CS5 or lightroom or both?

Rob-D

Rob-D

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Rob
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Im currently doing my post processing using bridge to edit the raw file and then into cs3. Im thinking of getting cs5 and lightroom3. Ive never used LR before but hear some people are doing all their editing with this and doing away with photoshop. Whats your advise on which software to use and for what part of the process? Sorry if this has been asked before but ive been away from this forum for well over a year and only just got back on. Thanks in advance. Rob.
 
:agree: I have been editing in Photoshop for a decade and had never even touched lightroom until this year and it was a total revelation to me. I use lightroom to edit in batches to replicate common adjustments to whole sets of images, for example I open the first of a set of images and tweak the WB, vibrancy, blacks, saturation, contrast etc and then I am able to replicate this "look" on whole sets of images. I also find lightroom great for working in detail on portraits, repairing skin where blemishes are non permanent and in bringing out the eyes however I still go back to photoshop for fine detail adjustments and to do anything that involves layers. I now probably use LR 90% of the time and photoshop 10% of the time but I wouldn'tbe without either. If it was a matter of budget and I had to choose I would get lightroom but don't forget students can get an 80% discount on both through adobe!
 
I have CS3 and Lightroom and hardly ever use CS3, I have just bought Elements 9 as I am surprised just how much they have now put into Elements and it is a bit easier to use.
 
To be honest it depends on what you do to your images, lightroom has more or less the ajustment controls found in camera raw, it's great for quick basic ajustments to batches of images.
What it doesn't do is layers, you can't copy paste bits from image to image, theres limited local ajustments using local ajustment brushes and a gradient tool.
It does have web output and print output and slideshow options.
Personally I think of LR as a compliment to photoshop, I use LR for the 1000 wedding shots for the basic edit and tweek, then take selected images from LR into photoshop for more specalist tweeking, the clever stuff needing layers and selections masks etc.
 
Rob I would definately give LR3 a 30 day trial and give yourself a chance to learn everything it can do.:)

Like Pete I have LR3 +CS3 and Elements 9 and find its all I really need, with LR3 doing most of the things I need with the very occasional trip from LR to Elements 9 or CS3.

I think (as the Americans say) best bang for buck is LR3 + PSE9, unless you really are into graphics work then CS5 would be a better bet.

A typical work flow for me would be adjust raw in LR3 as here.

1127214282_bjwaQ-L.jpg


And then in this case a trip over to Elements 9 to use the content aware brush to take out the branches in front of the heron.
1127213946_oPbkq-L.jpg
 
Rob

It all depends on what you want to do. If you are handling a lot of images then Lightroom wins hands down. It's what it was designed for. It's also really easy to use, although it may initially seem a bit overwhelming. However if you need to pixel edit, such as cloning then Lightroom really doesn't have the tools for this and it's either Photoshop or Elements.you need.

Also Lightroom really works best with RAW files.

If you normally shoot JPEG and don't have a lot of images to work on the I would think Elements may be a more suitable. It's a lot cheaper than CS5 and has a lot of functions that you would find in CS5.

Best option is to download a trial copy of them all. If you want to try Lightroom I'd recommend you have a look as some of the many videos on the web to understand how it works before starting. This way you get the most out of the 30 day trial. I'd start with a trial of Elements first, then you can compare this with Lightroom and decide which is suitable for your needs.

Having used Lightroom since it was in Beta form I find it an excellent program and to be honest if I didn't already have CS4, I'm not sure if I wouldn't just pair it with Elements, as this program has come so far in the last few releases
 
Another vote for using both - as others have said they complement each other well. I thought I would be able to just make do with LR3
but soon found I was taking images across to CS4 (and subsequent upgrade to CS5) for more detailed adjustments.

I also make full use of of LR3's catalogue/tagging/library features - originally was looking very closely at IDimager but saved some money by using this aspect of LR3 and couldn't be happier!
 
I've used PS for quite some time now. Having heard so much about LR I downloaded the trial version a while back to check it out. Perhaps I'm just stupid, or have become ingrained with how PS works, but I couldn't get on with LR.

I also tried PSE9 recently. Being very similar to PS I found it easy to use and that it has a lot of the functions I use most commonly in PS. Unfortunately it does lack a few that I use on a regular basis, so I will stll be using PS for the time being.
 
guys, these are awesome answers. Thanks a lot.

I dont have all that many photos to edit and always shoot in raw. At the moment i open my raw file in bridge and use cs3 for the raw editing and then into ps to do any clone work, framing & sigs, levels and sharpening. Im tempted with lightroom 3 because of the possitive feedback here and else where but get daunted learning a new program again (not that i use cs3 all that well!)

Once again thanks

Rob
 
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