Cubanphoto

Hi, fellow Uglyhedgehogs!
I am new to the group and I like to draw on your knowledge.
I am not as experience photographer as most of you. My shooting is mostly done on vacations. I love landscaping and
photos of architectural.
Since I know have time, I am going to work on my photos and I find myself wondering which is best, Lightroom or Photoshop Element.
I have a lot (thousands) of pictures to work on. Many are JPEG (until I learned)about raw. Now I shoot on both. Unfortunately most of the pictures are in jpeg format.
Is Lightroom only a subscription base software?
Which is easier to learn? Which is gives better control?
With all that info, which would you recommend- Lt or E? Would you have both for different applications?
Thank you. In advance!

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

This question isn't quite accurate in April 2020. That is, you cannot buy Lightroom alone. So, if you don't own LR already, your option is to purchase PSE 2020 or start a subscription to the LR / PS combo at $10 / month.

I find LR light-years easier to use than PS / PSE. LR is targeted specifically for image editing, where PS / PSE is a full-suite of digital editing tools, photography included but also graphics that may include no photography aspects.

If you plan to work in RAW going forward, starting a subscription today is better than purchasing PSE and then turning to the subscription eventually.

Welcome aboard. Regardless of the software, don't pay for any 3rd party training until you've exhausted all the video-based training available from the Adobe site or u-tube.

If you haven't bought anything, consider the trial period offer for any candidate software. Use one at a time for the entire trial period, including the available training, possibly always against the same set of 20 to 100 images. Make an informed decisions that hopefully gets it right the first time.

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

Welcome. Have Fun. I don't use either product so I can't help there.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Can't really compare the two to each other, it's like an apple to an orange. One is basically a cataloging software, the other primarely for extensive editing, using layers, so one should chose either for one's personal needs in post processing, they are both good at what they were designed to do!

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

The two software programs cannot be compared "straight across," but do have commonalities. Do research on both to see which one will meet your needs. There are also many other software programs that do a good job, one of which is Luminar. Luminar appears to be a good choice for the unexperienced in software. I'm a Lightroom/Photoshop user, about 10 years now, and would not trade either program for any other software out there. But the software you use is a personal choice based upon your needs. Determine your needs and narrow down the available software and move forward to purchase what is right for you, not someone else.

russelray Loc: La Mesa CA

About a decade ago when I went to an Adobe users convention, one of the Adobe techs explained the difference between Photoshop, Lightroom, and Elements thusly:

Photoshop is the whole shop, as stated in the name.
Lightroom is a room in the shop, as stated in the name.
Elements are tools in the room, as stated in the name.
In other words, Photoshop can do anything and everything that Lightroom and Elements do.

Since I have all three programs, ever since that convention I have endeavored to determine if he was right. He was.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Lightroom and Photoshop Elements are like apples and oranges.

Lightroom 6.14 is long gone, left in the dust. Photoshop Elements 2020 is still available. Serif's Affinity Photo is a much better value.

The least expensive Adobe Photography Plan ($9.99/month subscription) INCLUDES both Photoshop 2020 (the FULL, monster version), Lightroom CLASSIC (desktop computer successor to Lightroom 6.14), PLUS Adobe Bridge, an always up-to-date version of Adobe Camera Raw (ACR), and Lightroom CC, which is the cloud-based version that runs on Macs, Windows PCs, iOS tablets and phones, and Android devices.

Most of us here use Lightroom CLASSIC and Photoshop 2020. They complement one another.

Lightroom Classic is an image database, cull editor, rating system, raw developer using the ACR engine, parametric image editor, web poster, file exporter, print engine, photo book layout system... (Parametric means you use sliders to adjust global attributes such as contrast, color, exposure, etc.)

Photoshop is a completely different concept. It is a full-blown bitmap image editor with very mature and rich features developed since the late 1980s. It has no image database, although you can use it with Lightroom or Bridge to manage collections of images. Photoshop works in layers, has masking, text creation capabilities, and most of the image editing tools you could ever hope for. It is far more advanced than Photoshop Elements (which used to be known as Photshop Lite Edition).

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

I’m an Elements user, never used LR. I bought it initially for the Organizer's ability to categorize and tag all my scanned slides and prints and found to my delight that I could assign the actual date taken instead of using the date scanned. It has two editors, Adobe Camera RAW and Editor. You can send your RAW edits to the Editor for further processing. The Editor has three levels - Quick, Guided, and Expert - making for an easy learning curve. The first two automate what you can do in the Expert mode. You can do an edit in Quick or Guided and then go to Expert to see all the steps that the Editor used. LR was made for pros who process hundreds of photos in batch mode. Elements can do some batch processing but it’s pretty limited. You can use presets in Elements but they have to be a copy created with Photoshop first.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

It is NOT "Lightroom for $9.99 per month". It is an annual contract with monthly payments or a single annual payment.

Nor is it just Lightroom. Adobe has transitioned to an ecosystem of interconnected parts. There are 5 Lightrooms along with Photoshop. There is even a personalized website like diplay system Adobe calls "Portfolio".

The changes from the purchased Lightroom 6.14 to Lightroom Classic are many and significant all by themselves. But the changes from a single app to the interconnected set are extraordinary.

And there is even a step beyond that. $50 a month is scary until you remember what film and processing used to cost us. If you give Adobe that much you get all the photography stuff but also tools ranging from a publishing system to movie creation and graphic arts.

LCD

Don't get fixated with Adobe products, good though they may be. Explore comparable photo editors. Each system has pros and cons. Remember that whichever one you pick, you shall be investing time in learning their own way of doing things. So like a marriage, make sure you are compatable.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Welcome to the Hog.

Since you have thousands of pictures to work on, I would recommend you get something with organizing capability as well as editing capability.

Adobe has two packages that would fit that need. The Lightroom/Photoshop bundle or the Elements program. I am a LR/PS user and have never used Elements, but I am led to believe that it has an organizer to help you keep track of all those photos.

LR/PS is subscription software while you can purchase a "perpetual" Elements license. Perpetual here means you can keep using the program as long as possible (as long as you stay within the limits of the EULA). However, that doesn't mean it will last forever because computers change, operating systems change, and software updates and upgrades come along.

Elements is similar to Photoshop, but with limitations. Although I have not used Elements, I would guess that learning Photoshop is probably similar to learning Elements.

However there are software companies other than Adobe that are starting to include organizing in their programs. You should look around a bit. Most programs have a 10 day or possibly a 30 day free trial period. That gives you the chance to compare things to see what fits you best. Ordinarily, these short trials are difficult to handle because you have only 30 days to try everything, something you usually only do in free time. Now that many of us are stuck at home it could well be a great time to try out a couple of those free trials.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

"Don't get fixated with Adobe products"

You are right if you compare a single Adobe app to other photo editors. Where I disagree is that with all the parts in the Adobe system there are few if any limits. Not only that, tutorials, classes, books, etc are unlimited. Adobe is so big, lots of people make careers out of teaching Adobe products. That's huge.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

The Element Organizer is structured on LR's since they’re both Adobe products.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

How do you know that? I know that Premiere Elements (video) has no relation to Premiere Pro. The development crews are kept separate. They can "borrow" ideas but coding is independent.