# A simple way to use NLP without monthly lightroom fee?

**URL:** <https://forums.negativelabpro.com/t/a-simple-way-to-use-nlp-without-monthly-lightroom-fee/4919>\
**Category:** Feature Requests\
**Created:** [April 24, 2022, 1:41pm UTC](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/t/a-simple-way-to-use-nlp-without-monthly-lightroom-fee/4919 "2022-04-24T13:41:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Yves61](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/9d8465/32.png) [@Yves61](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/u/Yves61)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 1:41pm UTC](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/t/a-simple-way-to-use-nlp-without-monthly-lightroom-fee/4919/1 "2022-04-24T13:41:37Z")

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Dear all

I a new to digital photo processing (darkroom B&W mainly) but i would like to invert and process my preferred color negatives (few per year but with exhibition-quality of color adjustments).

In europe lightroom classic subscription costs 144 euros every year and I am not ready to have this regular subscription spending for a few images.

I would not need complicated photoshop type features, and I do not object paying once for a good software, but my question is if NLP could be offered also as standalone with a shell offering basic processing features to avoid this adobe subscription scheme ? For me this subscription scheme is a nogo unfortunately

Best regards

Yves

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**Author:** ![Digitizer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@Digitizer](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/u/Digitizer)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 11:01am UTC](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/t/a-simple-way-to-use-nlp-without-monthly-lightroom-fee/4919/2 "2022-04-25T11:01:21Z")

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Welcome to the forum, @Yves61

Negative Lab Pro depends on features that only Lightroom provides.  
But let’s consider a few things to get you started anyway.

Question: How many photos will you actually print per year, and at what size? A decent fine art print can easily cost 150 euros and then, the added price for the subscription might not be too terrible. Note that I don’t like subscription models, but Lightroom is central to my work and I can usually update my subscription for less than 100 euros per year.

Info: Earlier versions of NLP would run with Lightroom version 6 and maybe @nate could sell you an older version, which would still require Lightroom 6, which might not run on the OS your computer uses.

DIY: Other than that, you can get decent conversions manually. All it takes is some exercise (=time) and an application that lets you invert the tone curves from / to \ for each of the r, g and b channels plus some tools for hue shifts. Darktable (and possibly other apps) incorporate inversion functions.

Reality Check: Nevertheless, there’s always a relation between quality, time/effort and cash-out.  
You usually can’t get better quality for a cheaper price with less effort (=time spent)…

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**Author:** ![Yves61](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/9d8465/32.png) [@Yves61](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/u/Yves61)\
**Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 10:44am UTC](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/t/a-simple-way-to-use-nlp-without-monthly-lightroom-fee/4919/3 "2022-04-28T10:44:23Z")

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Thanks for these answers. It is very true . I need to think now about what I really want to achieve and invest in the right tools accordingly

Best regards  
Yves