dennisallard Loc: Southern Maine

It's high time I invest in some processing software. I've spoken to people and have been recommended Lightroom and Elements. Will do some research on my own but want to know what fellow "Hoggers" have to say. Thanks.

Gitchigumi Loc: Wake Forest, NC

I second the motion... Lightroom and Elements. :thumbup:

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Photoshop Elements 12 was recommended to me last winter. I bought on sale at Costco and love it! The interface is so clean and easy to use, and everything is tucked away when you don't need to see.

Lots of books and videos to assist.

Very different from my experience with Corel Paintshop Pro a few years ago.

And just think, once you get something like that, you can buy the plug-ins from Topaz and Nik, and spend many hours a day playing with pp :)

Bill MN Loc: Western MN

Elements is really good but Lightroom is forever loosing my pictures. A search on Windows can find my pictures so why can't Lightroom.

Gitchigumi Loc: Wake Forest, NC

If the photos are brought into Lightroom, it can find them again. If you use keywords, its even easier.

If you ever move photos on your storage drive without using LR to do it, LR can't find them...

Papa Joe Loc: Midwest U.S.

I have 'cut my teeth' using Photoshop, and the past few years have 'progressed' into using Photoshop Elements instead. It does all I need or want. Very good software.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

I confess to being an Adobe "fan boy". The software is good, but that is not the reason I am a fan.

My excitement about Adobe's software comes because of the vast amount of learning opportunities. No other photo software has so many people working to help you learn it. There are books, schools, websites, YouTubes, etc. Adobe secretly feeds the good ones with pre-release information so that the training materials come out as fast as the new versions are released.

And for me, the learning of new tools, techniques and methods is the fun part. I do not see learning as painful. I see it as deluxe entertainment.

I have been very happy with the Elements and Lightroom combination. Learning the combination has kept me busy and happy for a couple years.

But, Adobe has changed the game. The current Elements and Lightroom package would be about $230 to buy. The "new" program at Adobe is to rent Lightroom and the primary, or "pro" version of Photoshop for $10 a month on a one year subscription.

So for what the Elements/Lightroom combination costs you get two years access to the upper end stuff where learning opportunities are even greater. Further, after two years you'll be tempted with upgrades anyway.

Many Hoggers hate the rental plan and see it as near robbery. To buy Elements and Lightroom make sense to them. Others that like the strengths of the "pro" version of Photoshop see $10 a month as a true bargain and gift from Adobe.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Lightroom is an excellent base program for managing, editing, and printing your photos. Elements is a nice beginning add-on to that, for the things that Lightroom doesn't do well like removing/adding items in photos, working with layer masks, etc. Most of the problems people have with Lightroom come from not understanding how its database works, or moving photos around using system software instead of Lightroom. I have used Lightroom since v2 in 2008. I've moved it across 3 computers and 6 external drives during that time. and I've never lost a single photo. It is imperative to do a bit of study with any software to get the most out of it, whether you prefer books or videos, lots is out there that can make your official move into photo processing easier and more fun.

The post processing section of UHH is also a good asset in this journey.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Lightroom does not loose pictures. You are moving them with some other software and not telling Lightroom where you put them. If you really want to use Windows to move files around, read up on the "Synchronize" function in Lightroom. It is there to "fix" what you are doing.

romanticf16 Loc: Commerce Twp, MI

Lightroom only does what you tell it to do. Get a good book on how to set up and use LR. There are too many choices to just blindly select and see what happens.

brucewells Loc: Central Kentucky

If your decision is to pursue the software indicated, there will come a day that you will be happy about it. A word of caution, however, because it may not be intuitive to you immediately after installation. You will require something that helps you understand what the software is doing.

There are many, many sources for this information. I chose Adobe Lightroom Classroom in a Book for learning Lightroom and can highly recommend it. But, again, there are many sources.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

Only way LR looses pictures is if you move them or change folders outside of LR

Mr PC Loc: Austin, TX

Lightroom for organizing and the lion's share of your quick and dirty edits like cropping, adjusting exposure, contrast, sharpening, etc. Elements or Photoshop for more intricate edits like changing out skies, removing people's heads, etc. $9.99 a month gets you Lightroom and the full blast Photoshop if you get to that point and I believe there is a 30 day free trial at www.adobe.com. Hope this helps.

pinkycat Loc: The Garden State

I totally agree with Linda. I have Elements, and the Topaz and Efex Plug-ins. The possibilities are endless and they are quite easy to use with a bit of practice.

TheDman Loc: USA

Where does Lightroom let them loose? Into a field?