How Many Programmes

[Photofarmer]

A mate whos retired LR PL7 Topaz and Photoshop uses them all.
Guess depends on you needs and number of photos and if your a Pro and make a living out of it.

How many editing programmes you guys have tried capture one refunded.
Got Topaz black friday rarely use.
Settled on DXOPL7/FPack.
Myself really only need one.

PS dont take this as a brag far from it but call my self a hobbyist nowadays rather than rank beginner.
2 years im off my learner plates. Putting a pic or two in a local photo comp let ya know how i go.
But editing still beginner.

 

[PKM-UK]

Hi Peter,

Hobbyist - my software: macOS Sonoma, Adobe (Creative Cloud - Lightroom Classic, Photoshop and Camera Raw), Tony Kuyper (TK9 and TK Gen Fill plug-ins for Photoshop), DxO (PhotoLab Elite 7, FilmPack 7, ViewPoint 4 and Nick Collection 6), Topaz Labs (DeNoise AI, Sharpen AI, Gigapixel AI, Photo AI and Studio 2), GoPro Player and - very rarely - Canon DPP 4. I also use a Loupedeck CT (with Loupedeck Console) and a Calibrite Display Pro HL (with Calibrate Profiler).



Phil

 

[Photofarmer]

wow all of a sudden im out of my depth in this discussion think im back to beginner status

 

[PKM-UK]

wow all of a sudden im out of my depth in this discussion think im back to beginner status

Hi Peter,

Sounds to me like you've got a great mix of excellent software which meets your needs. That's a perfect set-up.

Me, I like to fiddle around with stuff (inquisitive and creative mind!) - but I never use it all on the same image...

Phil

 

[Photofarmer]

Hi Peter,

Sounds to me like you've got a great mix of excellent software which meets your needs. That's a perfect set-up.

Me, I like to fiddle around with stuff (inquisitive and creative mind!) - but I never use it all on the same image...

Phil

its really something i lack in editing. Time as well. Lightning my main genre often crop , white balance , bit of exposure , noise reduction thats it sure i could do way more

 

[Kamoshika]

DxO PhotoLab 7 Elite
DxO ViewPoint 3
DxO FilmPack 6 Elite
Topaz Sharpen AI

 

[Archibald]

I use Lightroom Classic on my desktop and laptop for 95% of my photo editing. It took me years to learn it and now I'm pretty good with it and can make it dance. Once in a while I will go to Photoshop to do something different (for instance focus stacking, background replacement, colorizing). I don't know Photoshop, so I have to look up directions on the Web. I also use Topaz Sharpen at times, as a Lightroom plugin.

And yeah, sometimes I also use Irfanview. It is great for doing bulk cropping, resizing and editing when IQ is not the most important consideration. So it is used for document scans and sometimes also for photos. It can be handy for little jobs, for instance to crop or resize or to add text, when I don't want to bother with overly-complicated Photoshop.

And then there is ICE! It isn't available any more, but I have it installed. The long name is Microsoft Image Composite Editor. It stitches images together to make panoramas, and is really useful for combining scans of oversized documents.

 

[Jake Shoots Birds]

I have a bunch that I've accumulated over time, but right now I'm only using Lr/Ps, DxO Pure Raw 3, and Topaz Sharpen AI and producing the best images I've ever made.

 

[Only RF]

I'm simple these days. LrC, PS (which I rarely use) and Topaz sharpen AI. If Adobe ever gets a Sharpen AI module I'll stop using a Topaz. DXO definitely has Adobe beat in that area. Still using USM. I waited patiently for Adobe Denoise and when it came out I removed Photo AI, Topaz DeNoise, Topaz Gigapixel and On1 NoNoise off my system.

I wish I had the jam Phil has and it shows with his amazing work. I'm 67 and every year I'm losing a little more spark. I spent a lot of time in the dark room in the 80's following Ansel's teachings. That is a lot of years with this hobby.

 

[Only RF]

Archibald reminded me of something. I always pre-cull all my files using DPP's Quick Check - full screen mode to remove unwanted files before importing into LrC.

 

[DWU2]

Here's what I own, and how much I use them. I believe that only 3 or 4 of the never-use list I purchased; the rest were freebies.

Have and Use Regularly:
Photoshop, Lightroom Classic, NIK Silver Efex, Dynamic Auto Painter, Photomatix Pro

Have and Use Occasionally:
Helicon Focus, On 1 Effects, Rest of NIK Suite, Topaz Photo AI, Topaz Sharpen AI, Topaz DeNoise AI, Topaz Studio, XnSketch, Spektrel Art

Have and Never Use:
Canon-provided software. DXO Photo Lab, Luminar, Corel Painter, Paint Shop Pro, Corel After Shot, Microsoft Ice, Perfect Photo Suite, Photo Spills (for collages), PortraitPro Studio, Adobe Bridge

 

[Only RF]

I don't read of too many that have PL but don't use it. I can download PL3 but I can't use it as it does not support the current cameras I have. I used to use Photomatix Pro quite a bit. I'd convert a file to HDR and then convert it to B&W. Produced a lot of punchy tones. I found some videos on how to make punchy B&W images using LrC alone so I started doing conversions myself. I could never repeat the same process twice for the same file. It's like getting a box of chocolates.