Lightroom or Photoshop?

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Hello folks, I have both versions of software but I am not 100% to which is better for editing my RAW files, I have red a lot at other forums but I am more confused than before.

Any advise is most welcome.

Thanks for your time.

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Juan Carlos

There is a thread just below with same question, might want to take a look.

Both are different and complement each other. If you use LR you need PS but not the other way around.

Conversion wise they both do about the same with LR having the edge for new features which PS will incorporate later. You might want to check out the latest LR which is a free download (beta)

It is the way of the future ... or more accurate present.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Hi Juan Carlos

There is a thread just below with same question, might want to take a look.

Both are different and complement each other. If you use LR you need PS but not the other way around.

Conversion wise they both do about the same with LR having the edge for new features which PS will incorporate later. You might want to check out the latest LR which is a free download (beta)

It is the way of the future ... or more accurate present.

Yes Alfred, I already red it but still a bit confused.

I guess I will stay with PS.

[Greg Basco]

Juan Carlos, give me a call at your convenience here at my house. I use both and would be happy to answer your questions from my point of view. And at some point when we get together for lunch, bring your laptop and we can check things out.

Cheers,
Greg

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Juan Carlos Maybe this will clear things up for you, it is confusing.

LR and PS can convert convert raw images and actually have the same engine ACR. Normally LR gets improvements before PS. So as far as converting images you have to need to go to LR at all, CS does just fine.

LR does a lot of things CS does not. You can use LR to sort out images to find keepers, catalog you images, assign presets/key words, do global changes (and some local now), make web pages, print with templates, do slide shows and the new version has will interact with other programs.

From LR you can do your basic converting changes then send the image to PS, do all the work you want and bring it back to LR (just click save in PS). You will have your LR version as a raw file next to the PS version as a tiff file. The beauty is you will never loose your raw image and can always go back.

I can't imagine not working with LR, streamlines the process and the program keeps getting better. I'm just learning the changes to LR 3.0 to be ready for the release. Lots of changes !!!

Best thing you can do is log in to the Adobe sight and look at some of the LR tutorials !!!


............ btw if by edit you are talking about enhancing the files? There is no comparison since LR can only take you so far ... basically what you see in the ACR conversion window .. just with more functionality.... you still need PS !!

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Juan Carlos, give me a call at your convenience here at my house. I use both and would be happy to answer your questions from my point of view. And at some point when we get together for lunch, bring your laptop and we can check things out.

Cheers,
Greg

Thank you Greg.

Right now we are having problems with my phone here at my house, reported it already, este ICE! but nothing yet.
We sure have to meet one of these slow days.

[Greg Basco]

Indeed, Juan Carlos! Algun dia! You don't have to visit Zarcero area anytime in the next few weeks, do you?
In the meantime, once ICE fixes your phone, don't hesitate to give me a call.
Oh, and I think Alfred gave you a good overview of the basic role of each program in your workflow.

Saludos,
Greg

[Elliotte Rusty Harold]

I tend to think of Lightroom as a tool for organizing and developing photos. Photoshop is more of a tool for editing and manipulating pictures of which actual photos may or may not form one or more components. Another way of thinking about it: Lightroom tends to operate on the whole image at once, while Photoshop lets you work on pieces of images.

To the extent you prefer to focus on documentation and accurate records, you'll prefer Lightroom. To the extent you want to create art that looks as beautiful as possible even if it less accurately reflects reality, you'll prefer Photoshop. Many folks, of course, use both.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Hi Juan Carlos Maybe this will clear things up for you, it is confusing.

LR and PS can convert convert raw images and actually have the same engine ACR. Normally LR gets improvements before PS. So as far as converting images you have to need to go to LR at all, CS does just fine.

LR does a lot of things CS does not. You can use LR to sort out images to find keepers, catalog you images, assign presets/key words, do global changes (and some local now), make web pages, print with templates, do slide shows and the new version has will interact with other programs.

From LR you can do your basic converting changes then send the image to PS, do all the work you want and bring it back to LR (just click save in PS). You will have your LR version as a raw file next to the PS version as a tiff file. The beauty is you will never loose your raw image and can always go back.

I can't imagine not working with LR, streamlines the process and the program keeps getting better. I'm just learning the changes to LR 3.0 to be ready for the release. Lots of changes !!!

Best thing you can do is log in to the Adobe sight and look at some of the LR tutorials !!!


............ btw if by edit you are talking about enhancing the files? There is no comparison since LR can only take you so far ... basically what you see in the ACR conversion window .. just with more functionality.... you still need PS !!

Finally I am back!

Ha ha ha I was having phone and internet connection problems. I really missed this forum!

Thanks so much for your explanation Al. I will have to play a little more with LR.
I guess it's a matter of getting used to it but it certainly requires a good amount of time.

Thanks once again.

JC

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

I tend to think of Lightroom as a tool for organizing and developing photos. Photoshop is more of a tool for editing and manipulating pictures of which actual photos may or may not form one or more components. Another way of thinking about it: Lightroom tends to operate on the whole image at once, while Photoshop lets you work on pieces of images.

To the extent you prefer to focus on documentation and accurate records, you'll prefer Lightroom. To the extent you want to create art that looks as beautiful as possible even if it less accurately reflects reality, you'll prefer Photoshop. Many folks, of course, use both.

Gracias Elliotte.

Good recomendations. I am going to work on that.

JC

[Linwood Ferguson]

Long time photoshop user, bought lightroom, now use Photoshop maybe 5% of the time.

Buy lightroom, then use it 60 days and if you need Photoshop you will know why, and more importantly you will not even consider getting rid of Lightroom. And for many people you will not need Photoshop.

Primarily photoshop is about intense efforts on one picture. Lightroom is about moderate efforts on lots and lots of images and being able to keep track of all of them.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Long time photoshop user, bought lightroom, now use Photoshop maybe 5% of the time.

Buy lightroom, then use it 60 days and if you need Photoshop you will know why, and more importantly you will not even consider getting rid of Lightroom. And for many people you will not need Photoshop.

Primarily photoshop is about intense efforts on one picture. Lightroom is about moderate efforts on lots and lots of images and being able to keep track of all of them.

Thank you Ferguson for your advise. It sounds like I will become a LR user once I understand the software well enough.
JC;)