lightroom

[sam ellis]

Ok all you fundis (as in specialists!) what does lightroom do that say, Adobe Browse cs4 can't ?

I downloaded the trial version and I am sure to be missing the plot. I get that you have a zillion other controls on the image. Like lightning - brightning - much more than cs4 but what else can it do ?

convince me.

Hey, Sam! What I enjoy most about LR are all the different presets out there. Do you have any presets downloaded yet?

[shhbabymine]

i will have to second the presets, i love the ability to one click for a desired result... i didnt know what i was missing til i got it - and i wouldnt go back to not having it thats for sure -

[katrinak]

I love the presets as well as well as the ability to put a preset on 20 photos at once if I need to. The tagging, labeling system ROCKS as well. It is a seemless jump with your edited photo into CS too.

Check out these presets

ETA I also think you have much better fine tuning of your photos than CS provides. I love that you can just go down the list on the right side in the DEVELOP window and get great results without a lot of work/thought.

ETA (again) I don't always use Lightroom for my photos if my exposure looks okay already, but I ALwAYS upload my photos into LR because it organizes better than ANYTHING I've used

[lima]

Thanks for the thread and for the links. I'm just starting to try Lightroom, and this info will be quite helpful. Keep it coming!

[Heidi2008]

Oh Sam, thanks for this tread....I just got Lightroom 2 for Xmas and didn't even know about presets since I'm a newbie & really just playing around at this point!

[katrinak]

From my link above make sure you go to Lightroom Killer Tip Presets! You'll love him (and well, he's a cutie too!)

The WOW Presets are a go to for me as well!

[sam ellis]

thanks ladies. Can't wait to hear any other "selling" reasons.

[katrinak]

Okay...here's more:

1. You can easily create catalogs for each shoot or client, accessing them as needed and then tucking them away once you are done

2. LR starts EXACTLY where you exit so you can leave in the midst of editing and know exactly where you left off

3. The history for your changes/adjustments is available in the left hand view window so you can easily just go back to the original photo without damaging your image or resaving a million times or anything funky

4. I'll be back with more

[audrey77]

Have you used the camera calibration for raw files?
(develop module, right side, down to camera calibration)

[audrey77]

Often, if you just go to flickr and search groups for free presets, you can find a ton!

[Starlite9711]

Sam, I am another LR addict. I still use PS for certain things, but I am in love with LR. All the reasons Katrina has mentioned for sure! The organization is a biggie for me, as Katrina said you can make a Catalog for each Client, and it always remembers what you've done when you re-open it. No saving required and the original isn't altered until you tell it to. The presets are a must. I use the WOW mostly. Once you get the hang of it you will be in LOVE too!!!! There is also ways to make slideshows and galleries through LR, though I haven't much dabbled in this, yet. Supposedly many photogs use this to directly load to their websites galleries and slides, it automatically can put in your watermarks too...have fun playing!

[trudem]

I don't know what I did before LR! Here's a few reasons why I love it:

1) Non-destructive editing. EVER!
2) One-click presets. That you can still go in and customize to your image, which some actions in PS won't let you do.
3) I create a new catalog for each photo session I do, so that it runs faster and I'm only working with those images. (I highly recommend Kevin Kubota's DVD on his RAW workflow for LR, it helped me SO much!)
4) Like Katrina said - tagging and organizing. So easy!
5) You can click and drag to adjust saturation at a particular point in an image. This has come in especially handy for a few of my naturally red-faced family members!

Hope that helps!

[trudem]

Oh, and did I mention Recovery?? OMG it has saved me so many times, especially when you get a photo with horrible flash brightness on it!

[katrinak]

Good to see you Trude

[sam ellis]

yehaaaaw I love all these reasons. And thank you for taking the time to share them !

[tracydigigirl]

Hi Gals!

I've finally gotten fed up with Shoebox and have ordered LR2. Have any of you used it for organizing your digi supplies (tagging)?

[katrinak]

Originally Posted by tracydigigirl

Hi Gals!

I've finally gotten fed up with Shoebox and have ordered LR2. Have any of you used it for organizing your digi supplies (tagging)?

Nope Tracy I just use Finder

[mommydawn]

I just went to LR 2.2 and it still doesn't support .png files as far as I can see...makes LR useless for organizing digital files. I was using ACDSee on my pc and have been stuck since switching to a mac. I just read that ACDSee was coming out with beta version for mac around spring of 09....not holding my breath though.

I use LR for ALL my photos....really wish it would support .png and .abr.