The rest of the panes cover more specific functions of Split Toning, Details (sharpening and noise reduction), Lens Corrections, and Camera Calibration. While the sharpening capabilities improved in the version 1.1 update, I still prefer to use Photoshop and third party filters for that as well as noise reduction. One plus in Lightroom’s sharpening arsenal is the Masking slider – which builds an ad hoc mask on the fly based on how you set it.
This brings up one of the biggest complaints with Adobe Lightroom: The lack of support for Photoshop plug-ins. Yes, this is not truly Photoshop, but as it is part of the Photoshop family and even bears its name, one would expect some level of compatibility. The good news however is that if you have both tools, Lightroom and Photoshop integrate pretty seamlessly. You can do the basic developing of your RAW image in Lightroom, then go into Photoshop (using a PSD file) for noise reduction and other filters then come back into Lightroom for more adjustments -- then do any final processing in Photoshop again. The choice, again, is yours. Lightroom provides the tools; you put the tools to use!
The Final Output
The last three modules of Lightroom all relate to various forms of output of your final images.
The Slideshow module lets you build a running view of your images for meeting with clients, etc. This frees you from all the distractions of the Lightroom interface while letting you and your client focus on the images. You can pick/reject and rate images during the slideshow as well.
Prepare images for print...
... or the internet. |
When you’re ready for hardcopies of your photos, the Print module contains a host of print formats and allows you to create your own. Whether printing one or several photos, this module will become indispensable to your workflow.
Finally, as the Internet has made the world smaller, the Web module helps you display your image in a website format, with thumbnails and larger versions available for preview. You can even watermark your photos or display copyright text as you see fit.
Conclusion
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom was built from the ground up as a tool for photographers to meet their needs of fast turnaround, processing and immediate productivity. While its sister product Photoshop has been the standard for graphic artists and worked well with photographic images, Lightroom can and will become the standard for photographer workflow – especially among professionals. Once support for third-party filters is integrated (preferably existing Photoshop ones), Adobe Lightroom will be a near perfect workflow tool.
photographyvoice.com recommends Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to photographers of all levels of skill and vocations.
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Strengths
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Weaknesses
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- Provides intelligent workflow for processing images.
- Edits to photos are completely non-destructive to originals.
- Ability to work on multiple images at once with same tools.
- Produces output for client, web, and print with ease.
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- New way of working requires unlearning old habits.
- No plug-in support.
- Noise reduction and sharpening the weakest of its tools.
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