Is Adobe Lightroom worth getting?

T

tommo

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209
Name
Lee
Edit My Images
Yes
Anyone got any advice? I'm just an enthusiast, not a pro unfortunately, if that makes any difference :shake:
 
I think it's nice for workflow and batch processing - but does lack any "tweaking" tools that Photoshop offers, the best you can do is adjust the whole photo and crop it.
 
Lightroom is aimed at photographers who generally shoot RAW, and also need to catalog their photographs, using keywords. It's also got the ability to upload to web pages as well.

It's a great program for what it does, but there is no image manipulation options, that's handed off to Photoshop.

Check out the podcasts and tutorials that are around to help you decide. Then if you think it's for you download the trial version. If you are just an enthusiast, the £200 price tag can be difficult to justify.
 
For me, Lightroom is better than sliced Hovis. Its a great system for cataloguing and processing my shots extremely quickly. As suggested, i'd look at getting the 30 day trial and see how you get on. :)
 
If you shoot raw, want to crop, adjust levels, saturation, sharpening, lens corrections etc plus have decent library, sorting keywording then Lightroom is brilliant. Its fast and efficient at handling large numbers of shots which suits me (sports etc).

99% of my shots are handled through it and it's only the major layering stuff that I tend to use photoshop for.
 
Nikon Capture NX, does everything you need in photo editing, including "parts" of a photo, its not the simplest software I've ever used but once you get the hang of it, its quite good.
http://www.capturenx.com/

click English :bonk: and case studies/tutorials
 
I too am an enthusiast ratehr tahn a pro (by a long shot) but have found lightroom very very handy. As I tend to take lots of series of shots in order to getthe one I want i end up with oodles of pictures. being able to cataloge and batch process them easily is useful.

I have also fond that some of the stuff under the "develop" tab is handy for doing basic stuff before handing the main image processing off to photoshop
 
I considered it but found that Adobe's free DNG converter allows me to convert from raw Nikon files and use PS for all the editing/adjusting. Kind if makes Lightroom obsolete for me.
 
The software itself is very clear, easy and powerful in my opinion. Better if you shoot in RAWs.
But it depends if you're using this on PC or Mac. I use Mac and it goes very smootly and quickly even for large files. I heard that even on a good PC it is slow and not efficint for such a costly thing. So probably worth a trial before you buy!
 
Lightroom does offer some local editing (dodge, burn, etc) as of V2, it's not as good as taking the image into PS but for simple fixes it can save a lot of time and hassle of switching apps and having multiple copies of an image.
 
Lightroom and photoshop together. That's my tools and they are superb (y)
 
travelphotos said:
I heard that even on a good PC it is slow and not efficint for such a costly thing. So probably worth a trial before you buy!
Click to expand...

Not my experience. Run Lightroom with 20k plus images in the library and it runs fine on a PC.

But, try before you buy is sound advice.

Paul
 
Lightroom does all the editing I need. I used the v2 beta until it expired and then bought the program.
 
markp said:
I think it's nice for workflow and batch processing - but does lack any "tweaking" tools that Photoshop offers, the best you can do is adjust the whole photo and crop it.
Click to expand...
Not correct at all I'm afraid. LR2 has superb processing power, you can selectively edit parts of an image with brushes; contrast, saturation, sharpness, graduation et al... and more. Colour channels can be edited, as can luminosity, white balance, brightness, exposure, contrast etc.

It is an extremely powerful application, so much so that one almost removes the need to use PS for all but the most intensive image amendments. Borders can be added, watermarks can be added, exports to CD/DVD can be done... I even have a plug in on my Mac that allows me to export directly from Lightroom to my Zenfolio gallery.
 
I didn't get on at all well with Lightroom after downloading the trial, and have stuck with CS3. I think this was due more to laziness though as I've used photoshop since it first came out and I just found Lightroom to slow to do anything I wanted. Opening a batch of RAWs in PS CS3 and editing en mass seems just as easy either using bulk RAW editing or actions.

I also like the option to be able to 'play' more if I feel the need.
 
Byker28i said:
If you shoot raw, want to crop, adjust levels, saturation, sharpening, lens corrections etc plus have decent library, sorting keywording then Lightroom is brilliant. Its fast and efficient at handling large numbers of shots which suits me (sports etc).

99% of my shots are handled through it and it's only the major layering stuff that I tend to use photoshop for.
Click to expand...

I have to agree with Biker. Something not mentioned though is the ability to make virtual images, the changes you make in LR are non destructive and you can have a number of copies increasing the disk size by a few bytes. LR2 now has some good editing tools, althogh a little slow unless on a Mac or powerful PC. One major advantage to me is the ability now of taking the RAW image into PS as a smart image, allowing me to go back and make adjustments without re starting from fresh.
 
I love Lightroom Version 2. I am not a pro but I find that Lightroom is great for general photo correction. I have Photoshop CS3 as well and I only use that now when I really need to do some advanced editing, everything else Lightroom is perfect for and qucker and easlier to use then Photoshop. I would recommend getting a tutorial or a book on how to use it as I found it a bit confusing unitll I went through a tutorial on it.
 
theMusicMan said:
Not correct at all I'm afraid. LR2 has superb processing power, you can selectively edit parts of an image with brushes; contrast, saturation, sharpness, graduation et al... and more. Colour channels can be edited, as can luminosity, white balance, brightness, exposure, contrast etc.

It is an extremely powerful application, so much so that one almost removes the need to use PS for all but the most intensive image amendments. Borders can be added, watermarks can be added, exports to CD/DVD can be done... I even have a plug in on my Mac that allows me to export directly from Lightroom to my Zenfolio gallery.
Click to expand...

I think Markp's original post was regarding LR1 as it was about a year ago :p thread bumpage for the confusion ;)
 
I thinks great, I show it to my clients and they like it. Ive converted almost everyone Ive showed it to.
Download the trial and have a play, thats the best thing to do.
 
Hum - I've upgraded to version 2 and need to work at it I think. It's slower than 1.41 and the default library sort is now by date rather than keyword, although I know I have a more detailed keyword search at the top.

I guess I'll have to start cataloguing

Oh V2 - dual monitors is a great idea.
 
have you tried optimising the catalog? in the catalog preferences that can do wonders to speed the program up
 
If you don't mind waiting 6 months for something to happen after you press a button then lightroom is perfect.
 
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