This type of application focuses on image processing and management. Photo enthusiasts can work with these apps, but they have features and capabilities that also attract professionals.
Camera manufacturer software
Most camera manufacturers include free software that enables you to organize and manipulate the images you take with this camera. Canon calls its software Digital Photo Professional. The free Nikon software is Capture NX-D. Sony is an image data converter. Pentax ships Digital Camera Utility with its cameras.
All of these applications have their strengths and weaknesses. Their main point is that the same people who encode the data in the camera’s Raw file are the people who created the software that allows you to decode it. Your camera manufacturer knows more about its proprietary files and settings than anyone else. If you are committed to one brand and do not plan to change, then you should consider this approach.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
The most popular photo management and manipulation application is Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. It is moderately priced and available via a monthly subscription. It’s my favorite tool.
Macintosh/Windows app created for photographers. It contains almost everything you need to import, manage, develop and publish Raw and JPEG images.
In Lightroom, you can create one large and comprehensive catalog or create different catalogs based on different cameras, projects, or years. When you import images into an open catalog, they appear as thumbnails on the Library tab, where you manage them. You can view, sort, filter, categorize, delete, search, compare, create and assign keywords, quickly develop images, and edit metadata. You can also export images in a number of different formats.
To work with layers, masks, adjustment layers, artistic filters, effects, vector shapes, 3D support, text, frames, and other aspects unique to photo editors, you need to have a photo editor other than Lightroom.
Other apps
There is a range of other products available. This list is by no means exhaustive:
Capture One:
Created by Phase One, Capture One is not well known outside of professional circles, but it should be. Its management feature set is comparable to Lightroom. Import, sort, rate, preview, organize, tag (add keywords), develop and publish images. Organize your photos into catalogs or work face to face with photos using sessions. Capture One also contains albums, which are virtual collections. It’s cool, powerful, professional, and focuses on workflow and image quality. Capture One Pro also has a very useful Tethered Photography feature, which allows you to control your camera from within the app and import photos (and even apply manipulation to them) as you take them. It even supports live view mode.
Google Photos:
Google’s new photo organizer (with minimal editing tools) is called Google Photos. It replaces Picasa, which has been withdrawn from service. All your photos are stored online and organized into albums. You have unlimited cloud storage for free.
Photos: Apple recently introduced its own Photos app to replace iPhoto. It features photo editing and management tools, and integrates seamlessly with iCloud Photo Library. Import, organize, view, categorize, tag, title, edit and publish photos. The images are excellent for Macophile enthusiasts.