stepping up to PhotoShop C3 - need Lightroom too?

macmac

I have been shooting a Canon 30D for about 2 yrs now. I have been using Canon ZoomBrowzer for basic browzing and organization. I have been using Canon Digital Photo Professional for white balance, batch processing of RAW, etc and Corel PaintShop Pro for artistic processing.

I am planning to move up to Photoshop and was wondering if Lightroom is a good compliment to Photoshop or does Photoshop do all that is needed for workflow.

Thanks for you thoughts on this.

ian408

You don't need LR if you've got CS3. You might want it for those times a quick edit is all that's required or if you like the way it works for browsing.

macmac

Thanks for the reply. That may save me some $.

In addition to processing, Photoshop is good for organizing and classifing?
Thanks.

ian408

Photoshop has a tool called Bridge that is good at that. Some people prefer it to LR and others prefer tools like PhotoMechanic.

arodney

macmac wrote:

I have been shooting a Canon 30D for about 2 yrs now. I have been using Canon ZoomBrowzer for basic browzing and organization. I have been using Canon Digital Photo Professional for white balance, batch processing of RAW, etc and Corel PaintShop Pro for artistic processing.

I am planning to move up to Photoshop and was wondering if Lightroom is a good compliment to Photoshop or does Photoshop do all that is needed for workflow.

Thanks for you thoughts on this.

Conceivably, the addition of Lightroom would mean you could toss ZoomBrowser and DPP for LR. I don't use them so will not comment on those products. Photoshop by itself with Camera Raw (CR) and Bridge (a bit of a train wreck there) is still NOT Lightroom in terms of functionary. Bridge is a browser, Lightroom is a database. CR and LR share the same Raw processing pipeline. You can't print out of Bridge+CR, you can print wonderfully and easily out of LR. Bottom line is you need Photoshop period. But from there, ACR+Bridge doesn't equal Lightroom.

Play with the demo, see what you think. Prior to LR I was 100% Bridge+ACR. Now I don't use them at all. I'm about 80% Lightroom and 20% Photoshop.

ian408

macmac wrote:

In addition to processing, Photoshop is good for organizing and classifing?
Thanks.

It can do that but as others have said, it isn't LR. LR has more capability in that regard. However, depending on what you'd like to do, LR might be a better choice.

Have you read the DAM Book? Take a gander through it (there is a review online, look in the "Books" section on the menu bar). It might help you understand what can be done and perhaps help with the decision.

arodney

The DAM book is a must read!

macmac

Thanks everyone. Looks like I want Photoshop plus something else for organization and classification....I will get the DAM book and read it first!

colourbox

When you get Photoshop, use it and ACR and Bridge to see if you're perfectly comfortable with how those 3 work together for processing and organization. If you're happy, stop there. If you get frustrated by the constant shuffling between apps, get Lightroom. That's what it comes down to.

There are lots of people on both sides. Some think Lightroom is completely superfluous, and others think Lightroom is more efficient enough to be essential, even though it duplicates much of ACR/Bridge/Photoshop.

arodney

colourbox wrote:

When you get Photoshop, use it and ACR and Bridge to see if you're perfectly comfortable with how those 3 work together for processing and organization. If you're happy, stop there. If you get frustrated by the constant shuffling between apps, get Lightroom. That's what it comes down to.

I don't disagree a bit! I do want to add however that the one really huge benefits for me going from Bridge+CR to Lightroom that the former can't do, is keep track of all the images. I've now got a image database(s). Some like to use Bridge+Iview or some other database. More applications.

schmoo

Andrew, what is the train wreck aspect of Bridge that you are referring to?

I've recently started using it instead of LR to organize and browse, so I'm curious if it's something I haven't run into yet, or will never run into since I only use it for those two functions.

arodney

schmooo wrote:

Andrew, what is the train wreck aspect of Bridge that you are referring to?.

Slow, buggy. Inconsistent with other Adobe app's (I vastly prefer the renaming options in Lightroom). I could fall in love with Bridge but not as its currently operating.

macmac

ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) ships with Photoshop CS3 - I assume?

arodney

macmac wrote:

ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) ships with Photoshop CS3 - I assume?

Yes.