Software for Converting Scanned Color Negatives

[neil poulsen]

What software exists for converting scanned color negatives, that's not tied to Adobe cloud products?

I've been reading about Negative Lab Pro, which sounds like a good product. But it's a plugin for Lightroom or Lightroom Classic, and Adobe cloud products will not run on my machine, which runs High Sierra.

I gather that ColorNeg (Color Perfect) is a similar product that runs as a plugin to Adobe cloud products.

It appears that FilmLab is a stand-alone product that converts scanned color negatives. Is this a decent product? It's a bit expensive: $249 per forever license. (But, worth it to me, if it works well.)

What other software products come to mind for converting color negatives?

And while I'm on the topic, I view cloud software applications as absolutely insidious. They put users on a treadmill that forces them always to have only the latest products and versions of software. For example, High Sierra isn't that dated; yet, "it's no longer supported." And, to get a more recent OSX, I need a more recent computer! And of course, that same dynamic cascades to so many other products. Really makes me burn! Talk about planned obsolescence.

[r.e.]

Phase One's Capture One. Since you have a Mac, have you tried processing scans in the Photos App? I think that it's more capable than people give it credit for, and it's bundled with the operating system.

[nbagno]

Color perfect is not tied to Adobe Cloud, you can run it on CS6 or for example. I run it on a Mac G5 for one of my scanners. There is also NEGMASTER which is a photoshop plug-in, but I just thought I would mention it.

[Peter Mounier]

Although I haven't converted scanned color negs in Darktable, I have been using Darktable for about a year and find it to be extremely capable for all of my post-processing. It is free open source software and will work on your mac. It is often compared to Lightroom, but more powerful. There are lots of tutorials for nearly all aspects of darktable on YouTube. Here is one I just found for converting scanned color negs ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8dlM_bCtig&t=3s

[xkaes]

And while I'm on the topic, I view cloud software applications as absolutely insidious. They put users on a treadmill that forces them always to have only the latest products and versions of software. For example, High Sierra isn't that dated; yet, "it's no longer supported." And, to get a more recent OSX, I need a more recent computer! And of course, that same dynamic cascades to so many other products. Really makes me burn! Talk about planned obsolescence.

This has been discussed before -- here and everywhere else. A look at all software over the last few decades shows lots of consolidation, and movement toward subscriptions only. Often with a free trial period, people are drawn in, and in the end have to pay or lose everything.
This is also happening to the operating systems -- which has greater significance. If you give up your free upgraded trial operating system (i.e., Windows 11) you are totally stuck -- unless you pay up in a year for new software, and sometimes new hardware.
The good old days of a permanent license are fast disappearing. I have lots of older software that is "permanent" -- for "life". But it's really only the life of my hard drive. If I need to be re-install the software, I can't do it because the licensing service on the INTERNET is no longer maintained by the company. This is true for older versions of Microsoft Office, SPSS, Adobe Acrobat, and many more.
Buyer beware!

[Alan Klein]

This has been discussed before -- here and everywhere else. A look at all software over the last few decades shows lots of consolidation, and movement toward subscriptions only. Often with a free trial period, people are drawn in, and in the end have to pay or lose everything.
This is also happening to the operating systems -- which has greater significance. If you give up your free upgraded trial operating system (i.e., Windows 11) you are totally stuck -- unless you pay up in a year for new software, and sometimes new hardware.
The good old days of a permanent license are fast disappearing. I have lots of older software that is "permanent" -- for "life". But it's really only the life of my hard drive. If I need to be re-install the software, I can't do it because the licensing service on the INTERNET is no longer maintained by the company. This is true for older versions of Microsoft Office, SPSS, Adobe Acrobat, and many more.
Buyer beware!

'...You load 16 tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt
St. Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store..."
16 Tons sung by Tennessee Ernie Ford
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRh0QiXyZSk

[r.e.]

The good old days of a permanent license are fast disappearing.

I moved from Photoshop/Lightroom to Capture One a little over a year ago. I'd been considering the change for some time. I don't have a problem with Photoshop as software, but I increasingly felt like there was a question about who owned my computer, me or Adobe. I was offered a permanent Capture One license for US$50 in conjunction with the purchase of a new monitor, which cinched the deal. However, Capture One's pricing makes a subscription more attractive than a permanent license if one wants annual updates. Update every couple of years? That's financially unattractive too. Three days ago, Capture One said that it's releasing Capture One for iPad this summer. No announcement on cost to users, but I expect that this will also be structured to push current permanent license holders to subscription.

I think we're at a point where developers offer permanent licenses as a way to build a client base, with the intention of making permanent licenses unattractive as soon as possible.

[neil poulsen]

. . . I think we're at a point where developers offer permanent licenses as a way to build a client base, with the intention of making permanent licenses unattractive as soon as possible.

One nice thing about it are the continued updates.

I currently still use Creative Suite IV. It gives me all the fundamentals; but, there are some features on more recent versions that would be nice to have.

[neil poulsen]

And, right on the tail of Apple announcing their new Studio computer. Hmm.

[Leszek Vogt]

Neil, I'm looking into ColorNeg and was told that my Elements PS (20) can handle it....an not sure if my Lightroom 5 can deal with this. My interest mostly stems from thousands of mot. picture film stills (5247). I'm with you on being anti-cloud.