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Author Topic: The Value of Stepping Up to Lightroom2 over existing CS3 ex  (Read 4134 times)

Raymond Bleesz

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Please clarify, enlighten why it would be valuable to move from CS3 to Lightroom, in your opinion.

Thank you--Raymond
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john beardsworth

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The Value of Stepping Up to Lightroom2 over existing CS3 ex
« Reply #1 on: July 30, 2009, 10:25:21 am »

Quote from: Raymond Bleesz
Please clarify, enlighten why it would be valuable to move from CS3 to Lightroom, in your opinion.

Thank you--Raymond
You give so little information about your needs and skills that it's not really possible to give you a decent answer. The best advice would be for you to download the 30 day free trial and see how it seems to you.

John
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Raymond Bleesz

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The Value of Stepping Up to Lightroom2 over existing CS3 ex
« Reply #2 on: July 30, 2009, 11:02:37 am »

John, thank you for your response & your suggestion is valid.  I have been working the photo medium since '76, primarily b/w fine art work, and have immersed myself in the digital era in the last 5 years, perhaps longer as I'm a slow learner and am self taught.  I'm presently using d200's and am using an Epson 3800.  I also have 2 1/4 systems and a Arca Swiss 4x5 system.

With that, I'm not doing commercial stuff, ( a rat race which did not meet my needs or personal values)  and at age 65, I'm persuing my own personal vision in the fine arts, submitting to shows, printing, displaying my work throughout my community & in Denver, Co.  I have not printed "for display" as yet any prints from the 3800 as I'm still in the "preparitory" stage, however, I'm nearing that particular stage. Of recent, I did a photo guided vacation in Turkey of two weeks, so I have been doing a lot of camera raw editing & sorting. It has been suggested to me that, continuing in CS3 is fine, however, I should be working with Lightroom2 as that is a better way to go--for the future.  I do have an archive of work going back to '76 which I will be delving into as time allows. I suppose an answer might be re: Lightroom2, "if its easier & more proficient than say CS3, it worth the expense".

Please, your thoughts.  Thank you.


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john beardsworth

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The Value of Stepping Up to Lightroom2 over existing CS3 ex
« Reply #3 on: July 30, 2009, 11:38:47 am »

That helps, Raymond. The important thing about Lightroom is that it combines cataloguing and managing your picture collection with the ability to adjust more than one image at once. If you are having problems coping with the number of pictures, like finding them, then LR starts becoming more rewarding.

For image adjustment, LR is also easier than PS and can handle a good proportion of what you would have had to do in PS - eg dodging and burning, printing with borders, batch processing. On the other hand, it cannot tweak every pixel like Photoshop, so things like correcting converging verticals or swapping heads are beyond it.

Another way to characterise LR is as the 24 hour pro lab while PS is the darkroom, so one can cope with volume and high quality throughput, but only lets you push or pull the roll of films, while the other is more for working on every last detail of the individual image.

John

edit - grammar!
« Last Edit: July 31, 2009, 01:33:17 am by johnbeardy »
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jasonrandolph

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The Value of Stepping Up to Lightroom2 over existing CS3 ex
« Reply #4 on: July 30, 2009, 11:59:07 am »

For me, Lightroom has taken over almost my entire workflow.  That said, I'm a bit of a purist.  I don't combine multiple exposures or do much work with layers.  LR's power for me really lies in the idea of metadata editing.  With LR, you need to retain one RAW file, with however many "virtual copies" you want to make (which essentially are text files).  If I like how an image looks but want to try out some further tweaking, I can make a virtual copy and do whatever I want with it, while retaining the previous image.  I do all my editing in LR, to the point that my only uses for PS are panorama stitches and soft proofing.  I still have PS installed, but I honestly cannot remember the last time I used it.  Try it.  I think you'll like what you find.

I haven't even mentioned its abilities to organize, print, do slideshows, and create web galleries all in the same application.

francois

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The Value of Stepping Up to Lightroom2 over existing CS3 ex
« Reply #5 on: July 30, 2009, 12:03:04 pm »

I would add that Photoshop CS3 can be used with Lightroom to perform tasks that are are more complicated or impossible in Lightroom (geometric corrections, pixel level editing). So, it's not Lightroom OR Photoshop but it's more Lightroom AND Photoshop, although my usage of Photoshop has considerably decreased since LR version 2.0.
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Francois

jashley

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The Value of Stepping Up to Lightroom2 over existing CS3 ex
« Reply #6 on: July 30, 2009, 12:50:27 pm »

What makes LR so powerful is its seamless integration of a browser/viewer and raw converter.  For instance, it allows you to instantly switch back and forth between crop mode and a "full-screen" view of the cropped image (without crop line overlays) just by pressing one key.  Like a lot of people I thought LR wouldn't be that useful to me since I don't do a lot of high-volume shoots, but just that one feature hooked me.  Definitely download the trial version as suggested, and watch the tutorials by Matt Kloskowski on the Adobe LR site.
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ErikKaffehr

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The Value of Stepping Up to Lightroom2 over existing CS3 ex
« Reply #7 on: July 30, 2009, 02:24:29 pm »

Hi,

These products are different worlds. Lightroom is about workflow and parametric editing.

You may check on this: http://83.177.178.241/ekr/index.php/photo-...metric-workflow

In short:

1) Lightroom is a Digital Asset Management solution
2) The workflow is based on parametric edits applied to the raw images when needed. Think of the parametric edits as recepies for making a picture.
3) ACR/Bridge can do some of the things Lightroom can do

Best regards
Erik

Quote from: Raymond Bleesz
Please clarify, enlighten why it would be valuable to move from CS3 to Lightroom, in your opinion.

Thank you--Raymond
« Last Edit: July 30, 2009, 02:41:43 pm by ErikKaffehr »
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Erik Kaffehr
 

Photobird

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The Value of Stepping Up to Lightroom2 over existing CS3 ex
« Reply #8 on: July 31, 2009, 02:53:35 am »

Hi

I was asking myself similar questions earlier this year. I was using CS3 (still am) and with CS4 approaching I question whether to upgrade to CS4 or goto Lightroom. I am now very happy I went with Lightroom. I do most of my "work" in Lightroom and only occasional go to CS3.

Lightroom gives be the organisation I need, the raw processing I need, and a great printing envrionment (compared to CS3).

In making the decision I purchased the LL Guide to LR2. Love watching these 2 guys. It was enjoyable and a great way to see what Lightroom could do, and get me up un running using it.

Regards, Craig  
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EdRosch

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The Value of Stepping Up to Lightroom2 over existing CS3 ex
« Reply #9 on: July 31, 2009, 12:14:41 pm »

I'm in a similar situation as you- photographing since the 60's in my case, now going on three years into converting to digital with a fine arts focus.  I'm also a CS3 user and didn't wish to be $tampeded into a CS4 upgrade that I otherwise did not need.  I did wish to be able to use LR2.

My solution has been to use LightRoom 2 for my intake, asset management, and RAW conversions.  It does not directly link to CS3, so I export the images as 16 bit TIFFs and then open them in CS3 for the fine tuning and printing.  As my goal is fewer high quality exhibition prints rather than a ton of proofs of the high school football game, this has been working well for me.

I have found that LR is very valuable and I now would not be without it, however, I still feel that PhotoShop is superior for that last bit of quality in the printed image.
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Jeremy Roussak

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The Value of Stepping Up to Lightroom2 over existing CS3 ex
« Reply #10 on: July 31, 2009, 12:54:30 pm »

Quote from: EdRosch
My solution has been to use LightRoom 2 for my intake, asset management, and RAW conversions.  It does not directly link to CS3, so I export the images as 16 bit TIFFs and then open them in CS3 for the fine tuning and printing.  As my goal is fewer high quality exhibition prints rather than a ton of proofs of the high school football game, this has been working well for me.
Ed, LR does link to CS3, certainly on my Mac and I understand on PCs as well. What problem does it give you?

Jeremy
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francois

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The Value of Stepping Up to Lightroom2 over existing CS3 ex
« Reply #11 on: August 01, 2009, 07:26:41 am »

Quote from: kikashi
Ed, LR does link to CS3, certainly on my Mac and I understand on PCs as well. What problem does it give you?

Jeremy
The only issue that I can imagine is if ACR 4.x (supported by CS3) cannot handle the raw conversion. This happens only with newer camera models. I think it's a non-issue (*) as Lightroom with nicely offer to generate a 16-bit TIFF file and then re-import it in LR's library.

Now, to each his own and one has to find the best and more efficient/comfortable way to handle these tasks. I won't say that Ed's way is good/wrong/right or bad...

(*) Ed generates a 16-bit TIFF file, so the link between Photoshop CS3 and Lightroom is present.
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Francois

EdRosch

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The Value of Stepping Up to Lightroom2 over existing CS3 ex
« Reply #12 on: August 01, 2009, 07:38:49 am »

Quote from: kikashi
Ed, LR does link to CS3, certainly on my Mac and I understand on PCs as well. What problem does it give you?

Jeremy

Actually,  you're right as is francois,  as long as ACR 4.6 can handle the conversion, you can directly open.   I'd heard (and been assuming) that LR2 didn't backsupport CS3 so had been doing things as described, which actually worked well enough.  Prior to answering you to be sure I knew what I was talking about, I tried it out and voila'.    As long as I don't get a 5D2 or any other camera that requires RAW support past what ACR 4.6 will give, I'll be good on the direct handoff.

I will comment that there are times when doing a mass export and then picking and choosing which ones to open will still be handier, but in general it's nice to have the direct handoff back, or (redfaced) realize it never left!

Goes to show (again) both the dangers of making assumptions and the value of this forum.

Thanks
« Last Edit: August 01, 2009, 07:43:14 am by EdRosch »
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