Upgrading...Post software is next

[sanderso]

Hi all....first time poster. I've upgraded my camera and lenses over the past 6 months....my post processing software (SW) is next. I welcome your insights.

Currently use PSE 5 and was unpleasantly surprised when RAW from my new D7000 wasn't recognized....creating a more urgent need to upgrade.

Possible SW: LS, PS or PSE 9. Been watching TPF posts about these 3, mostly.

Needs: Nothing fancy, but I use the organization/tagging features of PSE a lot. Am hoping the new SW will import the existing PSE5 definitions. I now use "simple" editing features (brightness, contrast, simple object removal, etc.) Would like to learn layering techniques. Would like to explore the benefits of working with RAW. Would really love to have the PS feature of removing larger objects. Have approx 20K+ images currently managed by PSE 5.

It seems: PSE 9 won't support extensive layering features (true?). LS has the image management handled, but has limited editing functions. PS is the obvious choice for editing, but is unknown how/if it provides image management (thoughts?) and there's the steep learning curve. I'm assuming that LS and PS would support RAW from the D7000 (true?).

Budget: If it were large, it'd be easy and I'd get LS and PS (as recommended by some TPF posts)...however, I'm not up to that much pain yet (no student discounts here). Also, I'm trying not to think about having to buy a new desktop PC since the existing PC running PSE 5 will likely fall short. I'll probably need to run the new SW on my laptop which has more horsepower.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

sanderso

 

[Garbz]

What's LS?

It helps when you're asking a question to at least spell the names out properly once

It doesn't sound like any one program will meet your needs. From the editing point of view you'll likely need Photoshop. Yet for the tagging and organising it sounds like you need Lightroom.

I would say jump on Adobe's website and download a trial of Lightroom. A lot of people poopoo it as having limited editing functions without realising that for the most part those limited editing functions are specific for photography and can actually handle most of the photos thrown at it in a complete manner.

Photoshop naturally is far more feature rich, but whether or not it's worth it can only be decided by you. I have the LR+PS combo and find myself rarely going into Photoshop these days.

 

[Overread]

Elements (I'm on 6 at present) does have layer functions, but they are basic in their application and lack some of the more advanced features that you'll get in photoshop CS5. Further elements bigger weakness is that it won't work with anything greater than an 8bit image (it will open larger bit images and do some very limited work with them, but most features will only work on 8bit).

If you get the two following free addons for elements however

Free Layer Mask Tool for Photoshop Elements (Win/Mac Any Version)
Curves for Photoshop Elements 4 and Above - Photo Tips @ Earthbound Light

you can do a fair bit with the software. It won't be as strong as photoshop CS5, but its more affordable and combined with something like lightroom 3 would be a robust editing setup.

 

[sanderso]

What's LS?

It helps when you're asking a question to at least spell the names out properly once

It doesn't sound like any one program will meet your needs. From the editing point of view you'll likely need Photoshop. Yet for the tagging and organising it sounds like you need Lightroom.

I would say jump on Adobe's website and download a trial of Lightroom. A lot of people poopoo it as having limited editing functions without realising that for the most part those limited editing functions are specific for photography and can actually handle most of the photos thrown at it in a complete manner.

Photoshop naturally is far more feature rich, but whether or not it's worth it can only be decided by you. I have the LR+PS combo and find myself rarely going into Photoshop these days.

Sorry Garbz....meant Lightroom. Seems like the LR+PS Combo is the ideal way to go. But, if I had to go with only one, maybe I do LR first, then add PS later when it's time to begin learning layers. You didn't say it specifically, but I read your post to mean that PS by itself wouldn't have the data-base functions to manage 20K+ images. If that's true, and I had to pick one, sounds like LR would get the nod.

Thanks Overread....sounds like LR+PSEw/add-ins is a reasonable solution for the basics and LR+PS for full layer features. (Thnx for the links!)

Thank you both for your thoughts!

sanderso

 

[KmH]

20K is not a lot of images.

The Organiser feature in PSE9 can handle that small an image catalog quite capably if used properly, as can Bridge if you opt for the full featured CS5.

As far as doing Raw edits Elements 9 has a very de-featured version of ACR 6 (Adobe Camera Raw).

CS5 and Lightroom 3 use the same Raw edit rendering engine, ACR 6.

Lightroom was intended by Adobe to be a secondary compliment to Photoshop CS.

Photoshop CS5 and Photoshop Lightroom 3 is a complete image database and image editing solution, even though both have the same Raw edit rendering engine.

 

[sanderso]

20K is not a lot of images.

The Organiser feature in PSE9 can handle that small an image catalog quite capably if used properly, as can Bridge if you opt for the full featured CS5.

As far as doing Raw edits Elements 9 has a very de-featured version of ACR 6 (Adobe Camera Raw).

CS5 and Lightroom 3 use the same Raw edit rendering engine, ACR 6.

Lightroom was intended by Adobe to be a secondary compliment to Photoshop CS.

Photoshop CS5 and Photoshop Lightroom 3 is a complete image database and image editing solution, even though both have the same Raw edit rendering engine.

KmH: Agreed...20K is probably a drop in the bucket for many who lurk this forum. But since Photoshop is an industrial strenth editor....I thought, it may also have some image management features...not industrial strength, but maybe usable enough for a 20K library. That would mean saving $$ for LR.

Thnx!

sanderso

 

[sanderso]

This is a follow up my prior posts....

I downloaded both LR3 and CS5 and evaluated both for approx 30 days. At the end of the eval, I bit the bullet and bought them both.

All that was said earlier in this thread is correct. LR3 provided enough functionality to handle most editing/enhancing needs. However, CS5 was needed for the heavy lifting. For example, I scanned some old film pix and LR3 was fine for cleaning up the noise from the scan. However, CS5 was needed to remove an unwanted object. (The Knowledge Aware Fill is awesome! -- hopefully that's the right name) Initially, raw from my D7000 was not recognized, but after downloading an update to the raw importer, everything was fine

As to organizing...LR3 is great. My pix were already organized by event/outing (by folder), but LR3's tagging ability and Smart Collections gives me the added slicing and dicing functionality I was looking for.

Ok....enough...you get the idea (and I'm not getting $ from Adobe!)

Thanks for everyone's help! :blushing:

sanderso

 

[KmH]

:thumbup: for the follow up. Few people do that.

 

[kevinjesmain]

i use lightroom 3 for a "warehouse" to keep me organized. Also for my lighter editing. you can do a good amount in lightroom all of your basic exposure, saturation, sharpening, profiles ect. But once you need some more control CS5 is the way to go. Do you find yourself having to do alot of retouching in your photos? Ive been using both for a while now and if i had to choose id go with lightroom first.