Should I get Photoshop? And what kind??

Phot · Sep 29, 2015

I was on the Adobe website and noticed that it only cost 10$ a month for the photography plan. IS this all I need to edit photos in RAW? I use Gimp now and can't edit in RAW unless I use two programs. From what I understand I need both LighRoom and PhotShop to edit RAW.

Just a little confused, is this all I need to edit photos? What does everyone here use?

JacaRanda · Sep 29, 2015

http://digital-photography-school.com/understanding-difference-photoshop-lightroom/

Ido · Sep 29, 2015

That covers more than the basics for Raw file editing. I personally use Lightroom almost exclusively, especially since the release of CC/6 with HDR and panorama merging in Lightroom. I use Photoshop mostly for things that are just harder to do in Lightroom, such as fine local adjustments, working with plug-ins, etc.

Buckster · Sep 29, 2015

I use LR for processing from RAW, for global edits like lens corrections, straightening, exposure, color, etc., also for cataloging all shoots, for creating preliminary proofs for clients to choose from on the web including generating the web pages they'll be on, and for creating print package sheets of multiple images.

I use Photoshop for pixel-level editing and creation, global editing, masking and compositing, final sizing, sharpening, and other such prep work for print or digital display.

Bridge (comes with Photoshop) can also be used to process RAW, but it's rare that I've used it since LR came out.

KmH · Sep 29, 2015

Photoshop's Camera Raw and Lightroom's Develop module and are the same software - Adobe Camera Raw (ACR), with only minor differences between them.
Adobe's Photography subscription includes both Photoshop CC 2015 and Lightroom CC 2015.

Lightroom was designed for photographers as a front end compliment to Photoshop.

Camera Raw was developed before Lightroom and was first included with Photoshop 7.
Today's Photoshop CC 2015 is Photoshop 16 and includes Bridge 6 and ACR 9.

Lightroom CC 2015's (LR 6) Develop module also uses ACR 9.
Both Bridge and Photoshop can host ACR. We can have 2 ACR windows open at the same time.
We can tell which is hosting ACR: (CS 5 is an older version of Photoshop)

...

Phot · Sep 29, 2015

I mistated something and I can't see where.

Why are people telling me the difference between Ps and Lr? Both come with the $10 plan. Is there some other plan I'm not aware of? I just wanted to now if there was a second more advanced plan I should get for editing photos.

Dao · Sep 29, 2015

Phot said:
Why are people telling me the difference between Ps and Lr?

Maybe because of this statment

Phot said:
From what I understand I need both LighRoom and PhotShop to edit RAW.

Phot · Sep 29, 2015

Okay, I understand that now, but does anyone know the answer to my main question? Is the 10$ plan all I need to edit photos, it is the cheapest one.

Guys be mean to me here. Just go off on me if something isn't right, because I'm looking for help and I might not know what questions to ask. Think of me as dumb and try to imagine what I'm trying to do.

I've never shot in raw and want to experience what it's like for myself. I want a program more powerful than Gimp, and I what a program that has a larger user base that is willing to help than Gimp. One of the bigger drawbacks to Gimp is finding someone(or a tutorial) who knows how to do what I saw someone using Photoshop did.

Is that 10$ plan going to do this? I don't know why what I have stated has become complicated.

Dao · Sep 29, 2015

I think the answer is yes. I personally mainly use LR (PC version bought awhile back) and that cover 9x% of of my Photos. And the rest, I may need to launch the old PS I had from within LR. So if your work flow are similar, then that's all you need.

I have no experience with the $10 plan, but I know there are other ppl here subscribe to the that plan and works well for them.

Buckster · Sep 29, 2015

Yes, the $10 plan is all you need.

wfooshee · Sep 29, 2015

You don't need both, but you can't get just one, they both come with the plan.

Prepare for a learning curve. Conceptually, GIMP does the same stuff once you've converted from RAW, and using either Lightroom or Photoshop will let you start with RAW and go through the whole editing process. You can use one or the other or both.

Personally, I've never gotten comfortable with Lightroom, having been a Photoshop user since.... well, I actually started on Aldus Photostyler, which disappeared when Adobe bought Aldus in '94. Lightroom appeared in 2007, and I never tried it until version 4.0, and just couldn't wrap my head around it. I had a decade of workflow habits that I was simply unwilling to change or re-learn. Old people, right?

10 bucks a month for the most widely-used, widely supported software there is for image editing is a deal! And it's all you need to go from Camera RAW to finished images.

TCampbell · Sep 30, 2015

I would go for the $10/month plan.

Adobe no longer sells Photoshop as traditionally licensed software where you pay one price to buy it and own it forever. That ditched that many months back (it may be almost a year by now.) They will still sell you Photoshop Elements that way -- but not the full-blown version of Photoshop.

Adobe will license Lightroom as a buy-once model, but they aren't adding anything to that particular version of the Lightroom. Only the Lightroom CC (cloud) version gets updates.

When you pay the $10/month plan you get both Lightroom and Photoshop CC versions and all updates. Adobe calls this "cloud" software (it isn't "cloud" software, it's "subscription" software. There is a difference and Adobe doesn't offer anything that makes the software qualify as "cloud" but since "cloud" is getting a lot of attention in the computer industry lately, marketers love to slap the word "cloud" on something to help it sell.)

Basically for $120/year you get Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, Lightroom Mobile, and a tiny bit of cloud-drive space (not enough to keep all your photos there, but enough to transfer your photos around between devices.) The cloud (subscription) license allows you to install the software on TWO computers (presumably you own them both). I use it on my desktop (iMac) primarily, but when I travel, I have a copy on my laptop (even though I prefer to use my desktop with a significantly larger and better display) so that I can process images when I'm away.

I have a friend who bought the non-cloud based version (Lightroom 6) and he's already starting to notice that Adobe has offered some updates to Lightroom CC that he won't be able to get.

Ido · Sep 30, 2015

One of the best things with software is that you can always try before you buy, so do it and make good use of it! Adobe offers 30 free days for Lightroom and Photoshop, available separately—you can try Lightroom for a month until it expires, then try Photoshop. If you don’t like either of them you can revert to other options, even the software your camera manufacturer provides. If it’s a recent Sony camera, you may have gotten a free copy of Phase One’s Capture One Express. If it’s a Samsung camera (or, if you’re a wealthy man, a Leica), you may have a free copy of Lightroom; it could be the older version (Lr 5), which is still an excellent Raw editor and converter.

You absolutely don’t need more than the $10/month Creative Cloud Photography Plan to edit your Raw files—you can do a lot with much less, even free. This subscription plan lets you use the most popular photo editing and workflow management applications out there. Adobe is not a monopoly in this field—there are excellent Raw converters from Phase One, DxO Labs and others, some may do a better job than Adobe’s converter—but it sure feels like it is.

TCampbell said:
I would go for the $10/month plan.

Adobe no longer sells Photoshop as traditionally licensed software where you pay one price to buy it and own it forever. That ditched that many months back (it may be almost a year by now.) They will still sell you Photoshop Elements that way -- but not the full-blown version of Photoshop.

Adobe will license Lightroom as a buy-once model, but they aren't adding anything to that particular version of the Lightroom. Only the Lightroom CC (cloud) version gets updates.

When you pay the $10/month plan you get both Lightroom and Photoshop CC versions and all updates. Adobe calls this "cloud" software (it isn't "cloud" software, it's "subscription" software. There is a difference and Adobe doesn't offer anything that makes the software qualify as "cloud" but since "cloud" is getting a lot of attention in the computer industry lately, marketers love to slap the word "cloud" on something to help it sell.)

Basically for $120/year you get Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, Lightroom Mobile, and a tiny bit of cloud-drive space (not enough to keep all your photos there, but enough to transfer your photos around between devices.) The cloud (subscription) license allows you to install the software on TWO computers (presumably you own them both). I use it on my desktop (iMac) primarily, but when I travel, I have a copy on my laptop (even though I prefer to use my desktop with a significantly larger and better display) so that I can process images when I'm away.

I have a friend who bought the non-cloud based version (Lightroom 6) and he's already starting to notice that Adobe has offered some updates to Lightroom CC that he won't be able to get.

Indeed, the Creative Cloud plan is a great value. You get a year’s use of the excellent tools it offers—latest version of Lightroom, latest version of Photoshop, Lightroom Mobile, etc.—for less than the price of Lightroom 6. One of the things I’ve been most impressed with is the Dehaze slider added to Lightroom CC and Adobe Camera Raw in the Photoshop CC update. At first I thought it wouldn’t really make a difference for me, as I’ve been dealing with haze successfully with a combination of the Blacks and Clarity sliders and the graduated adjustment filters, but oh my, I get even better results with it, and I’m only moving one slider!

We have to give credit where credit is due: Adobe has been very clear since they launched Lr CC and Lr 6, that only CC subscribers will get feature additions and updates on a regular basis, while Lr 6 buyers will have to wait for a major release that may come in the unforeseeable future (Lr 7). There were no surprises there, and it wasn’t just small print. Anyone who bought Lr 6 and is frustrated with Adobe not updating it with the CC features, just didn’t do their research before purchasing it. Not saying that’s the case with the situation you mentioned with your friend—after all, you didn’t say he is frustrated or disappointed at that.