The October 2023 Lightroom update brought an important change to the way Lightroom (that’s the ‘web’ version, not Lightroom Classic) handles your files. Now you can browse and even edit photos on your local drives without having to import them into Lightroom and its cloud storage.
Browser (photos)
Software that can ‘browse’ through the folders on your hard disk and show you any photos inside them as thumbnail images. This is the simplest form of photo organisation tool and works perfectly well for many photographers, even though it lacks flexibility. Adobe Bridge is a file browser, for example, while Alien Skin Exposure and ON1 Photo RAW are examples of photo-editing programs that have browsers built in.
DxO PhotoLab vs Lightroom Classic – using PhotoLab for cataloguing
That’s an interesting question. PhotoLab 6 offers better RAW processing and noise reduction than Lightroom and more extensive local adjustment tools, but with the improvements to the PhotoLibrary in PhotoLab 6, can it also do the same job as an image cataloguing tool?
ON1 Photo RAW 2023 review
Verdict: 4.5 stars ON1 Photo RAW 2023 is probably the closest thing there is to a photo editor that does absolutely everything. This version adds AI subject recognition and masking features. ON1 Photo RAW’s scope and ambitions are impressive, though the AI doesn’t always work perfectly and ON1 Photo RAW 2023 can sometimes feel sluggish.
ACDSee Photo Studio for Mac 8 review
Verdict: 2.5 stars ACDSee Photo Studio for Mac 8 is the MacOS version of ACDSee’s all-in-one Photo Studio application. From its features, it looks like a strong rival to Lightroom or ON1 Photo RAW, for example, but the reality is very different. It’s both basic and technical at the same time, it’s missing features many might take for granted, and it looks like a Windows program ported on to the Mac, even if it isn’t.
Open in Camera Raw: the Lightroom alternative right under your nose!
Adobe Bridge and Camera Raw make a great alternative to Lightroom, with all the same editing tools but in a simpler workflow with no tiresome imports, just ‘live’ image browsing and editing.
Cataloguing software explained
Cataloguing software can organize your entire photo collection, but how does it work and what do you look for?
How to organise your image catalog: some ideas
What is the best way to organise your images in cataloguing software? You can use folders, albums, keywords, ratings, color labels, flags… but you should use just what you need. You don’t have to use them ALL.
How to batch-rename RAW+JPEG pairs in Adobe Bridge
Here’s part 2 of my mini-series on creating a basic image filing and naming system. Part 1 explains the basic folder and file naming structure and how to batch rename photos in Adobe Bridge. This part looks at specific situation that lots of us face – what to do when you shoot RAW+JPEG pairs with […]