Photoshop vs. Lightroom (Newb)

Yzerwing

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Hi folks,

I am a newbie to post-processing. I have some pics that I need to "tweek" as far as highlight and shadow recovery is concerned. My question is do I need lightroom or will photoshop elements suffice. I am under the impression that both can do recovery but lightroom is more capable of this than photoshop elements which is good more for photo effects. Am I correct in my thinking.

I need help determining which software package I need as I don't have the funds to buy both. :grumpy:

Thanks in advance for any tips that anyone can provide.
 
I use Lightroom for 90% of my edits. I go to Photoshop when I need layers or something out of the ordinary.

With LR, you can adjust exposure, contrast, brightness, white balance, crop, level, sharpen . . . even add keywords to the metadata. I think PS is better for cloning out stuff, though I understand LR5 is an improvement here. I rarely use any of the special effects in PS, but have done dodge & burn.
 
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Lightroom is better for tweaking exposure and such. It works better with RAW than Elements as well. I do probably 98% of all my post processing in Lightroom. Its not all that expensive either so I think it is worth every penny.
 
I use Lightroom for 90% of my edits. I go to Photoshop when I need layers or something out of the ordinary.

Thanks snowbear. I kinda thought lightroom was better for adjustments and photoshop is for like making your ex-girlfriends butt larger and removing zits and red eye and stuff.

But photoshop DOES have some capabilities for recovering shadow and highlights and increasing the exposure a couple of F-stops correct?
 
I use Lightroom for 90% of my edits. I go to Photoshop when I need layers or something out of the ordinary.

Thanks snowbear. I kinda thought lightroom was better for adjustments and photoshop is for like making your ex-girlfriends butt larger and removing zits and red eye and stuff.

But photoshop DOES have some capabilities for recovering shadow and highlights and increasing the exposure a couple of F-stops correct?
Yes, it does. You can remove the zits, red eye and sensor boogers (dust spots) with Lightroom, but I have found it's way easier in Photoshop if you have a lot of it to do.
 
I use Lightroom for 90% of my edits. I go to Photoshop when I need layers or something out of the ordinary.

Thanks snowbear. I kinda thought lightroom was better for adjustments and photoshop is for like making your ex-girlfriends butt larger and removing zits and red eye and stuff.

But photoshop DOES have some capabilities for recovering shadow and highlights and increasing the exposure a couple of F-stops correct?
Yes, it does. You can remove the zits, red eye and sensor boogers (dust spots) with Lightroom, but I have found it's way easier in Photoshop if you have a lot of it to do.

So maybe I should consider Photoshop instead? As long as it can increase and/or decrease a couple of F-stops. That is really what I need.
 
The reality is you will eventually want both of them, so pick one to start with and get the other later! :wink:
 
Elements Camera Raw and Lightroom Develop module use the same Raw conversion application - Adobe Camera Raw (ACR).

However, Elements is consumer grade software and it's version of ACR has been de-featured and lacks some of the panels and features Lightroom Develop module has.
 
That sounds like a plan Snowbear. My brother has photoshop so I will invest in Light room and we can "Play" together. That way we both see what the other program can do and if we need it.
 
The reality is you will eventually want both of them, so pick one to start with and get the other later! :wink:

Not necessarily. I downloaded a trial version of Lightroom and hated it. I currently use Elements 10. It does everything I need to do...
 
I've got a new computer on the way (upgrade to 64-bit) so I can do the $9.99 a month Photoshop CC/LR 5 subscription.

FWIW - it's a proper noun and a single word - Lightroom.
 
Elements Camera Raw and Lightroom Develop module use the same Raw conversion application - Adobe Camera Raw (ACR).

However, Elements is consumer grade software and it's version of ACR has been de-featured and lacks some of the panels and features Lightroom Develop module has.

Both birds and humans breathe the same air, but birds can fly and humans cannot.
 

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