Is Lightroom for me?

Is light room good for editing raw
Reading the previous posts, you could get confused about the basic purpose of Lightroom. Don't be confused, (assuming you are not pulling our legs with this question,) but Lightroom is good for the basic type of editing of all types of camera images.
 
no I mean simplistic editing of the photos not enough needed for Photoshop, would it be better to shoot raw or jpeg for lightroom?
 
no I mean simplistic editing of the photos not enough needed for Photoshop, would it be better to shoot raw or jpeg for lightroom?
The choice over shooting in RAW or JPEG isn't dependant on lightroom's preference (there isn't one that I know of), it's dependant on shooting factors and if you want/need to complete the post processing.
 
no I mean simplistic editing of the photos not enough needed for Photoshop, would it be better to shoot raw or jpeg for lightroom?
Shoot whatever format suits you and your camera. That's not a decision that depends on having LR or not.
 
ok i was just wondering if it is easier to shoot raw and edit or jpeg and edit
I suggest if you are a beginner you should concentrate on shooting jpegs which you can use straight out of the camera without the need for editing. Once you are happy with that, then maybe you will want to try post processing editing. Editing jpg or raw is a secondary consideration, I suggest.
 
I suggest if you are a beginner you should concentrate on shooting jpegs which you can use straight out of the camera without the need for editing. Once you are happy with that, then maybe you will want to try post processing editing. Editing jpg or raw is a secondary consideration, I suggest.
Yeah thanks.
 
Hi, I've just started using LR and am very pleased with the system and results it offers. My concern comes looking ahead when I come round to a reformat and reinstallation of my operating system. How well does it managed with that, given that the file structure and hierarchy of folders for my images will remain in the same place and on the same drive can I just import the Lightroom settings for each image easily?
Thanks
 
As long as you have backed up your catalogue and your image files to an external drive, you should be able to download all information. This should be a regular feature of your way of working.
 
Thanks BrynBoru, all images are safely on and spare drive. Nothing is yet a part of my regular workflow as I'm ony just starting with LR, but it's better to get into good habits from the start than realise much later on that I can't now recover the work I've done. I guess it's my caution at using a system that makes no edits to the original file, whilst I can see how this is a good process it leaves you at a total loss if a year on you cannot rebuild the links and records of the changes you made to those master files. Cheers
 
One of the virtues of LR is that original images are protected from change, in that all develop settings and metadata are referenced in a catalogue file. As long as you work within LR when making changes to folders or adding sub-folders, etc, then LR will always synchronise the image files to the catalogue. You can always replace a corrupted or lost database with a previously backed up copy of the catalog. When you relaunch LR, it will do so using the backed up version of the catalogue. Backing up the catalogue is not the same as backing up your image files. I use Chronsync from Econ Technologies as my main backup software across all files, not just photos, but when using LR I always back up the catalogue ( .Ircat ) file when exiting the LR programme. Backing up from LR is not the same as backing up your photo image files. Apologies if you already understand this, but it can be confusing.
 
I guess it's my caution at using a system that makes no edits to the original file
Perhaps I should also point out that LR only makes changes to files when it exports them as jpgs, tiffs, etc, according to your chosen parameters. The original file is unchanged but the catalogue holds the develop settings, etc..
 
I guess it's my caution at using a system that makes no edits to the original file
Perhaps I should also point out that LR only makes changes to files when it exports them as jpgs, tiffs, etc, according to your chosen parameters. The original file is unchanged but the catalogue holds the develop settings, etc..
 
Thanks for clarifying Brynboru, I'm beginning to get my head round this. I'm used to working with an image editor, so can appreciate the advantages of the LR prinicple. I changed it now to back up every day and will make an additional copy of these files externally. So much to learn... Cheers
 
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