Switch from Lightroom to Apple Photos & Affinity Photo

[susnrob]

Hello, 

I currently use Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan (Lightroom and Photoshop) with my MacBook Pro.  I have about 14 years (over 65000 files) of photos stored on an external hard drive and I use Lightroom to catalog them.  Nearly 12000 of those are raw files taken with a DSLR within the past 2 years.  Some of those raw files have been edited in Lightroom.  While I do like the Lightroom/Photoshop combination I am not so sure I want to continue to pay $9.99 per month for it.  What I have thought of doing is using apple photos to organize/catalog my photos (I like the idea of being able to access all of my photos on all of my devices and wouldn't mind paying to upgrade my iCloud storage) and then using Affinity Photo for editing beyond the basic editing that Apple Photos is capable of.  Is this possible?  If so, how would I ensure that raw files previously edited with Lightroom would transfer over with the edits?  Also, can I open a raw file in Apple Photos and export to Affinity Photo for edits?  If I do that will those edits then show up in Apple Photo?  Ultimately I want to simplify and have all photos in Apple Photos.  I just want to ensure that any edits I've done will follow when I make the switch and that Affinity Photo will be able to read those.  I'd love to hear any other thoughts or suggestions you have as well.  

Thank you,

Susan

[stokerg]

Hi susnrob and Welcome to the Forums,

You could use Apple Photos to manage the images you have BUT it wouldn't import the edits you've made in Lightroom as the edits are stored in a separate sidecar file.  If you look in the location where you've edited a RAW file, you should also see a xmp file.  It's the xmp file which stores the edits and when you reopen the file Lightroom reads that and applies the edits again.  The trouble with this is that Apple Photos can't read that file and neither can Affinity Photo.  You'd have to export the RAW files from Lightroom as a JPG which would lock in the edits but you'd then have 2 copies of the image, one RAW (which would be the original RAW file) and then the edited JPG version.  

If you did make the switch, yes you can send an image from Apple Photos to Affinity Photo for editing and the changes to the image will be reflected in Apple Photos

[R C-R]

3 hours ago, stokerg said:

If you did make the switch, yes you can send an image from Apple Photos to Affinity Photo for editing and the changes to the image will be reflected in Apple Photos

Apple Photos always retains a 'master' copy of the file originally saved in its "Photos Library.photoslibrary" package as well as the last edited version, whether it was edited in the Apple or Affinity app. It shows you the edited version (if there is one) but you can always revert to the unedited master. However, this is an 'all or nothing' thing in that there is no provision in that app to save or restore to any other edited version.

Just something to be aware of if you use it.

[stokerg]

1 hour ago, R C-R said:

Apple Photos always retains a 'master' copy of the file originally saved in its "Photos Library.photoslibrary" package as well as the last edited version, whether it was edited in the Apple or Affinity app.

Thanks R C-R, thats always a feature i always forget about  

[Rand]

I'm in the same boat as Susnrob.  I am concerned that Adobe will decide that $9.99 isn't enough and will increase the price.  Is there any talk of Affinity team creating a product to compete against Lightroom.  I'm not looking for free software but also I don't trust Adobe.  I'm also at an age where I want to catalog my grandparents slides and my work for my children but I'm just not comfortable with pushing them into a long term commitment with Adobe.  

[susnrob]

On 6/27/2018 at 3:41 AM, stokerg said:

Hi susnrob and Welcome to the Forums,

You could use Apple Photos to manage the images you have BUT it wouldn't import the edits you've made in Lightroom as the edits are stored in a separate sidecar file.  If you look in the location where you've edited a RAW file, you should also see a xmp file.  It's the xmp file which stores the edits and when you reopen the file Lightroom reads that and applies the edits again.  The trouble with this is that Apple Photos can't read that file and neither can Affinity Photo.  You'd have to export the RAW files from Lightroom as a JPG which would lock in the edits but you'd then have 2 copies of the image, one RAW (which would be the original RAW file) and then the edited JPG version.  

If you did make the switch, yes you can send an image from Apple Photos to Affinity Photo for editing and the changes to the image will be reflected in Apple Photos

Hello and thank you for the information!  So, based on what you have said I am thinking that I will export a jpg copy of any raw files that I have applied extensive edits to, mainly the ones I have sent to the lab for print.

 

On 6/27/2018 at 7:29 AM, R C-R said:

Apple Photos always retains a 'master' copy of the file originally saved in its "Photos Library.photoslibrary" package as well as the last edited version, whether it was edited in the Apple or Affinity app. It shows you the edited version (if there is one) but you can always revert to the unedited master. However, this is an 'all or nothing' thing in that there is no provision in that app to save or restore to any other edited version.

Just something to be aware of if you use it.

Thank you for making me aware of this.  

 

5 hours ago, Rand said:

I'm in the same boat as Susnrob.  I am concerned that Adobe will decide that $9.99 isn't enough and will increase the price.  Is there any talk of Affinity team creating a product to compete against Lightroom.  I'm not looking for free software but also I don't trust Adobe.  I'm also at an age where I want to catalog my grandparents slides and my work for my children but I'm just not comfortable with pushing them into a long term commitment with Adobe.  

I have had the exact same thought about the possibility of adobe increasing their prices.  I have also had issues lately with lightroom and files getting lost.  I moved some files (within lightroom, not in my mac finder window) into a folder and then I ended up with lots of missing files and I had to show lightroom where they were.  It was a HUGE mess and I even had a pull a few files from my backup as I just couldn't locate them at the location that my lightroom catalog files were.  I also have some older photos that I'd like to have scanned so I have them saved digitally.  

[susnrob]

Okay so another question.  What is the best way to get all of my photos into apple photos?  Do I need to export them all out of Lightroom?  Or can I just point apple photos to the location of my external drive where I store all of my files?  I don't want to mess up my current lightroom catalog just in case I decided I prefer it over apple photos for managing my files.  

[Paul Warner FRPS]

An interesting question. As a former long-term Adobe user and frustrated for many years by LR always telling me that I could not re-open a greyed out file because it was already open (try searching through thousands of images each time you  want to re-view or print a file!). I finally changed over to Affinity and am broadly happy....although slowness in Photo can be irksome. However my point is that instead of using Apple Photos (an unknown to me), I simply downloaded the free version of Adobe Bridge  to 'see' and organise images, which seems to work well, is familiar and costs nothing.  It also allows me to use the Nik Collection, and others, or print out through Qimage One, which does a far better job than either PS  or LR. 

[susnrob]

44 minutes ago, Paul Warner FRPS said:

An interesting question. As a former long-term Adobe user and frustrated for many years by LR always telling me that I could not re-open a greyed out file because it was already open (try searching through thousands of images each time you  want to re-view or print a file!). I finally changed over to Affinity and am broadly happy....although slowness in Photo can be irksome. However my point is that instead of using Apple Photos (an unknown to me), I simply downloaded the free version of Adobe Bridge  to 'see' and organise images, which seems to work well, is familiar and costs nothing.  It also allows me to use the Nik Collection, and others, or print out through Qimage One, which does a far better job than either PS  or LR. 

I have thought of Adobe Bridge as well.  However I am drawn to Apple Photos because I'd like to have all of my photos there.  I'm doing some digital scrapbooking using and app on my iPhone and the easiest way for me to grab my photos is directly through Apple Photos.