Best PS Alternative for RAW & Editing?

Choderboy wrote in post #19401388
I don't use LR and don't want to, just CS4 (will probably move to CS6) so a lot of mentions of LR in the manual don't apply.
I read the info on White balance and exposure adjustments (a couple of times).

sapearl wrote in post #19401401
Choderboy, do you plan to purchase a standalone license of CS6? Right now I am frozen at CS5 with my current camera a 5D3. If I upgrade to something like the R5 I'd have to make a major s/w switch but old standalone copies have always been fine for me.

Can you even still buy CS6?

D Thompson wrote in post #19401587
Can you even still buy CS6?

I was curious about purchase options for CS6 also.

sapearl wrote in post #19401591
I was curious about purchase options for CS6 also.

Supposedly Adobe stopped selling CS6 in early 2017.

Adobe Creative Cloud was originally released in April 2012. At the time of its first subscription release, it offered its cloud services alongside its traditional software for purchase, an option that was only retired in January 2017. During this overlap period, the subscription-based service was available in different iterations of testing for five years before becoming the single option for users.

Thanks Wilt. Guess I'll have to shop around for the best Creative Cloud Deal this fall. Basically all I use is Bridge, PS, ACR which takes care of everything for me.

I'm good unless I decide to get another body. That's doubtful no more than I shoot anymore. That said there is still Adobe's DNG Converter or DPP.

sapearl wrote in post #19401591
I was curious about purchase options for CS6 also.

It an be bought used and license transferred. A bit of mucking around but possible.

sapearl wrote in post #19401644
Thanks Wilt. Guess I'll have to shop around for the best Creative Cloud Deal this fall. Basically all I use is Bridge, PS, ACR which takes care of everything for me.

Adobe rarely has a sale and if they do it typically it for the pro plan which is about $50 a month. Sometimes Amazon will have a special but that always seems to be for US citizens only. Be careful about anything that looks too good to be true. B&H sells it so you can keep an eye on it.

FYI. If you get the photo plan and within a year see another deal you can get it and it gets tacked on to your current subscription.

Choderboy wrote in post #19401789
It an be bought used and license transferred. A bit of mucking around but possible.

Maybe 3 years ago but I wouldn't get it now. Who knows for how long it will work. I'd sooner go with something like Affinity that gets support. Like Wilt said 7 years is a long time in the software world.

digital paradise wrote in post #19402719
Adobe rarely has a sale and if they do it typically it for the pro plan which is about $50 a month. Sometimes Amazon will have a special but that always seems to be for US citizens only. Be careful about anything that looks too good to be true. B&H sells it so you can keep an eye on it.

FYI. If you get the photo plan and within a year see another deal you can get it and it gets tacked on to your current subscription.

Thanks! I'd totally forgotten that B&H sells it too. I buy enough there.....what's one more item

Amazon Prime day. It's on sale in the UK. You can check out Amazon US. It's never offered for Amazon Canada.

https://www.amazon.co.​uk …NrPXRydWU&pldnS​ite=1&th=1

If you aren't always upgrading your cameras which introduce new raw files for which updates are required,. local license is way more cost effective than any subscription, and none of those delays.

My current favorite RAW editor remains Capture One. It's costly initially, and you do need to buy upgrades, (patches are of course free) BUT only as often as you decide, or need to for new RAW capability. (Of course the DNG option is always a stop gap)

If you are a PS user that only uses the more basic apps, the full blown studio version of ACDSee is actually pretty darn useful now.
I've been using ACDSee since Windows 3.1 as my image viewer, renamer, etc. It had file handling features and fantastic batch editing tools long before anything else. It's fast and lightweight. It is NOT a powerhouse image editor, but it is a very useful easy to learn one.
Studio has had RAW conversion now for a few years. I've never really used it, but it could be a nice all in one solution.

Lastly, for the PS side of things vs. RAW, I still use PSCS6 installed on my hard drive and no option for it to "phone home" and get Adobe sniffing around. It aint broke, so why fix it?

There are ways to buy CS6 legally still, though I've not done so (I got mine before subscriptions)

eg;
https://procadis.com …e-photoshop-cs6-extended/

digital paradise wrote in post #19403964
Amazon Prime day. It's on sale in the UK. You can check out Amazon US. It's never offered for Amazon Canada.

https://www.amazon.co.​uk …NrPXRydWU&pldnS​ite=1&th=1

Yes! I bought a SpyderXPro for half the normal price.