Start with the task
Begin with the jobs you actually repeat: RAW development, detailed retouching, product cutouts or delivery to a client. A large feature list is less helpful than one reliable path from original to final image.
Work through the checks
Make a small test set containing a portrait, fine hair, a high-ISO image, a gradient and a transparent graphic. Keep the same originals. Open, edit, export and reopen the result. Check whether layers, masks, edits, colour profiles and filenames survive the path you need. A browser editor and a catalogue-based RAW processor solve different parts of the job.
Before delivering
Write down licence terms, cloud uploads, export restrictions and the work required to leave the service. Compare renewal cost rather than a headline introductory price. Save an editable master and a separate delivery copy. Choose the smallest set of tools that completes the workflow without repeated destructive exports.
