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Yesterday’s announcement concerning the new Adobe Lightroom CC has upset many customers and photographers around the world. There won’t be a standalone version anymore which means you will have to subscribe to a Creative Cloud membership to use the new version (photographers’ plans start from $10/month). Furthermore, Lightroom as you know it has been re-labeled Lightroom Classic while the new Lightroom CC is a completely new version with a mobile-friendly interface, designed to work on desktop, tablets and smartphones with Adobe servers rather than physical discs.
On a personal level, this decision doesn’t bother me too much because I am already a Creative Cloud member with the All-apps plan (I also use Premiere, After Effects and other programs). However I understand that this decision might upset other users and it’s safe to say that the internet’s reaction has been really negative so far, especially concerning the idea of having to subscribe to a monthly plan. The question is: can Lightroom be replaced? Other software have already proven superior when it comes to RAW demosaicing but the Adobe program has always been one of the best when it comes to managing and sorting thousands of images (I’ve been using one catalogue for all our MirrorLessons images since 2013).
One brand that will try to compete is Macphun. Since the Adobe announcement, the company has been bombarded with emails regarding the new version of their popular photo editor Luminar and the good news is that they will integrate a DAM (digital asset manager). It will work with both hard drives and cloud storage platforms and promises to be a great solution for organising and managing images. Below you can see a sneak peak of how it will work.
Luminar 2018 will arrive later this year with lots of new features while the DAM will be available as a free update in 2018. Those seeking for an affordable photo manager and editor may find in Luminar exactly what they are looking for. While we wait to know more about the new version of the software, you can visit this Macphun’s landing page where you will find more information on how the company intends to respond the recent Adobe announcement.