One of the most significant ways in which Lightroom is different from Photoshop is that it does not actually edit photos, nor does it move your images around to different locations on your computer. Instead all the changes you implement are kept in a separate file called the Catalog , which is sort of like a recipe book of instructions for how each photo should be processed. When you apply some type of edit, like a radial filter or adjustment brush, Lightroom is essentially keeping a log of the alterations in a database, while leaving the original image intact.
For example, several months ago I sent my father this photo I took of him, which I had subsequently edited in Lightroom. Since the original file was left unchanged I can go back and re-edit the photo any time I want. The edits in Lightroom are a set of instructions for how to process the file, similar to how a recipe is a set of instructions for making food like a cake or casserole. After you finish making changes to an image in Lightroom the photo must be exported at which point it can be printed, shared, or posted online.
Because the original photo remains on your computer fully intact and untouched you can go back to Lightroom at any point in the future and re-edit the photo however you want.
Another benefit of this approach is that the catalog itself is quite small, often taking up only a few hundred megabytes on your hard drive even if you have several thousand images in Lightroom. A basic diagram of the Lightroom workflow: editing instructions are stored in the Catalog file and no changes are made to your original images.
Photoshop, on the other hand, operates quite differently. In essence, if you want to perform nondestructive edits in Photoshop you will end up with three separate files: the original camera RAW file, a PSD, and the final copy saved into a shareable format from the PSD.
The process works something like this:. A basic diagram of the Photoshop workflow: If you want to edit an image later it must be saved as a separate PSD file. Lightroom is missing these tools. Once you finish Photoshop edits, hitting save will roundtrip the image back into your Lightroom catalogue. The last part of my workflow is usually exporting files for printing or posting online. Both programs allow you to adjust the aspect ratio and image size. Photoshop allows you to do this through Image Size.
Lightroom allows you to do this when you export. In Lightroom, I can set up export presets. These adjust the size, change the title, and sharpen the image for the screen. I can even apply a watermark on export. A similar system is in Bridge. Lightroom has some other export modules. This makes it easy to share to a slideshow, the image on your website, print images, or create a book. For most photographers, Lightroom is the better option — at least at first.
Digital photography adjustments are easy, and you have an image management system. This becomes essential as you take more images. But why use two programs when Lightroom does it all? Subscribing to Creative Cloud, you get both Lightroom and Photoshop. Try both, and find your perfect combination. To learn more about Lightroom, check out our Effortless Editing course today. Share with friends Share. Show Comments 2 Hide Comments. Related Articles. This means that whatever changes you make to your image within Lightroom do not affect the original image as they are stored within the program.
Once finished you can then export your new version of the image while the original remains intact. One of the coolest things about Lightroom is the ability to automate your workflow. While sometimes it may be necessary to go through your images and edit them one by one, if you have a series of images that all require the exact same editing then Lightroom allows you to batch edit them.
This is especially helpful for those shoots where your conditions remained the same throughout, for example during a studio shoot or while shooting sport. It can help reduce the often lengthy, and tedious process of tweaking a bunch of images the exact same way. Since its inception, Photoshop has become arguably the gold standard for image editing.
It is used by professionals around the world and offers a vast suite of tools that let you do pretty much whatever you want to your image. However, because of this Photoshop can be a little overwhelming at first especially when compared to the simpler Lightroom. With the ability to edit every single pixel of your image Photoshop truly gives you ultimate control.
Whether you need to retouch a tiny fragment of the image or completely merge it with another to create an entirely new image Photoshop has your back. Photoshop comes with all the editing tools that you need to be able to retouch your images in the same way that you would in Lightroom but basically gives you more control. Although you can only edit one at a time. Unlike Lightroom, Photoshop allows you to combine your images with text and vector graphics allowing you to create images for social media campaigns, memes, and posters.
It gives illustrators the freedom to take all of these and create an entirely new creation that they have pulled straight out of their imagination. The layers feature is one of my favourites in Photoshop. It allows you to place images on top of each other to create a final image. This is a great tool especially when you have been taking photos of groups of people. It can be really tricky to capture one perfect image where everyone in the group is looking in the same direction, no-one is blinking, and everyone can be seen.
Layers allow you to take a couple of images of the same group photo and by using the layer masks you essentially combine the images so that you take the best bits from each image to make one perfect one. The layer masks can also be used to cut people out from their background, to merge backgrounds and give your images different moods.
If you find that you keep repeating a certain action to complete a process, then Photoshop lets you record them and save them as an action. Actions can include a variety of things including tasks that cannot be recorded such a using a painting tool.
It can also include modal controls so that you can enter values in a dialog box while playing an action. It's basically like coding a set process so that it does it automatically for you.
Photoshop allows you to record, edit, customise and batch-process actions as well as working with groups of actions in action sets. It all helps to make your workflow that bit more efficient. Its also worth noting that if you are not confident on the tech side there are many people that create Photoshop actions which you can buy and install for your use.
As you can see each program has its own benefits that makes it a useful tool to have in your photo editing toolbox. However, its important to understand their various drawbacks so that you can easily choose the right program to edit in.
As Lightroom has been designed with professional photographers in mind, it means that the ability to add text or graphic vectors to your images isn't really a thing. You export your final, edited photograph from the same window you imported it in. That said, if you need to create more substantial edits — such as those needed in a multiple-image composition — you can easily open photos directly into Photoshop and edit them there.
The resulting images will then be saved in your Lightroom catalog. Depending on your machine, and the size of your catalog, Lightroom can be a little resource-intensive on your computer. The Lightroom solution has a slightly steeper learning curve. But once its initial quirks are overcome, it offers a more seamless experience, albeit at the cost of more computer power. The Photoshop workflow is less organized, but can prove more lightweight and minimalist.
Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is the gold standard in the world of photo editing, used by amateurs and pros alike around the globe. A look at the various tools and adjustments available within Adobe Camera Raw. Adobe Photoshop as seen when using the Photography workspace.
Adobe Lightroom Lightroom offers similar results in a different form factor. Conclusion The Lightroom solution has a slightly steeper learning curve.
0コメント