[Catscradle]

I've noticed that people not using a full scale image manipulation product like Photoshop for post processing for the most part seem to favor Lightroom. I use Photoshop Elements and it seems to meet all my needs (admittedly those needs aren't extensive), but I can't help but think there is a reason for the Lightroom preference by others. What am I missing, why is Lightroom preferred.

[SoftwareArtifex]

Lightroom is more of a photo catalog/workflow management package rather than an in-depth image editor.

[davek]

Many of us use LR along with elements or Other editor for photoediting (I use PSP). For me lr is enough for about 95% of my pics.
My experience is that the LR organizer is much more powerful than elements, and is much quicker for processing images.

[kenafein]

lightroom has a lot of the must have tools from photoshop, without having to add it to your workflow. You can dodge/burn, you have gradients and healing/cloning brushes.

[Fontan]

I use LR4 for catalogue, and use NIK plug-ins for editing. Photoshop is great, but for what I do it is an overkill.

[Bob from Aus]

I put it this way:
If the photography is more important than the processing then lightroom is the go. It is a great way to organise your photos. It loads quickly and there is no lag, you are not going to stuff up your originals - it just works really well for doing thousands of images.
If your processing is as enjoyable as taking the photos (and there are plenty of people in this class,) then I think photoshop is for them and lightroom is not necessary. You have all your favourite tools at hand and you can lovingly make your changes.

[Wired]

As what other people have said, Lightroom is just a more efficient way of going through your photos. The organizer alone is worth the cost of admission, but once you add in how easily you can finish off your photos without jumping into another app and you will realize how amazing a program it really is. The only reason I leave Lightroom today is to stitch panoramas, create HDRs, and use PS6's healing tool.

[Ace]

Lightroom is great for all of your global adjustments and organization. It can do local adjustments but photoshop offers much more control. I use lightroom to do all of my color, contrast and spotting. Then I open photos in photoshop where I can add masks and have many layers. Many photos only go to lightroom and that's all they need.

[timmijo]

I have Lightroom 4, but I have a lot to learn about it and don't have a manual to flip through. I am used to having a manual in order to learn things; hunting around for tips on Adobe's site is time-consuming. I use Photoshop Elements 7 and 11.

[southlander]

I started with Elements but discovered (at least in the version I had) that the raw developer was heavily crippled vs that in either Photoshop or Lightroom. So I switched to Light room and do nearly all post processing there (I shoot RAW files btw).

[Catscradle]

I started with Elements but discovered (at least in the version I had) that the raw developer was heavily crippled vs that in either Photoshop or Lightroom. So I switched to Light room and do nearly all post processing there (I shoot RAW files btw).

Do you know which version of Elements you had, I've got 11 and raw is handled by Camera Raw which is the same as photoshop's with restrictions. It seems adequate to me, but I'm just getting started with post processing so I might be wrong on that. I don't want to spend money on Lightroom if I won't find a significant improvement over Elements 11. I just flat out can't justify Photoshop CS6 for my level of post-processing expertise.

[Catscradle]

I have Lightroom 4, but I have a lot to learn about it and don't have a manual to flip through. I am used to having a manual in order to learn things; hunting around for tips on Adobe's site is time-consuming. I use Photoshop Elements 7 and 11.

I'm with you there, I surely do miss having printed documentation, online documentation is just no substitute for a book. However, there does seem to me a plethora of books on Lightroom if I decided to get it. Amazon.com: lightroom: Books

[DogLover]

Doesn't LR still offer a free trial? Why not try it for yourself and see what all the fuss is about? Be prepared to put it through it's paces and really see what it can do. If you like it, be glad that it now costs half of what it used to, and is even more versatile.

[Class A]

I have Lightroom 4, but I have a lot to learn about it and don't have a manual to flip through.

There is a reference manual in the form of a PDF.

For instance, the manual for LR 5.

Not a book with a storyline but everything you need.

Also, watching the videos by Julianne Kost tells you all you need and more.

[Venturi]

Lightroom is a one-stop shop for photographic workflow management. It has

• digital asset managment
• raw image processing
• image proofing and editing
• publishing tools

all wrapped into one tidy package. And, all the tools are contextually tailored to the workflow tasks that photographers all perform.


Photoshop CS* is a one-stop graphics shop. It has tools to do pretty much anything and everything one can dream up using computer graphics. Many of these tools can be directly applied to photography, others can be adapted, and a whole bunch of others you probably would not ever utilize for strictly photographic art work.


Many of us use both tools in concert with each other. I do all my raw processing and image proofing in Lightroom, and then switch over to Photoshop to handle more advanced processing work, then back to Lightroom to publish the finished product.