Photoshop... Love it? Hate it?

TonysTouch · Jul 20, 2012

"A good/great photographer gets the image right with the camera not the software." This may be true, but how many images does it take to get that perfect photo? Photoshop allows us to bring back from the dead the images we messed up. And while it may promote laziness, PS is ultimately a tool to help our each and every shot look it's greatest and to achieve images nearly unimagined by a camera alone.
Also, I think Lightroom is plenty of muscle for a majority of retouching. It is a lot easier to learn and navigate as well.

KmH · Jul 20, 2012

Adobe designed Lightroom as a compliment to Photoshop CS.

Lightroom's intended main function is image database management. Lightroom has a number of 'modules'. One of them, the Develope module (a Raw converter application), is the same edit rendering engine that Photoshop Camera Raw uses - Adobe Camera Raw (ACR).

The first version of ACR was included with Photoshop 7, 10 years ago. The first version of Lightroom that appeared in 2007 used ACR 3, which was included with Photoshop CS 2 (Photoshop 9).

In other words, if you have Photoshop CS 6, you have in the Camera Raw plug-in essentially the same edit rendering engine used in Lightroom 4's Develope module - ACR 7, but with all the additional editing capability that is Photoshop CS 6.

Note that Photoshop CS 6 also includes Bridge 5, an image organizing and browser tool. Bridge can open far more file types than Lightroom can because Bridge is designed to work with most of Adobe's software applications. Additionally, ACR 7 can be hosted by both Bridge and CS 6, opening up more batch processing possibilities.

TonysTouch · Jul 20, 2012

KmH said:
Adobe designed Lightroom as a compliment to Photoshop CS.

I agree with you here... to a point. Lightroom was specifically designed for photographers. Like I said, for a majority of retouching, Lightroom is very effective and easier to learn. Plus it has the advantage of being able to work with a multitude of images instead of a single image at a time (without coaxing the Batch Beast from its lair).

I am simply stating that Lightroom is an alternative to Photoshop when you are doing basic adjustments. If you have a large-scale project though, Photoshop and all of its complexities still reigns as king.

MTVision · Jul 20, 2012

TonysTouch said:
I agree with you here... to a point. Lightroom was specifically designed for photographers. Like I said, for a majority of retouching, Lightroom is very effective and easier to learn. Plus it has the advantage of being able to work with a multitude of images instead of a single image at a time (without coaxing the Batch Beast from its lair).

I am simply stating that Lightroom is an alternative to Photoshop when you are doing basic adjustments. If you have a large-scale project though, Photoshop and all of its complexities still reigns as king.

Technically you can work with multiple images without the "Batch Beast". In ACR you can open as many images as you want and do everything in ACR that LR can do. You can also edit 1 image in ACR then apply those settings to as many photos as you want in Bridge without opening the individual images.

I do think LR is more intuitive and easier to learn then photoshop though

TonysTouch · Jul 20, 2012

Can you do spot adjustments in ACR? Or use a clone stamp? I know you can in Lightroom, but haven't heard of it in ACR. (I always use Lightroom first for the database features and RAW manipulation.

usayit · Jul 20, 2012

workflow management.... Lightroom

photo editing.. Photoshop

comparison between the two is pointless because they have different purposes which is why many use both and they do compliment each other. If you insist on a comparison or get into a this or that debate, then you know neither enough to have any say so in the matter.

Sw1tchFX · Jul 20, 2012

Photoshop is part of the reason I went back to film.

AaronLLockhart · Jul 20, 2012

TonysTouch said:
Can you do spot adjustments in ACR? Or use a clone stamp? I know you can in Lightroom, but haven't heard of it in ACR. (I always use Lightroom first for the database features and RAW manipulation.

Camera Raw has spot adjustments, but you don't have the clone stamp, or healing brush tool until you migrate the photo into photoshop.

SamSpade1941 · Jul 20, 2012

I like photoshop very much , even though I am using it really for its basic purpose. I just do a lot of enhancements, I don't do serious manipulation of photos, touch ups of portraits and scenics to make them more visually appealing. Though I would love to learn some of the tricks to do some of the more creative things. Being able to do what I do is more than enough to meet my purpose and I am able to do much of what I used to do in a dark room now in a very short amount of time. So yes I like photoshop a lot.

MTVision · Jul 20, 2012

TonysTouch said:
Can you do spot adjustments in ACR? Or use a clone stamp? I know you can in Lightroom, but haven't heard of it in ACR. (I always use Lightroom first for the database features and RAW manipulation.

You can do the same thing in ACR as Lightroom. They both have a spot removal tool that operates in two different modes - clone or heal.