Using Lightroom

Before Adobe actually brought Lightroom to the market, it made the Beta version available to the public in order to get their feedback about the software. I took advantage of Adobe's offer and began working with the Beta version. I have stuck with Lightroom and now am up to v 2.5 and looking to download the 3.0 beta.

For the last year or so, I really didn't use Lightroom as my primary image editing software. I used it to convert my RAW files to DNG, Adobe's universal RAW format, and to do some light adjustments as the files were downloading so I had a bit of an idea as to what I wanted to do once I got the images into Photoshop. I guess that after using Photoshop for so many years I didn't want to leave my comfort zone. And I kept wondering why I would want to. The ACR in Lightroom is the same as Photoshop. So what's the big deal?

However, in the past five months, I have progressively been using Lightroom more and more to bring the image to its final state. This has crystalized in the last few weeks to where Lightroom has become the primary software. And I guess that epiphany is that it is faster to use. I am not talking processing speed, but ease of use.

Adobe touts Lightroom as being designed by photographers for photographers. At the beginning I thought that this meant that the photogs that didn't use Photoshop wouldn't have to climb the intense learning curve that Photoshop imposes on beginners. But since I turned pro, I guess I am seeing it a bit differently. With V 2.5 of Lightroom, I can bring most of my images to completion with LR even as they are being imported from my compact flash card. The new tools in LR 2.5 have really pushed the software to the fore. Everything needed to process is available in one window. That is the kicker. And great tools they are.

Now these tools are available in ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) as well, but you have to go from tab to tab to access them. Again, LR wins the speed race. So now, I bring the image into Photoshop to accomplish some very specific tasks - when I need to work in layers, use plug-ins, apply certain techniques that I have developed over the years, etc. I believe that, with the evolution represented in LR 2.5, I have significantly decreased time spent processing. I believe that I could effectively do without Photoshop for most tasks. If Adobe decides to add specific layers as Photoshop has, It would be a no-brainer.

I can't wait to see what 3.0 has in store.