Question for Lightroom 4 users that also use Photoshop

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RobCD
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p.1 #1 · Question for Lightroom 4 users that also use Photoshop

For those that primarily use Lightroom 4 and also use Photoshop - how much do you use Photoshop and for what types of PP? I'm pretty happy with Lightroom but have an opportunity to buy Photoshop CS6 for the discounted rate discussed in this thread http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1139606.

Aug 14, 2012 at 03:43 AM

bjornssh
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p.1 #2 · Question for Lightroom 4 users that also use Photoshop

Buy it!

Aug 14, 2012 at 03:55 AM

boingyman
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p.1 #3 · Question for Lightroom 4 users that also use Photoshop

I just shoot as a hobby and not as often I would like, but as I'm learning more about post processing I tend to use my CS5 more and more often. I always start with LR3 and use CS5 and Nik Software as needed. I mostly use layer/mask, manual blending, creating -pytch's, sometimes sharpening, sometimes other random stuff. I think it's cool since there's so much to know and that I'm probably only make use of <5% of what I could with CS5 for a photographer. I got CS5 for a good price and if it wasn't for that I would have probably just gotten elements. I'm planning on buying LR4 too, but waiting until I buy a much better computer/monitor instead of using my laptop to edit photos.

Aug 14, 2012 at 03:32 PM

Greggbhill
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p.1 #4 · Question for Lightroom 4 users that also use Photoshop

1: Cloning
LR4 can be a bit slow at times using the clone tool (amongst other features).

For a few clone spots, i just stay in LR, but if i need to clone larger/more complex areas i do it in PS - healing brush, clone stamp have better and more efficient control (at least that is my experience)

2: Swapping
For swapping eyes/heads/etc. across photos (the one person in a big group who decided to blink or smirk just when everyone else look fabulous) -- not sure how you can do that in LR...

Aug 14, 2012 at 05:57 PM

Ian.Dobinson
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p.1 #5 · Question for Lightroom 4 users that also use Photoshop

i Have both LR4 and CS6

I would say 95% of my images that get any work done on them (you know the ones that are any good

) never see photoshop at all.

But CS6 does get the ones that requires stuff like clone/removal or where layers would be usfull.

Could I use just Lightroom . ? Yes . Could I use just CS6 ? Yes but the work would take lots longer and as I pretty much hate bridge I will stick to Lightroom

Aug 14, 2012 at 09:05 PM

RustyBug
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p.1 #6 · Question for Lightroom 4 users that also use Photoshop

If you've already got LR4, then you've got the ACR that is in CS6, so the real gain @ CS6 is the ability for refined PP and more complex things, particularly @ layers etc.

That being said, if you've already got CS5 and are talking about an upgrade to CS6, CS6 isn't going to gain you a whole lot more than you've already got in ACR via LR4 and tools of CS5. If you don't have Photoshop at all, definitely the tools & LAYERS in CS6 are highly valuable addition to LR4.

I will say that when I finally picked up LR4 ... my PS use has gone down for routine things, but for the best color/distortion/creative tools, PS still rules the day.

Aug 14, 2012 at 10:35 PM

RobCD
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p.1 #7 · Question for Lightroom 4 users that also use Photoshop

Thanks everyone for the replies and suggestions. I don't have photoshop today so tough decision. I'm pretty sure it would see limited use but hard to beat the price at just over $200.

Aug 15, 2012 at 03:02 AM

therock
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p.1 #8 · Question for Lightroom 4 users that also use Photoshop

After using Photoshop for so long I did the trial of Lightroom 4 and promptly uninstalled it.
Geesh, why import or make a catalog or another library when you can just go to the darned folder the images are in?

Lots of stuff went against my grain making me ask "Why the heck"?

But lots of people like it so.........

Aug 15, 2012 at 03:50 AM

AhamB
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p.1 #9 · Question for Lightroom 4 users that also use Photoshop

therock wrote:
Geesh, why import or make a catalog or another library when you can just go to the darned folder the images are in?

Because it's way more convenient to go back and forth between the library (browse) and develop (edit) module and navigate your folders/collections and sort/rate them etc. With Bridge you can view but when you quickly want to change something you have to open PS to load the image in ACR -- in LR you just press D and you're instantly in develop mode, press E and you're back in the library. Having become used to LR, I wouldn't touch Bridge with a barge pole.

Aug 15, 2012 at 12:32 PM

RustyBug
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p.1 #10 · Question for Lightroom 4 users that also use Photoshop

RobCD wrote:
Thanks everyone for the replies and suggestions. I don't have photoshop today so tough decision. I'm pretty sure it would see limited use but hard to beat the price at just over $200.

If you don't already have photoshop ... IT'S A NO BRAINER ... GET IT !!!

Aug 15, 2012 at 02:51 PM

Malux
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p.1 #11 · Question for Lightroom 4 users that also use Photoshop

if you can get PS for $200, go for it. I use both and find that LR is good for the basics. The adjustment brush is pretty good but the control from quick massks, and adjustment layers is well worth the price.

you won't take every image into PS, but when you need to, you'll be very grateful it's there.

Aug 15, 2012 at 03:20 PM

dmacmillan
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p.1 #12 · Question for Lightroom 4 users that also use Photoshop

Malux wrote:
if you can get PS for $200, go for it. I use both and find that LR is good for the basics. The adjustment brush is pretty good but the control from quick masks, and adjustment layers is well worth the price.

you won't take every image into PS, but when you need to, you'll be very grateful it's there.
I agree. Most of the images that go up to PS have NIK filters applied. I like the fact that the NIK filters are put on another layer.

I do my retouching in PS for portraits. I'm also scanning in a number of vintage family negatives and prints that date back to the 19th century and need the heavy lifting of PS.

In a side note, NIK Silver Efex Pro is pretty much the professional's choice for B&W conversion, but I also use it in my restoration work. I recently scanned in a negative from the early part of the 20th century. When I adjusted the contrast for most of the image, there was an area that lacked the same contrast. I used a control point in SEP and easily fixed the area to match the rest of the photo. I had already done a restoration just using PS and used adjustment layers and masks, but the SEP correction was much easier and looked better.

Aug 15, 2012 at 10:52 PM

Jo Dilbeck
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p.1 #13 · Question for Lightroom 4 users that also use Photoshop

RustyBug wrote:
RobCD wrote:
Thanks everyone for the replies and suggestions. I don't have photoshop today so tough decision. I'm pretty sure it would see limited use but hard to beat the price at just over $200.

If you don't already have photoshop ... IT'S A NO BRAINER ... GET IT !!!

You may not need it immediately, and you may not use it extensively more than LR depending on your workflow ... but it is an investment into your future usage at a bargain price. Note also, that if you are not a heavy PS user that needs all the new bells & whistles @ future versions, this version could last you for nearly a decade, while you simply upgrade LR's new releases (for camera support / newest ACR) without upgrading every PS new release.

Layers alone makes it worth it at that price.

Definitely what Kent said! I got CS3 on a 50% off deal many years ago and have upgraded all along to now CS6. I use LR4 for cataloguing, reviewing, sorting, MINOR editing, but almost ALWAYS move an image into CS6 for editing and printing. Layers and add-ins like NIK are mainstays for me in CS6. Once I learned how valuable and flexible layers, and particularly SMART layers, could be, I could never go back to just Lightroom.

Jo

Aug 16, 2012 at 07:54 PM

the888account
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p.1 #14 · Question for Lightroom 4 users that also use Photoshop

I have LR4 and CS6.

Lightroom covers my basic edits and 90% of the stuff.

CS6 I used for layer work, clone, content aware and "distortion" when correcting verticles caused by my wide lens (16-35L)

I also find it a bit quicker than LR4 for editing, but this is probably subjective.

Aug 17, 2012 at 11:55 AM

Monito
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p.1 #15 · Question for Lightroom 4 users that also use Photoshop

Lightroom is for basic adjustments and for cataloguing and keywording and for editing which is the selection and deletion of photos.

Photoshop is for fine tuning the best photos, especially portfolio photos, gallery prints, and publication. It is used for retouching people's skin, hair, and clothing. It can be used to manipulate landscapes (such as removing telephone wires), but only where ethically appropriate, such as a landscape that is going to get a generic title and is not meant to accurately depict a specific location or from a particular place or view point.

I also use Photoshop for edge sharpening combined simultaneously with masked noise reduction.

Another use of Photoshop is for perspective transformations.

Aug 18, 2012 at 10:09 PM

Fred Meebley
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p.1 #16 · Question for Lightroom 4 users that also use Photoshop

Buy it and resell it for a small profit if you don't find yourself using it.

Aug 24, 2012 at 09:39 PM

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