Photoshop? Lightroom? Something else?


Photoshop, Lightroom, Affinity, and Gimp are all image editing software that allow users to manipulate, retouch, and enhance digital images. While they have some similarities, they also have some key differences that set them apart.


Photoshop is a powerful software developed by Adobe that is widely used by professionals in various fields, such as photography, graphic design, and web design. It offers a wide range of tools and features for image manipulation, retouching, and compositing, and is suitable for advanced users. Photoshop is available for both Windows and Mac, and can be purchased as a standalone software or as part of Adobe's Creative Cloud subscription.


Lightroom is also developed by Adobe and is geared towards photographers. It offers a range of tools for organizing, editing, and enhancing photos, including basic adjustments, color correction, and filters. Unlike Photoshop, Lightroom is designed to be more intuitive and user-friendly, making it suitable for both amateur and professional photographers. It is also available for both Windows and Mac, and can be purchased as a standalone software or as part of Adobe's Creative Cloud subscription.


Adobe (at the time of this writing) offers a "Photography Plan" that gives you access to both Lightroom and Photoshop for $10 a month. Quite a few photographers only use Lightroom, but to purchase Lightroom alone you would pay $20 so it makes more sense to get both. The difference between the two programs come down to Lightroom's ability to organize your pictures. As a trade off, Lightroom allows you to do most of the basic edits to a photograph but to do more advanced editing you will need Photoshop.


It is also worth noting that Adobe works on a subscription based model. You will pay a monthly fee (depending on what plan you choose) and never actually own the program. Some people do not like not being able to buy a program, others (like myself) do not mind because through this system you will always have the most update software available.


Affinity is a newer image editing software developed by Serif. It offers a similar range of tools and features to Photoshop for image manipulation, retouching, and compositing. Affinity is available for both Windows and Mac, and can be purchased as a standalone software.


Affinity bases a large portion of their marketing on the fact that they are not subscription based. You pay a sum of money one time and the program is yours. At the time of this writing, you can purchase one of the three programs they offer for a one time fee of $40.99 or all three programs for $99.99.


Gimp (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a free and open-source image editing software. It offers a range of tools for image manipulation, retouching, and compositing, and is suitable for both amateur and professional users. Gimp is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.


In summary, Photoshop and Lightroom are both powerful and feature-rich image editing software developed by Adobe, while Affinity is a newer alternative that offers similar capabilities. Gimp is a free and open-source option that is suitable for those who are looking for a budget-friendly solution. It is possible to do almost anything with any of these programs, they are all great options. It really comes down to your budget and your preference.


For me, I use the Adobe suite. It is what I learned on in college and what I was most familiar with so the learning curve was a lot easier for me after school. You may likely see blogs in the future talking about Photoshop and/or Lightroom but very few about the other programs simply because I am familiar with Adobe and not the other ones. There are also other alternatives to these programs but I know even less about those. The key is to find one that can do what you want it to do and get as comfortable with it as possible.