Best Non-Destructive Editing Software for Photography

[mtbdudex]

The thread title says it:
"Best Non-Destructive Editing Software for Photography".

Yep - it's time for me to move from Aperture to newer/supported Non-Destructive software.
I'm learning towards LR6, the buy version for $150.

This article from May-2016 does a nice summary:
https://photographylife.com/best-non-destructive-editing-software-for-photography

 

[MCAsan]

For something to be best, it has to be closest match to your requirements. So what are your requirements?

BTW, the May 2016 summary very much out of date. For example, yesterday On1 released Photo RAW 2018 which has Pano and HDR. The summary does not include apps such as Picktorial or Luminar, and many others. Luminar will get its DAM added in 2018.

 

[mtbdudex]

That was the best summary I could find upon doing a web search.
Great point on what I want to do ....

My requirements:
a) desire non-destructive
b) we use now (2) Apple 4k TV's, so must sync to those
c) I work strictly in RAW for DSLR, but jpeg for my/family members iPhone
d) I'm a photo hobbyist, not a business
e) We take lots of photos, so file management is a no-brainer.
f) For simplicity I archieve the library yearly. So for Aperture I have a 2007 - earlier library, then 2008 thru 2017 each calendar year. It's easy to switch when needed. So this must support similar method.
g) .... ability to import the legacy Aperture libraries and keep their non-destructive edits (pie in the sky)

fwiw I have older PhotoShop elements 14, and also PhotoShop CS 5.1
also use my 27" 2015 i7 iMac for photo work

 

[MCAsan]

Won't Photos work just fine for your requirements? You can always add extensions for more advanced editing capabilities.

 

[simonsi]

Capture One Pro was what I chose when I moved off Aperture.

 

[jaduff46]

Went from Aperture to Lightroom to Capture One Pro.

Capture One Pro, for me, has the right sort of feel. Easy to do simple stuff, but with the ability to go much deeper in terms of image tweaking. Additionally it was cheaper since I'd just purchased the Sony A6000 which allowed me to use the only-Sony version.

 

[stillcrazyman]

I also went from Aperture to Lightroom and finally to Capture One Pro (Sony). Having Sony camera gear made that decision easy. $50 for a $300 app.

I use Photo Mechanic for 'dam' functions. I use Luminar, AuroraHDR and Affinity for creative edits.
I also use Apple's Photos to deal with my iPhone photos.

 

[MCAsan]

Why do you need Photo Mechanic with CiP? Is the CiP DAM not flexible in folder creation, file renaming, or IPTC field competition....compared to PM?

 

[stillcrazyman]

Why do you need Photo Mechanic with CiP? Is the CiP DAM not flexible in folder creation, file renaming, or IPTC field competition....compared to PM?

I have over 30k photos in folders, organized by event, date and such. I prefer having them not in a catalog file.
C1P doesn't appear to have as robust a file management process as other apps. I use Sessions instead of one big catalog.
That was my biggest issue with Lr. Catalog corruption was frequent.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

That was the best summary I could find upon doing a web search.
Great point on what I want to do ....

My requirements:
a) desire non-destructive
b) we use now (2) Apple 4k TV's, so must sync to those
c) I work strictly in RAW for DSLR, but jpeg for my/family members iPhone
d) I'm a photo hobbyist, not a business
e) We take lots of photos, so file management is a no-brainer.
f) For simplicity I archieve the library yearly. So for Aperture I have a 2007 - earlier library, then 2008 thru 2017 each calendar year. It's easy to switch when needed. So this must support similar method.
g) .... ability to import the legacy Aperture libraries and keep their non-destructive edits (pie in the sky)

fwiw I have older PhotoShop elements 14, and also PhotoShop CS 5.1
also use my 27" 2015 i7 iMac for photo work

Won't Photos work just fine for your requirements? You can always add extensions for more advanced editing capabilities.

+1 I would just use Photos...

 

[simonsi]

I have over 30k photos in folders, organized by event, date and such. I prefer having them not in a catalog file.
C1P doesn't appear to have as robust a file management process as other apps. I use Sessions instead of one big catalog.
That was my biggest issue with Lr. Catalog corruption was frequent.

Just in case you didn't know, C1P supports referenced files and folders. I have approx 70k images in referenced (exported from Aperture at the time), and now approx 30k in the C1P catalog.

 

[ChrisA]

That was the best summary I could find upon doing a web search.
Great point on what I want to do ....

My requirements:
a) desire non-destructive
b) we use now (2) Apple 4k TV's, so must sync to those
c) I work strictly in RAW for DSLR, but jpeg for my/family members iPhone
d) I'm a photo hobbyist, not a business
e) We take lots of photos, so file management is a no-brainer.
f) For simplicity I archieve the library yearly. So for Aperture I have a 2007 - earlier library, then 2008 thru 2017 each calendar year. It's easy to switch when needed. So this must support similar method.
g) .... ability to import the legacy Aperture libraries and keep their non-destructive edits (pie in the sky)

fwiw I have older PhotoShop elements 14, and also PhotoShop CS 5.1
also use my 27" 2015 i7 iMac for photo work

I have to agree that Apple's "Photos" app does everything on the list.

I would recommend to NOT take the photos offline every year. What if you ever want to find an old photo? You'd have to remember when you shot it.