Lightroom or similar type software

[justin b]

Hi guys

Just wanted to ask if using  software like Lightroom is necessary with Affinity Photo in order to extend its capabilities.

What can lightroom do which can give images more impact and help Affinity have more to work with or  is this not a valid way of looking at this combination of workflow?

With the many filters and Add -ons I expect AP to soon be able to support will this then  help to alter the  relationship with 3rd party software and make AP not need pre or post editing software at all? I have read AP team are planning to release a lightroom styled equivalent . Does this mean that AP, therefore, is limited in what it can do  or will another piece of software merely make  image adjustments easier  and more preset orientated rather than extend the users versatility to edit images?

 

I am new to Photo editing and more confusing than the techniques there are for dealing with images are the myriad of programs out there that all claim to extend onto main  imaging editing  programs like Photoshop and Affinity.

 

I hope my questions do not reveal my ignorance too much on this subject.

[MEB]

Hi justin b,
Welcome to Affinity Forums
Lightroom is a digital asset manager (DAM) coupled with a RAW converter/developer. It's designed to catalog/work/manage large libraries, apply the same settings to a bunch of photos, work with photosets etc. Affinity Photo is a RAW converter/developer and photo editing app. It was NOT designed to manage libraries/catalogs or work/apply the same settings to a set of images. It's more comparable to Adobe Camera RAW + Photoshop, where you open one (or a couple) RAW files in Adobe Camera RAW for global adjustements then move to Photoshop for localised edits (using selection, masks, channels etc). We do plan to release a DAM software later which will work seamlessly with Affinity Photo.

 

[Gregory St. Laurent]

7 hours ago, justin b said:

Hi guys

Just wanted to ask if using  software like Lightroom is necessary with Affinity Photo in order to extend its capabilities.

What can lightroom do which can give images more impact and help Affinity have more to work with or  is this not a valid way of looking at this combination of workflow?

With the many filters and Add -ons I expect AP to soon be able to support will this then  help to alter the  relationship with 3rd party software and make AP not need pre or post editing software at all? I have read AP team are planning to release a lightroom styled equivalent . Does this mean that AP, therefore, is limited in what it can do  or will another piece of software merely make  image adjustments easier  and more preset orientated rather than extend the users versatility to edit images?

 

I am new to Photo editing and more confusing than the techniques there are for dealing with images are the myriad of programs out there that all claim to extend onto main  imaging editing  programs like Photoshop and Affinity.

 

I hope my questions do not reveal my ignorance too much on this subject.

I have been using the free Faststone image viewer as a makeshift DAM that I can view photos, organize, tag and launch to Affinity Photo for editing, it has been working out surprisingly well. I'll continue to use it until Serif get around to releasing their DAM

[Rocketdrive]

IMO on killer feature of LR is that it works and syncs across multiple devices. You can take a photo with a DSLR, import it on Your iPhone, make a quick edit in LR mobile, then later edit it on the desktop, take it to Affinity Photo for some retouching or compositing, and send it back to LR. The final version will then be available on Your phone, desktop and any other connected device.

Depending on Your work it can be a very powerful combo. If You have few pictures and do heavy retouching You might be happy with Affinity Photo alone (and whatever folder structure You have for managing Your photos). Having a DAM helps when You shoot/receive many photos and want to take advantage of additional features like rating, tags, keywords, catalogues, collections and other things that help You organize and find pictures more easily.