Photoshop, Elements, Lightroom... Confused!
Discussion
I've been considering getting some Adobe software to help me with editing my photos.
However, I'm now thoroughly confused as to what software I "need" - I currently use Lightroom* (which I like a lot and I'm of the mind that if I like something, I'll pay for it) - however, I've looked on Amazon and it's expensive - very expensive.
I've tried Photoshop and it's massive capability daunts me as I like using the simple sliders and simple tools that come with Lightroom, plus lightroom manages my photos very nicely. Not to mention it's prohibitively expensive (for me anyway)
I've seen Elements but never used it - is it just a cut down version of Photoshop or is it too limiting to bother with? Can it be used as a photo library?
* As a trial, y'honour
ETA - I've looked at Adobe Bridge (for the first time today) - Does it integrate with Lightroom at all? I've edited some RAW files and those edits are only viewable if I use Lightroom....
However, I'm now thoroughly confused as to what software I "need" - I currently use Lightroom* (which I like a lot and I'm of the mind that if I like something, I'll pay for it) - however, I've looked on Amazon and it's expensive - very expensive.
I've tried Photoshop and it's massive capability daunts me as I like using the simple sliders and simple tools that come with Lightroom, plus lightroom manages my photos very nicely. Not to mention it's prohibitively expensive (for me anyway)
I've seen Elements but never used it - is it just a cut down version of Photoshop or is it too limiting to bother with? Can it be used as a photo library?
* As a trial, y'honour
ETA - I've looked at Adobe Bridge (for the first time today) - Does it integrate with Lightroom at all? I've edited some RAW files and those edits are only viewable if I use Lightroom....
Edited by james_tigerwoods on Thursday 17th June 16:01
I've got both Elements and CS4, tbh for most stuff elements is more than capable. I've not tried v.8 yet - I have v.5
CS4 obviously has an awful lot more to it but for day to day stuff, RAW conversion, cloning, exposure, cropping etc it's more than good enough.
Have you tried downloading a demo of it?
CS4 obviously has an awful lot more to it but for day to day stuff, RAW conversion, cloning, exposure, cropping etc it's more than good enough.
Have you tried downloading a demo of it?
Did you consider ACDSee? Not Adobe but the latest offering (certainly in Pro guise) offers a v.nice database, very fast thumbnail displays, and a "develop" option for JPEGS where you can make edits and roll back later (was available for RAW already before, nice to be able to do it to JPEGS as well). Used ACDSee versions for years and although occasionally a bit quirky or buggy, I've never felt the need to switch. Pricing is much more reasonable than Adobe, and it caters to 95% of my editing needs... after that there's always GIMP or so.
Maarten
Maarten
Lightroom for the basics; catalogues, colours, WB tweaks and contrast and PS for the layers, patching and more tricky stuff.
90% of what I do is done in LR, then polished up (or down) in PS. You need CS if you want masks and patch, Elements would be fine if you dont need that
90% of what I do is done in LR, then polished up (or down) in PS. You need CS if you want masks and patch, Elements would be fine if you dont need that
Edited by andy-xr on Thursday 17th June 23:19
andy-xr said:
Lightroom for the basics; catalogues, colours, WB tweaks and contrast and PS for the layers, patching and more tricky stuff.
90% of what I do is done in LR, then polished up (or down) in PS. You need CS if you want masks and patch, Elements would be fine if you dont need that
90% of what I do is done in LR, then polished up (or down) in PS. You need CS if you want masks and patch, Elements would be fine if you dont need that
Famous Graham said:
andy-xr said:
You can do that in Lightroom 
Well, sort of - by spots only, unless they've added a full clone brush to LR3?Everything else still there just how I/(you) like it: split toning, BW conversions, grain, selective adjustment, sharpening, vignetting all easy to do....
Edited to add the original...(adjustments I did took less than 60 seconds)
Edited by K12beano on Friday 18th June 16:49
james_tigerwoods said:
Does Elements have the easy to use slider that Lightroom has?
(Think I might download the trial version....)
Not sure James. Worth a download though it's pretty big. About 1gb I think. Trial it for 30 days then buy off ebay.(Think I might download the trial version....)
You can use your ebay ( or whatever ) purchase serial on the trial so no need to uninstall.
nick heppinstall said:
james_tigerwoods said:
Does Elements have the easy to use slider that Lightroom has?
(Think I might download the trial version....)
Not sure James. Worth a download though it's pretty big. About 1gb I think. Trial it for 30 days then buy off ebay.(Think I might download the trial version....)
You can use your ebay ( or whatever ) purchase serial on the trial so no need to uninstall.
And the problem I have here is my comedy sub 1mb broadband at home and no desktop PC to leave on all the time so I need to be sure it's worth the download....
james_tigerwoods said:
nick heppinstall said:
james_tigerwoods said:
Does Elements have the easy to use slider that Lightroom has?
(Think I might download the trial version....)
Not sure James. Worth a download though it's pretty big. About 1gb I think. Trial it for 30 days then buy off ebay.(Think I might download the trial version....)
You can use your ebay ( or whatever ) purchase serial on the trial so no need to uninstall.
And the problem I have here is my comedy sub 1mb broadband at home and no desktop PC to leave on all the time so I need to be sure it's worth the download....
I do mainly portfolio standard portraits and landscapes and use lightroom 2 for library management (100k pictures), memory card downloading, NEF/RAW management and Jpeg creatinon, crop and straighten, exposure, white balance and colour adjustments, use a stack of presets I've created or downloaded from the net (free) and slideshow functionality and all printing management. I only use elements 8 for healing, cloning, liquefying and as a gateway to the fantastic imaginomics portraiture using PSE layers. so fine adjustment is possible. So in short LR2 (fantastic) and AE8 is plenty good enough. I have PS4 and 5 and used them but haven't bothered to install either.
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