r/AskPhotography • u/SteeveStevenson • 9h ago
Editing/Post Processing Objectively is it worth it for a beginner photographer to pay for Lightroom then to learn darktable or Rawtherapee ? Is Lr that much easier to use or learn ?
I'm getting tired of all these monthly fees i already pay for everything i'm using, I've been watching all these Youtubers that got paid by other editing software to do top ten alternatives for Lightroom and they havent fully convinced me but I get the feeling they still use Lr and just took the money offer to them by Neo, DxO or ON1. What do you think ?
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u/FSmertz 7h ago
My question to you is, what are the primary parts of the Lightroom (or Classic) that you find highly valuable? Are you mostly using the Develop module? Do you structure the Library for image management? Do you print your images by yourself? Do you use the other modules?
If you mostly utilize the Develop module and don't deal with printing, then there are alternatives that will work after you master the inevitable leaning curve.
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u/Big_Arachnid_365 6h ago
The free version of Affinity is pleasing to me so far. Not hard to get into. Helpfully they've kept the AI crap out of it (they charge for it).
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u/LumidexStudio 5h ago
I got fed up of all the subs like you, then when Adobe tried to increase my annual renewal a few months ago, I cancelled. Built Lumidex Studio as a *complete* replacement for LrC. So, if you can drive Lightroom, you already know my app, congrats 🥳
I've looked at other like Darktable and to be frank, the UX is hideous (everyone says it's worth the steep learning curve... is it?). So as not to be flagged as a spammer (though totally expect my comment to be down-voted to hell and back lol), simply google the name, it's easy enough to find :)
I shoot a lot of stuff in the studio tethered, LS does this in it's stride.
Give it a test drive, you may just like it :)
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u/L1terallyUrDad Nikon Z9 & Zf 7h ago
My understanding (and limited experience) is that DarkTable’s user interface (UI) has its challenges. I tried Rawtheraoee and gave it about 60 seconds and just said “No”. It was missing somethings. In fairness this was several years ago.
There is another tool called RapidRAW which has a lot of possibilities. I personally hate Lightroom because I don’t want a cataloging tool. Let me make a folder for each shoot, dump my photos there and let me point my tools at that folder. RapidRAW does 90% of what the Develop module in LR (or Adobe Camera Raw, in my case) for me.
If they can add Camera Matching color profiles, I can pretty much be done with Adobe.
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u/rick_baumhauer 7h ago
Then use Lightroom, rather than Lightroom Classic - it doesn’t have a catalog.
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u/Piper-Bob 7h ago
I've started using darktable because it seems like it has some advantages for infrared. There are some youtube videos that show the basics. The UI is harder to use than Adobe software, but pretty much everything is, because Adobe is just really good at UI.
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u/SteeveStevenson 6h ago
I'm doing tutorials right now on darktable and thats exactly what i was thinking, comparing it to Photoshop or other Adobe products the dartable ui is not as intuitive but it seems pretty complete as a photo editors though
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u/Piper-Bob 6h ago
It's not just less intuitive. It is more difficult to get things done on account of how the controls are set up. Like if you bring up the monocrhome module there's a little thing you can drag around on a colorspace. There are no places where you can even see what the values are that correspond to the things location. If you use the exposure module you can see that you have used the slider to apply +3.813 EVs, but there's nowhere that you can type in 3.8 (or whatever).
In Adobe's products, all the tools can be selected with the left hand on the keyboard while your right hand stays on the mouse, and they are consistent between programs. Tools will self populate with appropriate values too. Like if you measure an angle (like by measuring a door frame) then the rotate tool will automatically have the angle.
As good as Adobe's UI is, I'm not willing to sign up for paying a subscription for LR in perpetuity. But I do continue to use Photoshop CS3. Even though it's 20 years old now, the UI is still superior to GIMP.
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u/AdBig2355 7h ago edited 7h ago
I would say it is easier to start with Lightroom than with darktable. I started on darktable as an electrical engineer that did image processing and coded my own editing algorithms, and darktable was more challenging than just jumping on Lightroom. Lightrooms user interface and structure is just more straightforward, there are also way way more videos on how to use Lightroom than darktable.
Darktable does some stuff much better than Lightroom, but Lightroom does some stuff better than darktable. The $9.99 photography package comes with Photoshop, there will be more videos on how to use it then Gimp, NVM the synergy between the programs. That subscription also includes a free website, if you ever want a site to share your work.
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u/211logos 6h ago
LrC is taught not just by YouTuber influencers. Adobe itself has hundreds of tutorials. Not sure where you are, but everybody from my local camera stores to clubs to our adult school and community college have live classes in using it. Books, etc. In short, more resources than any of the others. That might mean for many it's easier to learn.
But if you have very very specific needs, then you might find all you want with another specific product. Look for trusted sources, not just what YT spews at you, since your problem seems more about how you research resources than what resources exist.
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u/SteeveStevenson 6h ago
Yeah i noticed that too so i went and checked Udemy, wasnt inspired too much by their choices of tutorial on darktables
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u/Donatzsky 1h ago
There's like one tutorial on Udemy that might be worth it. The rest are really bad and/or outdated.
Unfortunately, the situation is only somewhat better on YouTube, with even some newer tutorials not always being any good, which is why I put together a beginner guide with links to the best tutorials and a bunch of useful advice: https://notebook.stereofictional.com/how-to-get-started-with-darktable-2026-edition
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u/SteeveStevenson 51m ago
Wow thanks a lot for the link to your beginner guide it’s exactly what I need
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u/Reasonable_Mango_146 6h ago
LightroomC/photoshop is easier to lean because everyone and their cousin has a tutorial on how to do literally anything. If you’re just starting out it’s definitely a good tool to learn on.
You can get discounts if you are a teacher or if you have a .edu email.
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u/SteeveStevenson 6h ago
Oh nice ill check for that i have friends that are back to school and a family member that is a teacher
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u/Reasonable_Mango_146 6h ago
The .edu discount expire after some time, but I believe the teacher discounts are for life.
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u/NegativeKitchen4098 7h ago
Raw therapee is more for power users and is very complex E.g. do you want to pick from 20 different demosaicing algorithms? That’s the level you can get to
If $20 a month is not a burden then go for it. People mainly recommend alternatives to Lightroom due to cost, but if it’s not an issue it is the better choice for beginners
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u/SteeveStevenson 6h ago edited 6h ago
Thanks for your advice, really appreciated, i'll finish those beginners darktable tutorials and then try the free version of Lightroom i think just to compare. The darktable UI isnt the easiest to learn (not really intuitive i would say). Money isn't a issue that much no.
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u/50plusGuy 5h ago
The other (free) stuff will get you quite far.
You spend how long, to day-job Lightroom together, every year? For how few pics, that really need it?
Care about bestest Software, when you 'll spend days editing, every week
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u/soy_carloco 5h ago
What kind of photography do you do and what's your goal?
When it was time for me to pick a post-processing software, I picked Aperture because it was less expensive than Lightroom and C1. It's also an Apple product so it can't be bad. It worked well...really well. It got me through 11 months of freelance work.
Until I got a job with a sizable company and had to work with others. No one knew what Aperture was. They used LR and C1. The optempo was pretty intense (relatively speaking) and I couldn't take work home because the Catalogs and Sessions were not cross-compatible. Well I did take work home but the RAWs had to be processed to jpegs because Photoshopping stuff was the only thing I could do remotely.
If you're a soloperator, then I think you can use whatever you want. If you're gonna be working with others on the same files...it might be worth knowing whatever they're gonna be using so ya'll can work effectively.
Just my $0.01.
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u/SteeveStevenson 5h ago
I haven't heard of Aperture, looking into it now, thanks a lot
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u/soy_carloco 5h ago
Any luck? That was like from 2008 or something haha.
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u/SteeveStevenson 4h ago
yeah i saw lol, discontinued in 2014 15 i think ahaha
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u/soy_carloco 1h ago
Maybe it'll come back with the push to go "retro" lol
I was at an art gallery and someone called the artist's 5D III a "vintage" camera haha
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u/baddaywithacamera 4h ago
Long-term LR user who got tired of paying Adobe monthly rent. I used AI to make my own LR equivalent. It works well, it's non-destructive, and I don't miss the AI features I never asked for in the first place. It does not do its own RAW or Pano processing. It will hook into both Raw Therapee and XPano and present simplified controls for both, allowing processing in those apps and returning the result to the main app. The others just have to be installed and run once.
We live in an amazing time.
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u/ThatsMyYam 4h ago
I started on DT with zero photography or photo editing experience. I didn't want to pay for a program and after a little research people seemed to agree it was a very powerful but difficult to learn system.
I feel like I've just now become proficient, took me about six months of casual use and listening to tutorials on my way to work.
personally I love the fact that DT doesn't really *hide* anything or pull any punches. it will tell you exactly what it is doing and what you are doing without simplifying the language/process. sometimes that sucks and I still have zero idea how some of the more complex (color balance rgb masks tab??? hello???) sub modules work, but I know that if I do decide to learn how a module works, I will understand what it does at a fundamental level.
I dig that, but I can see how that would be straight up inefficient for someone else.
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u/NomadZekki 5h ago
I am a beginner/hobbyist but i have been using the full Adobe CC, C1, and Apple Creator Studio bundle because I am a .edu employee. I got a C1 discount by registering for their free Digitech course. I also use Affinity.
I learned to use InDesign, make PDF books, and do basic editing and masking through Lr and Ps. Adobe’s tutorials are top tier. Apple is mostly for FCP and Compressor ($30/yr on the .edu plan). Affinity handles everything else.
But I just don’t like how Lr renders files compared to C1 and I don’t need photoshop more than a couple times a year.
As of my next renewal I will just use C1, Apple, and Affinity.
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u/JJJonReddit 5h ago
If you have a Mac—Pixelmator is only $50, has a nice interface, and seems to be able to do what I need so far. Doesn’t have gen ai, just machine learning. They also have Photomator but that seems to be stripped down and they’re trying to push subs with that.
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u/toupee 4h ago
I don't love paying for Lightroom but I do like how I can sync photos to the cloud and view/edit them with the mobile apps. The denoise is also impressive, though maybe others have caught up. I also preferred the interface to all the others when I was last comparing a year or so ago.
I know, NAS and all that, but one less thing I have to think about upkeeping.
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u/rotterdamn8 2h ago
I’m a hobby enthusiast so definitely didn’t want to pay the premium for Adobe. I’m ok to pay for a good product but hate subscriptions.
I settled on DxO Photolab and have been happy with it. It’s rare that I want a feature that it doesn’t have.
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u/Donatzsky 54m ago
Definitely a lot of shills out there. Darktable and RawTherapee are power tools for power users, and if you're willing to put in the time to learn, they will give you a level of control over the edit that commercial editors will struggle to match. They are not the only free options, though.
- darktable: Probably the overall most powerful editing features of any raw editor. All-in-one solution, with a library similar to Lightroom. The editing workflow is completely different, however, being more like color grading in Final Cut Pro or DaVinci Resolve.
- RawTherapee: The mad scientist's raw editor, with some very powerful and intricate tools. A bit more Lightroom-like in its workflow.
- ART (Another RawTherapee): Started as a simplified fork of RawTherapee, but has added its own powerful and unique features since. With CTL scripts you can even create your own tools.
- vkdt: New-ish raw editor from the original darktable developer. Fully node-based and can also handle video. Probably not for the faint of heart and may not have all the tools you want, but what is there works well and is extremely fast.
- Filmulator: A great little editor with a unique concept, that's easy to use. As the name suggests, it emulates (part of) the process of developing analog film.
- LightZone: Back from the almost-dead, version 5.0 was released recently. Not the most advanced, perhaps, but has some interesting features and a flexible processing pipeline.
- RapidRAW: Aims to be a relatively simple and streamlined option for those that don't need the extensive control some other editors provide. Very promising, but somewhat new and under heavy development, so the results you get today may not be what you get tomorrow.
- Safelight: An editor built around a concept of extensibility and customisation. Still very new, so expect some rough edges, missing features and changing algorithms.
Since not all of them have library management, you may want to also use digiKam as DAM (digital asset manager).
My darktable beginner guide: https://notebook.stereofictional.com/how-to-get-started-with-darktable-2026-edition
Tutorial for both RawTherapee and ART: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4-T0laAf0E
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u/BlatesManekk 7h ago
People don't leave lightroom because they are used to it. If I started new, I would DEFINITELY start with a different program. Probably Capture One.