Photoshop +/v Lightroom?

Daveblu

Daveblu

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Does Lightroom work with Photoshop or is it a separate package?

If it's a separate package, then which is the better one to have?

Thanks
 
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They are different sorts of program.
Lightroom 4.1 is a combination Archive and Raw processor with a few add ons like slide shows and books. It does a great job in what it offers, any changes you make are non destructive keeps the original and writes the changes into meta data. These are only applied when they are exported as a copy.

If you want to work at a pixel level or in layers and do serious retouching Photoshop is your man. You can move from lightroom into photoshop to edit.

I have an older version of Photoshop than Lightroom, and I have to export a tiff as a copy from Lightroom into Photoshop CS3 and save it in the same file. If I do not, I can not see the lightroom development changes in PS. Latest versions of PS can do this with out trouble.

I find the options for any sort of detailed retouching both slow and inadequate in lightroom.

You need some sort of catalogue program and also a program like photoshop.
Though there are other options for both, even free versions.
 
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Thank you Terry, one other question, Is Lightroom similar to Nikons "ViewNX"?

There are so many PP packages around, seems dopey to buy all of them to get the end result, but I already own View NX and am inbetween the other two as which to go for.
 
Lightroom is a photographers package. in that it allows you to catalogue, process and print you images.

The develop module is similar to the RAW processing option in Photoshop but has a much better user interface and in some cases additional options to the ACR module in Photoshop.

It can initially seem daunting but there are loads of tutorials and books on Lightroom , and from my experience is not difficult to learn.

For me 95% of my image work is done in Lightroom, with the odd excursion into Photoshop for those things that Lightroom cannot do. I suspect that if I didn't already own Photoshop I could probably get away with Lightroom and Elements.

Another advantage of Lightroom is it's now a lot cheaper than before and much less expensive than Photoshop.

Which package to have. Well if it was only one package then it would have to be Photoshop. However if you look at the price I'd opt for Lightroom and Elements.

Another plus for Lightroom, is structure. Photoshop is a very powerful program. However for some one starting from scratch it can be a bit daunting, and even overwhelming. How do I do this , How do I do that? Lightroom on the other hand has a much more obvious workflow. Plus there are numerous tutorials on the web that go through each module, explaining what each control does.

Here's a link to the Adobe web site that has a number of tutorials

http://tv.adobe.com/show/getting-started-with-adobe-photoshop-lightroom-4

You can download a 30 trail from the Adobe site for both Photoshop and Lightroom. Do the Lightroom one first I would suggest
 
Chappers said:
The develop module is similar to the RAW processing option in Photoshop but has a much better user interface and in some cases additional options to the ACR module in Photoshop.
Click to expand...
I think they are the same. I haven't found anything different (when you are using the same ACR version in both).

I agree the UI is much nicer in LR though.
 
arad85 said:
I think they are the same. I haven't found anything different (when you are using the same ACR version in both).

I agree the UI is much nicer in LR though.
Click to expand...

There are some small differences The HSL for example has an additional option, , and I think there is something else, but nothing to write home about
 
I used to use PS,but now only use LR3,but each to their own.:):thumbs:
 
Daveblu said:
Thank you Terry, one other question, Is Lightroom similar to Nikons "ViewNX"?

There are so many PP packages around, seems dopey to buy all of them to get the end result, but I already own View NX and am inbetween the other two as which to go for.
Click to expand...

I know nothing about view NX except that it has a raw converter.

If money is not an major issue Get both Lightroom and photoshop.
As some one sugested Elements is a good option at a much lower price than the full Photoshop.

I could not manage without a good catalogue program like Light room or I could never find a file. ( it uses keywords) The program I used to use as a catalogue was bought out by microsoft and it is now a different animal.
 
Lr3 for me, with PS5 for anything I can't do using Lr which is again only about 5% of my workflow.

By far the best basic tutorials for me on how to get the most out of Lr are to be found on You Tube. Do a Search for "Kevin post pro" and you'll see just how powerful (and easy!) it can be.

Dean
 
Lightroom 4 is a good upgrade just for the develop module. The shadows and highlights sliders means I'm getting images just how I want them very quickly.
 
As I don't do too much PP on my images that needs layers or cloning etc, I use LR for 95% of my work and PSE10 for the rest.

LR is the one piece of any software on my PC that I couldn't live without.

The web page galleries (especially with "The Turning Gate" plug in's) are worth the cost alone! They add so much value to my clients, all for about 10 minutes of my time on each job.
 
Lightroom is a great starter and 90% of my images can be processed just in Lightroom.

I actually prefer Aperture but it's just personal preference.

I only go into photoshop to do very intricate adjustments, such as moving objects, heavy cloning etc.
 
I use LR4 and Elements 9. I like LR4 very much and the vast majority of my PP is done there. I use Elements only if I need to resort to layers. I must add that I use a Topaz add plug in too which gives me excellent flexibility in both LR and Elements.
 
Another LR4 and Elements 9 user here although 99% of the time I find Lightroom meets all my needs.
 
I have CS5 and never bothered with lightroom as CS5 has adobe bridge for managing images etc ..

I do most of my processing in ACR then into photoshop for cropping, levels and any actions I might want to run such as resizing actions, sepia or B&W ones..

I rarely play with many effects now though I do use the silver efx plug in a lot on my black and white images
 
Chappers said:
There are some small differences The HSL for example has an additional option, , and I think there is something else, but nothing to write home about
Click to expand...
If you are on the same version of ACR, they are the same. If you take LR4 and CS5, currently, they are on different versions of ACR. I think you'll need CS6 (and ACR 7) to have equivalence again.
 
The two programs compilent each other really, Lightroom for batch editing and cataloging, Photoshop for more in depth editing.
Lightroom has limited local ajustment and doesn't do layers, nor can you cut and paste to move bits of images around, Photoshop on the other has does both of these well but has poor batch editing options compared to Lightroom.
 
I use LR3 and love it for organising albums as well as non destructive editing. As mentioned global adjustments are fine to do with LR3...but local stuff is a pain, but I try to minimize the local adjustments as much as possible and tend to get away with it!
 
Lightroom beats bridge hands down for image organisation. Its like Bridge+ with ACR built in. I use LR for 90% of my work and then PS if I want to have more selective control with layers etc.
 
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