Who's changed from Adobe (LR / PS) to either ON1 Photo Raw OR DXO pureraw / photolab?

Donnie

Donnie

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Im exploring getting rid of the subs model, these 2 seem to be the best recommended by some searches via youtube etc so wonderin if anyone here has actually done so and loved / regretted it?
 
I tried On1 for quite a few years but never really got round to using it regularly now use Lightroom CC alongside DXO PURE RAW between the two get results I'm happy with
Russ
 
I've just installed the new edition of PhotoRaw : 2026.4 and suddenly all those promises of making it faster have become true. I could use it if I didn't have lightroom, but it's just not quite as good to use.
 
gramps said:
Photolab + Affinity (free) does everything for me ... wouldn't go back to Adobe.
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what's affinity like? ie would you compare to a LR substitute or PS substitute?
 
Donnie said:
what's affinity like? ie would you compare to a LR substitute or PS substitute?
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I never used LR except to trial it and I hated the way it wanted to take control. For me Photolab and Affinity work together with Affinity being the final touch before exporting. Maybe the two together replacing everything Photoshop did for me.
It’s possible that Affinity on its own could replace the last Photoshop I used.
 
I've been using ON1 for the last couple of years mainly because it provides a complete workflow solution and the ability for auto edits if time for PP needs minimising.

The new 2026.4 version should be even faster but doesn't like to play with some of my photos!
 
Same as Gramps Affinty and DXO for me too
At the time a few years ago Affinity was better for what I needed to do but at the time the Raw converter was limited (its ok now apparently) so tried DXO 5 and really like using it and the results were great, am now on DXO 8 elite
Keeping up to date with DXO (if you want to but not strictly necessary) isn’t cheaper than Adobe but I preferred the results from DXO 5 to Adobe at the time
 
Can you work in DXO and Affinity together, as you can in LRC and PS i.e you can edit an image in LRC send it over to PS with the edits, then do further work in PS then send it back to LRC with all the edits intact, and you can do that as much as you want. So can you do all of that in DXO and Affinity ?
 
TG. said:
Can you work in DXO and Affinity together, as you can in LRC and PS i.e you can edit an image in LRC send it over to PS with the edits, then do further work in PS then send it back to LRC with all the edits intact, and you can do that as much as you want. So can you do all of that in DXO and Affinity ?
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Never felt the need ... I use PL5 from several years ago (2021) and the original Affinity Photos, so have had no 'editor' costs since PL5.
Do the best I can in camera > open in PL5 for minimal edits > export to Affinity for final polish and save to folder.
 
TG. said:
Can you work in DXO and Affinity together, as you can in LRC and PS i.e you can edit an image in LRC send it over to PS with the edits, then do further work in PS then send it back to LRC with all the edits intact, and you can do that as much as you want. So can you do all of that in DXO and Affinity ?
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There isn't the same need to do this with DXO and Affinity, as DXO doesn't have a catalogue. The LR to PS round trip mechanism is primarily to auto catalogue the PS adjustments, without needing to manually sync the catalogue.

With DXO because it's constantly viewing the "actual" folder where the files live (not a preview in a catalogue), as soon as you save an Affinity generated file "with the original raw", DXO will see it.

I'm pretty sure DXO doesn't read Affinity files (nor PSD or PSB) so you would need to set the defaults in Affinity to always use TIFFs if you wanted to view the files with DXO. Again I'm not sure how much you would lose by working with TIFFs in Affinity over working with the native Affinity files. When I used Affinity Photo I had it default to PSDs, and wasn't aware of any issues.

Although DXO doesn't have a DAM, it does have some rudimentary file management and indexing tools (like Adobe Bridge) so being able to see them would still be useful, but DXO has only a few tools that work with TIFFs so realistically, you would still need to reopen Affinity if you wanted to do further work on a file.
 
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I was on lightroom (can't remember what is was called) before adobe bought the developers. I switched to ON1 photoraw.
People say it's unreliable, but I have never felt that. You will need a good recent GPU card (RTXxxxx) of some sort. It is slow on intregrated GPU processors such as most laptops.
I have not used 2026.4 yet.

My brother independantly is also using ON1 Photoraw and does a lot more photography than I do. He seems to have plenty of spare time, much more than I do and I have been retired 5 years
 
When the subscription model came in for Lightroom, I switched to Photolab. It seemed to be the most "professional" of the alternatives; in particular it's main selling point was NOT about sky replacements. I tried with DXO, I really did. I just couldn't get on with it and I don't believe it was being at the bottom of a new learning curve. So I went back to Lightroom, and I haven't regretted it. It is far better software than it was a few years ago, In particular the (now not so) new selection tools made that job so much easier. I just think that for someone as non-techie as me it is far more intuitive than DXO.
 
seaodyssey said:
I was on lightroom (can't remember what is was called) before adobe bought the developers.
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Rawshooter Pro. I also was a users. I think I got 2 free update versions (or was it 2 years?) of LR before I actually started paying for it.
 
Stephen L said:
Rawshooter Pro. I also was a users. I think I got 2 free update versions (or was it 2 years?) of LR before I actually started paying for it.
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Which bizarrely is how I've ended up using Capture One.

I had settled on Powershooter Raw, and got my free versions of Lightroom (including a late beta), but didn't really like it.

I then discovered that the people behind Rawshooter Pro were a break away group of Capture One developers. I had never heard of Capture One, but tried it, liked it, and have used it ever since.
 
I have tried C1 (some years ago) and DxO. Liked the results from both but neither gave me the user experience which LR does, so I’m sticking with Lightroom. Too old to learn new tricks. And I have no issues with subscription models.
 
Stephen L said:
I have tried C1 (some years ago) and DxO. Liked the results from both but neither gave me the user experience which LR does, so I’m sticking with Lightroom. Too old to learn new tricks. And I have no issues with subscription models.
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I still use LR, (as it comes "free" with Photoshop), and I still think it’s the best, most cost effective all round option. My only issue with a subscription is that I lose control of when I have to find the money. It's often financially convenient to delay an upgrade by a month, or so, if money is tight.

BUT, unlike you, I dislike the user experience with LR.

Every so often I try to convince myself to use LR, and save the, about to be over £200 a year I spend on C1, but even after several "paid for" online courses and forced months of using only LR, to make sure it's not just a preference for the familiar, I cannot give up on C1.
 
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