CS3, Lightroom, ????????

Just found this forum a few days ago thanks to Art Morris. I'm hopeing I can get some guideance on my workflow issues. I have PS CS2 and have recently started shooting in RAW. With my wife's XTi and my 40D I have had to find ways to even open RAW pictures. I am thinking about upgrading to CS3.

Will that give me the ability to open our RAW files or will I have to download somemore patches?

I see several people talking about Lightroom. What does that do in conjunction with or instead of CS3?

Its all very confusing.

Thanks
Guerry

Hi Guerry Big Welcome !!!

Lightroom and PS are related but very different LR is used to import, sort, select, keyword, basic global enhancement, email, print, do slide shows and post images on websites

From LR you take the image to PS for local enhancements

You could do away with LR since PS has a built in converter (Camera RAW) It is just so much more convenient having the two

We all have different ways to go from CF card to finish product You need to use the one that suits your needs

Let us know what you need and will try to help !!!

I would definitely suggest downloading the 30-day trial of Lightroom. It has the exact same Camera RAW engine used in CS3, but it is a workflow tool more than anything else.

CS3 does have some functionality improvements over CS2, but there's a big part of me that would suggest that you get Lightroom and use CS2 for editing the PSD (or JPEG or TIFF or what-have-you) files that you can export from Lightroom.

Thanks Guys. I will look for the trial Lightroom and see if it helps me decide what shots to keep and work on. That's my big area of concern now. I take lots of pictures and right now can't really compare the RAW shots to pick the clear ones etc.

Hi Guerry, in that case, I would definitely recommend Lightroom. If you think it's a bit expensive, you might also want to take a look at Bibble Pro. Both Bibble Pro and Lightroom are workflow tools that help with the image selection process, but they also have some pretty good image editing and output options. For more advanced editing options, you might still want to use Photoshop CS2 or CS3.

........ btw for selecting and seeing what you want BreezeBrowser is Excellent Also it only cost around fifty dollars and can download Artie uses it for sorting and converting !!!!

Hmmm... why do I feel we are only making it harder for Guerry to choose... :)

Inge I have to agree with you !!!!! They are so many choices and it all boils down to what is good for the user !!!!!

I always think is good to go from simple to complex !!! It is good that many programs will let you try before you buy !!

Guerry - since your position (so to speak) is "getting started" - I'd encourage you to try BreezeBrowser Pro. If you wish to up the package a notch (very smooth workflow) add the companion Downloader. BB is a very powerful program, relatively inexpensive, handles raw files remarkably well and the control panel strongly resembles camera settings. Both BB products are available for free trial periods, the full program.
Likewise, consider Canon's Digital Photo Pro which came with your camera - free. It really works, and works very well. Download the latest 3.2 edition from Canon's website (also free).
None of the above are as "sexy" as LR or PS - but both are professional products, highly acclaimed in many circles.

Guerry,

My workflow is to Edit and Convert RAW images in Breezebrowser Pro (Breeze Systems). BBPro has a mode called High Quality that sharpens the JPG preview image that browsing/editing programs display so you can see immediately if the image is sharp or not. I can edit 500 images in 20 minutes. I cannot do that in Lightroom or Photoshop. I use it to convert the image and open it in Photoshop.

I will use Adobe Camera Raw (which is Photoshop's and Lightroom's conversion engine) to convert images too and then finish working in Photoshop.

I use Downloader Pro from Breeze Systems to download images from the flash card to the computer.

You may want to check out this link http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ead.php?t=5598 from Artie on educational resources. For workflow, I highly recommend Artie's Digital Basics.

Thanks everyone! Its great to get this kind of help instead of everyone going off on their own tangents. I downloaded BB Pro and so far it's been just what I was looking for. I am tying all of the tips I got here and I'm pretty sure I'll stick with it. Not to say that I wont give Lightroom a try too. I can stop taking both raw and jpeg photos now and still be able to look at them quickly and sort out the junk. Thanks again!!!