Search for program for image editing

[frankdarwin]

Hello,
I am looking for a program with which I can edit images afterwards. The program should allow me to correct image errors such as scratches on old slides, minor exposure errors, white balance, etc..
Since I don't necessarily finish editing a picture in one evening, it would be nice if I could save the editing steps I've already done, and undo them if needed.
I am not a professional photographer. Therefore I need this program only in exceptional cases.
Therefore, no programs that require a subscription come into question for me. One-time purchase is O.K.
Does anyone have a suggestion for me?
I would be happy if I find someone in this wonderful community who can help me.

[JohnZeman]

I use DxO PhotoLab 6 for most of my raw file processing, Raw Therapee for the raw processing of photos that are not supported by PhotoLab, and Affinity Photo for all pixel editing of my tiff exports from PhotoLab and Raw Therapee.  Final processed images from Affinity Photo are in jpg format.

Both PhotoLab and Raw Therapee save their raw processing in sidecar files so I can re-edit them again if necessary (and it often is) later on.

I've been very happy with my photo processing.

[frankdarwin]

Hello John,
thank you very much for the quick reply!
I have tested DxO and found that it meets my requirements.

[jch2103]

There are a number of us here who use DxO. 

[frankdarwin]

Both PhotoLab and Raw Therapee save their raw processing in sidecar files so I can re-edit them again if necessary (and it often is) later on.

Hello John,
I had written that I had tested DxO Lab and found it useful.
Unfortunately too early.
I found today that the Advanced History no longer contains the changes I made yesterday!
Only the default preset is still displayed. Everything else is no longer included.
I searched DxO's forum and found a post dealing with this very issue. It describes that the history only works reasonably in the MAC version. However, I use Windows.
Possibly I have not tested thoroughly enough. Now I have (unfortunately) invested money for a product that does not meet one of my most important requirements. As soon as my membership in the DxO forum is verified, I will place my questions about this topic there.
I don't want to blame you in any way! What MAC user is always thinking about the rest of the world? Are you aware of this problem? Do you have any other suggestions for solving my problem?

[JohnZeman]

Actually Frank I hadn't noticed this before but you're right, on Windows the history is session based only for some reason I don't know.

It's never been a problem for me though since the editing changes I make to each image are retained from session to session.

[digedag]

Only the default preset is still displayed. Everything else is no longer included.

Hi Frank, try this:
- Create a virtual copy of the edited photo [Ctrl+J]
- Reset correction settings of the virtual copy [Ctrl-Shift+R].
- Copy the correction settings of the edited photo (master) [Ctrl-Shift+C].
- Paste all correction settings into the virtual copy [Ctrl-Shift+V].

ADVANCED HISTORY: -> "Pasted correction settings".

All steps made are not listed, but here you can find at least the changes made in the end. Hope it helps a little.

[GERMAN]
Hallo, Frank, versuche das mal:
- Mache ein virtuelle Kopie des bearbeiteten Fotos [Ctrl+J]
- Korrektureinstellungen der virtuellen Kopie zurücksetzen [Ctrl-Shift+R]
- Korrektureinstellungen des bearbeiteten Fotos (Master) kopieren [Ctrl-Shift+C]
- Alle Korrektureinstellungen in die virtuellen Kopie einfügen [Ctrl-Shift+V]

ADVANCED HISTORY: -> "Eingefügte Korrektureinstellungen"

Alle vorgenommenen Schritte sind zwar nicht gelistet, aber hier findest Du wenigstens die letztendlich vorgenommenen Änderungen. Hoffe, es hilft ein wenig.
Bernhard

[Winfried]

May I point you to another program: Picture Window Pro Version 8. It is all non-destructive by design.
And it is for free! But it is not a raw-converter like DxO is.
It has many tools for editing scans with scratches and dust. Colormanagement is implemented.
The non-destructive editing is achieved by a structured logfile for all transformation, which can be saved as a sidecar-file.
Picture Window Pro
or do a google-search with Picture Window Pro

Nevertheless I use DxO as my raw-converter. But for editing jpg or tiff-files I use Picture Window Pro

Winfried

[Jingo]

DxO for me here as well... switched from Capture One and have not looked back.  The noise correction is so good, it is worth it for that alone.  I never go back and review images/edit again once they are converted - too many new images to convert and no time to retweak old ones (though it would be fun to try it on some 15 year old RAW files to see what it can do for them today!).

For non-RAW editing, it is Photoshop for me.  Tried so many other freeware and shareware programs and I still just head back to what I know and already own as part of the suite.  May be overkill for what I do.. but the keyboard shortcuts are known and it is quick and powerful.

[stefanjan2]

I also use Photolab 6 Elite on Windows and very happy with it. (Previously used Lightroom and then ON1)

I occasionally revisit previous RAW files especially if I need to use an image again as my skills have improved. Normally I would create a virtual copy and reset everything on the virtual copy and start from scratch but you are able to see all the settings used on Windows. There is a switch, top right corner which filters down to active corrections (see attached).

In conjunction with Photolab 6 I also use Affinity, Topaz and Nik

[digedag]

[...] switch, top right corner which filters down to active corrections [...]

Learned something new again! Thank you.
Bernhard