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Do I need Lightroom?
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Mar 31, 2013 10:09:19   #
leftyD500 Loc: Ocala, Florida
 
I presently have Adobe Photoshop CS6. So many articles I read about post processing, talk about lightroom? what would I gain by getting lightroom? What can lightroom do for me that CS6 can't do?

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Mar 31, 2013 10:19:11   #
PrairieSeasons Loc: Red River of the North
 
Lightroom organizes photos, which PS does not. In terms of white balance, exposure and color correction etc., it is easier to use than PS.

I've been using PS for more than twenty years and LR for almost ten. If I need to do true PS functions like compositing, removal of things, complexion modification, weight reduction etc., I do it in PhotoShop. 80+% of what I do is all in LR - never touched by PS.

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Mar 31, 2013 11:04:31   #
rpavich Loc: West Virginia
 
PrairieSeasons wrote:
Lightroom organizes photos, which PS does not. In terms of white balance, exposure and color correction etc., it is easier to use than PS.

I've been...LR for almost ten.


That's quite a feat considering it was only released in 2007. :)

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Mar 31, 2013 11:11:29   #
Jamers Loc: Michigan
 
rpavich wrote:
That's quite a feat considering it was only released in 2007. :)


:oops:

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Mar 31, 2013 11:15:00   #
PrairieSeasons Loc: Red River of the North
 
rpavich wrote:
That's quite a feat considering it was only released in 2007. :)


You're right, although I think that I first used it in 2006 rather than 2007. I used Pixmantic Rawshooter before than, and Rawshooter was purchased by Adobe and became Lightroom.

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Mar 31, 2013 11:20:25   #
rpavich Loc: West Virginia
 
PrairieSeasons wrote:
You're right, although I think that I first used it in 2006 rather than 2007. I used Pixmantic Rawshooter before than, and Rawshooter was purchased by Adobe and became Lightroom.


True...and I was just having fun with you...I know what you meant.

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Apr 1, 2013 07:01:21   #
Brian Platt Loc: Poole/Verwood, Dorset, UK
 
I am with Prairie seasons on this. Most of my post production work is in LR4 with the odd photo going from there into CS2 and back for output HTML files for the client to choose from. Once tried you will wonder why not before! The only downside is the cost implication - try free for 30 days from the Adobe site.

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Apr 1, 2013 07:56:25   #
romanticf16 Loc: Commerce Twp, MI
 
Much of PS6 is devoted to design and 4 color printing. Lightroom is strictly photography and image retrieval. It enables you to store a thumbnail of your images on your main drive, linking to your originals stored on specified internal or external drives. Manipulations are non destructive actions until exported, at which time they are executed on a COPY of your original file. The both can interchange files for manipulation and storage as needed.

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Apr 1, 2013 07:57:51   #
profpb Loc: Venice, Florida
 
Lightroom's strengths include the same ACR editing for RAW images as CS6 and I prefer the Organization in LR4 over Bridge or minibridge in CS6.

Like so many I do almost all of my PP in LR4 with only an occasional need for CS6, but it is nice when I need it.

So the complete answer is both. And for HDR Photomatix is better. For my IR I use Capture. And for fun I just love Topaz. There is no end to this stuff if you are rich and consumed as I am. Well err... I'm almost broke now.

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Apr 1, 2013 08:04:49   #
ZappaMan Loc: Williamsport, MD
 
I acquired Aperture first, then Lightroom having heard so much about it. While the organization features of these products are nice, I was primarily interested in the ability to adjust my photographs. Adjusting the curve in Aperture is really the only feature I think works better than the comparable feature in Lightroom. The graduated filter is awesome.

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Apr 1, 2013 08:05:40   #
mborn Loc: Massachusetts
 
romanticf16 wrote:
Much of PS6 is devoted to design and 4 color printing. Lightroom is strictly photography and image retrieval. It enables you to store a thumbnail of your images on your main drive, linking to your originals stored on specified internal or external drives. Manipulations are non destructive actions until exported, at which time they are executed on a COPY of your original file. The both can interchange files for manipulation and storage as needed.


:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

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Apr 1, 2013 10:48:32   #
Jim Plogger Loc: East Tennessee
 
jradose wrote:
I presently have Adobe Photoshop CS6. So many articles I read about post processing, talk about lightroom? what would I gain by getting lightroom? What can lightroom do for me that CS6 can't do?


I have Lightroom 3.6 and Photoshop CS6. I NEVER use Lightroom. You will gain nothing for the money you will spend. Yes Lightroom has organization abilities but they are not great abilities. If you want organization software go for ACDSee 15. It is on sale for $24.95 right now.

http://www.acdsee.com/en/products/acdsee-15

I will most certainly hear from the Lightroom fans on this. Let me be clear....Lightroom is a great program and is a lot less than the investment in Photoshop CS6 (unless you are upgrading from CS5). I just see no need for both.

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Apr 1, 2013 10:49:22   #
Hedgophile
 
jradose wrote:
I presently have Adobe Photoshop CS6. So many articles I read about post processing, talk about lightroom? what would I gain by getting lightroom? What can lightroom do for me that CS6 can't do?


For me, in a word, speed. Yes, you can set up actions for batch-processing etc. in PS, but it's just so easy in LR4. Can't do any kind of compositing though. So I agree with other posters that you probably need both.

Plus you get a nice cataloguing system. What's not to like?

PS I get an education discount, and Adobe are generous - so take this with a pinch of salt if cost is an issue.

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Apr 1, 2013 12:11:54   #
mborn Loc: Massachusetts
 
jpintn wrote:
I have Lightroom 3.6 and Photoshop CS6. I NEVER use Lightroom. You will gain nothing for the money you will spend. Yes Lightroom has organization abilities but they are not great abilities. If you want organization software go for ACDSee 15. It is on sale for $24.95 right now.

http://www.acdsee.com/en/products/acdsee-15

I will most certainly hear from the Lightroom fans on this. Let me be clear....Lightroom is a great program and is a lot less than the investment in Photoshop CS6 (unless you are upgrading from CS5). I just see no need for both.
I have Lightroom 3.6 and Photoshop CS6. I NEVER u... (show quote)


I cannot say how ACDSee is for cataloging, but for ME LR is the way to go, Much easier than Bridge and with collections it is easy to sort picture, yet the ordinal is still in its original folder . I use PS when I need to do specialized PP with layers
Here is a sample of my collections



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Apr 1, 2013 12:51:22   #
jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ
 
jradose wrote:
I presently have Adobe Photoshop CS6. So many articles I read about post processing, talk about lightroom? what would I gain by getting lightroom? What can lightroom do for me that CS6 can't do?


LR4 is simular to ACR in CS6. In fact they use the same basic 'engine' or basic software. Their sliders do exactly the same thing. If you adjust an image in ACR then 'Develop' that same image in LR4, the sliders will have the exact same settings. The difference is that LR4 has a history feature allowing you to go back and undo some of your changes, has a different way to crop and a slightly different brush tool for selective edits.

This biggest difference is that LR4 catalogs images in more ways than Bridge does. It's catalog system is fast and doesn't bloat your hard drive when you choose to make duplicate images and see how different editing will look. You can still transfer the image to CS6 Editor for Stacking, Pano's, Smart Objects etc. It will also allow you to view psd images that are layered.

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