Lightroom alternatives for m1 on a budget

[james*b]

Hi,
I just got back into digital photography with my camera and mac after almost 5 years of only using a mobile. I am currently upgarding from a 2014 Intel i5 to an M1.

I was previously happily using Lightroom 4 and a very, very old lite version of Photoshop. Both of these I think are now obsolete. In addition my Lightroom catalogue has been lost

So I am starting again. How do i get going, as I do not have the budget for an Adobe subscription? What are the best alternative options out there that are free (or nearly free)?

Ideally I would like to edit new photos as well as manage my fairly large catalogue.

I know it is going to be a bit of a job moving computers plus more so getting everything back on track, so would really appreciate some good advice.

Thanks in advance!

 

[mystery hill]

Darkroom?

 

[r.harris1]

Darkroom looks great, though I've not used it (Capture One + Photoshop for me).

What type of editing do you like to do? If you aren't looking for things like local brushes, masks and such, there's RAWPower (written by the former Aperture lead) and it hooks in nicely with Apple's own Photos app as far as the management side of images goes, with a few more bells and whistles.

Other lower cost tools include Affinity Photo (more of Photoshop equivalent than a Lr one). Others will chime in with their favorites (I think this topic gets discussed a lot )

 

[james*b]

Darkroom?

Thanks. Do i have to import images through "photos" to use Darkroom? Also is it possible to manage my files over multiple external disks?

 

[mollyc]

You might want to just search for Lightroom throughout the site (or even just in the Photo forum) because this conversation comes up seemingly once a week (it's not quite that often, but regularly).

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/lightroom-alternative-for-mac-based-dam-and-maybe-raw-processing.2364695/

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/can-someone-recommend-an-organization-app-that.2364036/

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/looking-for-a-photo-library-organizer-container-alternative-to-apple-photos-not-an-editor.2347278/

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/lightroom-replacement.2344337/

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/lightroom-vs-apple-photos-long-term-story.2341536/

I do use LR; I hated the subscription model and avoided it for a long time, but it is actually less expensive overall than regular paid upgrades for PS and LR combined over time.

 

[RUQRU]

Check out Photomater and Pixelmator Pro. These app were created by folks who worked on the Aperture team in the past. There are very 'Mac like" and integrate well with Apple Photos.

 

[bunnspecial]

I'd suggest RAWPower. It's very Aperture-like in how it operates. Its cataloging/DAM capabilities IMO aren't as good as Lightroom-although take my opinion on that with a grain of salt because I've used Lightroom long enough that it's how my brain is "wired" and I don't think anything is as good

It has a 1 or 2 week trial and is not super expensive to buy.

 

[stillcrazyman]

ON1 Photo Raw 2024
DxO Photolab 7
And the above mentioned apps.

Most have a trial version.
Try them out and see what fits your workflow best.

 

[stillcrazyman]

Just realized this thread is old - from 2022.