Photo software

[b0redom]

Hi All,
I'm considering migrating to Windows/Linux from OSX. What do folks here use for photo management? I was using iPhoto on OSX, so something similar which will let me group photos into events and/or tag photos. I don't want anything online, and I've got about 20 years of digital snaps to sort, so I don't want to have to do it more than once.

Ta....

b0redom

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Have you used Adobe Lightroom or DxO Photolab?? If so,there is Darktable which is free and has broadly similar functionality(although the paid software does a few things better AFAIK).

[Saracen999]

Lightroom (Classic unless you want a subscription) ...if they still do it standalone.

[kalniel]

If it's purely management/cataloging then Adobe Bridge is free: https://www.adobe.com/uk/products/bridge.html?red=a

If you want to develop/edit photos then Darktable and RawTherapee are open source equivalents to Lightroom but I don't know if they're as good on the managment side of things.

[sean121]

You should try Adobe Lightroom and Photo Manager Deluxe.

[BrandonMllr]

Darktable and Adobe Lightroom

[Blue000]

I know you said nothing online but what if you ran something like a server locally and access it via the browser (nothing paid and everything would still be stored locally). That would give you more options like:
https://piwigo.org/ (Self hosted version),
LibrePhotos,
Lychee

Just food for thought

[Saracen999]

You do realise this was months ago?

@B0redom, if (unlikely) you're still looking, the most mainstreaM (but not free) answeris Lightroom. Or, Lightroom linked to Photoshop for heavier editing.

If it's just the "asset management" bit you need, Adobe Bridge is pretty much the same as the organisational bit (tagging, star-rating, colour coding, etc) bit of Lightroom. It is completely free, though you will need an Adobe CC account (also free). It can then like to ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) for the develop bit, which os also free BUT you need a valid licence toa CC product, like Photoshop, Premiere, etc, that isn't. Moreover, if you get some time in the future and decide to cancel the paid Adobe situation, I would expect to find that the Bridge bit continues to work, but the ACR bit doesn't.

Next, you can still use (free) Bridge but link to something like Affinity Photo (not free, but currently (lockdown price, very cheap) for the develop/editing bit. I like that solution.

Alternatively, there's very impressive software like Capture 1, though it'll cost you. Not cheap at all, but very good.

Or a still impressive but much cheaper product, ACDSee. I like this one too and have used it on and off since it was a newbie back in the 90s. More recently, though, Extensis Portfolio (don't ask about cost) and Photoshop, but I'm dumping Photoshop since my current version is ancient and I'm not paying a rental.

There are numerous other options, from Neofinder and RawTherapee (the latter, again, free) upwards.

Personally, if (like me) you won't rent Adobe stuff and are reluctant to fork out £300 (cheaper for some single camera-maker versions, but not my Canon) for Capture 1. the best I can suggest is Bridge + Affinity Photo, or ACDSee (Ultimate, in my case, but there are several stages).

[Ryan5Delta]

You do realise this was months ago?

@B0redom, if (unlikely) you're still looking, the most mainstreaM (but not free) answeris Lightroom. Or, Lightroom linked to Photoshop for heavier editing.

If it's just the "asset management" bit you need, Adobe Bridge is pretty much the same as the organisational bit (tagging, star-rating, colour coding, etc) bit of Lightroom. It is completely free, though you will need an Adobe CC account (also free). It can then like to ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) for the develop bit, which os also free BUT you need a valid licence toa CC product, like Photoshop, Premiere, etc, that isn't. Moreover, if you get some time in the future and decide to cancel the paid Adobe situation, I would expect to find that the Bridge bit continues to work, but the ACR bit doesn't.

Next, you can still use (free) Bridge but link to something like Affinity Photo (not free, but currently (lockdown price, very cheap) for the develop/editing bit. I like that solution.

Alternatively, there's very impressive software like Capture 1, though it'll cost you. Not cheap at all, but very good.

Or a still impressive but much cheaper product, ACDSee. I like this one too and have used it on and off since it was a newbie back in the 90s. More recently, though, Extensis Portfolio (don't ask about cost) and Photoshop, but I'm dumping Photoshop since my current version is ancient and I'm not paying a rental.

There are numerous other options, from Neofinder and RawTherapee (the latter, again, free) upwards.

Personally, if (like me) you won't rent Adobe stuff and are reluctant to fork out £300 (cheaper for some single camera-maker versions, but not my Canon) for Capture 1. the best I can suggest is Bridge + Affinity Photo, or ACDSee (Ultimate, in my case, but there are several stages).

Does Capture 1 not allow persistent use of their "light"/trial version? I've recently started the trial for Capture 1 (I use a Fuji) and the functionality in the trial seems to be enough for what I want to do.