Photoshop/Lightroom vs. Photolab

30.04.2021, 05:40 #1

Administrator

Which is the best photo editing software for beginners?

Adobe Photoshop/Lightroom vs DXO Photolab?
Which do you think is the better photo editing software for beginners? ...or are there better(!) alternatives? How would you advise someone who isn’t familiar with either program? Which one should they choose? Is it worth diving straight into the complexity, or is it better to switch later on?

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30.04.2021, 13:35 #2

Nor bert

I've been using Photoshop and Lightroom for many years. However, I'm still not satisfied with the subscription model, which I’m forced to use. This has led me to start looking for alternatives.
In my spare time, when I can, I’m exploring Affinity Photo and CaptureOne. Both are programs that don’t require a subscription.
I now consider CaptureOne to be the better RAW processor, and its photo management is also well designed. For me, this software is already a solid replacement for Lightroom.
Affinity Photo keeps improving, and I’m hopeful that it could eventually replace Photoshop.
Choosing which programs to use isn’t easy, as several factors come into play:
- professional or personal use
- occasional or frequent use
- your own technical setup - cost
Switching from one program to another always takes a lot of time and effort, depending on how you use it. Ideally, you want to avoid that if possible.
For beginners, Affinity Photo is a great choice. It’s priced at $55, and as of April 30, 2021, it’s currently available at a discounted price of $28.
If you need photo management with RAW processing, CaptureOne is an excellent option. However, it costs $349, which is justified but not something everyone is willing to pay. Alternatively, Luminar 4 by Skylum is available for $89.

01.05.2021, 16:52 #3

Andreas Bibas

Hobbyfotograf

The question could also be, which program did you start with?
For me, it was Magix, then Gimp, Aurora, Picasa, and so on.
Today, I mainly use Lightroom and Photoshop through a subscription.
I think there are now some really great tutorials out there, like those by Stefan Schäfer. I highly recommend them.
I believe everyone has to grow into it based on their own needs.
Just try a lot, try and try again.

10.09.2021, 22:30 #4

Thomas Gahr

Hobbyfotograf

For someone completely new to photo editing, I would actually recommend Luminar by Skylum.
And if you want to dive more into compositing, my top pick would be "Affinity Photo"—especially because of its incredibly affordable price.

18.12.2021, 18:51 #5

Andreas F

Experte

When I first got into digital photography, I used LR 1.0. Then, when I upgraded to a camera with a full-frame sensor and needed a version that supported it, I bought LR 3.0. For the past few years, though, I've been using only freeware. This is also because I switched my operating system to Linux.
Darktable actually offers everything I need. And if that’s not enough, there’s always GIMP.

22.12.2021, 19:59 #6

Markus Schmitz

Hobbyfotograf

I think that's hard to say—it really depends on what you want to do with the software. Is editing more important to you, or managing your photos?
I started out with LR3 because I was looking for good organization, and I've been using the subscription model for some time now. For me, LR offers everything I need; it's well-structured and fairly easy to learn. Plus, there are plenty of tutorials available on YouTube. For beginners, Luminar is definitely a strong alternative, although I still prefer LR’s management capabilities.

26.12.2021, 16:26 #7

Peter Meuter

Profifotograf

I believe the most comprehensive and best-functioning program is Photoshop. Personally, I mostly use Adobe Bridge because it’s more streamlined and offers everything I need as someone who’s not keen on editing. However, comprehensive also means more complex and harder to navigate for beginners, especially if you don’t have the time or patience to dive deep into learning it.

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27.12.2021, 14:24 #8

Andreas Schäfer

Experte

I'm a big fan of Lightroom; it's become quite powerful over time.
For beginners, I would recommend Luminar AI or the upcoming Luminar Neo. I still use the older Luminar 4 on the side and am looking forward to Neo—it's a really affordable and high-quality solution for photo editing.

27.12.2021, 21:39 #9

Frank Weller

Hobbyfotograf

@Thomas Gahr
I've been using Affinity Photo for three years now and can only confirm that the program keeps getting better. It still doesn’t have a library feature, which was promised a long time ago, but I can live with that.
The program looks a lot like Photoshop and is only slightly behind it in terms of features. I originally bought it during a special offer for 37 euros.
Compared to Photoshop’s subscription model, that’s a real bargain.
There are regular updates with minor tweaks, like adding support for new cameras. You can even integrate the Nik Collection into the program. It also supports the ICC profiles from my labs.

Before Christmas, Skylum released the discontinued Luminar 4.3.3 version for free.
I installed and tested it for comparison. The layout is almost ideal for beginners because the interface is very straightforward. Beginners don’t usually start working with layers right away. The preset Looks are also beginner-friendly.
On one hand, the Looks are convenient, but they can also encourage laziness. It quickly creates a desire for new Looks, which you have to buy.
And that can get expensive.

However, there are some drawbacks with Luminar: Skylum customers don’t get discounted upgrades to newer versions. Once the update period for the software you purchased expires, no new features come through updates.
So if you want new features, you have to pay full price. I don’t think that’s very fair from Skylum.
Additionally, according to my research, Looks purchased for previous versions aren’t compatible with the new software. In other words, my Looks from Luminar 3 and 4 don’t work with Luminar AI or the upcoming Luminar Neo. That’s poorly handled by Skylum.

It’s clear that the program relies heavily on AI-driven edits. You may like that or not. For me, I’ve decided to stick with Affinity Photo.
Skylum’s model reminds me a lot of the business models from Adobe and Microsoft.
As soon as the software runs smoothly, they come out with some changes.

For beginners, I’d actually recommend Photoshop Essentials instead, which in the 2022 version already includes AI features designed to make editing easier for newcomers. However, I don’t have personal experience with it. After many years using Lightroom 5, the software no longer recognizes new cameras since 2018 due to lack of updates.
Bye bye Adobe...

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12.01.2022, 11:45 #10

Stefan Greitzke

Hobbyfotograf

I started digital image editing with Photoshop 3, remained loyal to Adobe for many years, and even purchased CS6 outright back then. I still use it occasionally today, especially Premiere Pro. However, the other CS6 programs are gradually falling out of use. Unfortunately, with Photoshop, due to the lack of support for Camera RAW, I have to convert my RAW files to the DNG format before I can edit them in Photoshop. When the subscription model was introduced, I began looking for alternatives and found excellent options in Affinity Photo, Affinity Designer, and Affinity Publisher. Thanks to the StudioLink interface, all three programs work seamlessly together, allowing for a great workflow at an unbeatable price-performance ratio. Additionally, I use DxO Photolab 5 and am very satisfied with it. DxO’s NIK Collection integrates easily as a plugin in Affinity Photo, as do Luminar 3, Flex, and 4. This significantly expands Affinity Photo’s functionality, leaving very few needs unmet. I’ve developed my own library system using my regular file storage and rely on FastStone Image Viewer for that. That’s sufficient for me. Why would I need numerous catalogs on top of my own storage, especially ones Adobe insists on?

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Photoshop/Lightroom vs. Photolab