'software of the year' awards from Apple several times.

I have used Affinity Photo since it was in beta, about 4 years. I moved to it after using Photoshop for 25 years, which I also started with it in beta. But I abandoned all Adobe products when it became abundantly clear that therir interests no longer were focused on excellent software but instead as a vehicle for data analytics.

Affinity Photo's interface and user experience approach is quite different from Photoshop but in all respects it is far more sophisticated than Photoshop. The has quirks, like all software but nothing soul killing. For someone new to image editing software it might seem like overkill but you will grow into and never find yourself in a dead end. For the price, no worries.

For those old hands in Photoshop, the transition will be kinda tough but worth it.

One assessment I always add to software purchases is the support and community. The community is active, large and excited and you will find the developers are active in their forums, they keep a close eye on the vibe and develop their upgrades from what they glean on the forums.

Oh, did I mention upgrades they are frequent and many are as major as buying a new piece of software.

All the best, and good luck with your image editing journey.

[Removed 3rd party links per Community Guidelines]

Re: Photo Editing Software I can buy outright

normadel — Sat, 26 Oct 2024 05:26:16 GMT

There are two very capable photo editing programs that are absolutely free:

Paint.net is for Windows only. Check it out at getpaint.net

GIMP is for Windows, Mac & Linux. It's more Photoshop-like in form & function.

You don't need to buy good editing software.

Re: Photo Editing Software I can buy outright

Waddizzle — Sat, 26 Oct 2024 12:08:28 GMT

There are two basic types of apps that are used for photos. What are you looking for?

There are the digital darkrooms like Adobe Lightroom or Canon Digital Photo Professional. The latter is free. These apps are primarily used to create digital prints, JPG files, from digital negatives, RAW files.

On the other hand, there are image editors such as Adobe Photoshop or GIMP. The latter is free. These can be used as digital darkrooms. But they can also be used to edit and create images and visual elements [within] the image. For example, you could build a movie poster.

Re: Photo Editing Software I can buy outright

WideAspect — Sun, 10 Nov 2024 20:06:58 GMT

There's an old adage, "You get what you pay for."

There is a sweet spot between capability and exploitation.

GIMP is a minimal capable piece of software versus Adobe subscriptions, which is not unlike the relationship feudal lords had with their serfs.

Re: Photo Editing Software I can buy outright

Robegul — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 23:43:30 GMT

As someone else said, everyone has their own preferences. I would imagine it is very time consuming to try a bunch of these. I set my criteria, and then picked one to try and liked it - so I cannot compare to the rest.

I chose DXO Photolab about a year ago, and really like it. I used Canon DPP for awhile but found it VERY slow.

I chose DXO Photolab because:

1. It is a one-time purchase (excluding periodic optional updates with new features)

2. It has lens-specific correction data (sharpness, chromatic aberration, vignetting) built in - just like Canon DPP

does.

3. It does not use a proprietary database to store your pics - which drives me nuts. It just stores the files on whatever drive, and in whatever folder you specify.

Good luck with the search!

Cheers

Re: Photo Editing Software I can buy outright

normadel — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 00:09:41 GMT

Minimally capable? Surely you jest.

Who is doing the exploitation of which you speak?

More power to anyone who wants to be in the Adobe world. Not me. Not a lot of people.

Re: Photo Editing Software I can buy outright

WideAspect — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 20:25:14 GMT

Isn't that what I said?

Re: Photo Editing Software I can buy outright

WideAspect — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 22:31:57 GMT

I wanted to add a couple of additional thoughts:

My expertise is more in the backend, post production. I worked for many years fixing / consulting with commercial photographers and filmmakers. Knowing what to do with a troubled digital image or

Holding and shooting with a camera is a new thing to me, why I am here so much. 🙂

I have a policy, that for every time I ask a question in a forum (I'm involved with quite a few) I try and find a question that I can contribute to as well. Unfortunately, I am not that equipped in this forum to answer many camera / lens based questions.

I had not heard about DXO Photolab until it was mentioned in this forum. I spent sometime reading about it, they have a substantial amount of documentation on their website. I appreciate companies who like to talk about the idea of their software and not just their marketed features.

The unfortunate condition of being new to anything, is that at the time you need to make some longterm choices about tools ( software & hardware ) when at the same time, you have very little information to make those longterm decisions.

Money is certainly a legitimate concern but what might be far more important is the commitment of time and knowledge resources. Much of that can be applied in a template fashion to other aspects of learning other tools but much of it is not and then there is the further issue of that tool teaching a bias, a type of approach that may or may not be applicable in a general manner – and may constrict your future thinking.

I want to be clear, saying this now after mentioning DXO Photolab is not saying that their software is like this or would cause restricted thinking. Their specialty seems to be focused on RAW image development and they seem to have a fairly sophisticated approach that is well accepted.

In their forums there are negative comments but they are the kind of comments that do not indicate that the software is falling short of what it promises but that the users so like the software so much they want more. There is a lot of feature requests, many are outside the intention of the software: soft proofing, luminosity masks, etc. It is very mature software, they are currently celebrating they're 20th anniversary.

As Robegul indicates, DXO Photolab is about $300, a one time purchase + upgrades. It has all the features you would expect from a RAW development software.

In my own biases I viewed your question differently than as a best RAW viewer advice, as you mentioned it in the term "photo editing software that stands out above the rest that I can buy outright?"

Editing, at least to me, means something beyond RAW development. Affinity Photo has most anything you would need in RAW development, plus a few approaches I've not seen anywhere. But after you've developed your image, what's next? Besides all the things you would expect of a photo editing software they also have special modules: panorama stitching, tonal merging, HDR merging, focus stacking and a module for astrophotography.

Those features that DXO users wanted, soft proofing and luminosity masks? Affinity Photo does both plus sophisticated macros and batch processing.

Typically the entire suite of Affinity Photo, Designer and Publisher is about $165 as a one time purchase. It has been my experience with Affinity Photo that their upgrades are not just minor fixes but massive new feature sets. As they say, "All apps. All platforms. No subscription."

They were offering a six month free trial, not sure if that is still running.

Not trying to pitch you away from DXO Photolab or hard sell Affinity Photo, just trying to provide enough info at your early stage to make an informed decision. RAW development may be all you need, enough said.

I've always held the idea that committing to a tool larger than your current self will allow you to grow into that future creator you may wish to be someday.

All the best, a lot of great advice in this thread, hope I added something.

Re: Photo Editing Software I can buy outright

Robegul — Sat, 16 Nov 2024 00:04:50 GMT

Thanks for the clarification on DXO Photolab, WideAspect!

As you mentioned, DXO concentrates on RAW image processing, and does not do photo stitching, HDR merging or focus stacking.

But the cost is a bit less than you mention - at least what I paid last Black Friday. I paid $169 - just for DXO Photolab, not for any of their optional packages like the film packs which I did not want.

I have used a free online tool for stitching to create panoramas (but probably not as well as some of the paid tools I assume).

For HDR, I have found that together with the excellent dynamic range of modern cameras (I have an R6), and the recovery and noise correction tools in DXO, I have never been unable to create the photo I want from a single picture. I know this will not be the same for everyone - for me, as an amateur, it is enough dynamic range.

Again, thanks for the important clarifications on this software.

Cheers

Rob

Re: Photo Editing Software I can buy outright

WJ_Big — Tue, 26 Nov 2024 23:44:16 GMT

Thanks, everyone for your words of wisdom! I did purchase the DxO, and have been referring to a YouTube instruction video as I get familiar with it. So far, so good. I am truly impressed with its "Deep Prime" luminance function. I also downloaded Canon's DPP, and am working my way around that. I recently purchased a new Canon R7, which has an 3 shot HDR function that combines all 3 shots in camera. (So, no need for that function.) All in all, what a difference between both of these and my old Elements 11!

Re: Photo Editing Software I can buy outright

shadowsports — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 05:43:13 GMT

There is much to like about DxO. I've been using it since v1. Now on v8. The learning curve isn't bad at all really, and their documentation is very well done (mentioned previously).. Deep Prime is one of its greatest strengths. Plenty of customizations available as well. I like being able to arrange my own tool pallets. .Sometimes I struggle when I'm going back and forth between DPP and DxO. DPP does remain a staple for me. I just enjoy having both.

Re: Photo Editing Software I can buy outright

Bolron — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 09:54:56 GMT

Totally get wanting to avoid Adobe’s subscriptions!!!! If you want something you can still buy outright, Luminar Neo is worth a look. It has a one‑time license (no subscription) and pretty strong AI tools for things like sky replacement, portrait cleanup, and general photo enhancements. Affinity Photo is another solid option (more like a Photoshop replacement), also a one‑time purchase but a bit more manual

Re: Photo Editing Software I can buy outright

Bolron — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 16:04:11 GMT

I’d go with Luminar Neo. You can buy it outright, it’s easy to use, and still powerful enough to make your photos look great without getting stuck in a subscription.