ASK COREY: Which image-editing software should I get?

Hey Corey! I love your work. It seems like you have a SOLID team there! Here is my question: Which of these image-editing software applications would you choose for photography, with the consideration that it will last for at least the next five years—would it be: Capture One Pro, Lightroom, Aperture or Photoshop? And why? —Maya Sugiharto

Hi Maya! Thanks for the question. There are a lot of things in life I am thankful for, but one of them is my solid team! I’ve always said that it’s best to surround yourself with people who are smarter, funnier, more talented and better looking that you are.

Anyway, the answer to your question is actually a bit more complex than simply choosing ONE application to do it all. The reality is, we need software to serve three core purposes: First, to edit our pictures, which is to say, to take the hundreds or even thousands of images taken in the field that day and narrow them down to a few dozen selects. Second, we need software that can process and tone our images—at the most basic level, to adjust color, contrast, remove dust spots, and so on.

Finally, we need software that archives our images so that they are easy to find later on.

The two tools we use for that workflow are Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop, which come packaged within the Adobe Creative Cloud suite.

We do all of our image editing in Lightroom: making selects; basic color correction and contrast adjustment, etc. Then, if we have heavy lifting to do, we bring the image into Photoshop CC to really make that image as good as it will possibly ever get. Our entire image archive is housed in Lightroom, with a very specific system for categorizing, labeling and storing our images so we can find them easily.

Recently, Adobe made a huge step toward revolutionizing the software business by offering Creative Cloud, a subscription-based plan that allows you to use Adobe’s suite of creative programs for a monthly fee. The genius to this model is that you simply pay flat rate every month, and your software automatically stays up to date.

Since you asked about software that will be current 5 years from now—well, there’s no such thing. In terms of technology these days, five years is a few lifetimes!

Since you are only interested in still photography, you don’t need the whole Creative Cloud suite. Fortunately, Adobe offers a package for photographers that includes both Lightroom 5 and Photoshop CC for a special rate of $9.99/month: https://creative.adobe.com/plans/offer/photoshop+lightroom

That seems like a pretty good deal to me. You’ll pay a little bit each month but you’ll also get to use the most up-to-date, and best, image-editing software on the market for as long as you maintain your membership.

Best of luck!