BEST SUBSCRIPTION-FREE SOFTWARE

We get it – not everyone wants to be on the hook to a digital landlord. Less than £10 a month for Photoshop and Lightroom may feel like a good deal, but if you plan to use the software for years, you may be better off paying full-price up front for software that’s yours to keep. We’ve compiled some of the best available. Affinity Photo 2 At a glance

⬤ Photo editor and illustration program

⬤ Windows, Mac and iPad

⬤ £69.99

⬤ affinity.serif.com

Affinity Photo 2 is probably the best Photoshop alternative for those who want a one-time purchase program for photo editing and other image work. Getting it to use forever is the same price as seven months of Photoshop and Lightroom on the Photography Bundle, and for that you get a sophisticated editor with non-destructive workflow, layer editing, masking controls, and plenty more of the kinds of features photographers expect.

The program isn’t the most immediately user-friendly for beginners, and you’ll likely experience a bit of a learning curve if you’re new to image editing. Once you get used to the way the program wants you to think and swapping between its different ‘Personas’ depending on the task you’re performing, it does get much easier. One thing we particularly appreciated in our review was getting our heads around the adjustment presets, which let you save and re-use your favourite adjustments – a real time-saver for batch-editing.

Pros and Cons

+

Brilliant value for money + Photoshop-like interface and tools – No Lightroom-like cataloguing tools – Can be a steep learning curve

DxO PhotoLab At a glance

⬤ Raw workflow software

⬤ Mac and Windows

⬤ Elite edition $219 / £199; Essential edition

$139/ £128

⬤ dxo.com

This powerful software from DxO is especially potent for processing raw files. DxO’s de-noising technologies, DeepPRIME and DeepPRIME XD provide huge benefit in terms of rescuing detail in shots that are suffering from a significant amount of digital noise owing to being shot at high ISOs. The process is fast and highly effective, able to turn shots you might have written off as irredeemably compromised into something you can make prints from.

If you’re using an older camera that gets noisy very quickly when the ISO is turned up, PhotoLab could be an excellent way to extend its lease of life. We reviewed PhotoLab 6 Elite and were hugely impressed – and in even better news, DxO has just brought out PhotoLab 7 Elite, a new version with improved colour calibration tools. We’ll be taking a closer look as soon as we can.

Pros and Cons

+ Extremely powerful noise-reduction tools + Extensive correction profiles for cameras and lenses

+ One-time purchase –

Tricky interface

Skylum Luminar NEO At a glance

⬤ Photo-editing software with AI tools

⬤ Mac and Windows (can also be used as a

Photoshop/Lightroom plug-in)

⬤ From $79 / £79 or $275 / £275 one-off

⬤ skylum.com

While Skylum Luminar does have a subscription model, it also offers the option of a one-time-only lifetime purchase of the software. This will ultimately save you money in the long run, and there is a 30-day trial period in which you can get a refund if the software is not to your taste.

Skylum Luminar NEO is the latest iteration of a piece of software that’s been around for some time – originally, the developer was named Macphun, and made products exclusively for Apple operating systems. These days, Skylum Luminar NEO is a program aiming to fulfil the roles of both Photoshop and Lightroom, with a full suite of photo-editing and photo-organising tools. It’s stuffed with AI-powered tools like background removal and noise reduction, and also offers tons of presets for those who don’t mind letting the program make a few editing decisions for them.

Pros and Cons

+ Fast AI-powered sky replacement

+ Lots of smart one-click adjustments + Both subscription and one-time-purchase options –

AI tools can be unpredictable – Limited image-management functionality