
- Software Version: Lightroom CC, Lightroom 4.4 - 6.0
- Works With: DNG, TIFF, JPG, RAW
- LRTemplate
- LRPlugin
- XMP
- DNG
The world of photo management and editing is vast and rich in tools and software of all kinds. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom is definitely one of the most popular ones. In a nutshell, it's a photo development and management software by Adobe... but is it the right tool for you? And how is it different from Photoshop? Should you use both, or is one enough-and which one? Let's try answer these questions by taking a closer look at their differences first.
Once you know the key differences, it's worth keeping in mind that many professional photographers and designers don't pick one over the other, but use both instead. And depending on your needs, you could do the same. Lightroom and Photoshop can work very well together and are designed to interact and integrate with your workflow as smoothly as possible. You can start by editing the camera RAW image in Lightroom-tweaking contrast, exposure, brightness and so on-and then open the edited image in Photoshop. There, you could focus on retouching the photo, adding text and cool effects; then you can open the new PSD file on Lightroom again to make final adjustments and save the image to your library.
To use the word of Tuts+ instructor Harry Guinness in his "Photoshop Or Lightroom? They Work Better Together" tutorial: "Use Lightroom for image management and simple edits, and Photoshop for heavy-duty stuff".
As you probably know, playing around with brightness, exposure, contrast etc. is an activity that could go on for hours. This is when Lightroom presets come to the rescue! The variables that you can adjust in Lightroom are already pre-defined to achieve a specific style ( Portrait, Urban, Sunset, Retro, HDR... you name it), saving you plenty of time and allowing you to achieve professional, top-quality results. Just pick the one you like most!