As a followup to our post on Aperture 3 – here’s a poll we’ve been running for the last few days – looking forward to seeing what photo management software people are using.
If you use more than one or are using another photo management system – feel free to give us more information in comments below.
PS: we’re talking photo management software here – not photo editing software.
© 2006 - 2010 Digital Photography School, All Rights Reserved / Disclaimer
Designed & Developed by Matt Brett / Powered by WordPress
Each day we send out a quick email to thousands of DPS readers to notify them of updates. This email is just short excerpt of the first few lines of our latest post with a link if you want to read it all. You can unsubscribe from this this service at any time.
This service is provided by a third party (Feedburner) and you can subscribe to it by leaving your email address in the following field and confirming your subscription when you get an email asking you to do so.
Enter your email address for
Daily Updates:
For those wanting a weekly summary of what happens on this site this free email newsletter is probably your best option. It includes a summary of the tips posted to the site each week. This newsletter is subscribed to by over 25000 readers (many who also subscribe to the other options above) - come join the community!
To subscribe to this weekly newsletter simply add your email address to the following field and then follow the confirmation prompts. You will be able to unsubscribe at any time.
Enter your email address for
Free Weekly Newsletter:
206 Responses to “Which Photo Management Software do you use Most? [POLL]” - Add Yours
February 18th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
would have though the gimp would be on such a list
February 18th, 2010 at 12:59 pm
I have used Aperture since it became available. …
February 18th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Gimp isn’t photo management software, it’s image editing software … just like Photoshop (which also, logically, isn’t on the list) … some open source photo management software would be Digikam and gPhoto
As an aside, I’d be interested to see how the Aperture numbers would be split up between Aperture 2 and Aperture 3 (I’m an Aperture 3 user, myself)
February 18th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
I use Digital Photo Professional; it came with my Rebel XT. I have iPhoto, but it’s not really my taste, so I don’t use it much. Odd, because I’m a die-hard Mac girl. Go figure.
Glen — I think GIMP is left off because they’re referring to programs that organize photos (as opposed to editing them), and GIMP doesn’t offer that capability.
February 18th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
I’m currently a Aperture 3 user, but an seriously contemplating becoming a LR user.
Since I’ve moved from Aperture 2 to 3 I’ve suffered no end of problems with freezes and exporting errors. Where I used to happily head to bed with Aperture doing it’s thing, I can no longer trust it to complete simple batch processes.
I’m currently VERY unhappy with Apple.
February 18th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
@Neil what OS are you running on? Are you running the 32-bit or 64-bit kernel if you’re running Snow Leopard? Are you running Aperture in 32-bit or 64-bit mode? Just curious, because based on forum posts all over, you aren’t the only one experiencing issues, but I (so far) haven’t really had much for issues (at least nothing outside of what I would normally expect from the first release of a new major version) …
that said, performance in general needs some major attention by Apple!
Other than things taking longer than normal, I’ve actually been pretty pleased with Aperture 3 (though I seem to be in the minority from what I’ve read)
February 18th, 2010 at 1:17 pm
I use Capture One Pro to shoot tethered to my laptop, export the raw images I find appealing (without being too picky) to Lightroom for editing, and then export the final and very best images to iPhoto as jpegs to iPhoto for sharing.
My workflow may not be the best for everyone, but I think iphoto’s strength is in sharing (not editing) images. The reverse is true for lightoom, and LR ties in to Photoshop so well. Finally, I iae capture one because it allows me to shoot tethered. As I become more familiar with capture one, it may replace LR in my workflow, but right now I see no reason for this.
February 18th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
I have using Lightroom, lately, for RAW processing, but as far as straight photo management, ACDSee Photo Manager is fantastic. On the PC, it is fast, very easy to use and has lots of features. I wish Lightroom had half the speed.
February 18th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
Been using LR2 64bit mode on the Mac and love it for light editing and photo management. I tried Aperture 2 but I just liked the speed and flow of LR2 better.
February 18th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
Aperture. I started with iView Media pro, until MS bought and killed it, then switched to Lightroom for awhile. I still like Lightroom, but Aperture is far and away my preferred tool for managing 40.000+ images.
Still on Aperture 2 though, I’ll let the rest of the planet find and report Ap3 bugs .
February 18th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
I started to use Aperture when I bought my first iMac computer. Then Apple went ahead and started to come up with newer computers and there was nothing I could do to upgrade mine other than to fork out the money and buy a new one.
So I switched to a PC and, three years ago, I started to use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 1.0, which was good but not great. And then Lightroom 2.0 came along and it completely blew my mind. I had over 30,000 photos to catalog and Lightroom made this a breeze. I purchased Scott Kelby’s book Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 for Digital Photographers and it helped me enormously to create a logical workflow. Ever since then I always start up Lightroom before I even think about loading any new photos I’ve taken into my computer.
For a couple of months I beta-tested the new Lightroom 3.0 and I can’t wait to get my hands in a copy of it once it’s out of beta.
February 18th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
Perhaps surprisingly, the Library component of Photoshop Essentials is excellent. Almost 10,000 photos without a glitch.
February 18th, 2010 at 2:27 pm
Photomechanic rules: still the fastest for selecting the picks.
February 18th, 2010 at 2:35 pm
I’m still working on my organization system. I’ll probably settle on f-spot or digiKam.
February 18th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
I use very basic photo management systems, i.e. Canon’s digital photo professional and Picasa. I don’t intend to purchase any other photo management system at the moment.
February 18th, 2010 at 2:43 pm
I use digikam now. I used to use F-Spot, but switched to digikam because it has most of the editing tools I use included in it and it handles RAW far more elegantly. Before the 1.0 release it was a bit buggy, but since then I haven’t had any major problems.
February 18th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
Aperture, though as much as I like it, Apple is on really thin ice.
Lightroom already has more market share and mind share; meanwhile Aperture consumes tons of resources and updates are infrequent and buggy.
February 18th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
KPhotoAlbum, a perfect open source software for managing my photos. (RAW conversion using Bibble and editing with Gimp…well, can’t remember when I did editing last time.)
February 18th, 2010 at 2:55 pm
I’ve been trying Bibble Pro 5 after using Aperture 2 since release. Aperture 3 is unusably slow on my machine; so far, Bibble Pro 5 is very fast and supports my Olympus E-P1′s raw format, which Aperture does not. It also supports automatic lens distortion correction for lenses it has a profile for, which as far as I can tell, Lightroom 3 does not. It also works on Windows, Mac and Linux, which is helpful because I never seem to stick with one platform for long. I may be switching for good soon… it’s too early to tell.
February 18th, 2010 at 2:57 pm
I just use iphoto – default to my mac, and why change what works… My husband keeps saying change to aperture but I haven’t heard resounding bells and whistles about it… so I am eager to see the result of this pole and say: yay let’s switch or not.
February 18th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
i used to use picasa but switched to lightroom. picasa turns all my raw images green for some reason
February 18th, 2010 at 3:29 pm
I use Picasa. It lets me see my photos and select some for further processing, which is all I need organizing software to do at the moment.
February 18th, 2010 at 3:33 pm
The moment folders/editing software isn’t enough for me is the moment I’ve lost my mind.
.
February 18th, 2010 at 3:37 pm
What would you classify Bridge as?
February 18th, 2010 at 4:22 pm
I’ve started by using iView Media Pro, and followed to Expression Media when Microsoft bought it. I’m still using the version 1 of Expression Media, as version 2 had no features worth upgrading for me.
February 18th, 2010 at 4:30 pm
oh but
i use picnik ;\
February 18th, 2010 at 4:35 pm
Surprised that no one has mentioned Photo Mechanic by Camera Bits http://www.camerabits.com/site/. It may not have the nicest looking interface, but it is good at ‘ingesting’ photos for those of us who still use the file/folder method of organisation.
February 18th, 2010 at 4:36 pm
I use Digikam on Linux. It is an excellent Digital Asset Management solution with a very powerful search funtionality.
I currently have about 50k pictures managed by that piece of software
February 18th, 2010 at 4:38 pm
What about Adobe Bridge? That’s a major omission in your poll.
I’ve tried all the main programs but have never felt that I got that much extra over what Bridge offers.
February 18th, 2010 at 4:41 pm
Aperture is one of the only Apple products I have ever not liked. It didnt feel like a Mac App to me. When iPhoto 09 added Faces, it became dead to me. I was spending as much time waiting for iPhoto faces in flowers and sunsets as I was processing pictures in PSE. When Adobe released the Beta of LR3 I decided to try it and I havent looked back. Im a pretty hard core Apple guy but Aperture failed my 15 minute test and Lightroom didnt.
February 18th, 2010 at 4:54 pm
Other: Photoshop elements. For a basic photographer as me it works great
February 18th, 2010 at 5:09 pm
I’m using iPhoto so far because it came with iLife, but it doesn’t scale. Faces never predicted any face correctly on my library of 28000 pictures, and the program takes >30 seconds to start now and >15 seconds to close.
February 18th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
I’m pleased to report that, having imported some new shots into a brand new Aperture 3 library and have been able to work on them, in 64-bit mode, with no problems.
It seems that the problem (and it’s a big problem) is restricted to when you’re working on imported Aperture 2 libraries.
Still a big problem, but at least I don’t need to worry about what I was going to do about the files from two weddings I have booked next weekend.
@jesse kaufman – the only way I could get any stability was to close everything unnecessary down and switch to 32-bit. It now seems to run ok even on my old 2GHz Core 2 iMac.
February 18th, 2010 at 6:08 pm
I’m a happy F-Spot user. It has a simple interface and simple editing features, and can export to all the on-line services that I use. I may switch to digikam, as it has more interesting editing features (but a more complex interface…)
February 18th, 2010 at 6:28 pm
For Linux users, Shotwell is, I think, the best photo manager available. It is super fast, under heavy development, clean and usable.
February 18th, 2010 at 6:31 pm
I have used all of the chocies mentioned in the poll … and others too .. like irfanview, f-spot, gthumb… Seriously, I think irfanview should have been included in the poll … anyways, ACDsee is what I am using since the last 8 years …. if you install all the plugins for it , you need not bother about opening LR or PS or Gimp for minor touchups or edits .
February 18th, 2010 at 6:36 pm
I use idImager. Worth checking out: http://www.idimager.com/
February 18th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
i’ve been using Bridge and Adobe Camera Raw for over two years now. It’s really a great tool. but sluggish …
I’m planning on moving to Aperture 3, but reading the reviews, i just might stick with Bridge and ACR for a while
February 18th, 2010 at 6:56 pm
I guess that like most users, I use a combo. For me Aperture is the main tool, but import and some RAW editing is sometimes used with Adobe Bridge CS4, then the accepted images are imported into Aperture, and if Aperture tweaking isn’t enough (which it usually is), I’ll head for Photoshop.
I sometimes use Lightroom to connect with the In Crowd.
February 18th, 2010 at 7:28 pm
I use iMatch (http://www.photools.com/), a very well crafted productr: I’m highly satisified with it, especially because it allows and extensive possibiolity of managing and editing IPTC and Exif data. It helps too me to have automated data insertion in my photoblog pictures.
February 18th, 2010 at 7:51 pm
This is a really poorly created poll, bridge is missing so many, like me, tick other if tey use it so that plus the people who actually use something diffrent we be included in the “other” bar meaning that it would be rendered useless with no way to tell what proportion of it is what.
February 18th, 2010 at 8:06 pm
I’ve been using IRFANVIEW (free) since1995 (version 2,95) now version 4.25.
In those days do not have picasa, LR never aperture….
I’t i the best, I was surprise it wasn’t on that list….
http://www.irfanview.com
February 18th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
I’ve been using digiKam since my netbook, which is currently my only comp whilst away from home, runs a smooth and efficient Ubuntu. As for what I’ve been experiencing with digiKam, I’ll probably be sticking with it for a much longer time with it’s features. The only limitation I’ve found, is as I’m using it on an older kernel at the present and through gnome instead of KDE, it tends to refuse to let me update to the new features, like the auto upload to flickr.
All in all it’s doing a fantastic job of managing my collection. I’m just wondering why no Open Source options were mentioned in the pole?
February 18th, 2010 at 8:19 pm
Digikam for me – very configurable; exports to many common photo sites; powerful rating, tagging and search/filter facilities; own editor, plus open files in other PP software (UFraw/GIMP). And free – in both senses!
February 18th, 2010 at 8:35 pm
I use Picasa , then if the file is RAW i will send it to lightroom. I find lightroom too slow for managing massive shoots. Also , you dont want all the rubbish shots in lightroom if you are not going to use them…Picasa is the start of my work flow, but Lightroom is essential for the end
February 18th, 2010 at 8:41 pm
I Windows live Photo Gallery and its really good. Wish it would take off more and have more people creating plugins for it!
February 18th, 2010 at 9:05 pm
I have been using ACD for over ten years for DAM.
Currently using Pro 3 as it gives me DAM and PP in a single package.
Versions of the software choices would be an interesting followup to this poll
February 18th, 2010 at 9:20 pm
Windows Live Photo Gallery. Fast, efficient and reliable. Includes very good basic photo editing. And it’s FREE.
February 18th, 2010 at 9:48 pm
Another vote for Bridge here.
Been using it since before it was called Bridge
February 18th, 2010 at 9:51 pm
PICASA to organize, archive, search. BRIDGE to maintain, tag, label, etc. LIGHTROOM to process individual projects in regards to RAW workflows. All 3 used in conjunction w/ one another.
February 18th, 2010 at 10:11 pm
Another iMatch user here. Just started playing with LR for Raw, haven’t tried it’s orgaizing capability yet.
February 18th, 2010 at 10:17 pm
Bridge and iPhoto
February 18th, 2010 at 10:17 pm
When LightRoom 1.0 was released I bought it but rarely used it. I was doing everything in Digital Photo Professional. I upgraded to LightRoom 2.0 and then decided I’d better learn how to use it. I wish now I had done that when 1.0 was released. I’m currently running LightRoom 2.0 and 3.0 beta and will be upgrading to 3.0 as soon as it is released. For managing my large collection of photos LightRoom is a life saver. I know it doesn’t have the editing prowess of other tools so I have a copy of PhotoShop Elements that I use for the work I can’t do in LightRoom.
February 18th, 2010 at 10:21 pm
I use the raw converter from my camera company…
February 18th, 2010 at 10:36 pm
Photo management Bridge. Used to be iPhoto but Bridge covers all I need. Used on iMac with Elements 6 – D90 man
February 18th, 2010 at 10:40 pm
GIMP! Surprised that isn’t listed there.
February 18th, 2010 at 10:53 pm
LightRoom is my choice. Even more so now that I have a 64bit system and I can’t wait for LR3 to be released. The available plug-ins, add-ons and extensions, just make this product even better. If LR is not in your budget, then I would fall back to Picasa.
Sam, you say you use Capture One Pro because you can shoot tethered… well you can do that also with LightRoom + Nikon Camera Control Pro.
February 18th, 2010 at 10:53 pm
I use Faststone, an easy to use, wonderful FREE photo management tool !
February 18th, 2010 at 11:10 pm
I’ve used Aperture 2 for the last year and just upgraded to Aperture 3. Obviously a few bugs in the system, but despite the odd crash, I haven’t lost any data, and recovery from a crash is clean and very fast. It is very fast handling a 6000+ photo library.
I’m Quite happy with Aperture 3 and look forward to patch from Apple to work out some of the niggly bugs.
February 18th, 2010 at 11:20 pm
I’ve used ThumbsPlus for over 10 years. It’s siple and runs fast. Now I’m more into Photoshop Elements and it’s Organizer. Also looking at Windows Live Photo Gallery for my netbook.
February 18th, 2010 at 11:26 pm
I like (no, love) Lightroom for a lot of reasons, but ACDSee is better at photo management, so I use them both. I used to use ThumbsPLus many years back and abandoned it only when they were a bit slow to take on raw files – but I thought it was a good program, and it seemed “family owned,” which I liked. Picassa is good for some things as well, so I guess I end up using 3 programs.
I’m a bit surprised to see ACDSee with such a low vote count – it’s a very good program!
February 18th, 2010 at 11:27 pm
I use FSpot on a linux box.
February 18th, 2010 at 11:44 pm
I use Capture One5 for edits but for simplicity of image management I use “Thumbs Plus”
February 18th, 2010 at 11:50 pm
I vote for Digikam under Linux and IrfanView under Windows.
February 19th, 2010 at 12:13 am
YES to Windows Photo Manager and Live Gallery! Very simple, efficient, and I love the editing capabilities.
February 19th, 2010 at 12:38 am
I didn’t use any until Lightroom 3 Beta came out – then I downloaded it and I don’t know what I would do without it. It’s so simple and intuitive.
February 19th, 2010 at 12:52 am
I’ve been using Picassa but have been looking into Lightroom so I downloaded the Lightroom 3 Beta. I like it but I don’t love it yet.
February 19th, 2010 at 1:05 am
I use Lightroom for RAW conversion and in-process managment, editing further in Photoshop as needed. Once images are finished though, I rely on Bridge for cataloging and organizing.
February 19th, 2010 at 1:30 am
Adobe Bridge
February 19th, 2010 at 1:38 am
Windows Live Photo Gallery.
My only complaint is it seems to re-compress the photos if you do any editing with it. I use it for tagging and general archive viewing.
The panoramic features alone make it worth it. So incredibly easy to use, and it can publish to anything (with a plugin)!
I wish someone would make something for Flickr as good as Picasa (give me auto-face tagging and syncing with Flickr and I’d pay you!)
February 19th, 2010 at 2:04 am
I’m a FastStone user too. It’s just right for me: I can browse images, convert them and edit them (but for editing I rely on PS3). It has a nice batch conversion feature with wich I can add watermarks to my images. Besides, it’s free! Give it a try!
February 19th, 2010 at 2:05 am
I’m a long time Aperture user, and wouldn’t dream of changing.
Tested out aperture and Lightroom (and continue to test LR3), but aperture just rocks – very intuitive, very powerful, and since I upgraded by 25,000 image library to Aperture 3, there’s no way I’d switch to anything else – the software is way ahead of anything else out there right now.
To the people above having issues with Aperture 3, make sure you rebuild your Aperture 2 library before importing it, and turn off Faces until the import has completed. (to be extra safe, delete all the previews and thumbnails in your Ap 2 library first also). Yeah, it takes time, but if you start with a clean Ap2 library, you’ll be fine.
February 19th, 2010 at 2:25 am
jesse kaufman says: “As an aside, I’d be interested to see how the Aperture numbers would be split up between Aperture 2 and Aperture 3 (I’m an Aperture 3 user, myself)”
Actually more of an aside may be a poll split by platform. PC users, are of course, going to use LR3 or at least something other than Aperture as they don’t have that as an option. More interesting might be the number of Mac users using LR vs Aperture.
As a Mac user I have paid Adobe for LR and LR2 and have tried the LR3 beta. I just always find myself underwhelmed with it eventually sits unused. I am absolutely *not* going to pay Adobe for a LR3 upgrade.
With each new version of LR I try, I always find my way back in Aperture. I always felt it was a better tool for asset management and organization, works well with Bento and Filemaker, and with Aperture 3 the brushes have leap-frogged LR as well. New brushes are non-destructive, have more options than LR3 and overall work better (at least in my opinion). Of course LR3 is still in beta, giving Adobe the opportunity to make changes before they release it, but for now Aperture has a small lead in technology IMHO. It will be interesting to see if Apple sits on its laurels and allows Adobe to release 2 more versions of LR before we see Aperture 4 or if it decides to be a more active player in the market.
For those having some issues with converting your libraries in Aperture. A tip that was told to me from the Apple folks helped. Turn off the Faces and Places features after you first install Aperture 3. Import your Aperture 2 libraries, after successfully importing the libraries turn the Faces and Places features back on. The import and conversion seems to go much more smoothly with those features turned off during the conversion process. And, i am sure this is obvious to most, but worth saying … always back up your libraries prior to conversion.
February 19th, 2010 at 2:29 am
Where’s the love for Bridge???
February 19th, 2010 at 2:40 am
My “other” vote is for Bridge.
February 19th, 2010 at 2:42 am
i also use Bridge-it works for me.
February 19th, 2010 at 2:46 am
Adobe Bridge CS4. I capture over 15,000 photos annually, so I organize them and add keywords to them in Bridge. It is a bit slow to render all the thumbnails, but once that’s done it’s a great tool.
February 19th, 2010 at 2:46 am
For those that are still using DPP (which is not a mgmt tool, but an editor) from Canon (because it was free!), here’s my take. I too used that product (more often, the ZoomBrowser tool) for the last 5-6 years since I bought my first digital slr. But while browsing around last fall I came across the Lightroom 2.x freebie and I’ve been hooked ever since. Now using the LR 3 beta (also free) and can’t wait to get to the final released version (and ready to pay for it!). There are just so many things that one can do with LR that you can’t with DPP or ZoomBrowser. Modifying a pic with LR is amazing! I strongly encourage a download of the LR3 beta and take a pic that you wish you had exposed a little better (esp. an indoor flash one) and see what you can do to it. The tools are incredibly flexible and allow you to make a great shot out of a throwaway in some cases. Yes there is a learning curve, but one that’s well worth traversign when you realize the results to be had. Write to me and I’ll even tell you what book I bought to help me out.
February 19th, 2010 at 2:50 am
Be careful of upgrading to Aperture 3, it is not ready for extended use, a few nights ago it took me several hours to make minor adjustments to just 30 RAW images, and after you make adjustments they do not show up in the large preview version of the shot unless you reboot the app!
February 19th, 2010 at 2:50 am
I use Lightroom for editing and Picasa for management. If Lightroom had an auto monitor/import function, I would use that exclusively.
February 19th, 2010 at 2:53 am
Photomechanic is a great organizer, and great at bringing in photos from memory cards, setting photo info, renaming automatically, backing up, and selecting photos for editing. I haven’t found anything better yet.
February 19th, 2010 at 2:54 am
Photo mechanic
February 19th, 2010 at 2:58 am
No one has mentioned ThumbsPlus. I’ve been using that for a couple of years and find it to be OK, but not stellar. I find it somewhat unintuitive, and their latest release has been a major headache. I’m looking to try something new.
February 19th, 2010 at 2:59 am
I use iMatch, a superb and powerful tool…
February 19th, 2010 at 3:00 am
Most of the time I use UFRAW, and the other times, RawTherapee. Both free, fast and light.
February 19th, 2010 at 3:03 am
Bridge is great however, it is not a Raw converter like Lightroom.
February 19th, 2010 at 3:04 am
Digikam
February 19th, 2010 at 3:07 am
I’m also a dedicated Digikam user, already for years … but beware of this bug :
“digikam appears to add a color profile for printing?”
https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=165650
It’s solved in version 1.0.0 onwards.
Cheers, Ben
February 19th, 2010 at 3:09 am
Like others Windows live photo gallery – im managing over 100K photos using it
February 19th, 2010 at 3:10 am
I used to be an avid Aperture user until I had my primary external hard drive crash (Lacie.. ugh) and tried to recover the data from the backup copy on a separate external hard drive. It was a nightmare, and it consumed hours and hours trying to get it to work. I was already having issues with performance and noticing that there was a lot more support and third-party add-ons for Lightroom and this recovery issue was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I switched to Lightroom (careful, you have to re-edit all your images — you can’t import the edits from one to the other) and now use one catalog per wedding or event that I shoot. That system seems to work fine — but I’m still considering extensis portfolio to keep track of all my images in once place (that would be based on the finished jpgs, not the RAWs in each LR catalog…)
February 19th, 2010 at 3:11 am
I started using iView, and it was great. Then Microsoft bought it out and and re-launched it as Expression Media. Now it’s got more expensive and it’s much harder to get support etc.
February 19th, 2010 at 3:12 am
My vote goes to Picasa.
I’ve been using Picasa for more than 4 years. I liked it for the following reasons :
1. Very simple interface.
2. Folder manager : Select scan always option for the top level folder and never worry about new photos
3. Useful tools : Crop, straighten, export, watermark etc.
4. Free
February 19th, 2010 at 3:13 am
I primarily use iPhoto but was using Aperture 2 for critical shoots. One problem with Aperture and iPhoto is lack of raw support for Olympus E-620, E-P1 and E-P2 cameras. For that reason alone I have been trying out Lightroom again.
February 19th, 2010 at 3:17 am
I use photoshop elements
February 19th, 2010 at 3:17 am
I have been using iPhoto but have decided to get a bit more serious and just started using Aperture 3. This will become my new tool.
February 19th, 2010 at 3:25 am
I use IDimager because of its rich feature set.
February 19th, 2010 at 3:25 am
Why isn`t Adobe Bridge included in the poll?
February 19th, 2010 at 3:27 am
I use FastStone too. Very intuitive to use, and free.
February 19th, 2010 at 3:32 am
I tend to use Aperture the most. I also use iPhoto to view photos before I import them into Aperture for editing. I will also use the export plugin in Aperture to post my photos to Flickr.
February 19th, 2010 at 3:37 am
I have been using ThumbsPlus Pro since 1998. Light, simple, fast, stable.
But, since nobody mentioned it, I think I am missing something.
February 19th, 2010 at 3:46 am
I’ve been using Fotostation 5.2 from Fotoware.com for several years with their Index Manager server side tool. Many large European Newspapers, archives and Agencies use it, since it comes out-of-the-box in 10+ languages. I’ve used Lightroom, Aperture & Photoshop (w/Bridge) for personal collections but, once you get over 100,000 images, most of these start having problems. Since Fotoware only has 1 distributor in the USA, it’s barely known but it must be the best kept DAM secret around.
February 19th, 2010 at 3:54 am
digiKam
February 19th, 2010 at 3:54 am
Bridge – it works great for me. I personally do not understand why it was not included. Survey must have been constructed by someone who clearly does not understand how to use CS4 products.
February 19th, 2010 at 3:56 am
The “other” that I use is Digikam. It is a ver capable program for the linix user. I am slowly taking advantage of tagging, captioning and rating my photos. I wish I had not spent so much time with the shoe box methods.
February 19th, 2010 at 3:59 am
I use Capture NX2 and Paint Shop Pro X3. Both are easy to use and I like both. Capture NX2 is designed more for serious photographers while PSPX3 is marketed more towards the home user. PSPX3 has many of the same capabilities as Capture NX2 plus many more.
February 19th, 2010 at 4:12 am
Lightroom 2.6 after forays into Picasa 3 (with its terrific Crop and Straighten tools–but not much else), and Elements 7 with it excellent Editor and AWFUL Organizer. The more I learn the ins and outs of Lightroom 2 the more I am favorably impressed; it’s hard to imagine that LR 3 that will come out this spring will be much of an improvement–but I’m cure it will be.
February 19th, 2010 at 4:41 am
I use ACDsee for moving around my hard drives and checking the pics processed with Lightroom or photoshop. I find that the final correction with ACDsee gives me the truest colour results. Occasionally I use CaptureOne especially when I have ruined a pic then sometimes captureOne can help me out of a jam but only sometimes. Since I do a lot of portraits i find photoshop excellent
February 19th, 2010 at 5:03 am
I’ve been using ACDSee since version 1.0 and now it has a lot of features. I even use it to edit all my images, too. It’s truly fantastic!
February 19th, 2010 at 5:16 am
I use Photoshop and Corel Photo Album 7.
February 19th, 2010 at 5:28 am
I have used Picasa for such a long long time and very happy with it. . .
forays into iPhoto, Bridge, DPP, none of which really took my fancy until my recent free trial of lightroom2 – which seems easy and a great way to switch from Picasa without too much stress and confusion!
February 19th, 2010 at 5:44 am
@Miguel Carvajal: I really appreciate your comments on Lightroom and Scott Kelby’s book. I downloaded a free trial of LR but didn’t have a chance to work with it much before the trial ended.
My “other” vote was for Bridge, but I don’t think keywording and organizing is all that simple or easy. When I can afford it, I’ll probably buy Lightroom.
February 19th, 2010 at 5:53 am
I use Bridge becuase it easily imports to my other Adobe programs…and because it is the only one I really have tried.
February 19th, 2010 at 6:10 am
i have used bridge for uploading and organizing for several years. i have tried lightroom several times, and find i keep going back to bridge.
February 19th, 2010 at 6:18 am
Is Adobe Bridge not Photo Management software? I had been chasing lightroom but as yet not got around to it
February 19th, 2010 at 6:30 am
You are all missing a great Photo Organziation software option from Creative Memories, called Memory Manager. Very intuitive to use and cheap at $40.
February 19th, 2010 at 7:16 am
Bridge. Because it leaves me to control how my files are organized. I’ve been trying to get my head around Aperture for a while nowvbut I dislike the fact that it wants to “import” everything into it’s own library and forces me to work in it’s own re-created interface, rather than just work with my existing file structure. I never know if the changes I’m making are being applied to the original image or only to the Aperture library image. Frustrates the hell out of me. Not intuitive – it’s the one Apple App that simply doesn’t do what it promises.
February 19th, 2010 at 7:32 am
Digikam! I have tried f-spot, picasa, and a few other things, but digikam is fast, intuitive, flexible, and powerful. I couldn’t ask for better.
February 19th, 2010 at 8:00 am
I shoot mostly Nikon RAW and process with Nikon’s Capture NX software. It works great – especially for landscape work.
February 19th, 2010 at 8:01 am
Lightroom has my complete photo library. I export family pictures as .jpg files to iPhoto where my wife and I keep things organized for slideshows, syncing with iPhones and iPods, AppleTV, printing books and calendars, etc…
February 19th, 2010 at 8:20 am
I use photo mechanic and nikon capture nx.
February 19th, 2010 at 8:23 am
Lightroom and Bridge. Depending on if I am wearing my helmet at that moment or not.
I hate Adobe and don’t want to use either.
But am too broke and too tech. challenged to have to buy and learn any other ‘computer thingie’…
Bad enough I have to remember how to use my camera on a daily basis..
February 19th, 2010 at 8:25 am
Last summer, after using Picasa for quite a while, I’ve shifted to FastStone. It’s freely downloadable from Internet, light, extremely convenient, opens ANY format (including RAW from different camera brands) in a second, has some basic editing tools (which I don’t use), with one click you get to Adobe Photoshop to edit stuff. So, I would recommend it to everybody.
February 19th, 2010 at 9:03 am
I have been using Microsoft’s Digital Image Pro for several years and find that it still stands up quite respectfully along side PhotoShop, PaintShop, and Elements. It is possibly the most user friendly software for photo editing/managing available.
February 19th, 2010 at 9:15 am
Irfanview does everything the other simple ones do, easier…and it’s FREE. Does other stuff also, in fact, with Paint.Net you can cover almost anything.
February 19th, 2010 at 9:19 am
I have been using ThumbsPlus for years now and am very happy with it. It allows me to organize and do very quick edits (cropping, resizing, brightness and simple stuff) on my photos. I have seen others but always come back to ThumbsPlus.
February 19th, 2010 at 9:44 am
I agree with Steve above. I love Microsoft’s Digital Image Pro…both the Library and the editing features. I was really sad to see that they dropped this product. I also use the organizer in Elements, but I keep coming back the Microsoft product.
February 19th, 2010 at 9:45 am
I use digiKam for Linux. I never found a good when used Windows. digiKam is powerful and simple, and came with a good photo editor.
February 19th, 2010 at 9:50 am
I used Picasa 3 until I discovered Lightroom and associated user help and tutorial assistance. I love it. Lightroom has restored my enthusiasm for photography.
February 19th, 2010 at 10:04 am
I have used ThumbsPlus for years. Just purchased Lightroom recently and still trying to break the habit of going to ThumbsPlus first. Old habits are hard to break. lol
February 19th, 2010 at 10:17 am
Lightroom 2.5 + Photoshop Elements on Mac. Very happy with organization and workflow. Hoping LR 3 has a levels adjustment and then all will be perfect.
February 19th, 2010 at 10:21 am
Is Adobe Bridge a free download? If so, where should I go to get it, and is there a number version I should get? Thanks.
February 19th, 2010 at 10:23 am
Other: IMatch and Bridge
February 19th, 2010 at 10:57 am
Microsoft Expression Media 2.
Used to be iView, used by many large institutions for Digital Asset Management (DAM).
February 19th, 2010 at 11:08 am
I use the Organizer in PS Elements. Not the best I’m sure, but for a non pro it works!
February 19th, 2010 at 11:12 am
I’m using Adobe Bridge as well.
@anne – not sure if you can download Bridge. My version came with purchase of Photoshop CS4.
February 19th, 2010 at 11:13 am
I just started using Aperture 2 on the Mac (switched from using Canon’s ImageBrowser when the number of photos I was working with got unmanageable). I was contemplating a switch to Aperture 3, but after hearing all the gripes about it I’ll stick with version 2 for now.
February 19th, 2010 at 11:14 am
I use Lightroom for most processing and RAW organization. However, I use Picasa for organizing processed pictures just because it has great tools for tagging, organizing, plugins for uploading, face recognition, and also allows me to put all my pictures, whether taken with my DSLR or point-and-shoots, all in the same place and very logically sorted..
February 19th, 2010 at 11:23 am
I once used ACDC, but am now convinced Photoshop Elements is the best.
February 19th, 2010 at 11:26 am
Ummmm, Adobe Bridge. Somewhere down the track, though, I’d love to have Lightroom.
February 19th, 2010 at 11:36 am
I use Creative Memories Memory Manager. Able to organize, journal, easily retrieve, edit– very user friendly. Able to easily manage 50,000 images.
February 19th, 2010 at 11:36 am
Is iPhoto just for Mac?
February 19th, 2010 at 11:38 am
I’m actually using Photoshop Elements. Its organizer is adequate but I’m approaching 20,000 images & it is becoming very slow. I’m planning to covert from a simple external HD to a NAS & set up a network. Anyone have any recommendations for a photomanagement software that will work well in a network environment?
February 19th, 2010 at 11:51 am
I use Picasa, very user friendly
and for editing (only sometime) use the canon software got with the camera
For painting some minor corners, cloning use Photo shop 7
I like the Picasa for easy reach of any pics, managing folders, scrolling through them, crop, straighten, soften, sharpen, open in different software when needed, locate pix on the hard drive, transform to smaller size, save any change, web upload and email.
I would be interested to try something with the similar output and of course friendly user.
February 19th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
I use IDIMager. It is very powerful and well supported.
February 19th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
I do not like Adobe products except PDF format. But I do not use Adobe to create PDF or read. Adobe products are heavy, slow and create total mess on your pc after installation.
February 19th, 2010 at 1:15 pm
I used to use ACDSee, but I have switch to Bridge.
February 19th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
Went back & forth between LR & aperture before landing on Aperture 2. Used Picasa & iPhoto before that. Upgrading to Aperture 3 shortly – Apple has not lived up to all my expectations yet but I’m not ready to give up on them yet. Thanks to the gentleman who provided tips early in this post – I’ll definitely clean up ap2 library before upgrading
. Still use photoshop (CS4)for editing that ap2 can’t handle.
February 19th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
I have said iphoto but am moving into LightroomSAP. Iphoto has annoying quirks and is a shell of a processor. at times a toy.
February 19th, 2010 at 2:27 pm
I use PSE for photo management… simpler to keep everything in the one place for the time and cash poor amongst us!
Cheers
February 19th, 2010 at 2:59 pm
Adobe Lightroom 2.5. Can’t live without it. Never tried Aperture because I don’t use Apple. Tried Bridge but unfortunately not to my liking. Will upgrade to LR3 later.
February 19th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
For ‘photo management’ I use the windows live photo gallery (available VISTA onwards), though i use it on windows 7. For ‘photo editing’ I use Photoshop.
Windows live photo gallery gives almost everything for photo management – tagging, rating, search through tags, search by date, search by rating, slide shows. Another benefit is that this is available on most other computers, if you happen to move your photos.
February 19th, 2010 at 3:38 pm
Obviously my definition of photo management software is different from many people here, but maybe I’ve misunderstood the thrust of the poll. By managing I understand a cataloguing, captioning, IPTC, EXIF etc function, providing an efficient organisation and retrieval system; any form of processing is separate (in my own case done in Bibble/Camera Raw/Photoshop CS4 with NIK plugins).
I have used Digital Pro (now version 6) from David Cardinal and Moose Peterson (Pro Shooters LLC) for several years for managing my images from card download to cataloguing and storage/retrieval. It’s especially useful if you need to to put together submissions for publications etc. Many features, integrates well with editing programs like Photoshop, functional, efficient an flexible. Amazing nobody has mentioned it.
Tony Page
February 19th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
Paint Shop Pro X2, which does just fine for editing. has an organizer which meets my requirements.
February 19th, 2010 at 4:38 pm
I am using ACDSee since its very beginning until now. It is an amazing software to manage images and even to edit.
February 19th, 2010 at 4:52 pm
Howdy:
I use XnView for photo management. It’s a free program [donations accepted, though]. I can batch rename, sorl, enter a description and comment, etc rather easily. I really like the ability to customize the titles underneath the thumbnails in the slide-sorter view [Camera make, ASA, f/stop, focal length. flash or no flash, date of photo, date last modified, exposure bias, image size and resolution--ppi]. I can also crop, rotate, remove red-eye, and do a few other basic activities in XnView.
The tree view is easy to use and manage. I have several thousand images on the computer and this application will sort through them rather easily.
I am running a PC w/ WinXP Pro, 3GB RAM and an AMD Opteron 2.2 GB dual-core processor, an INVIDIA GeForce 9500GT video adapter. I’m happy with it!
February 19th, 2010 at 5:30 pm
Why I dont see Photoshop?
February 19th, 2010 at 8:32 pm
I use Adobe Bridge. By far the best one I’ve used. I like it for its simplicity yet still have a lot of features as well as RAW conversion right there.
February 19th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
I use XnView as my manager as I am able to import from card,tag,categorise etc and is constandly improving. I used to use IrfanView as a Viewer (its not a manager) coupled with Faststone but find XnView outperforms both.
I use GIMP and ufRAW for editing and occasionaly PhotoScape for its filters.
February 19th, 2010 at 9:22 pm
I used MaPiVi extensively in the past. Now I’m looking at KimDaBa (now known as kphotoalbum) and hoping that Bibble5Pro will become really usable as Management Software soon…
February 20th, 2010 at 12:16 am
I’m using the good old finder to manage my photos. It use it for my first keep/delete decision by utilizing Coverflow and QuickLook in full screen on my second screen. I usually have a closer look at the remainder using LR, removing all non-keepers/non-picks and retouch the rest (if needed) after which I use the Finder again to create the right directory structure on my NAS and sort them in.
Plain and simple, KISS if you will.
Works great with any software I’ve tried so far except for Aperture…
February 20th, 2010 at 12:31 am
Dan
Your approach sounds interesting–and I want to try it out– weeding out a lot of material before it even gets into Lightroom. I’m a LR 2 guy with a Toshiba Satellite that runs on Windows 7. I’m such a novice I don’t even know about Coverflow, and QuickLook–where do they come from?
Thanks!
February 20th, 2010 at 1:24 am
I use Bridge to sort out all my photos. Not in business or anything though so it’s not like I have a huge amount of photos to go through regularly.
February 20th, 2010 at 1:48 am
@bill powers
I’m afraid you’re out of luck there. Both Coverflow (an itunes-que way to quickly skim through previews of your files) and QuickLock (press Spacebar to see a big preview of the selected file, can be moved to any screen and even made fullscreen with black borders) are built-in to the Mac OS X Finder (since 10.5 Leopard, I believe).
Can’t really help you with Windows 7 as I’ve never even seen it in person.
February 20th, 2010 at 1:55 am
Yeah, Bridge is the way to go. Started using it a little while ago after “graduating” from Canon’s Zoom Browser software and it’s amazing. I still use Zoom Browser for quick looks, but anything more serious is done in Bridge.
February 20th, 2010 at 2:53 am
I prefer Faststone Image Viewer ( http://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDetail.htm ) – it has some basic photo editing tools as well a batch conversion tools
February 20th, 2010 at 5:06 am
Just for browsing and organizing, I use XnView, a nice freeware. And process in CS3.
February 20th, 2010 at 9:00 am
Aperture 3 I love it.
Lightroom just doesn’t cut it for me with it’s clunky workflow.
I loved AP 2 and so far version 3 has me excited to use it as much as possible.
The only issue I’ve seen with AP3 was during the upgrade of my AP2 Library (memory leak) but it made it through fine and is now working awesome.
February 20th, 2010 at 10:24 am
I manually drag & drop & rename folders in explorer because I have not found a photo management program that I like. It seems like all the ones I’ve tried give me grief. I either can’t find the photo I’m looking for quickly, the program defaults to presets I don’t want or can’t seem to change, the program is slow, or it tends to lock up, etc.
So, for those of us who don’t know where to start with each of the 20 or so programs mentioned in this thread but may be looking for a good photo management system, it would be nice to be able to get the following info on each of them for comparison:
Program Name
Price and/or other software it comes bundled with (is there a free trial?)
OS, interface &/or any non-standard system requirements
Tutorials, support, learning curve?
Is the program always running in the background?
What does it do in terms of managing your photo files? Does it auto rename files?
Probably most important: What are some of its features that make it special? Why did you choose it?
How many photos can it handle? Is there a point where it may handle the files, but with any/moderate/severe loss of efficiency?
How long does it take to manage say 100 10Mb photos from a single photo shoot (or other specific numbers & file sizes)?
Does it process raw files – all or just some types? If so, does it alter the original raw file?
How hard is it to find a specific photo if you aren’t able to use that software to find it?
Why do people like & use it? Or why do people avoid it?
Would a compilation of this data be worth an article maybe??
February 20th, 2010 at 10:24 am
How about ACDSee Pro3. I see it’s $170. How does it compare to Lightroom?
February 20th, 2010 at 1:14 pm
I think the questions Lilian have asked are the best yet. Who wants to go buy a program and not like it? I would like more detailed information on each of the photo management systems so I can make a good comparison. If it’s free and good, give more detail. If it’s expensive, is it user friendly. I’m not a pro on photo editing, so I need something that will not keep me editing all day long. I’d rather be behind the camera!
February 20th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
I manage with Canon Zoom Browser EX, edit JPG with Paint Shop Pro XI and edit RAW with Canon Digital Photo Professional.
February 20th, 2010 at 7:17 pm
I use ViewNX and captureNX. I find the quick sorting and modifications a great help.
February 20th, 2010 at 9:30 pm
@Trevor Sowers
Interesting. My take on LR is that it doesn’t enforce some workflow and thus has a much higher degree of freedom than say Aperture (which doesn’t work at all for me). Is that non-enforcement what you refer to as “clunky”.
February 21st, 2010 at 12:40 am
Doing photography mostly for fun and with the need of being able to tag people on the pictures I take, I use mostly Windows Live Picture Gallery. Also, I quite like the fact that you can easily post pictures to Flickr or Facebook. One “major” thing missing is geo-tagging for which I use Pro Photo Tools (also from Microsoft).
Since a great number of people is using PS, I may give it a try to see how it handles these features.
February 21st, 2010 at 1:43 am
I have PhotoShop Elements 8 that I received as a Christmas gift but have not had time to install and learn it. I’ve been using Picasa for about two years and really enjoy it.
February 21st, 2010 at 3:13 am
ACDSee Pro 3. I use it for storage and about 90% of all image manipulation. It has great nondestructive Develop mode and allows me to organise and manage my 90.000+ files.
February 21st, 2010 at 3:36 am
I use F-Spot. All hail the power of OpenSource!!!!
February 21st, 2010 at 3:43 am
Adobe Bridge? Love it. So simple and you can see everything at once. Plus you can embed all of your information into the file. Super surprised that it didnt make the list.
February 21st, 2010 at 5:15 am
I find Bridge adequate for a non-professional person. Has keywords and rating, can size the thumbnails for viewing on the fly. Can anyone point out any negatives about it?
February 21st, 2010 at 6:25 am
I’ve been using the open source GQView under Linux for almost a decade, but since its author has disappeared, the project got forked and has now become Geeqie, which just released version 1.0. I’ve tried using F-spot, darktable, gtksee, shotwell, digikam… and keep going back. I’m still trying to figure out tagging and the best way to manage tags, whether in app-specific metadata files, or in exif or iptc comment fields.
February 21st, 2010 at 8:28 am
I use FastStone. Its free, quick allows me to cull phots quickly and batch renmae. Also has basic editing functions and does not effect he quality of the image.
February 21st, 2010 at 11:23 am
What version of Bridge do you use, and how much is it?
February 21st, 2010 at 2:33 pm
I am currently using a program called IMatch 3.6 to manage my photo’s.
February 21st, 2010 at 5:17 pm
ThumbsPlus Pro by Cerious software has served me well over the years. I especially like the cataloging capabilities it offers for even offline media such as massive DVD photo archives.
February 21st, 2010 at 10:51 pm
I use Lightroom for photo post-processing, because I generally shoot RAW and Picasa for photo management and uploading to Picasa Web Albums(it has useful features, like adding map locations and face recognition).
February 22nd, 2010 at 12:40 am
Inview & Stockview give our studio a solid software base. We use it shared so anyone traveling can still link in.
February 22nd, 2010 at 4:40 am
IDimager – all I need for fully-fledged digital asset management.
February 22nd, 2010 at 5:08 am
I’d like to say a thing I hate: FAIL.
You wrote “PS: we’re talking photo management software here – not photo editing software.” and you missed all most significant DAM tools, like IDimager, iMatch, iView/Expression Media, Extensis Portfolio and Canto Cumulus to name few.
Try new one?
Have a nice day.
February 22nd, 2010 at 10:20 am
In addition to using Picasa I also us Photo Recall to work with pictures.
February 22nd, 2010 at 1:49 pm
I have used FastStone Image viewer for several years works well with all my cameras and editing software. Had affairs with others (ACDSee, InfranView, Ellements8-organiser) and always come back to FastStone.
February 22nd, 2010 at 8:53 pm
ID Imager. Does everything I need, and more. Great support.
February 23rd, 2010 at 2:02 am
Well .. strange .. there is ACDSee, there is Picasa, but there ain’t no GIMP or Cinepaint ? What us Linux users are second hand ? We are other ? Or we don’t need one ? Strange .. I refuse to participate in such poll.. it’s not fair.
February 23rd, 2010 at 2:24 am
suitchaself, the poll is for Photo Management Software, not for photo or graphics editing software. I have used GIMP, didn’t like it, but it is more like Photoshop in that it does not include tools to manage, tag, catalog, etc large collections of photos, as the other tools listed do.
February 24th, 2010 at 12:57 am
I am a digital scrapper and I use ACDSee Photo Manager to organize my scrap supplies as well as organize, browse and edit my photos.
February 27th, 2010 at 7:56 pm
Picasa 3….Idiot proof so it suits me just fine
March 1st, 2010 at 10:52 am
I used to use iphoto and it was great except I couldn’t open a file in Photoshop directly from the iphoto library. Got so exasperated with it that I have switched to using Bridge, Camera Raw and Photoshop. This seems to be working fine for me.
March 7th, 2010 at 5:51 am
Adobe Bridge CS4. Kind of surprised it wasn’t on the list.
March 12th, 2010 at 10:08 pm
I use Corel PaintShop Pro X1 and very happy with it as it does all the jobs I need.
Why is it never mentioned by you as an option in this forum.
Thank you very much for your weekly email, which for me is very inspirational.
June 16th, 2010 at 8:55 am
I use ACDSee Pro 3, which seems to be highly underrated, for both asset management and RAW development. All in all, I’ve been quite happy with what it has to offer. I also recently downloaded a trial version of Bibble 5, and am intrigued by what look to be some very robust asset management features. It would be great to see more reviews and evaluations of software such as ACDSee Pro, Bibble 5, DXO Optics, Capture One Pro and others which offer an alternative to Lightroom or Aperture.
August 11th, 2010 at 7:06 pm
at work I use phraseanet, it’s open source
September 24th, 2010 at 1:37 pm
I use EOS utility from Canon which is a SW package that came along with the camera itself.
April 26th, 2011 at 5:54 am
I use Paint.Net. it is a free open source photo editing with LOADS of plugins from Photoshop. I can do almost everything in Photoshop in pdn. I have made a donation so that the software continues to be updated. It has a simple UI and menus that anyone can understand.
May 10th, 2011 at 10:01 am
Use an oldie but goodie – Photo Recall Deluxe 2.0 – does anyone know a way to run this software with Windows 7 ?
May 10th, 2011 at 4:04 pm
Is anyone using Corel Paint Shop Pro XI? I dont see that on your list. I find it an exellent tool.
May 10th, 2011 at 4:05 pm
Is anyone using Corel Paint Shop Pro XI? I dont see that on your list. I find it an exellent tool.
May 11th, 2011 at 4:24 am
Since my last comment, ACD Systems has released ACDSee Pro 4. While I considered some alternatives, I decided that their Pro software has served me well enough to warrant the upgrade. While the 3.x to 4.x upgrade isn’t nearly as radical as the 2.x to 3.x was, the software has certainly been refined, and incorporates a number of subtle additions.
ACDSee Pro offers a wealth of non-destructive image adjustments including a fantastic advanced lighting module, and full support of EXIF and IPTC data fields, its database functionality for cataloging and finding photos along with its intuitive and efficient workflow is much appreciated.
Two things I would like to see added are better dedicated non-destructive support for B&W conversions, and third third party plugins. These are the two areas where I feel some of the other software options have a competitive advantage.
Leave a Reply