# Corel Aftershot Pro?  Curious about comparisons



## NJHeart2Heart (Oct 26, 2015)

My uncle recently became more interested in digitizing old family photos.  I've been trying to convince him to get LR, but he seems convinced that Corel Photoshop Pro is the way to go.  I said as a courtesy to try to help him out, I'd look into and watch a few videos on that software, but was dismayed to see that if anything this program was better compared with Adobe Photoshop then Adobe Lightroom.  So I did a bit more research and came across this Corel Aftershot Pro, which appears to more closely resemble Lightroom in usage, if not in interface (which is completely different in both Corel programs compared to Adobe).

First I need to clarify with him how much editing he really wants to do, since from what I researched Corel Photoshop is very much a photo EDITING program, rather than an integrated DAM management type application.

Secondly, has anyone had any experience with Aftershot Pro, and can give opinion/suggestions as to how I can help my uncle should he decide on this program, after discussing usage scenarios?

Am I right in the relative program comparisons, or am I totally off here?

Thanks for any input!


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## tspear (Oct 26, 2015)

Dawn

You are correct AfterShot Pro is marketed against Lr. And PhotoSho Pro is marketed against Ps.
Beyond that and watching a few videos, I cannot help. 

You may try this argument. If he wants help, it is better for him to use what you use. That will make it easier for you to support him.


Tim


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## Johan Elzenga (Oct 26, 2015)

Just to clarify a few things. There is no such program as 'Corel Photoshop Pro' or 'Corel PhotoSho Pro'. Corel has _PaintShop Pro X8 _as alternative for Photoshop, but that application only runs on Windows. Corel AfterShot Pro 2 is a Lightroom competitor, also available on Macintosh.


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## clee01l (Oct 26, 2015)

Aftershot Pro used to be independent and was sold as Bibble Pro.  It was then more post processor than DAM.  It is Non-destructive like LR and creates all of it adjustments as sidecar files,  The Bibble folks were excellent with their product Bibble Pro4. and it compared favorably with LR 2.x  They suffered from an inadequate staff and had a difficult time re-engineering new camera proprietary RAW formats and incorporating them into the product.  This became a sore spot for me and I switched to LR.  Bubble Pro5 offered the beginnings of an Image management system like LR.  Not long after BibblePro5 was introduced, they were bought by Corel.  Corel has managed to smother any new innovations just like they did when Corel bought JASC PaintShopPro.

Keep in mind that Corel is not an innovator but buys technology created by others. They have acquired WordPerfect, Paradox (database). QuattroPro(spreadsheet) in addition to PainshopPro & AfterShotPro.


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## NJHeart2Heart (Oct 28, 2015)

Thanks for the response Cletus. 
Tim - That was my first argument to him, but clearly it didn't make a difference.  And this will be even more true if he goes with Corel paintshop - I have very little experience with detailed photo editing, especially when it comes to layers.  I've never owned nor really had a need for Adobe Photoshop, as Lightroom does everything I need in terms of editing.

I'm assuming Photoshop does not have as robust a DAM component as Lightroom, or there wouldn't be two different applications?

I guess next step is to talk again with my uncle to find out what he really wants to DO with his photos. Before he even decides which brand (Adobe or otherwise) he wants to use, I can at least help him puzzle through what TYPE of software he needs more - a photo editor first, DAM next, or if, like me, he's more interested in a good DAM software with the capability to do basic photo editing.

Dawn


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## clee01l (Oct 28, 2015)

NJHeart2Heart said:


> I'm assuming Photoshop does not have as robust a DAM component as Lightroom, or there wouldn't be two different applications?
> 
> I guess next step is to talk again with my uncle to find out what he really wants to DO with his photos.


Photoshop comes with Bridge which is a folder based organizer (not manager (IMO)),  You can skip Bridge and just edit, but something has to organize the image files in folders. Photoshop makes it difficult (but not impossible) or overwrite the original with the edited copy. 

If your uncle just wants to take JPEGs and keep track of the image files,  letting the in camera software do the post processing, then an robust organizer is of most importance.  Lightroom serves this purpose nicely.  PhotoMechanic is also a tool that will do this job..  If you want to do light editing (crops etc) LR does this well. Almost any photo editor will do this BUT image management and organization is left to the user OUTSIDE of the product.  If your uncle is a Mac user there is Affinity.  A Photoshop-like tool that incorporates all of the LR Photo image processing in a simple, easy to understand app.  (but no image management).
Other DAM tools besides PhotoMechanic and Lightroom are iMatch and ACDSeePro 

If the direction is for complex editing, RAW file processing, then we are looking at Lightroom, Capture One, Photoshop.  Corel IMO has dumbed down PaintShopPro to the level of PhotoShopElements. And PSE is a good alternative if simple photo editing is all you need. PSE has an Organizer included that could be considered LR-lite.  The PSE organizer can be converted into a LR catalog if you leave decide to upgrade to LR. 

So the questions that I think need answering:  How important is image organization and tracking to your uncle?  Could it be more important that he realizes at this stage?  How much image editing will be done to each photo?  Is a sophisticated images (pixel) editor needed now or in the near future?   

Without knowing your uncle, I think he needs a photo manager and a light editor (possibly two products).  LR provides this in one but comes with a paradigm shift in most people's concept is image editing (Parameterized Images Editor vs a Pixel Editor (aka PSCC & PSP, etc.)   PSCC is only available as a subscription and this requires a commitment up from before a new user really understands what they need)


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## NJHeart2Heart (Oct 29, 2015)

Thanks all.  I had a nice chat with my uncle last night, but it's clear he has no intention of considering Lightroom.  I only wish other brands had the awesome community support that our beloved Lightroom does, but alas, I shall go elsewhere to see what I can find out about his other issues.

Thanks all for the input


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## clee01l (Oct 29, 2015)

NJHeart2Heart said:


> Thanks all.  I had a nice chat with my uncle last night, but it's clear he has no intention of considering Lightroom.  I only wish other brands had the awesome community support that our beloved Lightroom does, but alas, I shall go elsewhere to see what I can find out about his other issues.
> 
> Thanks all for the input


I would be curious about your uncle's answers to the questions that i posted above.  Also I have pointed out several alternatives that might suit your uncle better.   My wife uses PSP (no doubt of similar age as your uncle) I can't convince her to switch either.  I have taught her to immediately use the "Save As" function as soon as she opens a new image in PSP.


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## NJHeart2Heart (Oct 29, 2015)

Hey Cletus,

I can probably answer these questions pretty well based on our conversation, but I have to preface it with an important note.  

My uncle is using an HP officejet 8600 as his scanning hardware.  His first obstacle, before he even "gets out of the gate" is to be able to scan several photos on the plate glass at once, and have them automatically separated to individual images/files.  As it stands this scanner and the included software does NOT allow him to do this, so his first criteria for any program is going to be those scanning options.  I did notice that there is a tutorial using GIMP for this, though GIMP is just as complex as Photoshop and I think would be tough for him to get some quick momentum.



clee01l said:


> Photoshop comes with Bridge which is a folder based organizer (not manager (IMO)),  You can skip Bridge and just edit, but something has to organize the image files in folders. Photoshop makes it difficult (but not impossible) or overwrite the original with the edited copy.
> 
> >>>>My uncle has not looked into Photshop at all, but considering he seems set against Adobe Lightroom, suggesting the robust and very complicated technical editing big brother to it, I think pitching Photoshop is a total no-go.  **I** don't even have an interest in Photoshop..
> 
> ...


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## clee01l (Oct 29, 2015)

Well, I know this brings back LR as the solution, but you can scan several images on a flat bed scanner and create a virtual copy for each image. Then in LR use the crop window to isolate each image in the original file. It is a process that I've used.

You could probably also do this with PSP but you will need to save additional copies instead of virtual copies. 

Since your uncle is a Windows user, that a look at IMatch.  It is $110USD and a pretty good DAM tool.  PSP is $56USD so together you are looking at $166USD which is only $17 more than Lightroom.


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## Jim Wilde (Oct 29, 2015)

clee01l said:


> Well, I know this brings back LR as the solution, but you can scan several images on a flat bed scanner and create a virtual copy for each image. Then in LR use the crop window to isolate each image in the original file. It is a process that I've used.



And is exactly the process I used when scanning a bunch of old family photographs for my mother-in-law a couple of years back. Simple.


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## wsmyth (Sep 13, 2017)

Hello - I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to add that neither AfterShot 3 nor AfterShot 3 Pro have facial recognition. I am working with both of these programs right now, and I have to bump up to PaintShop Pro 2018 (either Ultimate or non-Ultimate) to get facial recognition.

I have not personally decided which to go with.


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