Oh my heavens! How have I never used lightroom before?!?

[NemesisK]

:lmao: We all have products we recommend, or don't recommend. So, we all have an agenda. :lmao:

 

[runnah]

:lmao: We all have products we recommend, or don't recommend. So, we all have an agenda. :lmao:

I wouldn't call that an agenda. Just honesty.

 

[The_Traveler]

I agree with the file organization aspect of LR, as I'm overly annoyed with it.

I don't get this problem.
I have my own organization and just let LR add the images in their current (my) location.

For example:

I am finishing up organizing a big shoot where 8 photographers documented the repair of 27 houses on Sat.- about 500 pictures.
Each person sent me their images for each house which I placed in a sub-folder under the main date - topic folder.
Then I went to import, pointed LR at the top folder and it added all 500 images, each in their own sub-folder.
I selected them all, added common key words, then went from folder to folder and added folder specific keyboards, one shot.

When I get more pictures I put them in the existing folders and repeat the import, setting LR to not import duplicates.

 

[Derrel]

The OP's post is directly related to the Develop module.

All it has to do is barely touch on the subject, and you post the same info, just like you do with your spammy NAPP link.

The question that keeps coming to my mind every time you post it is: Why? Why is it so important to you that everyone who gets near your sphere should know that? It doesn't escape notice that many times your statements about LR are a bit passive/aggressive toward a general attitude that LR sucks in some way. So what is it EXACTLY you're trying to impart to people with that information you never get tired of putting out at every possible opportunity?

Is it along the lines of, "Don't buy and use Lightroom because Camera Raw already has it covered"? That's the message that seems to be pushing through between the lines whenever you post it.

If not that, what?

I have encountered many, many people that do not know that ACR is used for both the Develop module and for Camera Raw.

Again, it's important for them to know that, WHY? So that they don't accidentally buy and use Lightroom?

I am also aware that most of the people that visit TPF are not members or regular TPF visitors and may not know ACR is used for both the Develop module and for Camera Raw, so it bears repeating.

"It bears repeating" because, WHY? So that they don't accidentally buy and use Lightroom?

But thank you for adding attention to the information.

You're so, SO welcome.

KmH...do the newer version of Photoshop share any other similarities with Lightroom 4? I do not know much about the "newer" versions of Photoshop CS...I'm wayyyyy back in the dark ages on CS. My images get so little post-processing manipulation that I've not bothered following the Adobe constant upgrade path, but now think I need to make a MAJOR leap forward, to both Lightroom 5 (now in Beta), and whatever the MOST-current Photoshop CS version will be when I decide to bite the bullet (probably this very summer).

How much of the current Lightroom 4.3 Library/Develop/Print/Slideshow/Web,etc framework is used by the current Photoshop CS version?

 

[The_Traveler]

Derrell,

If you do just a little PPing and most of that is global or large area stuff, then LR5 should be all you need.
I am trying the beta and it is surprising in what it does, actually things that PS CS6 doesn't.
Unfortunately some of those things verge on the instagram treatments.

 

[LinusM]

Interested to hear more about the new LR beta. I'm only just getting to use the previous version well, with doing the bulk of my post production work here. Its an amazing bit of software for lightness & speed. With adjusting my workflow I have saved myself hours of work that used to be done in PS.
Couldn't sing its praises any higher!

Shame to hear that Lew about the Instagram influence. Surprised they haven't consulted their pro users more closely and avoided such gimmicks!

 

[Jad]

You are free to have an opinion but the rest of your posts in this thread are in some weird attack mode. Keith actually has a wealth of good technical info, so why not share it when a relevant thread appears? Your opinions on his possible motives should be taken to PM, if it matters that much. Otherwise, this type of posting is just inflammatory, non-helpful to the OP and drags his thread off topic. Please don't do that!

I guess I don't get my question answered because we are in romper room.

What exactly IS your question, other than why you haven't gotten lightroom before? It sounded like you were just sharing your excitement over discovering LR. Do you have a question concerning LR or its uses?

I have to ask how do you work on one image with so many different software programs? When does Lightroom come into the workflow? If I have Lightroom maybe I wouldn't use Camera RAW of PS much. As posted above

 

[The_Traveler]

I import all my images into LR right from the card reader, usually letting LR copy them in sub-folders. (my previous example was a deviation because of the numbers of images and the way they were delivered.)
I cull them, keyword them then rate them.
For the ones that get edited, I do most global changes in LR then export (CRTL E) to Photoshop for any bit level changes that I want to do on layers. Then when I save and close, LR gathers it back in and it is properly captured in the index with the same keywords and ratings automatically applied.

I prefer doing local changes and edits in PS rather than LR because of the opportunity to do the changes on layers and the much greater variety of tools.

 

[Jad]

Many don't know that:
Lightroom 4's Develop module and CS 6's Camera Raw are the same software - Adobe Camera Raw 7.
Lightroom 3's Develop module and CS 5's Camera Raw are the same software - Adobe Camera Raw 6.
Lightroom 2's Develop module and CS 4's Camera Raw are the same software - Adobe Camera Raw 5.

I have only tried the beta version of Lightroom when offered and haven't bought it yet. I did like the print module. I have PS CS5 with Bridge and have found I can pretty much will do everything I want with it. I make mask and edit select contrast areas to create more contrast in one area of the image, dodge and burn , create gradients, used smart sharpen or unsharp mast before printing, etc. I hear people talk about Lightroom as a must have software. I have to ask how do you work on one image with so many different software programs? When does Lightroom come into the workflow? If I have Lightroom maybe I wouldn't use Camera RAW of PS much.

My understanding is that Lightroom forms the organizational backbone of the flow. It's for organizing the photos, flagging, cataloging, key-tagging, etc. It also has very powerful "developing" functionality to tune your images. Then, from what I can tell, for advanced edits, it can open the image in photoshop (or some other image editing app).

Camera RAW + PS can be used to do all of the editing work in lieu of the "Develop" module of lightroom. But the Library and other modules (such as Print) are lightroom's strengths in the workflow management.

That's just how I'm perceiving it so far

Kevin

Thanks for the info.
I don't want to own a bunch of duplicate editing software and end up using only one or two features in each. I like to keep it simple with a step by step workflow much like I had in my darkroom.

 

[kathyt]

So I recently acquired lightroom. A little turned off by how it organizes photos, but I'll come around to that I hope. It was my major reason for not using it in the past -- everyone only touted it to me for its organizational structure, and I have my own structure in place. But now ... oh man ... I just discovered the adjustment brush tool. Freaking awesome.

With just a little reading about lightroom, it's easy to achieve pretty good results. I can't wait to see what can be done when I really master it!

The context for this discussion is a dance recital in a very poorly lit high school auditorium. So many people snapping pics from smartphones. I dunno, maybe they can get something useable on a small screen. I ended up with my shots having to be 1/250" in order to not over-blur with the movement, no flash, f/8 to try to get some decent DOF, and ISO set to Auto. Going through the 200+ shots, many of them bumped up to ISO 12,800.

I couldn't sleep last night, so I put them all into lightroom, and learned how to sync settings accross similar photos to get some consistent noise reduction. Picked 4 shots, and cropped/aligned, and used the adjustment brush to pull my daughter a bit more into the center of attention on these photos.

Now these aren't anything that's suitable for 8x10 prints due to the really high ISO. But they're going to smash unprocessed photos to bits, and my daughter will love them. Wife loves them too. She absolutely loves the difference between her around-the-house snapshots and my noobish (but improving) results with a better camera, improving compositional attention, and post processing.

How on earth have I never gotten into lightroom before???

Anyway, just had to share my excitement.

Kevin

Once I first started using LR I hated the organizational part. I was really comfortable with my old way of doing things. Once you learn LR pretty well, you will soon learn that it is the most powerful tool around. I still go into PS very quickly for things, but I hop right back out to LR to finish up. LR has made my work flow with weddings so fast. I can't imagine editing a wedding w/o it. It would be a mess. I recommend Scott Kelbys books on LR. I have the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom4 book for digital photographers. The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter): Scott Kelby: 9780321819581: Amazon.com: Books I refer back to it alot.

 

[Buckster]

I guess I don't get my question answered because we are in romper room.

What exactly IS your question, other than why you haven't gotten lightroom before? It sounded like you were just sharing your excitement over discovering LR. Do you have a question concerning LR or its uses?

I have to ask how do you work on one image with so many different software programs? When does Lightroom come into the workflow? If I have Lightroom maybe I wouldn't use Camera RAW of PS much. As posted above

For me, it's mostly used at the beginning of my processing workflow.

I use it to import my RAW files, organizing them at the same time by date and job/subject.
Next, I use it to review and choose my "keepers" and delete the stinkers.
Next, I use it as my RAW converter, making global adjustments, straighten, crop, noise reduction and even minor blemish removal sometimes, then outputting to 16 bit TIFF files.

When it's finished outputting my selected files, it opens up that folder for me on my hard drive, and I drag those photos into CS5 for final pixel-level touch-up work, masking, etc., if any.
I then save my edits in CS5 and, if printing, go back to LR and open the print module to take advantage of it's ability to organize and photo packages from wallets up to 13x19 (my printer limitation).
Sometimes, I output them directly from LR to JPG files ready for posting or emailing to a client, taking advantage of its ability to resize by length, width, file size, rename, sharpen, etc., all as a batch process.

It all depends on what you need to do that determines exactly how you'd work with it, and that varies somewhat for me depending on my end goal with a shoot or individual photo, but the ability to go back and forth between LR and PS is really easy, from my point of view.

 

[Ysarex]

I guess I don't get my question answered because we are in romper room.

What exactly IS your question, other than why you haven't gotten lightroom before? It sounded like you were just sharing your excitement over discovering LR. Do you have a question concerning LR or its uses?

I have to ask how do you work on one image with so many different software programs? When does Lightroom come into the workflow? If I have Lightroom maybe I wouldn't use Camera RAW of PS much. As posted above

With great trepidation in trying to answer your question; Lightroom is basically ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) coupled with a DAM (Digital Asset Manager). Pros who have to manage thousands of photos need the DAM side of Lightroom. Lightroom's develop module then is a raw file converter with extensive batch processing capabilities. Unless your photo requires pixel level work (eg. cloning) or detailed local adjustment work Lightroom can take a raw file to a finished RGB (JPEG) without any additional software brought into the workflow.

Lightroom (and other raw converters) have been aggressively adding local adjustment capability. Right now that capability is very crude in comparison to what Photoshop can accomplish, but with each iteration of the software it gets more capable.

In a typical workflow you would use Lightroom to accomplish the conversion from raw file to RGB photo. An appropriate discipline would be to accomplish as much as possible at that stage. If then your photo required say skin retouching -- blemish removal -- you move on to Photoshop. You mentioned previously making local contrast and density changes to an image -- if precision is needed then again you're off to Photoshop for that job.

If you have Photoshop and do not require the DAM capability of LR then adding LR doesn't get you very much. If you use ACR now and still need Photoshop then you still need Photoshop if you had LR.

Joe

 

[Jad]

What exactly IS your question, other than why you haven't gotten lightroom before? It sounded like you were just sharing your excitement over discovering LR. Do you have a question concerning LR or its uses?

I have to ask how do you work on one image with so many different software programs? When does Lightroom come into the workflow? If I have Lightroom maybe I wouldn't use Camera RAW of PS much. As posted above

For me, it's mostly used at the beginning of my processing workflow.

I use it to import my RAW files, organizing them at the same time by date and job/subject.
Next, I use it to review and choose my "keepers" and delete the stinkers.
Next, I use it as my RAW converter, making global adjustments, straighten, crop, noise reduction and even minor blemish removal sometimes, then outputting to 16 bit TIFF files.

When it's finished outputting my selected files, it opens up that folder for me on my hard drive, and I drag those photos into CS5 for final pixel-level touch-up work, masking, etc., if any.
I then save my edits in CS5 and, if printing, go back to LR and open the print module to take advantage of it's ability to organize and photo packages from wallets up to 13x19 (my printer limitation).
Sometimes, I output them directly from LR to JPG files ready for posting or emailing to a client, taking advantage of its ability to resize by length, width, file size, rename, sharpen, etc., all as a batch process.

It all depends on what you need to do that determines exactly how you'd work with it, and that varies somewhat for me depending on my end goal with a shoot or individual photo, but the ability to go back and forth between LR and PS is really easy, from my point of view.

Thanks sharing the work flow you have put together. I will give it a try in the new beta release.

 

[Jad]

What exactly IS your question, other than why you haven't gotten lightroom before? It sounded like you were just sharing your excitement over discovering LR. Do you have a question concerning LR or its uses?

I have to ask how do you work on one image with so many different software programs? When does Lightroom come into the workflow? If I have Lightroom maybe I wouldn't use Camera RAW of PS much. As posted above

With great trepidation in trying to answer your question; Lightroom is basically ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) coupled with a DAM (Digital Asset Manager). Pros who have to manage thousands of photos need the DAM side of Lightroom. Lightroom's develop module then is a raw file converter with extensive batch processing capabilities. Unless your photo requires pixel level work (eg. cloning) or detailed local adjustment work Lightroom can take a raw file to a finished RGB (JPEG) without any additional software brought into the workflow.

Lightroom (and other raw converters) have been aggressively adding local adjustment capability. Right now that capability is very crude in comparison to what Photoshop can accomplish, but with each iteration of the software it gets more capable.

In a typical workflow you would use Lightroom to accomplish the conversion from raw file to RGB photo. An appropriate discipline would be to accomplish as much as possible at that stage. If then your photo required say skin retouching -- blemish removal -- you move on to Photoshop. You mentioned previously making local contrast and density changes to an image -- if precision is needed then again you're off to Photoshop for that job.

If you have Photoshop and do not require the DAM capability of LR then adding LR doesn't get you very much. If you use ACR now and still need Photoshop then you still need Photoshop if you had LR.

Joe

I can see the LR is more for the professional like a wedding photographer. I do landscape photography and do not have a big volume of images to deal with. Thanks for the good explanation.

 

[kathyt]

I have to ask how do you work on one image with so many different software programs? When does Lightroom come into the workflow? If I have Lightroom maybe I wouldn't use Camera RAW of PS much. As posted above

With great trepidation in trying to answer your question; Lightroom is basically ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) coupled with a DAM (Digital Asset Manager). Pros who have to manage thousands of photos need the DAM side of Lightroom. Lightroom's develop module then is a raw file converter with extensive batch processing capabilities. Unless your photo requires pixel level work (eg. cloning) or detailed local adjustment work Lightroom can take a raw file to a finished RGB (JPEG) without any additional software brought into the workflow.

Lightroom (and other raw converters) have been aggressively adding local adjustment capability. Right now that capability is very crude in comparison to what Photoshop can accomplish, but with each iteration of the software it gets more capable.

In a typical workflow you would use Lightroom to accomplish the conversion from raw file to RGB photo. An appropriate discipline would be to accomplish as much as possible at that stage. If then your photo required say skin retouching -- blemish removal -- you move on to Photoshop. You mentioned previously making local contrast and density changes to an image -- if precision is needed then again you're off to Photoshop for that job.

If you have Photoshop and do not require the DAM capability of LR then adding LR doesn't get you very much. If you use ACR now and still need Photoshop then you still need Photoshop if you had LR.

Joe

I can see the LR is more for the professional like a wedding photographer. I do landscape photography and do not have a big volume of images to deal with. Thanks for the good explanation.

It really is for everyone. It is a one-stop-shop!