Jump to content
You must now use your email address to sign in [click for more info] ×

Please Lightroom Replacement!


Recommended Posts

I guess I posted this in the wrong place so here it is again with emphasis. Please Please Please!!! Can Affinity come up with an Organizer to replace Lightroom. I just went to check my location tags in Lightroom 6 maps and the map is gone and they say you have to update to the latest version to get a functioning map. I'm getting sick and tired of Adobe and their licensing fees and not supporting their legacy apps. So Please Help Help Help!!!

 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

They work on a DAM already. Use the search for keywords "DAM" and "lightroom".

Windows 10 Pro x64 (1903). Intel Core i7-9700K @ 3.60GHz, 32 GB memory, NVidia RTX 2080
Affinity Photo 1.7.2.471, Affinity Designer 1.7.2.471, Affinity Publisher 1.7.2.471

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, BluestarCK said:

Not sure what your talking about. I'm asking that Affinity come up with a replacement for Lightroom.

Lightroom is a Digital Assets Manager (DAM).

They work on s Lightroom alternative right now.

Windows 10 Pro x64 (1903). Intel Core i7-9700K @ 3.60GHz, 32 GB memory, NVidia RTX 2080
Affinity Photo 1.7.2.471, Affinity Designer 1.7.2.471, Affinity Publisher 1.7.2.471

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, BluestarCK said:

If that is true that is great. Is this just a rumor or are you sure?

Use the searxh function. There are long threads regarding this and an official answer. But I would not expect it before 2020.

Windows 10 Pro x64 (1903). Intel Core i7-9700K @ 3.60GHz, 32 GB memory, NVidia RTX 2080
Affinity Photo 1.7.2.471, Affinity Designer 1.7.2.471, Affinity Publisher 1.7.2.471

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To be honest I'd rather have Serif focus on completing Designer, Photo and Publisher (especially Publisher) to get all the (sometimes still missing) basics working without problems. Besides, I think they have more than enough on their hands with these three programs to spend much time on a DAM program so I wouldn't expect it soon.

Lightroom is not really what I would call a proper DAM, it is way too much focused on photography assets to be useful for other files as well, and I already use a dedicated RAW editor so a Lightroom replacement from Affinity would not be high on my list for quite a while. At least not until the RAW editor in Photo is a good match for Lightroom/ACDSee/Capture One etc. It isn't bad but still not at the same level.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, seeing that some basic things suggested back in 2016 still need some work shows me that Serif has focus on setting up the Affinity trio as fast as possible. I hope after Publisher comes out they will give all tools some love before moving on.

But in my specific case I also see value in getting everything set up as fast as possible because the real power in my view comes with Publisher and the tight integration.

To be honest I'm not so much impressed by Photo alone. I personally find it rather mediocre and still prefer Photoshop Elements.

But a fine publishing tool like Publisher with the added capabilites of Photo in tight integration where you can build up a photo book without the need to switch between tools (due to the planned Photo Persona) is a disruptive innovation. Here lies the raw power and potential. I have a dream where I grab my raw photos from my sdcard, drag them into Publisher, do all optimizations there and integrate them into my photo book project in just one step where everything meshes in a way I get the same results as today, but super-fast.

Yes, customer photo book creation software also does some sort of publishing and you also can touch pictures there. This idea as itself is nothing new. But not to the extend you can do it with Photo. And you don't get a printable high-quality PDF out of it.

So TL;DR: It makes sense that Serif starts a basic version of each Affinity app and goes deeper from there. Publisher is the real thing they target.

 

Windows 10 Pro x64 (1903). Intel Core i7-9700K @ 3.60GHz, 32 GB memory, NVidia RTX 2080
Affinity Photo 1.7.2.471, Affinity Designer 1.7.2.471, Affinity Publisher 1.7.2.471

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, Steps said:

But a fine publishing tool like Publisher with the added capabilites of Photo in tight integration where you can build up a photo book without the need to switch between tools (due to the planned Photo Persona) is a disruptive innovation. Here lies the raw power and potential.

This integration is why I got Designer and Photo in the first place in anticipation of Publisher. If it will work as advertised then it may indeed be a game changer as it is exactly the kind of thing I would have good use for. Photo is currently good enough for most of my needs, Designer needs more functionality but it is also usable enough for quite a few things but not good enough yet to replace some of my other software.

The combination with Publisher is what is going to make a big difference for me from a workflow perspective so I hope Publisher will be officially released in the not too distant future and the Persona integration with Designer and Photo then being enabled.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Arte said:

This integration is why I got Designer and Photo in the first place in anticipation of Publisher. If it will work as advertised then it may indeed be a game changer as it is exactly the kind of thing I would have good use for. Photo is currently good enough for most of my needs, Designer needs more functionality but it is also usable enough for quite a few things but not good enough yet to replace some of my other software.

The combination with Publisher is what is going to make a big difference for me from a workflow perspective so I hope Publisher will be officially released in the not too distant future and the Persona integration with Designer and Photo then being enabled.

Yes to everything you said!

We share here the same vision. :)

And I'm super sure this was Serif plan all along inventing Affinity. There is no such thing on the market right now.

Adobes apps are all stand-alone as Serif Plus range was. Just be a cheaper Creative Cloud alternative is not enough. Beat it by tight integration.

Windows 10 Pro x64 (1903). Intel Core i7-9700K @ 3.60GHz, 32 GB memory, NVidia RTX 2080
Affinity Photo 1.7.2.471, Affinity Designer 1.7.2.471, Affinity Publisher 1.7.2.471

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Steps said:

There is no such thing on the market right now.

As I wrote in another thread, Canvas comes reasonably close with having vector, pixel and publishing in one program but the current version for Windows has such an old code base that it is lacking in quite a few now essential areas (e.g. typography support). Their rewritten from scratch Mac version is better in some areas but worse in other.

So at the moment Affinity is the more promising option, even if it uses three separate programs to achieve this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, Arte said:

As I wrote in another thread, Canvas comes reasonably close with having vector, pixel and publishing in one program but the current version for Windows has such an old code base that it is lacking in quite a few now essential areas (e.g. typography support). Their rewritten from scratch Mac version is better in some areas but worse in other.

So at the moment Affinity is the more promising option, even if it uses three separate programs to achieve this.

Canvas from whom? I don't know this app.

Windows 10 Pro x64 (1903). Intel Core i7-9700K @ 3.60GHz, 32 GB memory, NVidia RTX 2080
Affinity Photo 1.7.2.471, Affinity Designer 1.7.2.471, Affinity Publisher 1.7.2.471

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Steps said:

Canvas from whom? I don't know this app.

Originally it was made by Deneba for Mac only and a Windows version came much later, then Deneba got bought by ACDSee and then it got last year spun off into a full subsidiary of ACDSee so that it could focus on its development with its own team.

https://www.canvasgfx.com/

But like I said, Affinity is at the moment the more promising option. I still use it for really old Canvas files that at times need to get some update but otherwise it is lacking a few features that are essential for me to have (e.g. typography features for OpenType support).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not a coder so don't know what is involved in building a lightroom alternative with DAM. But it seems to me that Affinity Photo has most of the photo developer options in it already....plus a lot of other stuff not found in lightroom but found in a program like photoshop. I consider AP closer to something like Photoshop.

So, strip out all the extra photoshop things and add in a mysql database set for cataloging and allowing large scale groups of pictures to be edit all at once.....and you are good to go!

Yeah, I did say I wasn't a coder :)

The one thing I really do like about lightroom is that you can take a whole group of similar type pictures, edit one picture and then just copy all those style/edits to an entire group of pictures all in just one single click...and then make microedits to individual pics if desired. Then just save the edit information in a database catalog for those pictures in another single click. If more extensive or special type edits (sky replacement, extensive object removal, special masking, etc) are needed they can then be opened in photoshop.

Perhaps Serif is worried that a lightroom alternative would pull sales from Affinity Photo. But I see them as complementary programs/apps for each other. But, right now I do have an old Adobe 6 version of Lightroom I can use and then still pull into AP if I want to add in photoshop like edits and effects to my pictures. Plus I can using AP for other types of drawing/painting/picture development since I don't have/use photoshop. Nonetheless, having an Affinity LightRoom alternative would be a better option as all my products would be under one house so to speak.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know what there so much left to talk about regarding the DAM. We know it's in the making and will come most likely next after Publisher.

I can wait. digiKam is a fine tool in the mean time to keep photos organized.

Windows 10 Pro x64 (1903). Intel Core i7-9700K @ 3.60GHz, 32 GB memory, NVidia RTX 2080
Affinity Photo 1.7.2.471, Affinity Designer 1.7.2.471, Affinity Publisher 1.7.2.471

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was just researching this myself and came across this thread.  I ditched all Photoshop stuff six months ago.  Although I seldom ever used Lightroom (I don't take enough photos), it did come in handy once or twice for some huge astronomical panoramas I created (mainly just for quick processing of each photo, but I used the excellent MS ICE for the composite).   Anyway, what about Darktable?  Never used it, but free and supposedly updated, also works on multiple platforms.  The info I could find on it shows that it supports many Lightroom functions.     

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/7/2019 at 9:43 PM, Arte said:

Originally it was made by Deneba for Mac only and a Windows version came much later, then Deneba got bought by ACDSee and then it got last year spun off into a full subsidiary of ACDSee so that it could focus on its development with its own team.

https://www.canvasgfx.com/

But like I said, Affinity is at the moment the more promising option.

Yes, definitely!

Out of curiosity I trialed recently InDesign CC 2019, QXPress 2018, Xara Designer Pro X and so on to get a better idea how Publisher actually compares in the market.

Just now I trialed Canvas X 2019... and... wow... just wow... this is certainly a really really bad usability.

And they want 300$ for this (normal price being 600$)? Crazy.

I can forgive Scribus for it's bad usability since it's open source, but this Canvas offer is upright offensive.

I was even not able to do my usual test case workflow as I did not find how to rotate or crop a image.

image.png.bf2bb61f33d77b8609c35645660cd40c.png

Sorry for the rant, but I'm puzzled right now.

Windows 10 Pro x64 (1903). Intel Core i7-9700K @ 3.60GHz, 32 GB memory, NVidia RTX 2080
Affinity Photo 1.7.2.471, Affinity Designer 1.7.2.471, Affinity Publisher 1.7.2.471

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello @BluestarCK
Happy to read your question ... didn't checked if it was on the right or the wrong thread but until the admin moves it if they have to, let me drop my input.

if you want something that works, that is no expensive and does thing even better than LightRoom ... go for Luminar 3 from Skylum (Ex Macphun).
They have released a version of Luminar that you can download and try for 30 days (fully no restrictions) from their website.
Believe me you will like and enjoy it.

i'm often adding Luminar to my Pixel workflow because it has the two amazing : Ai enhancer filter + Ai sky enhancer which makes things really easy so you can focus on the main work only.
You can learn about Luminar by searching Photo Joseph on Youtube he is the best Luminar 3 teacher i've found on the internet up to now !

Blessings !

Never be the Same Again !
---
Dell Optiplex 5090 SFF
Intel Core i5-10500T @2.30GHz with 12GiB 2666MHz DDR4
Intel UHD Graphics 630 for 10th Generation
M.2 2280, 512 GB, PCIe NVMe Gen3 x4, Class 40 SSD

Windows 11 Pro x64 22H2 + LibreOffice 7.5.3

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Steps said:

Yes, definitely!

Out of curiosity I trialed recently InDesign CC 2019, QXPress 2018, Xara Designer Pro X and so on to get a better idea how Publisher actually compares in the market.

Just now I trialed Canvas X 2019... and... wow... just wow... this is certainly a really really bad usability.

And they want 300$ for this (normal price being 600$)? Crazy.

I can forgive Scribus for it's bad usability since it's open source, but this Canvas offer is upright offensive.

I was even not able to do my usual test case workflow as I did not find how to rotate or crop a image.

image.png.bf2bb61f33d77b8609c35645660cd40c.png

Sorry for the rant, but I'm puzzled right now.

Oh yes, I agree, though I have used it in the past when it was still Deneba Canvas in the early 1990's and the interface is not really that different. It does take (quite) a bit of getting used to but it is also missing some tools, or the equivalent tools are more limitied etc. . It is not that bad as it does have a combination of features that can be useful if you need it but it just isn't as smooth as Affinity Designer, CorelDRAW, Illustrator in quite a few ways.

If you are familiar with CorelDRAW, the rotate etc. works similar. Cropping works slightly different. It is a really old code base and user interface so that is why they are reportedly working on a complete rewrite with updated tools, user interface etc. similar as what Serif did with their Affinity range vs the old xxPlus software range (thought even the xxPlus was better in more than just a few ways than Canvas X). Canvas Draw (their Mac version) seems to be better though as that one does e.g. supporte unicode and is supposed to have a better user interface, but that too is a recent complete rewrite of an older version that had a bad reputation for usability. So there is hope.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

+1

PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASE. So sick of Adobe. Paying EUR 10 per month like a professional but for private use, with very limited time, so paying most of the time for nothing; and Lr gets worse and worse... Just want to have a professional suite as my requirements and demands are still high. Would jump to Affinity within microseconds...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/7/2019 at 7:01 PM, Arte said:

To be honest I'd rather have Serif focus on completing Designer, Photo and Publisher (especially Publisher) to get all the (sometimes still missing) basics working without problems. Besides, I think they have more than enough on their hands with these three programs to spend much time on a DAM program so I wouldn't expect it soon.

Lightroom is not really what I would call a proper DAM, it is way too much focused on photography assets to be useful for other files as well, and I already use a dedicated RAW editor so a Lightroom replacement from Affinity would not be high on my list for quite a while. At least not until the RAW editor in Photo is a good match for Lightroom/ACDSee/Capture One etc. It isn't bad but still not at the same level.

@Arte, I agree with what you said. I also think it's better that Serif concentrate on the development of Designer, Photo and Publisher at present rather than go down the routes of DAM and Lightroom softwares not least because those two markets are already pretty crowded with many existing competent options.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/17/2019 at 6:01 PM, Eric5 said:

I was just researching this myself and came across this thread.  I ditched all Photoshop stuff six months ago.  Although I seldom ever used Lightroom (I don't take enough photos), it did come in handy once or twice for some huge astronomical panoramas I created (mainly just for quick processing of each photo, but I used the excellent MS ICE for the composite).   Anyway, what about Darktable?  Never used it, but free and supposedly updated, also works on multiple platforms.  The info I could find on it shows that it supports many Lightroom functions.     

@Eric5, you could check out any/all of DarkTable, RawTherapee and LightZone, try them out and go with the one that works best for you. I should add that they are all free and cross platform.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 10 months later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.