I'm mostly new to editing, and am trying to (whilst very good) move on from Picnik etc. I currently have a version of Photoshop CS5, which is OK, but does seem to have a lot of features more aimed at graphic design...and have trialled Adobe Elements 10 and found that really good..but I hear a lot of people talking about Lightroom.
I took a graphic design class last year for university, and it was heavily based around Adobe Illustrator CS5 (which was amazing), and a little of Photoshop CS5, so I can see what you mean.
I first started using Photoshop RAW to edit my photos, but recently switched to Lightroom and it seems a lot more powerful/easier to use. I'm still learning though!
I mostly now use PSE10, I did have a free trial of Lightroom but I just didn't like it and couldn't get to grips with it. I would love the full photoshop version but can't justify (and don't have) that much money. I suppose it all depends on what kind of editing you want to do. There are also some good free downloadable programmes you can try out too, I also have GIMP which is free and easy to use and I think but not 100% sure there is another progamme called photoscape or something, someone on here (and I want to say @nikkers) uses that and says it's great.
@amyamoeba What are you trying to do, or what do you want to do?
What features do you feel is missing from Photoshop?
Photoshop is great for photo, webdesign, page design but if you are after vector graphics then illustrator is the tool of choice.
Think of Lightroom as the very very very very very cut down version of Photoshop. So if you feel Photoshop is missing features then lightroom is not for you.
Not so much that features are missing, but maybes that it has a lot of stuff I'm not going to use...I didn't know if there was a better version aimed at photo editing rather than the graphic design/web design sort of stuff.
@amyamoeba If you want graphic design for web then you can not go past Photoshop hands down.
It sounds like you should go look at some non-photographic design websites so you an understand the other features in photoshop like paths, slicing, vector graphic, layer effects, etc etc.
There is an endless amount of creativity in there only aimed as graphic design.
@gurry I know what you mean. I just about fell off my chair..... :)
I'm using Photoshop Elements 10 with the following plug-ins: Topaz Adjust, Redynamix, Color Color. I did try Lightroom, but I really didn't care for it.
@amyamoeba Is it possible that you're looking for something with more presets and less, er, work? I mean no offense by that, honestly.
Because it's so robust, Photoshop does have a quite a learning curve, and could be intimidating and unwieldy at times. You can't just start it up and expect it to do magic. However, if you put in the effort it takes to understand the many facets of the software, your output is limited only by your imagination.
I am in love with my photoshop :) But I do agree that it is very intimidating at first. I have found a few tutorials on youtube are helpfull. I also have bought a couple of magazines from my local news agent filled with photoshop tips and advice. @agima Brendan has also posted a few videos showing how to use lightroom and a few photoshop features. There are a lot of e books available, some free some do cost a bit but are well worth it. As with anything worth while it takes time to get in the swing of it :D For me it is all trial and error. Sometimes the pictures I edit are crap and sometimes I hit the nail on the head. Good luck!
I use PSE 10 and love it. I find it very easy to use. There are tons of tutorials online that show how to use PSE. The only downfall is i wish there was a plug-in or something to make HDR images in PSE.
If you are wanting to edit photos then CS5 is the one, I use this a lot and will do pretty much anything you would want to do to an photo.. Is does take time to master though ( i'm still learning now, since version 7!!).. But stick with it, try a few tutorials, there are many on YouTube.. Good luck..
@amyamoeba Most of these tools serve different purposes. I have lightroom AND photoshop CS5. Lightroom is a great organizational tool and the majority of my editing is done here. Photoshop comes into play when pixel level editing is required. Luckily they play very nicely together and you can access photoshop easily from lightroom.
I use Nikon Capture NX2. It's a straight up editor and has no "graphics" abilities like you find in Photoshop, Elements, etc.
I really like it because there are no layers to deal with. It uses control points which you apply directly to the part of the image you want to edit. It's also the best Nikon RAW converter out there. It won't read any other manufacturer's RAW images, but you can edit any Tiff or jpg from any camera. A knock has been it's a bit of a slow program and I found it to be slow on my previous Vista machine. I now have a Windows 7 machine and it just screams with Windows 7.
As some others here, I was a little nonplussed by the opening comment.
Photoshop is the most versatile photo editor I have used. Lightroom, though terrific, is much more limited. If you minimally process, it may be the tool for you. Though it does nothing photoshop does not, except organization. Photoshop v. Lightroom
Elements is a good program but is basically photoshop lite. No reason to buy it if you have CS5.
Forget the graphic design parts, Photoshop, at least now, is more like a darkroom than any other product I have used. You can limit your use of the tools to the purely photographic if you wish.
I still use Lightroom 2 (but will probably upgrade to 4 soon), and it does everything I need. To be honest, I am pretty intimidated by some of the more robust programs.
I am a complete novice and do fairly well with Lightroom 3. I do have OnOne perfect Photo suite, and in the process of learning it through there many videos.
@kmrtn6 No but I highly reccomend shooting in raw anyway. It leaves you so much more room to edit photos after the fact.
For everyone that is worried about the steep learning curve of photoshop, it becomes pretty intuitive after a while. The good thing is that there are literally thousands of how to videos all over you tube, that will teach you anything from basic functions to complex touchups. You can start slow and only use the things you need, and expand to other tools as you need them.
@amyamoeba Photshop and Lightroom do different things, some of it overlaps but I wouldn't want to be without either of them. I could live without Lightroom (wouldn't be happy though) but not either PSE or some version of Photoshop.
When my computer was in the shop I bought PSE for my hubby's computer. I found it did about 90% of what I normally use CS4 for, and for the extra 10% I could come up with work-arounds. It doesn't bother me that I only use about 20% of CS4's features, I'm sure that some of the things I wouldn't do without others could care less about. And I can happily ignore those tools that I don't need (at some point I'll read an article or tutorial that explains one of them and I think "that's cool, let me try", so they really aren't wasted).
I use Lightroom for photo management as well as initial (often only) adjustments to a picture. I found the controls for LR4 more intuitive than LR3, and I think the initial/default processing is better - can't wait until I can buy it tomorrow. I've started using keywords so I can go back and find a particular photo, or if I have some spare time and want to play with some feature (b&w conversion for instance), helps me browse. Much of what LR can do is in the Bridge part of CS4 and 5, but I find Bridge clunky and much harder to use (and more limiting).
Lightroom influences an entire photograph very nicely, so it's great for exposure problems and things like that. It can do some limited changes in specific spots, but that's where Photoshop is much better. LR can quickly change a whole series - say you forget your camera is set to indoor lighting and you take 30 pictures outside. All you have to do is change the white balance on one, then select all 30 and with one touch of a button, all are corrected. Nice, instead of changing each picture individually, like you would if you shot raw and used CS4 alone.
I employ Photomatix, PS CS5, and Lightroom. I do not use them all the same. I may use PS without the use of Photomatix and or Lightroom.
It all depends on the photo.
Tweets ahoy!
Join the Group
Pin With Me
I first started using Photoshop RAW to edit my photos, but recently switched to Lightroom and it seems a lot more powerful/easier to use. I'm still learning though!
What features do you feel is missing from Photoshop?
Photoshop is great for photo, webdesign, page design but if you are after vector graphics then illustrator is the tool of choice.
Think of Lightroom as the very very very very very cut down version of Photoshop. So if you feel Photoshop is missing features then lightroom is not for you.
It sounds like you should go look at some non-photographic design websites so you an understand the other features in photoshop like paths, slicing, vector graphic, layer effects, etc etc.
There is an endless amount of creativity in there only aimed as graphic design.
@gurry I know what you mean. I just about fell off my chair..... :)
@amyamoeba Is it possible that you're looking for something with more presets and less, er, work? I mean no offense by that, honestly.
Because it's so robust, Photoshop does have a quite a learning curve, and could be intimidating and unwieldy at times. You can't just start it up and expect it to do magic. However, if you put in the effort it takes to understand the many facets of the software, your output is limited only by your imagination.
http://www.niksoftware.com/hdrefexpro/en/entry.php
It costs some money - but well worth it!
I really like it because there are no layers to deal with. It uses control points which you apply directly to the part of the image you want to edit. It's also the best Nikon RAW converter out there. It won't read any other manufacturer's RAW images, but you can edit any Tiff or jpg from any camera. A knock has been it's a bit of a slow program and I found it to be slow on my previous Vista machine. I now have a Windows 7 machine and it just screams with Windows 7.
Photoshop is the most versatile photo editor I have used. Lightroom, though terrific, is much more limited. If you minimally process, it may be the tool for you. Though it does nothing photoshop does not, except organization.
Photoshop v. Lightroom
Elements is a good program but is basically photoshop lite. No reason to buy it if you have CS5.
@kmrtn6 No you don't have to shoot in RAW to use Photoshop =)
For everyone that is worried about the steep learning curve of photoshop, it becomes pretty intuitive after a while. The good thing is that there are literally thousands of how to videos all over you tube, that will teach you anything from basic functions to complex touchups. You can start slow and only use the things you need, and expand to other tools as you need them.
When my computer was in the shop I bought PSE for my hubby's computer. I found it did about 90% of what I normally use CS4 for, and for the extra 10% I could come up with work-arounds. It doesn't bother me that I only use about 20% of CS4's features, I'm sure that some of the things I wouldn't do without others could care less about. And I can happily ignore those tools that I don't need (at some point I'll read an article or tutorial that explains one of them and I think "that's cool, let me try", so they really aren't wasted).
I use Lightroom for photo management as well as initial (often only) adjustments to a picture. I found the controls for LR4 more intuitive than LR3, and I think the initial/default processing is better - can't wait until I can buy it tomorrow. I've started using keywords so I can go back and find a particular photo, or if I have some spare time and want to play with some feature (b&w conversion for instance), helps me browse. Much of what LR can do is in the Bridge part of CS4 and 5, but I find Bridge clunky and much harder to use (and more limiting).
Lightroom influences an entire photograph very nicely, so it's great for exposure problems and things like that. It can do some limited changes in specific spots, but that's where Photoshop is much better. LR can quickly change a whole series - say you forget your camera is set to indoor lighting and you take 30 pictures outside. All you have to do is change the white balance on one, then select all 30 and with one touch of a button, all are corrected. Nice, instead of changing each picture individually, like you would if you shot raw and used CS4 alone.
It all depends on the photo.
Remember - YOU ARE AT THE PHOTOS DISCRETION! :)
Experimentation is the key!