Lightroom vs. Photoshop.

[Neil]

I use Photoshop elements in a fairly basic way. Other than cropping, I mostly correct exposures on selected areas and tweak colors.

I tried using PSE's organizer but found it too complicated and ornery so I only use the Window file manager, including when downloading from camera to computer.


The salesman at the camera store suggested I use Lightroom instead and opined that PS was more for graphic design and that PSE was limited compared to Lightroom.


I'm wondering whether I want to go to the trouble of learning another program.

 

[Brambor]

Photomechanic

Lately I went around the block with apps because my new camera RAW plugin stopped working in Zoombrowser RAW development and in Adobe Bridge. That basically killed my workflow as I used Zoombrowser to develop RAW images for picture styles and used Adobe Bridge to organize my shots and send a RAW image from Adobe Bridge to Photoshop.

Someone I respect suggested Lightroom. It has a wonderful feel for a workflow and most of my work can be done with it. But I still feel like it can't replace my photoshop work that I am used to.

Then came the problem of sending images to Photoshop from Lightroom. For some strange reason it sends it as Tiff which makes much bigger file than I usually need. I process Tiff only when I print. (I don't print much). It also sends them without opening the RAW processing dialog box.

There is also a shortcut for export and that sends images directly to photoshop as JPEG but it again skips the RAW processing dialog box. I need the RAW processing dialog box to make do exposure compensation without losing a lot of information.

Then I saw a tip to try Photomechanic. Wow. It is so much faster than lightroom or adobe bridge and it sends images directly to RAW when I click on the edit button and then to Photoshop.

For my workflow I will start using Photomechanic.

 

[Grumpy]

I also use Bridge bundled with Photoshop for my initial editing, organizing and image processing functions.

My on-staff colleagues at the newspaper use Photomechanic, and love it. It has become commonly used in newspaper work, where fast turnaround is highly valued. As an outside contractor, I haven't yet gotten around to playing with Photomechanic, but probably should do so one of these days.

My thinking is that if Bridge is available with your version of Photoshop it makes scant sense to run out and spend money on other advanced editing and organizing software like Lightroom. Unless, of course, there are some very special needs that Lightroom (or whatever) addresses far better than what you have.

Money might better be spent on useful photo accessories that will help enhance the quality of photos in the shooting phase.

G.

 

[Brambor]

Grumpy, I think you were replying to OP but in case you were replying to me then please note that in CS4 Adobe Bridge is being discontinued and does not work with Canon 5D2 RAW. In my computer it basically does not show the preview of the RAW thumbnail as it does with Canon 5D1.

I haven't yet paid for the photomechanic. I'm on trial until 1/11/09 but I have uninstalled Lightoom already.

 

[DougPaul]

You might also consider dcraw for raw to jpeg or tiff conversion. Free. Avialable as source or precompiled for a range of platforms.
http://www.cybercom.net/~dcoffin/dcraw/

It supports a very wide range of cameras including the Canon 5D MkII and the G10.

It is reputed to be one of the better raw converters and is used by a number of packages to do the actual conversion. It can also do some simple internal processing (eg white balance and brightness control).

Doug

 

[Grumpy]

Grumpy, I think you were replying to OP but in case you were replying to me then please note that in CS4 Adobe Bridge is being discontinued and does not work with Canon 5D2 RAW. In my computer it basically does not show the preview of the RAW thumbnail as it does with Canon 5D1.

I haven't yet paid for the photomechanic. I'm on trial until 1/11/09 but I have uninstalled Lightoom already.

Are you sure about Bridge being discontinued in Photoshop CS4? Looking at the Adobe web site, I find no mention of this. Actually, there is promo blurb that specifically refers to Bridge enhancements in this new version. I also see the Canon 5DII listed as among cameras that Camera Raw supports in CS4.

That said, Adobe also clearly is pushing Lightroom as additional software.

I am thinking of upgrading to Photoshop CS4 in the coming year, and plan to continue using Bridge if possible. At this point I don't see the need for spending another $300 on (Lightroom) software, in my own scheme of things. Other photographers most assuredly have schemes (and thus, needs) that differ from mine, though, so while I will say what works for me I hesitate to say "do this" or "do that" as a pat answer for someone else.

G.

 

[Brambor]

well, I don't have official proof but I have been told by fellow photographers that Adobe is discontinnuing Adobe Bridge. I currently run CS4 and I can open RAW images created in 5D2 but when I use Bridge I don't see the preview thumbnails for the pictures therefore the management of the whole thing is not working.

 

[Grumpy]

Brambor, this is the first time I’ve come across any speculation that Bridge is to be dropped. That statement doesn’t mean anything other than what it says, though – I do not consider myself well plugged into the trade grapevine.

A quick Google search yields extensive references to Adobe having discontinued its Stock Photo service, which was accessed through Bridge, on April 1, 2008. Could that have given rise to murmurs that Bridge itself is on the way out?

G.

 

[Neil]

What can you do with Lightroom that you can't do with PS?

And what exactly is damageless editing?

 

[Brambor]

I don't know if the damageless editing question applies to me but forgive me as English is my second language and I abuse it freely

In other words in RAW development you can pull out a stop or two without losing (or with losing less information than ) information in jpg contents.

 

[kmorgan]

What can you do with Lightroom that you can't do with PS?

And what exactly is damageless editing?

I use Lightroom as a photo database.

 

[Grumpy]

I would guess that “damageless editing” means you can make changes to an image file without losing or altering the original contents of the image file.

Using Bridge, which is bundled in with current editions of Photoshop (including Elements, I gather), I can accomplish this by (a) selecting a RAW image to edit; (b) opening the image in Bridge; (c) making adjustments to the image using the Camera Raw features; (d) opening a copy of the adjusted image in Photoshop; (e) saving the adjusted Photoshop image under a new file name as either a high quality JPG or TIFF file (I usually just add a “+” to the front of the camera’s file name, initially, for speed and convenience). When I create the "+" filename image file the unaltered original automatically resides back in its own file without any changes. Doing further editing of the “+” image file in TIFF prevents loss of data through compression that comes with each “save” in JPG format.

(A lot of that might read like gibberish to me if I hadn’t run through the process countless times. I hope you can follow it.)

What does Lightroom do that the built-in Bridge software doesn’t?

I really don’t know the answer to that, except possibly provide more sophisticated image database functions, and maybe more extensive RAW image processing-editing capabilities. I guess you’d have to read Adobe’s literature to get a better handle on the real answer.

My own suspicion – and I don’t mean to be a wise guy about this – is that if after reading Adobe’s literature and perhaps seeing a demo you still ask what Lightroom does that the built-in Bridge software doesn’t do for you, then you probably don’t need to spend $300 adding Lightroom to your software. At least that is where I came out on this question when I looked at it a year or so ago while upgrading from Photoshop CS2 to CS3. For my purposes, I haven’t been unhappy with the decision to pass on Lightroom and put that money toward other tools in my kit.

G.