Lightroom or photoshop?

[markafc]

Lightroom or photoshop?

 

[Big Mike]

Ford or Chevy.
Coke or Pepsi.
Red or Green.

Can you give us more information about what & how you shoot, and what you need out of your software?

The best solution is, of course, both. Adobe Photographer Plan

 

[BananaRepublic]

you could have bought with cc thats cheaper and if they screw up just go to the adobe FB page and unleash a tirade of abuse and they'll refund you

 

[ronlane]

As Mike mentioned, why does it have to be one or the other when the Photographers plan is available.

I took both. lol

 

[Derrel]

Lightroom.

 

[Braineack]

I only use PS for things I can't simply do in LR.

 

[pixmedic]

I use Lightroom 97.3% of the time.
buuuuut, I also got the $10 a month Adobe CC photogrpaher plan so I have both LR and PS.

 

[goodguy]

Both!

 

[Peeb]

Yes.

 

[ratssass]

...

I use Lightroom 97.3% of the time.
buuuuut, I also got the $10 a month Adobe CC photogrpaher plan so I have both LR and PS.

....^^^This.....lol,I finally gave in 2 months ago

 

[pixmedic]

...

I use Lightroom 97.3% of the time.
buuuuut, I also got the $10 a month Adobe CC photogrpaher plan so I have both LR and PS.

....^^^This.....lol,I finally gave in 2 months ago

give in to your feelings...you do not know the power of the dark side!

 

[KmH]

+1 for BOTH.

 

[TCampbell]

The programs are VERY different (and the reason why Adobe makes both). The are not competitors... they compliment each other.

If you are strictly a "photographer" then Lightroom is going to be the tool you use most often. It'll allow you to perform all the image adjustments (digitally) that a photographer would normally make (exposure, white balance, shadows & highlights, curves, cropping, sharpening, re-touching, color, contrast, etc. etc.)

Lightroom, being written mostly for "photographers" understands that you probably shoot more than just "one" photo in a day. You probably have entire shoots and the images in those shoots are related to the same topic, subject, event, etc. It helps you synchronize some adjustments (if all the images were shot in the same lighting situation then they probably all need the same white balance adjustment... so it lets you "synchronize" the adjustment across an entire range of images.) It works as a "digital asset manager" and helps you keep you shots organized, tagged, ranked, etc.

Lightroom is optimized for RAW workflow and uses a non-destructive system for adjustment (meaning it never actually alters the original image. It pulls in the original and then applies your adjustments on-screen. Adjustments are only permanently applied when you "export" your image (e.g. publish it to an album, send it to the printer, etc.) but the images in your Library can always be changed and any adjustment can be re-adjusted or eliminated at any time.

Photoshop is VERY different. It's not intended to work on entire libraries of images at the same time. It's mostly intended to work on just one image at a time (though it will let you copy information between images.)

Photoshop is mostly a tool for digital artists and publishers -- but is still useful for photographers. Though you could use Photoshop exclusively and not use Lightroom, you'd find that, as a photographer, you can work more quickly in Lightroom. If you need to apply special effects, or take elements from several photos to create a "composite" photo, then Photoshop is the tool for that (Lightroom doesn't do those sorts of things.)

But all of this may be moot.

It turns out you can't buy Photoshop anymore... period. Adobe won't sell it to you. It's ONLY available via subscription. You can opt to buy the entire Adobe Creative Cloud (expensive) or just get the photographer's package ($10/month but requires minimum 1 year subscriptions). It turns out when you subscribe to Photoshop for the $10/month deal, you automatically get Lightroom and Photoshop combined as a set (it's not possible to subscribe to ONLY Photoshop.)

Adobe WILL still license Lightroom in the traditional way in which you pay once and have the software forever ("forever" being ... until you get a computer with a newer operating system that no longer works with your version of Lightroom and are forced to upgrade.) Adobe also limits updates for old software. Usually when a new camera is released, you need a new "camera raw update" for Lightroom and Photoshop and Adobe only makes that available to the "current" version of their software. This means you get a new camera and you are forced to upgrade.

 

[Derrel]

Brilliantly written, Tim! Wonderfully explained.