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08-05-2018, 09:27 PM   #1
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Differences Between Photoshop and Lightroom?

Hi!

I am currently looking at my options for buying a permanent copy of LR to avoid constantly paying each month for the subscription plan (I sometimes go months without taking pictures, so it feels like a waste of money. I'd like to just invest once and be done). I just received an email from Newegg saying that a Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements bundle will be on sale tomorrow (8/6) for $75. That leads to a couple of questions...

1) What can Lightroom do that Photoshop can't? I mainly used Lightroom in the past to change exposure, shadows, contrast, etc. Rarely did I do touch ups or anything similar to that, I almost exclusively fixed lighting and cropped. Maybe use the smart clone tool to remove some dust spots from the sensor. Stitch pics together for a panorama. For those uses, could I just use PS? Or does LR have some functionality that PS doesn't?

2) If PS would fit the bill for what I am looking for, what exactly is Photoshop Elements? What does the "Elements" mean? Would this work for me? And Premiere is just video editing, correct?

Thanks so much in advance! Hopefully I can get some good input tomorrow before the sale ends.

08-05-2018, 10:04 PM - 1 Like   #2
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Lightroom is a photo editor, but it is really so much more. It's a digital editor that is non-destructive, ie. it preserves the original. It is also a very good way to organise your photos. Photoshop, on the other hand, is purely an editor. So, yes, you could use PS for some of the things LR can do, but you would lose quite a lot of functionality.

Photoshop Elements is the lightweight (cheaper) version of Photoshop.

As far as cropping and editing is concerned, you can do a lot in Photoshop. But, many of the things possible in Lightroom simply cannot be done in PS or can't be done easily in PS. Specifically things like specific lens profiles, batch editing, watermarks and screens.
08-05-2018, 10:08 PM - 1 Like   #3
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QuoteOriginally posted by roberts_camera Quote
permanent copy of LR
Adobe has killed off this product line. Below is the last standalone version of LR, which includes all camera/lens updates through December, 2017, but none thereafter:

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6 (Download) 65237402 B&H Photo Video


QuoteOriginally posted by roberts_camera Quote
Photoshop Elements
It's a stripped-down version of Photoshop with minimal raw development support and a limited set of tools. Thus, Lightroom would be a much more powerful option (even older versions), as you get the full functionality of Adobe Camera Raw. You could also go for something like Photoshop CS6, which is old, but still quite capable (and in the same boat as LR6 update-wise).

If you want access to the latest lens profiles and support for native raw files from the latest cameras, the only option is CC. CC is actually not a bad deal- it can be had for as little as $99/year when on sale.

As Mark said above, the main difference between the two products is that Lightroom offers more high-level workflow tools, while Photoshop lets you do more advanced tweaks at the expense of time.

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08-06-2018, 12:44 AM - 2 Likes   #4
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My perspective, and I'm happy to be proven wrong.

lightroom is what i use for batch conversions, and what I use for manipulation of groups of photo's. (I tend to use lightzone for this stuff now).

photoshop is what I use for drastic manipulations, print prep, and for graphic design. (I still use PS7, it works fine for me).

I have had the latest versions of each till a few weeks ago for work related reasons - I still tended to using the SW mentioned above for convenience & ease of use.

08-06-2018, 01:10 AM - 1 Like   #5
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I am using LR 5.6 or 5.7 (not totally sure) and for 90% of my pictures it gets me what I want fast (stitching is not included in this version, I use Hugin for that).

For black & white conversions I prefer using the Nik collection additionally to LR which is a freeware.

And in the very rare moments when I would need PS I use Gimp which is also a freeware (it can do about 90% of what PS does, just the way how you get to the desired outcome is often different / I am not running the latest version so I am not sure if this still is true, but you probably have to export your pictures in LR to something Gimp can use like jpeg or tiff, depending on how much information you need in the picture).

Those moments include: when I have taken two pictures of a group and one person has his/ her eyes closed in one of them while the rest of the group looks better in this picture I can transfer the head from one picture to the other (not possible in LR).
Or when I do light painting I take multiple pictures from a tripod and combine the different pictures and light effects with gimp afterwards.

Last edited by othar; 08-06-2018 at 01:24 AM.
08-06-2018, 02:37 AM   #6
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This is a reasonably good explanation of the differences:

The Difference Between Photoshop and Lightroom Explained
08-06-2018, 04:16 AM - 1 Like   #7
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It look is like you want to get away from the subscription model. Why don’t you take a look at Corel Paint Shop Pro Ultimate edition. It is very similar to Lightroom and Photoshop. Plus it gives you a couple of other apps.

08-06-2018, 04:17 AM - 1 Like   #8
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For a low cost option, many around here use darktable.
08-06-2018, 04:30 AM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by othar Quote

For black & white conversions I prefer using the Nik collection additionally to LR which is a freeware.
no longer free, since it was purchased from Google by DxO:

Homepage - Nik Collection by DxO



I use PS Elements for stitching panoramas, for the rest of my processing I use Skylum applications... primarily Luminar and Tonality...

https://skylum.com/
08-06-2018, 04:30 AM   #10
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QuoteOriginally posted by Kozlok Quote
For a low cost option, many around here use darktable.
And a very good option it is too

However... One of Lightroom's major functions is that of photo library management, and darktable isn't anything like as full-featured in this area. I use digiKam alongside it for that reason.
08-06-2018, 05:13 AM   #11
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Luminar from Skylum is currently $69 and is a full feature RAW editor...

Luminar 2018 - The Best Photo Editing Software for Mac & PC | Skylum

It's should have DAM before the end of the year...
08-06-2018, 05:13 AM   #12
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Luminar from Skylum is currently $69 and is a full feature RAW editor...

Luminar 2018 - The Best Photo Editing Software for Mac & PC | Skylum

It's should have DAM before the end of the year...

ON1 Photo RAW has its fans too.
08-06-2018, 05:21 AM - 1 Like   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by pepperberry farm Quote
no longer free, since it was purchased from Google by DxO:

Homepage - Nik Collection by DxO



I use PS Elements for stitching panoramas, for the rest of my processing I use Skylum applications... primarily Luminar and Tonality...

Skylum ? Great Photography Differently
My bad, didn't know Google sold it again. At least now we can expect new releases of the Nik Collection.
08-06-2018, 07:19 AM - 1 Like   #14
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QuoteOriginally posted by MarkJerling Quote
Photoshop Elements is the lightweight (cheaper) version of Photoshop.
One of the things I found frustrating about Elements is that some of the filters/brushes/effects were only 8-bit and you had to convert your image to 8-bit if you wanted to use them. That sort of takes away much of the benefit of shooting raw and was a reason I went to Lightroom by itself and then to the CC photographer's package which gives access to the full version of Photoshop and 16-bit edits for pretty much everything. I understand that Adobe continues to improve Elements, but that the 8-bit limitation still exists for some functions.
08-06-2018, 10:05 AM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by Michaelina2 Quote
Your best 'deal' is to invest a few minutes learning how to use your copy of "Digital Camera Utility," a very capable, simple and easy to apply pp package. It was developed and fine-tuned specially for Pentax photographers and thoughtfully included in the box that also contained the camera you purchased.

No matter what you buy, today, unless you use it on a regular basis, you'll need to relearn it. Plus, fussing around relearning things is time spent on aging software that is becoming more and more obsolete. I wish the answer was easy, but as a practical matter, no what you buy now, it will be a waste of time, energy and money.

Since you have already paid for DCU, why not learn how to make it dance? With very little effort, I bet you can become a guru if you put your mind to it.

... my 2 cents... M
I tried DCU before I switched to Lightroom and I even miss some of its features, but it used far too many resources of my PC and after processing 5 or 6 pictures I had to restart my computer because it just got unbearable slow, a problem I never encountered with LR.
Nevertheless if it works on your system a valid solution too.
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