Cloud Photo Editing Software

boobar

Bought a Nikon d3100 ages ago.

Currently taking photos in jpeg format. I want to shoot in raw and learn more about aperture etc...

But I have a very old laptop and don't think it could realistically work for editing in light room or Photoshop.

I have access to another laptop (work laptop), but can't install any new software on it.

Can anyone recommend cloud based photo editing software so I can move ahead with my hobby please?

boobar

Bump.

Anyone ? Any advice would be much appreciated, even if it's I'm going to have to shell out on a new laptop.

D.S.

When you say cloud - do you mean something like the Microsoft Office in the cloud, where you access the software online, and not on your machine? If so, I could be wrong but I am not aware of any of the major photography editing platforms doing this. Adobe has it's 'cloud' offering, but you still install the applications onto your machine, as per normal.

Aperture has been decommissioned by Apple so I wouldn't invest there if you want a long term option.

Personally - I started off with lightroom and then ended up getting the photography cloud subscription which i think is fantastic. I love the lightroom / photoshop combo. They are not perfect but 95% of time - they are all i need. I'd recommend you purchase 1 of Lightroom / Capture 1 / or maybe even the Nik software. I'd stay away from photoshop/gimp until you are more comfortable with your editing. photoshop/gimp are complex programs which take a while to get your head around. lightroom / capture 1 / nik could easily serve 90% of your editing needs.

How old is the laptop? Anything over 2-3 years old, you'll probably find slow and a bit frustrating if you are doing big edits.

Maybe do the research on which platform suits you best. Start off with something like lightroom/capture 1 - if it performs poorly on your machine - then you know you are stuck and need to invest in upgrading your hardware. The software will have minimal system requirements so just check that before you purchase

boobar

D.S. wrote: »

When you say cloud - do you mean something like the Microsoft Office in the cloud, where you access the software online, and not on your machine? If so, I could be wrong but I am not aware of any of the major photography editing platforms doing this. Adobe has it's 'cloud' offering, but you still install the applications onto your machine, as per normal.

Aperture has been decommissioned by Apple so I wouldn't invest there if you want a long term option.

Personally - I started off with lightroom and then ended up getting the photography cloud subscription which i think is fantastic. I love the lightroom / photoshop combo. They are not perfect but 95% of time - they are all i need. I'd recommend you purchase 1 of Lightroom / Capture 1 / or maybe even the Nik software. I'd stay away from photoshop/gimp until you are more comfortable with your editing. photoshop/gimp are complex programs which take a while to get your head around. lightroom / capture 1 / nik could easily serve 90% of your editing needs.

How old is the laptop? Anything over 2-3 years old, you'll probably find slow and a bit frustrating if you are doing big edits.

Maybe do the research on which platform suits you best. Start off with something like lightroom/capture 1 - if it performs poorly on your machine - then you know you are stuck and need to invest in upgrading your hardware. The software will have minimal system requirements so just check that before you purchase

Thanks very much for commenting.

In answer to your question re cloud, the answer is yes like Microsoft office in the cloud.

Thanks for the advice on the software to start off with, I'll take that on board, very useful to know as I don't want to be shelling out major money on lots of software and getting totally confused with all of it!

I think I can safely say I'll need to invest in a new laptop, it will struggle even if I manage to install the software...it's almost 10 years old with a busted DVD drive. Time to save up now!

Thanks again for all the helpful advice, much appreciated.

Kenny Logins

You need the processing power on your pc/laptop, no way around this AFAIK. I have a very modest Dell i3 desktop that didn't break the bank, and it handles Lightroom fine.

boobar

Kenny Logins wrote: »

You need the processing power on your pc/laptop, no way around this AFAIK. I have a very modest Dell i3 desktop that didn't break the bank, and it handles Lightroom fine.

Thanks Kenny,

I thought that would be the case, just clutching at straws here to avoid spending.

This is what I was thinking of getting...seems to tick the boxes for processing power...

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Lenovo_G510_4th_Gen_Core_i7_8GB_1TB_Windows_8.1_Laptop_in_Black__59406131/version.asp

Do you mind me asking what spec is your own machine that you use for editing?

Kenny Logins

boobar wrote: »

Thanks Kenny,

I thought that would be the case, just clutching at straws here to avoid spending.

This is what I was thinking of getting...seems to tick the boxes for processing power...

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Lenovo_G510_4th_Gen_Core_i7_8GB_1TB_Windows_8.1_Laptop_in_Black__59406131/version.asp

Do you mind me asking what spec is your own machine that you use for editing?

Has no problems with 000s of photos in a Lightroom library. More RAM would speed it up a little, but it hasn't really been an issue. Photoshop with loads of layers is another story.

It cost me about half as much as the laptop you've linked to BTW.

boobar

Kenny Logins wrote: »

Has no problems with 000s of photos in a Lightroom library. More RAM would speed it up a little, but it hasn't really been an issue. Photoshop with loads of layers is another story.

It cost me about half as much as the laptop you've linked to BTW.

That's great to know Kenny, thank you very much.

Cost is a big factor for me, so I think I'll revisit this and see if I can get something for less money.