Keep my current software - or downgrade? (Beginner)

James Thomas 75

James Thomas 75

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Edit My Images
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Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice on which editing software is likely to suit me. Being a complete beginner to the Photoshop side of things and only having used the likes of Canon DPP in the past.

Basically I've been given a copy of Photoshop CS5,and as mentioned above I have absolutely no experience whatsoever with any of the programs the series offers.

I've been looking on Youtube etc at the tutorials for this and that,and what I'd like to know is am I benefiting from starting scratch with such complicated software or would it be easier in the long run if I started with something like Elements or Lightroom and work my way up?

I usually shoot Landscapes,Macro and occasionally motorsport and would appreciate any advice on which software would likely suit my needs best.

Many thanks in advance .

James.
 
You've been given a copy of what is the industry standard image editing package, and you wonder whether you should downgrade?

No.. :)

Learn to use it.

Make sure you have the latest Adobe Camera RAW plug in, and it can do almost everything lightroom can, and then more.

Don't forget that Photoshop (and Elements etc) are bitmap editing programs, not RAW editing programs. They are really designed for complex image editing and make permanent changes to a TIFF or JPEG image. Lightroom etc are RAW editing programs for more global adjustments of the RAW file, and don't make permanent changes to the file.

Lightroom is designed to compliment Photoshop, and vice versa.


Anyway... it was free.. keep it.
 
I argree with David, stick with it.
It's a learning curve and it'll be tricky at fisrt, but you'll be supprised how quickly you'll pick it up, don't try to learn how everthing works, just concentrate on what you need, the rest will come as you need it
 
James you ask 10 different people and you will get 10 different answers.

I have CS4 the longest use rarely now, PE10 about one year use when LR just will not do it such as selections & LR4 a couple of months use 95% of the time.

Best to get free trial downloads of say PE11 & LR4 & see what you think. But I recall downloading the free LR trial and NOT getting on with it but because of all the users on TP I did eventually buy it but have made a real effort to learn it from YouTube Tutorials.
 
Well, 11 different people and 11 different answers ;)

I think first you need to think about what it is you want to do with your images.

As mentioned previously, there are two possible actions you may want to do with your images - well three actually.
  • Manage
  • Process
  • Edit

With a large collection of images it can get unwieldy, in my opinion, using a Folder Based system to organise images. Lightroom is an excellent choice for - to use the buzz words - Digital Asset Management. It allows you to get away from Folder Based organisation by using Keyword Tagging and Collections. More organised and easier to find images using the filter functions.

In addition it offers a powerful and efficient set of tools for processing images, predominantly RAW but just as affective with JPEGs.

I use the term process rather than edit because the tools are designed more for changeing the appearance of the image e.g Exposure, Contrast, Saturation etc rather manipulate pixels such as Cut/Paste/Clone/Composite etc (OK LR does have something of a Clone tool with the Spot Removal tool)

Photoshop CS(X) while capable of Processing images also has a large collection of tools for Creative Editing of Images. The ACR module within PS CS is as good as Lightroom and can process RAW and JPEGs.

Photoshop also comes with Bridge which can be used to manage a collection of images, but again just my opinion, isn't as good as Lightroom.

So, between LR and PS you have a cross over.

You can, having processed and image in LR, pass this over to Photoshop for additional work and LR will keep track of the images for you.

For my needs which is mainly Organisation and Processing, LR is the number one tool. I have Photoshop CS4 for the odd bit of editing, mostly creative borders and printing which I think it does better than LR.

Photoshop Elements is very good. It too comes with an Organiser and an Editor. The RAW Editing module is a cut down version of what's available in the full Photoshop series and the Organiser isn't as perhaps as flexible as LR but none the less very good.

Photoshop and Lightroom require a different mindset and many folks coming from Photoshop Elements for example get a little frustrated with LR. The 30 days free trial is often not enough so you need to give it a good work out during this period.

Colin
 
I forgot to mention that I still use Picasa Free from Google) as part of my flow. I find it very good fro cropping, straightening & adding a vignette.
 
Thanks very much for the replies everyone. Much appreciated.

Think I'll stick with CS5 and learn from there then.

Regarding what a few have asked. I would preferably like to learn things like layers etc,along with the usual stuff I used to do in DPP ie exposure,sharpening and contrast as such.

I know this is probably another 11 people 11 answers question :) but which processing techniques would you all recommend the most beneficial for my images (usually RAW) to learn first in terms of starting with CS5 from the beginning?
 
Spuriousfish said:
With a large collection of images it can get unwieldy, in my opinion, using a Folder Based system to organise images. Lightroom is an excellent choice for - to use the buzz words - Digital Asset Management. It allows you to get away from Folder Based organisation by using Keyword Tagging and Collections.
Click to expand...


Which is only as good as your keywording and tagging skills. I've seen people tearing their hair out trying to find images in LR because they used a stupid keyword, or worse still, mistyped a keyword.

I still use folders... sensibly named folders. It's very easy to search a folder, no matter how big, if all the files in it are sensibly named.
 
Pookeyhead said:
Which is only as good as your keywording and tagging skills. I've seen people tearing their hair out trying to find images in LR because they used a stupid keyword, or worse still, mistyped a keyword.

I still use folders... sensibly named folders. It's very easy to search a folder, no matter how big, if all the files in it are sensibly named.
Click to expand...

Which is only as good as your file naming skills ;)

For me, the biggest benefit to keywords is being able to tag images with multiple descriptions. That way you don't need to decide on a single descriptor when more than one could suit, and don't have to work out which one you decided on when you're trying to find the file
 
Buy a scott kelby book on cs5
easy to follow tutorials and will be a handy reference when you are editing.
book
 
Thanks again for the replies everyone.

Talking of books Gr8shot I was looking at getting Adobe's CS5 Classroom in a book.

Anyone recommend it for a PS complete beginner layout wise?
 
Is a little warning necessary here?

Pookeyhead said:
...Make sure you have the latest Adobe Camera RAW plug in...
Click to expand...
That would be version 6.7 for CS5. Version 7.3 is for CS6 users...

This table shows each cameraes supported by which RAW version... http://helpx.adobe.com/creative-suite/kb/camera-raw-plug-supported-cameras.html

My point is, that if you go the CS way, you must be prepared for a forced upgrade to CS6 (or newer), if/when you should choose to upgrade your camera.
Not an insignificant expense, imo.
 
Jan K. said:
Is a little warning necessary here?

That would be version 6.7 for CS5. Version 7.3 is for CS6 users...

This table shows each cameraes supported by which RAW version... http://helpx.adobe.com/creative-suite/kb/camera-raw-plug-supported-cameras.html

My point is, that if you go the CS way, you must be prepared for a forced upgrade to CS6 (or newer), if/when you should choose to upgrade your camera.
Not an insignificant expense, imo.
Click to expand...

How much isn't covered for my current body?
It prompted me with an update for raw when I tried opening my 5D3 RAW files. Which now open OK.
 
James Thomas 75 said:
Thanks again for the replies everyone.

Talking of books Gr8shot I was looking at getting Adobe's CS5 Classroom in a book.

Anyone recommend it for a PS complete beginner layout wise?
Click to expand...

Sorry never read it, I use kindle for all my books anyhow, *** you can glance through it and if you don't like it get an instant refund and then try another, I've found Scott's books to be very easy to follow.
 
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