Alternatives to PS - what they can and can not do?

[Matus Kalisky]

Given the last news from Adobe there will be many of use who will - sooner or later - look for a software to replace Photoshop.

Obviously - there is not a software that can do all the things Photoshop has or even uses the same layout or logic, but there are several options some of you may already have quite detailed experience with.

Would you guys and galls be so kind and share your experience on image-editing software you use - what are the up and down sides compared to Photoshop?

Example of questions that just come to my mind:
- Can these softwares import PSD files?
- 16 bit processing?
- Adjustment layers or other way to make the changes revertible?
- noise reduction / sharpening / retouching tools ?
- batch processing
- Linux/Mac/Win
- color / contrast / levels / BW / toning ?

thank you in advance

[Lenny Eiger]

Example of questions that just come to my mind:
- Can these softwares import PSD files?
- 16 bit processing?
- Adjustment layers or other way to make the changes revertible?
- noise reduction / sharpening / retouching tools ?
- batch processing
- Linux/Mac/Win
- color / contrast / levels / BW / toning ?

thank you in advance

Just in case someone is taking notice, we definitely need a curves dialog, or something that will do the same thing, and the capability for masking. That's the big one for me...

Lenny

[Ben Syverson]

FWIW, Lightroom does all of the things mentioned so far, except for Linux.

[Greg Miller]

FWIW, Lightroom does all of the things mentioned so far, except for Linux.

Maybe. And maybe for some people that is an acceptable alternative. But the thought of having to use Lightroom to do what I do is not a welcome thought - not even close. I do 90% of my work in Photoshop for a reason.

[bob carnie]

plus 1
Lightroom does not even come close to PS in capabilities.
I use LR for quick edit and selection for our work, maybe setting up some final print canvases.

I think some are dreaming if they think a product will be developed to rival PS.

Maybe. And maybe for some people that is an acceptable alternative. But the thought of having to use Lightroom to do what I do is not a welcome thought - not even close. I do 90% of my work in Photoshop for a reason.

[Brian Ellis]

. . . . I think some are dreaming if they think a product will be developed to rival PS.

I agree if by "rival PS" you mean something that will do everything for everybody that Photoshop does. But many of Photoshop's tools and capabilities aren't used by most photographers, they're there for graphic artists/designers. Unless there are legal problems I would think that somebody might take those functions of Photoshop that are most used by photographers, leave out all the things most of us never use or do (which for me is probably 70% or more of Photoshop) and make a viable product that costs relatively little compared to Photoshop.

I should add that I haven't written a program in over 40 years and when I did I put the code on paper, handed it to a keypunch operator who put it on cards and then gave it to an operator who fed the cards into the computer. To say I'm a little out of date when it comes to software is a major understatement.

[Ken Lee]

Krita looks promising: is there any support for color spaces, ICC profiles, etc. ?

[bdkphoto]

Maybe. And maybe for some people that is an acceptable alternative. But the thought of having to use Lightroom to do what I do is not a welcome thought - not even close. I do 90% of my work in Photoshop for a reason.

Greg,

I've gone the other direction over the last 2 years, I'm at 90% with lightroom and only use PS for big retouching, transformations, and stitching. With LR 5 the new transform features look very promising too. It took me a while to warm up to LR, but now I find it has too many advantages for my workflow. That said, the other 10% is still really necessary.....

[Greg Miller]

Greg,

I've gone the other direction over the last 2 years, I'm at 90% with lightroom and only use PS for big retouching, transformations, and stitching. With LR 5 the new transform features look very promising too. It took me a while to warm up to LR, but now I find it has too many advantages for my workflow. That said, the other 10% is still really necessary.....

Hi Bruce. I respect your opinion on this. Thanks for adding your input.

Here are some things that Lightroom does not have that are critical for my workflow:

1) No blending modes. Almost all of my color balance, contrast, and saturation changes are made with a blending mode to avoid things like changing saturation and hue when making a contrast change. I am a propoent of using color theory to optimize an image. e.g. When changing color balance, don't also change luminosity and saturation (which happens unless you change the blending mode).
2) No ability to overshoot an adjustment and then back off with the opacity slider
3) No stitching of multiple photos
4) No manual blending of two images with different exposures (with high dynamic range scenes)
5) No organizing of adjustments through layers and groups (and with labels)
6) No targeted dodging and burning with a very specific curve

[Ben Syverson]

Hi Bruce. I respect your opinion on this. Thanks for adding your input.

Here are some things that Lightroom does not have that are critical for my workflow:

1) No blending modes. Almost all of my color balance, contrast, and saturation changes are made with a blending mode to avoid things like changing saturation and hue when making a contrast change. I am a propoent of using color theory to optimize an image. e.g. When changing color balance, don't also change luminosity and saturation (which happens unless you change the blending mode).
2) No ability to overshoot an adjustment and then back off with the opacity slider
3) No stitching of multiple photos
4) No manual blending of two images with different exposures (with high dynamic range scenes)
5) No organizing of adjustments through layers and groups (and with labels)
6) No targeted dodging and burning with a very specific curve

Unfortunately NOTHING is going to check all of those boxes except for Photoshop.

The truth is that people may need to learn new techniques and approaches if they want to give up PS.