Pictomio, a free Adobe Lightroom alternative

One challenge that has come with the masses of digital images even the most casual camera owner encounters is managing your collection. Online services have limits and uploading those ever larger images is very cumbersome with the puny broadband pipes Americans have.  As you become more serious with the hobby or even turn it into a business, there’s the need not just to catalog, but do basic batch processing and editing. Adobe Lightroom has become the defacto standard with pro photographers and serious hobbyists.  Lightroom does and an outstanding job, but it’s also in the neighbor of $300 a copy, and if you use it on more than one computer, Adobe wants you to buy a lcense for each.

For Windows users, Pictomio is a great alternative. You’ll need a relatively modern graphics card for it to work, but even if you have to plunk down an extra $35, it matches features favorable with Lightroom,  and its free. You can learn more and get a free download at the Pictomio web site.