Request - Affinity Image Caddie?

[_patriot]

Ok, so that name is not so cool, but here is what I wish for:  It would be over-the-top if the Affinity Guru Team would design a replacement for Photoshop's long forgotten but much loved, Lightroom. 

At the moment, the last version of this standalone app still works with Ventura 13, but it is definitely on wobbly legs and no upgrade in sight.  It shakes and quivers when I restart it (after a shut down), but it does regain its senses and functions normally after a bit.

I use Lightroom nearly every day to (1) organize most of my images, and (2) tune them up before I export them for other uses.  I use Apple products exclusively so all of my images go into the Photos app, but not all are worthy of Lightroom.  IMHO, this is a super helpful app and I dread the day that it fails to function due to an MacOS upgrade.

I may have begged for this in the past, but I really hope someone will say, "Hey, guys, this is a great idea.  Let's do it!"  Right!

Anyway, I hope this will be considered for future development.

Thanks,

Phillip

[Pšenda]

Try search "DAM": https://www.google.com/search?q=DAM+site:https://forum.affinity.serif.com

[fde101]

There are numerous options out there for this already; just a few examples:

• Capture One
• DxO PhotoLab
• On1 Photo RAW
• DarkTable
• RAW Therapee
• Luminar Neo

[_patriot]

@Pšenda

DAM?  I should get out more often because I was not familiar with that term.

Thanks for the link - very interesting reading.  

Edited September 6, 2023 by _patriot
clarification

[_patriot]

@fde101

Thank you for your post.  I will indeed take a look at the apps you suggested.  

I am still hopeful that the Affinity guru's are working on their own DAM app and will surprise us some day.  They have been more than successful in every app they have developed to date so why not their own DAM?

Thanks again.

[Old Bruce]

DAM is an acronym for Digital Asset Manager. I would love to have a DAM that could look after (manage) my digital assets which are Photos, Text Files, Fonts, Audio Files, Video Files, Applications etc. Keep track of what projects used which files and where they are on my hard drive. Oh, wait. I should make a Database. That would also allow me to keep track of sales too.

People here on the forum seem to be wanting is something that will keep track of edits done to each photo file and then reapply those edits at some future date. Most folks focus on raw files and the edits done when converting/developing them. The big problem with the various DAMs listed is that each will develop the raw files and store that information in a proprietary file format. Even if the file format was something that can be read by humans there is no guarantee that a different DAM will be able to apply the same edits. I seem to recall something from years back that used a masking system which was a vector and pixel hybrid which was not translatable for any other application.

In short if you find and use a DAM you are stuck with that DAM and it had better be giving you files which other applications can read. I don't know of any such software.

[fde101]

Yes, that is how that software works, and yes, that is a limitation of such programs.

A benefit, on the other hand, is that most such applications provide ways to repeat the adjustments/edits against other photos, so if you have a bunch of photos that were taken at the same time in the same place, you can make your adjustments to one of them, then apply those adjustments in bulk to the others as appropriate, and the adjustments are still just slider values and the like so you can still tweak them per photo if needed.

The solution to the proprietary nature of the tracked edits is obviously to export the photos in their completed formats once you are happy with them and need to use them outside of the application in which you performed those adjustments/edits.