arvath3112 Loc: Lyndhurst, Ohio

PS Elements vs Lightroom: What can either one do that the other can't (or can't do as well)? Which has the broader range of feature? Would you recommend having/using both or will one suffice? I'm looking for reasons to make a selection.
Thanks in advance for your help.

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

LR5 would be my choice. I use it 95% of the time, and only photoshop 5%.

dugole Loc: Matawan, New Jersey

I can't do without LR - particularly since I only shoot in RAW. The options are endless to paint a RAW exposure into the picture you imagine. It is primarily subtle enhancements in just about every aspect of a photo - but no special effects to speak of. 90% of my post processing is LR and 10% Photoshop CS. If I want HDR I use Photomatix.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

I use the DPP software that came free with my Canon DSLR. When I need more, LR5 can handle 95% of those issues. I use various Topaz modules for the rest and very very rarely have something that requires PSE.

apdawn Loc: New Orleans, LA

I use PhotoShop (full version, not elements), but am hoping to start using LR soon. PhotoShop is great for graphics work, but for strait photography, I've always heard LR is the way to go.

stableduck Loc: Chugiak, Alaska

I am still using LR3 (my system is to old for LR5) I use it for 95% of my images. but when I want to merge 2 or more images I use photoshop 5.
the 2 work well together.
but you can not do things like the image below in LR5.
My grandson & I had fun making this shot

(Download)

trc Loc: Logan, OH

I use LR on an iMac as my Number one program when opening and cataloging images. I then use Photoshop CC (formerly used CS6, CS5, CS4) as my second step, if needed and wanted, in my post processing routine for RAW format images. I shoot basically 99.9% in RAW so I can process the images the way I choose.

I never use PS Elements, although they say it does a lot of what Photoshop CC is capable of performing, but not quite as strong or versatile (?), but also much cheaper as well. Then again, I guess you can 'rent' Photoshop CC and LR from Adobe for a fairly cheap amount per month if you want to go that route.

Thirdly, I use onOne Perfect Photo Suite 8 to perform other image editing tasks if I find the need to do so. My goodness, I have many plugins for LR and Photoshop CC from Topaz as well as NIK software as well. It just depends on what I am trying to achieve with an image and what the customer may want. :)

I would definitely recommend LR over PS Elements since it catalogs your images and has many, many post processing capabilities to enhance and edit your images. It handles RAW files very well in addition to PSD, TIFF, jpg, and DNG files. LR is a great program and you can't go wrong with it. Obviously, this is just my 2 cents worth from post processing images for years. :)

Best of luck to you in your personal choice. :thumbup:

Papa Joe Loc: Midwest U.S.

Elements.

Saleavitt10 Loc: Maine

I find LR to be a must have. The organization features alone are worth the price of admission. I can do 95% of my PP in LR5 and only use PS for the more complex "fixes".

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

The simple answer is Lightroom excels at adjusting exposures. Its does it just about as well or better than anything else available. Its geared towards shooting in raw format but supports jpeg as well. However, it does not support layers and was not designed for pixel level manipulation like changing a photo's background or sticking your head on a weightlifter's body. For those types of manipulation you will need Elements. Elements will also modify exposures but in a different paradigm and without Lightroom's sophistication. The full answer is a bit more complex, but this is the high level. Many of us use both. We do all the exposure modifications in Lightroom and pass the photo with those modifications from within in Lightroom itself to Elements for additional processing. Over time, many of us have found we do 80-90% or more of out processing in Lightroom and the rest in Elements.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Lightroom is a high volume, batch RAW conversion processor, with light image editing capabilities. It can make a number of global image adjustments rapidly and easily, but is not all that great at selective and fine detail work on images. Lightroom also serves for cataloging, keywording, sorting, rating, EXIF editing (copyright info, for example), website photogallery maintenance, slide shows and more. It's designed for pro shooters who do a really large volume of work. Especially RAW shooters. It is not really designed or intended for "finished" images.

I use Lightroom edit and rate 1200 images in a day, then to generate proofs of the "keepers". But I very rarely consider an image from it completely "ready for printing", so I also use it to prepare images to hand off to Photoshop for final finishing.

Photoshop is the "Mac Daddy" of image editing programs. It has so many features that I doubt anyone ever uses them all. It doesn't do high volume, batch conversions and processing particularly well. But in skilled hands it can do wonders finishing an image. Photoshop also has a massive learning curve and is quite expensive.

Elements combines "light" versions of main features from both Lightroom and Photoshop. If you don't need the high volume, batch processing of Lightroom, I'd strongly suggest start with Elements. It's also a good way to begin learning Adobe products, in case you later want to "step up" to Photoshop or Lightroom, or to Lightroom + Photoshop.

AFAIK, Adobe hasn't tried to force Elements onto "the Cloud" yet. You can still buy an actual copy of it and will be licensed to use it indefinitely. They are really pushing the Cloud based versions of Lightroom and Photoshop now. But I'm not a fan of "renting" my software, so I had to do some searching to find hard copy updates (or even downloads) of LR and PS the last time I upgraded.

BTW, I don't think "the Cloud" is working out too well for Adobe. I notice the price of it has been coming down and down... Started out as an intro offer of $20 per month for PS for a few months, to increase to $30 a month "regular pricing" at the end of the intro period. Then the intro offer was extended to a year. Next, for the same amount they also offered to include LR too. Just today I got their latest offer of $10 a month for both LR and PS, I assume the same one year after which the price will increase, but I didn't even open the email. So I guess some other folks aren't wild about renting their software, either. I've also heard some who have gone over to "the Cloud" complaining about the very frequent automatic updates (I get enough of that with my anti-virus software) bogging down their workflow.

arvath3112 Loc: Lyndhurst, Ohio

Adobe must be peeking at my e-mails.
I just received an offer to "rent" PS CC and LR 5 for $9.99/month. Thank you Adobe, but I'm not interested in renting any software.

fotografz

I was dead set against this also … as were many other photographers.

However, IF you buy a newer camera or lens then suddenly the latest Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) that supports that new gear doesn't work in any Photoshop version prior to PS6.

Plus, IF you update your computer's operating system, some versions of PS also do not work.

I needed to upgrade to LR5 to support a new camera, and the LR5 price alone was as much as 2 years of Photoshop CC (7), AND Lightroom 5 … and I am assured of constant upgrades as they come rather than paying up again, and again.

Not an ideal scenario, but at $10 a month auto pay it's been a bit painless … and I still have a full version of PS6 on my machine if I decide to bail.

- Marc

lxu532 Loc: Cherry Hill, NJ

I LOVE it!!!

kenArchi Loc: Seal Beach, CA

I keep it simple. Shoot good and process little. Elements is what I use for Architectural Photography. I file in folders on external hard drive. I shoot RAW with Jpeg.