Lightroom Replacement

[joker00]

So I have a large library. It started with Aperture, and at one point moved to light room.

But now that Lightroom isn't available as a standalone 1-time price I'm looking for the next Aperture Replacement.

I've tried ACDSee and even Capture One - but looking through large libraries is not that good.

Anyone have some M1 suggestions?
Most important is being able to look through 100s of directories that contain 1000s of photos. (like Lightroom did).

thanks

 

[fstoprm]

Unfortunately, no other developer has come up with a viable solution. I'm holding on to my wife's Intel Mac Mini just so we can run our purchased standalone versions we we need too. I simply cannot justify the yearly subscription to Adobe. Yes, it's a write off - expense of doing business etc., but I'm old school when it comes to software licensing. It's the last product of theirs that we use.

 

[Jumpthesnark]

Most important is being able to look through 100s of directories that contain 1000s of photos. (like Lightroom did).

I only use LR for post-processing. For editing, sorting, viewing, organizing and tagging my images with metadata, I use Photo Mechanic. For searching, I can simply use the finder.

That works with my workflow and backup method, which includes keeping images in separate folders, organized by assignment. I don't know how you organize your images, and whether a method like that would work for you.

Here's info on Photo Mechanic https://home.camerabits.com

 

[sk8andmetal]

As mentionned above there are no good alternative. I finally ended up subscribing on Adobe and use LR Classic with Photo Mechanics to pre sort my photos.
I give a try to capture 1 but was not great at managing library.

 

[McCrab]

So I have a large library. It started with Aperture, and at one point moved to light room.

But now that Lightroom isn't available as a standalone 1-time price I'm looking for the next Aperture Replacement.

I've tried ACDSee and even Capture One - but looking through large libraries is not that good.

Anyone have some M1 suggestions?
Most important is being able to look through 100s of directories that contain 1000s of photos. (like Lightroom did).

thanks

C1 is seriously good, especially if working in Sessions. Highly scaleable; fast, pro software. Can overlay with a catalog if needed, however can send post-edits/output straight to a NAS or third party for web or other end use. Workflow similar to Aperture; I am not a fan of LR - it is clunky and slow

 

[ssmed]

Like many above I am using Lightroom and Photomechanic. I have a Creative Cloud licence for Illustrator and Indesign so cost of Lightroom is not and issue.

They are work pictures, so labelling is key (and at the time of taking them off the cameras). As long as I am organised and stick to my XXXX.NEF changed to YYYYMMDD-IdentificationNumber-Description-XXXX.NEF (I like to leave the original name so I can keep an eye on the sequence and the original name does reference the camera as well) I could probably use Finder most of the time. The problem is with a big collection (TBs) on a external drive, finder can be a bit slow (and that is with TB3 RAID6) and the tagging is primitive.

Aperture was very good at meeting my needs of modest photo correction, clear directory structure and labelling with albums for different teaching projects and to make really useful collections for finding things more easily. I do question now – so long after I have used Aperture 'in anger' whether it would cope with really big libraries**. What the Mac needs for the business case is a really fast asset management system (Apple) where the index is on the host computer -( a super finder for business and that remembers off-line resources) as it is not just photos I am working with. Previously I have looked at DAM solutions, but the prices are horrendous and make creative cloud look quite reasonable.

** Edit: D2H files were 6GB and D850 files are now 50GB!

 

[parameter]

I just happened to come across this thread, and while I have only tried it for a few minutes (I've been actually meaning to give it a good run-through but haven't gotten to it yet) has anyone tried Darkroom (https://darkroom.co/)?

I'm also asking because nobody here has brought it up as a replacement. Is it just too simple for more advanced uses/photographers? Or is there some other aspect(s) that it falls short on? Like I said, I'm looking for the same type of replacement, for Lightroom and way back to Aperture.
Curious and thank you!

 

[Jumpthesnark]

I just happened to come across this thread, and while I have only tried it for a few minutes (I've been actually meaning to give it a good run-through but haven't gotten to it yet) has anyone tried Darkroom (https://darkroom.co/)?

I'm also asking because nobody here has brought it up as a replacement. Is it just too simple for more advanced uses/photographers? Or is there some other aspect(s) that it falls short on? Like I said, I'm looking for the same type of replacement, for Lightroom and way back to Aperture.
Curious and thank you!

I haven't heard about this until your post, so I just took a brief look. It looks like it could be a substitute for LR for some, but it also seems to have major limitations that would make it a no-go for me. I use LR's lens profiles, and I didn't see anything like that in Darkroom. I couldn't see any metadata management, which is crucial. It seems that you are meant to find images by scrolling through thumbnails, which is a non-starter when it comes to having multiple libraries with hundreds of images in each. I couldn't find information about its RAW processor, whereas I know Adobe is constantly updating RAW when new cameras are announced.

And it also looks a little hobbyist-oriented to me. Maybe it's the use of emojis in the app. Maybe it's because their site shows screens that seem big and bright, almost like iOS games or something. Maybe it's because of this description about their import tool: "At times you might want to import some photos or videos from a different source than your iPhone photo library." Importing photos from DSLR memory cards is central to what I need from a post-processing app, it's not something I would do "at times."

I think this app this is meant for people whose camera is their phone. And not for photographers who use DSLRs, mirrorless cameras, etc.

 

[planteater]

Check out XnView. It’s quite capable and with some careful adjustments to the gui setting it’s pleasing to look at. It’s the closest thing I’ve found to be a Windows ThumbsPlus equivalent.

 

[Jumpthesnark]

Check out XnView. It’s quite capable and with some careful adjustments to the gui setting it’s pleasing to look at. It’s the closest thing I’ve found to be a Windows ThumbsPlus equivalent.

I checked out XnView before, and I thought it was a less-capable copy of Photo Mechanic, with a gui that made me think of a Windows app, circa 1997. NOTE: It has been a while since I checked it out. I just went to their site and the gui is much improved, it only looks about 10 years out of date now. Progress!

That said, it IS free, and I have recommended it to students before. It works for batch editing/applying metadata/culling/renaming/etc. It doesn't have post-processing tools like Lightroom though, as I recall. So it's definitely a capable tool for some jobs.

 

[webbga]

Back in 2012 when LR and Photoshop went with the lease program I fired off a letter to Adobe telling them what a terrible idea I thought this was. I detailed how the price would go up, downloading would cause issues etc. It is now 2022 and I have had my humble pie. There has not been one price increase in the 10 years I have used the lease program. I used to update LR and Photoshop every few years a terrible price just to get the updates. I would no sooner update than new features would appear a few months down the road. The changes to LR and Photoshop have been significant over the past years and have not cost me an additional penny. Updating has been seamless for the most part with just minor issues that there quickly resolved.
I realize leasing is not for everyone and fully respect that opinion, but it has turned out very well for me.

 

[Zendokan]

Skylum Luminar?

 

[planteater]

I checked out XnView before, and I thought it was a less-capable copy of Photo Mechanic, with a gui that made me think of a Windows app, circa 1997. NOTE: It has been a while since I checked it out. I just went to their site and the gui is much improved, it only looks about 10 years out of date now. Progress!

That said, it IS free, and I have recommended it to students before. It works for batch editing/applying metadata/culling/renaming/etc. It doesn't have post-processing tools like Lightroom though, as I recall. So it's definitely a capable tool for some jobs.

That’s definitely an apt description of its stock appearance. Thankfully it is highly configurable and can be made to look better.

I only use it for browsing and viewing files, while editing with other tools. I also have a license for ACDSee, but find XnView superior for my needs and preferences.

 

[neutrino23]

Can you comment on the browser in Graphic Converter? I no longer do much with photographs. Back in the day I found this very useful. The developer is very responsive to problems and requests.

 

[Jumpthesnark]

Can you comment on the browser in Graphic Converter? I no longer do much with photographs. Back in the day I found this very useful. The developer is very responsive to problems and requests.

Depends on what you want to do with your images. Also it depends what OS you're running. From the GC site: "Note: AppleMacSoft Graphic Converter does not support macOS 10.15 Catalina and macOS 11 BigSur. if you are using the latest version of macOS, You can download and try FotoGo - Batch Image Converter and Editor." Looks like Mojave is the most recent supported OS.