How do I buy Photoshop Lightroom Classic without cloud and subscription?

[kahill1918]

I am nearly 83 and would like to buy standalone Lighroom Classic without having to use the cloud (I will be saving to external hard drive instead for my heirs) and without subscription and without plan.  But it seems all the Adobe Photoshop products now require cloud and subscription plans.  

[Jim Wilde]

You are correct, all Photoshop and Lightroom products require a subscription. However, some of them (in particular Lightroom Classic) do not have to use the cloud......in Lightroom Classic all images have to be stored on local drives, but they can optionally also be synced to the cloud (as smart previews only) in order that they can be available on mobile devices. So for LrC cloud use is optional, but subscription is not.

[kahill1918]

Subscription makes no sense especially for elderly customers who may pass
away in less than a year. This will only create one more item and
potential headache on the executor's to-do list.

Even if cloud use is optional, I am not able to find the software where
cloud storage is not required.

Knowing that the retailer such as Adobe, Best Buy, won't accept returns and
give refunds, I guess I will just settle for stand-alone PSE then.

[Conrad_C]

If you list the specific reasons you want Lightroom Classic, it might be possible for some of those reasons to be fulfilled with non-subscription applications from other sources.

Lightroom Classic is primarily a camera raw processor with organizational and batch editing features, and can edit a limited number of non-raw formats. There are many alternative applications for the raw processor portion, and also many alternatives for the organizational and batch features. Admittedly it can be a challenge to find one that does both sides well, but they do exist. There are even some alternatives that are free/open source.

Photoshop Elements is like Photoshop: It is not primarily a camera raw processor, it’s primarily a traditional pixel-level single-document photo editor that is focused on non-raw photo formats. (It needs the Camera Raw module to pre-process raw files.)

So although you could use PSE instead of Lightroom, the fact that they’re very different photo applications raises the question: Which features are actually the most valued for making bulk photo prep for heirs the easiest to do in the available time?

[arniebook]

Right there with you Pal ... 1942.  Us grumpy old men, have mostly, not taken kindly to the idea of not owning what we buy.  It's getting more and more ridiculus every day. (think, monthly fee to activate the heated seats in your car!)  Some day they will control the weather, and we will have to pay a monthly subscription for rain to land on our lawns.  

I've used PSE since early 2000's, and repurchased about every two to five years, so it's not like adobe not making any money from me.  I bought PSE 2023, but don't use it as much as PSE 15, because it won't set up to receive an exported JPG from Nikon's free NX Studio, where I process my RAW files and export to PSE for minor tweaks and cloning, if needed.  The latest PSE versions (like 2025),  are only licensed for a three-year term, after which we'll need to purchase a new license, or upgrade.  So I am currently researching lifetime licenced software, and will keep using Nikon's free NX Studio, which I really like, for raw conversion, plus PSE 15 until I settle on a another brand, full featured editor with a lifetime licence.  There are several highly rated free ones, as well. 

No matter what I get, I will probably continue to us NXS, because it "knows Nikon" better than any other processor, and has all the in camera adjustment controls that the camera has, so, many of those can be changed, or applied in post processing an image.

[DdeGannes]

@arniebook , the answer to the issue in this thread was posted on Dec 10 2023 by @Jim Wilde.

Nothing has changed since that time.

[Tim Please]

@arniebook good advice! thanks

[Abambo]

You will need to take a subscription (photography plan). You can't buy the software licence on a perpetual basis.

You do not need any cloud space, however, with the Photography plan (20Gb cloud space) and that cloud space is anyhow to small for decent work. Do not use Lightroom, that is also included in this package (even that it now or soon allows to manage pictures that are stored locally).

[Per Berntsen]

Lightroom Classic does not store images in the cloud, it requires local storage. (external hard drive is fine)

But it is not available as a standalone application, only by subscription.

The cheapest option is the 20 GB Photography Plan (10 US dollars a month), which also includes the cloud version of Lightroom, Photoshop, and 20 GB optional cloud storage space.

[Abambo]

which also includes the cloud version of Lightroom, Photoshop, and 20 GB optional cloud storage space.

By @Per Berntsen

You get 20GB of cloud space, but there is no need to use that. Just do not save your files to the cloud (in Photoshop). Lightroom (cloud based) is useless with 20Gb of cloud space. My camera cards have 128Gb. I couldn't even save one full card to the cloud…

So your best "choice" is the Photography Plan (20Gb) with Lightroom Classic and Photoshop including useful helper programs like Bridge and Adobe Camera Raw. Bridge is a powerful file viewer and Adobe Camera Raw is basically the developing engine that also powers both Lightroom flavours. It's used by Photoshop to open raw files, as Photoshop does not have a built-in engine.

This sounds too complicated? Only remind: the good plan for you is the Photography plan (20Gb) for $10/month (annual subscription). Amazon also sells, from time to time, redemption vouchers, so that you can have a prepaid one year subscription at a (possibly) discounted price. 

Checked, and they are selling it currently at the full retail price. 

[Keith Reeder]

"You get 20GB of cloud space, but there is no need to use that. "

Probably why Per said:

"and 20 GB optional cloud storage space."

[kahill1918]

Regarding cloud space, I was surprised to see that PSE was storing my files in Adobe's cloud without my having designated the cloud as my storage space for my jpg's.

[AZSinbad]

As for cloud space I use the cloud which is free for unlimited photos from Amazon prime. I have thousands there.  I have never used Lightroom and only have PSE 2018 which is all I need.

[ldegroot]

--
Leo

This email was created from recycled electrons.

[Dale Mullen]

Subscription plans are a money-making racket used by an increasing number of software producers.  Such a scheme might (?) be fine for a commercial photographer but is totally unreasonable for the novice. Although you might not be with the "in crowd", an alternate software program available without subscription might be a much better option.

[kahill1919]

Mark my words, the day is coming when everything will be controlled by AI and others.  If we are overweight, we won't be able to buy candy, ice cream, etc.  Even hospital beds now have scales at the bottom. All the pictures you take will go into the cloud, and when you want to view your own pictures, go to the cloud and pay a fee.  at birth, the babies will be inserted with chips. It will be our fault because we choose to go with the flow.