A Free Lightroom Alternative?

As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m trying to move away from subscription based software, and in particular, Adobe’s Creative Cloud.  Don’t get me wrong, their software is fantastic, but it just isn’t affordable for someone who doesn’t use it for work everyday.  For photo processing, I was willing to spend money on a one time purchase, but instead I found a free piece of software called LightZone that might do the trick.  I thought the best way to make a comparison would be with a YouTube video, so here it is:

Hopefully you were able to watch my video, but if not, here’s a summary of my main points:

• LightZone is also available on Linux, which Lightroom is not
• LightZone doesn’t use a huge catalog file, which is a plus for me
• Some tips for using LightZone:
  • Set the image size smaller to save files faster
  • Select image effects from the toolbar on the right
  • Some commands are different from Lightroom, but you can get the same effect most of the time
• There are more errors than Lightroom, but you get what you pay for (and probably a little bit more too)
• At the end of the day, the result is the same as Lightroom

If you’re interested in LightZone, you can find it here.