Adobe alternatives

Not everyone's happy paying a monthly subscription for Lightroom and Photoshop. Rod Lawton reveals the best alternative photo editors

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A dobe does not rule the photo-editing world. Photoshop and Lightroom are fine, as far as they go, but there are important and compelling reasons for choosing software from other publishers.

Raw processing quality is one. Adobe Camera Raw, which comes with Adobe Photoshop and is the processing engine within Lightroom and Lightroom Classic, will not always get the best from your raw files. Capture One and DxO Photo Lab are actually better at combining noise control and fine detail rendition. Creative presets and ‘looks’ are another.

Lightroom presets can be varied and interesting, but those in other programs go way further. If you need inspiration in your photography, there are plenty of programs that can provide it, like Exposure X7 and ON1 Photo RAW.

Maybe you resent paying ongoing subscriptions to Adobe’s already bulging coffers? We know that a lot of photographers dislike subscriptions on principle, and while many software publishers are heading that way, some faster than others, even today you can still pay a single one-off fee and know what you’re going to get.

Adobe alternatives vary considerably in price. Just like cameras and lenses, software is generally cheap for a reason, and expensive for a reason. If you don’t need powerful expert tools, why spend more to get them? But if you do need better or more advanced tools, it is likely to cost more. So here are ten Adobe alternatives we think you ought to know about.

Affinity Photo 2 

Platforms: Mac, PC and iPad

Price: £59.99