I’m getting tired of workarounds in Lightroom processing especially since I only need it for cataloging so been looking into alternatives. Any opinions on Acdsee or Zoner? Acdsee cataloging seems quite impressive. Any way to integrate some of them easily with DXO?
I can higly tecommend Photo Supreme. Works well with DXO
I’d also recommend trying iMatch by photools. It’s a bit pricey but well worth the price ( $119 USD). There is a 30 day trial. I’d check out the tutorials first to see if it meets your needs before wasting some of your trial days. The support from the developer is fanatastic, as is the community forum support. So many configuration options are available for you to customize it for exactly how you work. BTW, it works very well with PL2, as well as other editing software.
Interresting,
I am used to folder managment on my rawfile side. The photomanagment i do on the rear, archieve side. (tagging, texting , re-dating , searching)
DxO’s library is not fast enough in startup and closing and skimming around for this on the raw file side.
Did a quick look,
Does it create tags, and can i edit exif data on multiple images?
Does it create mxp files in the same folder as the rawfile?
(so it can be copied by dxo library and also used there. Then the seach function in dxo library is working somewhat more detailed.)
The product’s features are described here :
2 Likes
Thanks, for pointing to it.
I look in to it to see if it’s UI is easy and intuitive.
ive installed XnViewMP for the moments i need exifdata and xmp files manipulation.(it’s free for personal use)
Seems a bit more stable as Digikam win.
Don’t use it (now) that much, as i used to real simple managment: import images by datefolder, skim and reorder, process them (DxOPL) and transfer rawfolder to archieve when done, and use jpegs folder tree as library backbone.
(use my own memory (which got worse by increasing images and age… ;-)) and pse13 library for finding things. In the “best lists” XnViewMP and DigiKam are up and down of each other.
DigiKam’s Ui looks smoother at first glimp.
@caderik: Did you look at XnviewMP?
… and, icing on the cake, I’ve already done a animated tutorial 
http://dxo.tuto.free.fr/Efficacite/Appendix.html
Pascal
2 Likes
I’ve been using IMatch for 13 years as a DAM, it’s incredibly powerful and works beautifully with PhotoLab.
Another very strong recommendation for IMatch https://www.photools.com/ from another long-term user. Much more powerful and flexible than LR. As noted earlier, there’s a 30-day free trial. See the website for examples, free videos, etc. Support both from the developer and the community forum is excellent.
You could have a look at digiKam (https://www.digikam.org/ ). It’s free.
That looks awesome, will need to try it out.
I’ve been using IMatch for 13 years as a DAM, it’s incredibly powerful and works beautifully with PhotoLab.
I was using many years ago IMatch and went for Lightroom (Adobe was still updating that one outside the cloud offer). My biggest grief with IMatch at the time was the lack of support for standard tags and the IMatch author was strongly against standard tags (IMatch used to have its own hierarchy of keywords not compatible with XMP). IMatch was not strong either on RAW processing. Has that changed?
1 Like
IMatch fully supports open standards (thousands of metadata tags) including including keywords and XMP tags so you’re never locked into a company’s proprietary approach.
IMatch adapts to your particular workflow. It works with a variety of RAW processor programs including PhotoLab, Lightroom, etc. There’s much more information about the program on the IMatch website. IMatch is a digital asset management program, not a RAW processor (that’s why I use PhotoLab).
2 Likes
I’m using Mylio and couldn’t be happier. Excellent features for organizing my photos, including face recognition. And syncs to all my devices, both computers, tablets and phones, via the local network instead of storing images in the cloud. Finally, really responsive support.
1 Like
I highly recommend Photo Supreme too. Been using it for 5 years with few problems after evaluating most other DAMs out there. Compliant with XML standards, under active development, helpful user forum, and free trial available: https://www.idimager.com/
Regarding other software mentioned, ACDSee and Zoner have cataloging functions but aren’t full DAMs. iMatch is reportedly good, but there was a huge gap between releasing version 3.6 (May 2007) and the next version (version 5, June 2014); there have been additional releases since, but I’d be cautious. digiKam seemed fairly functional on Linux, but wasn’t entirely stable on Windows - it may have improved since. Daminion is another name to know - someone I know uses it, but I don’t find as usable as Photo Supreme.
IMatch is under continuous development. See the online Release Notes for a history: https://www.photools.com/release-notes/
Great DXO Tutorial btw. Still need to try XnviewMP but not sure if its cataloging features are sufficient.
Photo Supreme did look really good. I noticed it had a placeholder for dxo integration. Do you know if they have sales sometimes? I also did really like ACDSee, but are there really more DAM features in Photo Supreme? Tried Digikam but wasn’t horribly successful importing the photos and it was way slower than the other tools plus the windows UI is not the sharpest.
Overall, I tried a lot of tools and they all seemed to have comparable features so far. Doesn’t seem to be much of a gap these days.
Will keep looking at sales for either Photo Supreme or ACDSee… They definitely felt snappier than the old LR. From another thread, I know I can fix my color issue by using TIFF instead of DNG files which will work for now.
[quote=“caderik, post:16, topic:8876”]
Photo Supreme did look really good. I noticed it had a placeholder for dxo integration.[/quote]
You can add buttons to open any image using any program.
Be aware that sales are mostly there to bring in new users (often just before new versions come out, so you have to pay to upgrade soon after). If cost is a major concern then look at upgrade costs & frequency and work out the cost over 5 or 6 years.
ACDSee have a sale on right now but I would recommend taking advantage of the full length of the free trial before buying (by which time the sale will have ended).
Photo Supreme is never on sale - at least I’ve never seen one.
Daminion Standalone used to be free-to-use until you reached 15,000 images - that may still be the case.
Yes. ACDSee is primarily a DxO competitor that can do basic cataloging (a path which DxO is now starting to follow). If you look at their website and videos the DAM features are only briefly mentioned, and I would imagine that most of their future development money will be spent on photo editing features, rather than on cataloging, as I hope will be the case in DxO.
IMHO there are only 3/4 ‘serious’ DAMs in the consumer-affordable market - iMatch, Photo Supreme and Daminion Standalone (+ digiKam on Linux), so I’d suggest focusing your efforts there. They do share many features, but - as in any software - the feature list only gets you to the staring point, along with your confidence in the company, support, cost, etc. After that it’s ease of use (for cataloging, retrieving and related tasks) that should guide your decision - particularly if you take lots of photos and you’re going to be spending a lot of time with the software. In all cases, make full use of the trial period before purchasing.
Adobe Bridge CC. Free for everybody, just need to have or create Adobe ID. You set DxO software as default. Transfers star ratings if you leave folder in Bridge before you open folder in DxO. Currently free, perpetual and updated, Adobe willing.
2 Likes
Lr Classic can also be thought of as a free DAM – once the 7-day trial or your subscription ends, you still have access to the Library module and most of its functionalities.
XnViewMP is able to import your Lr or C1 keywords libraries (it respects hierarchy as well), plays well with star-rating, gps info and colour labels. It also supports boolean operators. That might be enough for some people.
darktable is probably the closest thing to Lr and ACDSee Ultimate. Its DAM (lighttable) module is pretty competent.
2 Likes
Absolutely !