redhogbill Loc: antelope, calif

I know, I know, I know.... I went back and searched for this topic and found a lot of them. but did not find what I was looking for. Does not mean it isn't there.. here is my question.... besides the file organization , what "photo controls" is different between the two? what does one have the other does not?

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

The list of differences is too long.

If you are looking for tools to crop, adjust exposure and change the contrast, it really makes little difference. After that, it gets more complex.

If you are trying to remove your ex from your favorite travel photos and replace her with your current love of your life, your replies will be more complex.

Can you ask more specific questions?

hfb46 Loc: UK

As I understand it, LR5 has the same RAW adjustment controls as the Adobe RAW editor in Photoshop. Both are non destructive edits. However, LR5 does not have the ability to make selections and manipulate the image via Layers. I guess it comes down to what you want to do with your image. Hope this helps. I'm sure others more knowledgeable than I will contribute.

redhogbill Loc: antelope, calif

I have watched some tutorial and am currently on second online college course for pscc [ 1st class was like for dummies] .
from what I am seeing is you can do layers in both, I guess what I am asking are the color adjusting sliders /hue/saturation...etc.... all the same between the 2..or does one program have more adjustments.. I am going to do a lightroom class also, but can not get to it until august , I find these college classes really help give the basics and I am continually working with cc to get better. although I would say on a level of 1-10 I am about a 2......
part of the problem is I got lightroom last year and it was overwhelming to me.. so because I wanted cc I had to pay the 10$ amonth for both although I already owned light room....

thanks

TheDman Loc: USA

I'm not aware that LR has layer functionality like PS has.

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

For $10.00 a month you have the most advanced pixel editing tools I know of. Many people use LR as a file organizer and minor adjustment editor. If you want to become really good at post photography production place your efforts toward PS CC. When you get to level 5 (on your scale), you should begin to understand why. If you want to justify the "why's" and fight the way things are, you will be the loser. It's the "you can lead a horse to water" thing. Do yourself a favor and learn both LR and PSCC. I personally think Adobe will convert Bridge or combine Bridge with LR and operate both from within PSCC. Good luck.

redhogbill Loc: antelope, calif

that helps...thanks

redhogbill Loc: antelope, calif

good advise

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Lightroom does not do layers. It approach adjustments like you would use layers for in an entirely different way. If layer adjustements become complex, Lightroom probably won't keep up.

The "under the hood" working components are supposed to be the same. Depending on versions, the sliders may function a little differently or be named a little differently.

Going to college classes for this would be painfully slow for me. On line courses don't make you wait between lessons and you can repeat the parts that take a little work to understand.

redhogbill Loc: antelope, calif

I do understand the snail pace of these classes, unfortunately I have been doing ps 8 thru 12 for last couple years , have been doing photos but mostly sykadellic kind of stuff. . now I am learning the mechanics of it,
"you can get in a bulldozer and move dirt around, but there is a right way to do it!!"
thanks for input

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

CC uses Adobe Camera Raw to handle raw file conversion, which is the same engine used in Lightroom, so the answer is nothing. The Lightroom interface is better, and it is far easier to move between the two software programs than it is to move between CC and ACR and Bridge. You can do it, but Lightroom is just less clunky.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

A true answer :thumbup:

Mark7829 Loc: Calfornia

Photoshop is the complete package. It is all there. 63% of all professional photographers work exclusively in Photoshop, the rest do both. Few if any are exclusive to LR. The image correcting features in PS are superior. Adobe's content aware feature is only in PS. The selections tools in LR are very limited compared with PS. There are no text functions, or video functions in LR. You can't work with multiple images for collages, business cards, posters, CD covers etc. There are no warp or perspective functions. I could go on.

kymarto Loc: Portland OR and Milan Italy

I have to disagree that it is easier to start in Lightroom, at least if you just want to do some one-offs and not catalogue every photo on your card. I find LR extremely annoying: import this, export that. Add to that that it takes the thumbnail browser forever to load images if they haven't been catalogued.

For me Bridge is it. Choose your folder, see all your image thumbs immediately if the card is cached. Click on one for an immediate preview with a loupe even. If you like it, open it in ACR and Bob's your uncle.

After you've done some ballpark preadjustments open in the Real Thing. You have everything on detachable resizable palettes, unlike the stodgy LR interface. The controls are so much better in PS that it is not even funny. Curves gives you clipping indications, grey, white and black balance adjustments. Shadows/Highlights is a much more powerful tool than anything found in LR or ACR. I could not live without dodge and burn tools; the adjustment brush--always on 100%--is like a hammer compared to a scalpel. It has uses, but the you have it both in ACR and the ACR filter.

How about warps and transforms? Lightroom has nothing like that. Selections? Where are those in LR? And we have not even begun to talk about masking, layers, text, 3D and the like. Even though they may be the most used parameters, LR probably contains less than 10% of the functionality of PS.

If you want to organize or batch process your raws, then yes there is a place for LR, but for creativity it is PS by a country mile.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

It makes no difference what other photographers use - make a decision on what is best for your workflow after you have had a chance to work with both. For $10/mo you can get the "complete package" of CC and Lightroom - while there is considerable duplication between ACR and Lightroom Develop module, Lightroom has 6 other modules that are very useful, and includes tethered shooting, easy on-the-fly preset creation, excellent integration with other processors and plugins. And Photoshop is a creative tool, offering process automation (actions), smart objects and non-destructive workflow, layers, masks, color space management, image modes (Lab, RGB, CMYK) and channel specific adjustability - numerous filters and effects, selections, pano stitching, custom brushes and blend modes, etc. - it is still a creative tool and intended for a broader audience. Lightroom remains a Photographer-specific set of tools aimed at the pro that actually shoots and sells pictures, and often must process 100s of images from a single job.

Most photographers can do most of what is needed on their images in Either ACR or Lightroom - but you still need Photoshop (or other pixel editor) to put on the ribbons and bows.

While you can do this entirely in Photoshop, especially now that CC offers Camera Raw as a filter, using both will help you work smarter. There is no reason why you have to make a choice, other than YES to both. I would like to see the source on that 63% of photographers using Photoshop exclusively, and of those, how many use both, and how many use Lightroom and addons.