Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows
The Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software from Adobe is a complete photo management and editing suite for Mac OS X and Windows. Perfect for enthusiasts and professionals alike, Lightroom takes a nondestructive approach to photo editing. When editing your photos, the original files are left unmolested. All of your adjustments and edits are stored in a database and applied to an image on the fly, so that you'll always be able to go back to the original image. This lets you perform as many post-processing adjustments on a photo as you'd like, without making permanent changes to the original image.
Lightroom also serves as a powerful organizational tool for your photographs. You'll be able to organize photos to suit your needs using a powerful folder-based data structure. Lightroom lets you store images on multiple storage devices, and it stores low-resolution previews of each and every image in its central database, allowing you to browse your photos even when the original files are offline. You'll be able to search through your images based on any number of criteria, helping to speed the process of locating a specific image.
Lightroom's interface is broken up into five major components: Library, Develop, Slideshow, Print, and Web. Each screen serves its own purpose, and you can go back and forth between them with ease. Of course, there is some overlap in functionality, but for the most part they are compartmentalized.
The Library screen is where you'll be able to organize and browse your photos. You'll have full access to all of the folders in your library from this screen, allowing you to reorganize them as needed. This is also where you'll apply keywords, ratings, color labels, and metadata additions to images. You can create custom searches to create "Collections" based on any of these criteria. There is even a "Smart Collections" function that updates on the fly as additional images meet your criteria. For example, this will allow you to have an up-to-date collection of all images that you have rated with 5 stars. There is also a "Quick Develop" panel which allows you to make minor adjustments to an image, without having to venture into the Develop screen.
The Library also serves as the gateway to import and export images. Clicking "Import" brings up a redesigned screen that will be unfamiliar to users of previous versions of Lightroom. The Import window now expands to fill your entire display. You'll be able to browse through your hard drive or a memory card to locate images for import. You have the option of leaving the images in their original location, copying or moving to a different folder, or copying them and converting to Adobe's DNG format. You can apply Develop settings, add metadata, and add keywords during import -- perfect for users who like to add a keyword for the camera used to capture the photos. You can also rename files and make a second copy to a backup drive during import.
Getting your photos out of Lightroom is just as important as bringing them into the program. When you've finished editing, you can use the Library screen to export them with ease. You have the option of using the "Export" function, which brings up a window with numerous settings -- including image size, sharpening, file format, and the like -- which you can customize. There is also a new "Publish Services" section, which allows you to send images to your hard drive or Flickr with ease. You'll be able to create as many presets for Publish Services as you'd like, giving you one-click access to frequently used export operations. This section can be further expanded by use of third-party plug-ins, available from Adobe's Lightroom Exchange website.
The second major component of Lightroom is the Develop screen. This is where you'll do the vast majority of your photo editing and toning. You can perform any sort of adjustment imaginable here -- color temperature, exposure, black levels, contrast, sharpness, and brightness are just a few examples. You'll be able to make adjustments via sliders or tone curves, discretely modify color channels, and convert images to black and white. Numerous presets are available, allowing you to quickly apply a certain "look" to a photo, and you can create your own presets based on your favorite settings.
The Develop screen also features powerful History and Snapshot functions. History allows you to browse through all of the adjustments you've made to an image, in the order that they were made, so that you can revert back to any stage in the image process. You can create a Snapshot of an image at any time, which saves all of the settings that you've applied -- this allows you to continue to experiment with a photo after you've found a look that you like for it.
You'll also be able to remove dust spots and red eye from photos thanks to Lightroom's spot editing tools. Create image masks to apply graduated filter adjustments to a photo, or use the brush tool to dodge, burn, and make other spot adjustments. You'll also be able to add vignettes and simulated film grain to images, perfect for breathing analog life into your digital photos.
Distortion correction is one of Lightroom 3's most impressive new features. Owners of fisheye lenses previously had to export photos to Photoshop in order to "defish" their images. Now, it can be done from within the program. You can correct for both fisheye and rectilinear distortion, perfect for users of extreme wide angle lenses. Numerous lens profiles are included with the software, and you can save your own presets for your own oft-used lenses.
Lens corrections can also be used to eliminate the keystone effect that can be caused when your camera is not straight-on with a subject when shooting. Of course, basic crop and rotation tools are also available for quick and simple adjustments. If there is anything that can't be handled by Lightroom, it's easy to export a photo to Photoshop CS4 or CS5 for editing -- any changes you make to an image in Photoshop will be automatically reflected in Lightroom.
Lightroom's other three screens are all about sharing your images with others. The Slideshow screen gives you all the tools necessary to create digital slideshows of your images, complete with transitions and music. You can view these from within Lightroom, or export them to a PDF or video file to share with others.
The Print screen allows you to print your images in any way imaginable. It can be adjusted for many standard paper sizes, and it lets you visually lay out photos on them. This allows you to maximize the number of photos on a single page, helping to reduce your printing costs. Lightroom can automatically position photos so that space on a page will be utilized in the most efficient manner. You can adjust prints for different paper types, color profiles, and add a signature plate if desired.
Finally, the Web screen gives you numerous means to output your photos to the web. Adobe includes a number of HTML and Flash galleries, allowing you to create a web gallery without having any knowledge of programming. These can be customized to suit your needs, and third-party galleries are available via the Adobe Lightroom Exchange website.
Note! Subject to the terms of the software license agreement, the primary user of the computer on which Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 is installed may install a second copy of the software for his or her exclusive use on either a portable computer or a computer located at his or her home, provided that the software on the second computer is not used at the same time as the software on the primary computer. Lightroom is sold as multiplatform software, which means it can be installed on either Mac OS X or Windows.
What is Lightroom?
- Create Brilliant Images
- Above all, it's your images that matter. Make them as great as you imagined they could be using the leading-edge image processing tools in Lightroom. From sophisticated exposure and color controls to superior noise reduction and sharpening, Lightroom provides what you need to create stunning photographs
- State-of-the-Art Editing Tools
- Create the perfect look for every image, whether you shoot RAW or JPEG. Designed by the makers of Adobe Photoshop software in partnership with top photographers around the world, Lightroom includes a comprehensive range of leading-edge image processing tools. Make precise overall adjustments to color and contrast or use a flexible brush that lets you edit in targeted areas of your photo for just the look you want. Dodge and burn, convert to black-and-white, add grain, reduce noise, adjust sharpness, and much more
- Develop Presets
- Save your favorite looks and apply them instantly. Handy presets -- many are included, or you can create and save your own -- enable you to apply a series of favorite adjustments in a single click
- Nondestructive Editing
- Experiment fearlessly with as many image-editing controls, enhancements, and looks as you like. Lightroom is a nondestructive environment that encourages your creative exploration. Your original images are safely unaltered, and it's easy to reverse your steps or save multiple versions of any photograph
- Adobe Photoshop CS5 Integration
- Select multiple photos in Lightroom and automatically open them in Photoshop CS5 to merge them into a panorama, a high dynamic range (HDR) photo, or a creative composite. See your edits immediately back in Lightroom
- Streamline Your Digital Photography
- In every way, Lightroom boosts your creativity and saves you time and effort. Built to be fast, intuitive, and a pleasure to use, it's the efficient assistant you need -- one set of powerful tools for your digital photography tasks, whether you're adjusting one image, searching for ten, processing hundreds, or organizing thousands
- Your Photography Essentials in One Package
- Quickly achieve the best from your photography with proven, refined software that provides efficient tools for your entire photography workflow. You can edit, manage, and showcase all your images with one integrated solution
- Intuitive Environment
- Be productive and efficient, and enjoy the freedom and creativity that comes from working within an intuitive environment perfectly designed for the job. The controls of Lightroom are easy to master and let you breeze through your photography tasks quickly and smoothly
- Highly Tuned Performance and Design
- Quickly edit one photograph or work efficiently with libraries of up to hundreds of thousands of images. The already fast performance of Lightroom has been accelerated even further in Lightroom 3. The newly designed import interface is easy to set up and navigate, with clear visual indications of where your photos will be located and how they'll be organized. Save time when processing images by applying the same Develop settings to all photos in a group at once using presets or the sync feature. For example, correct the exposure from an entire shoot or convert all of the images to black-and-white
- Efficient Image Viewing and Selecting
- See, evaluate, and select your images quickly and clearly with flexible image viewing features. Instantly magnify one image or compare several. Even hide the background and application interface so that you can focus on what matters most -- your images
- Image Management
- Get organized and find images quickly with powerful asset management features. Easily group photos into collections, quickly assign searchable ratings and keywords to one image or hundreds, manage your library across multiple drives, and sort or search for photos using many different criteria
- The Lightroom Community
- Trade tips, experience, Develop presets, and more with a thriving worldwide community of Lightroom users and photographers just like you in many venues online and offline
- Make an Impact
- You shot your images because they had meaning, whether to you, your client, or your subject. Use Lightroom to communicate that meaning with style and impact. Create customized print packages, dynamic slide show videos with music, and elegant web galleries. And showcase your images online using new, streamlined integration with photo-sharing sites (may require third-party plug-ins)
- Customized Print Layouts
- Easily showcase your photos at their best with a top-quality printing engine and customized print layouts that let you print several copies of one or multiple images on a single sheet of paper
- Easy-to-Share Slide Show Videos with Music
- Show your images to clients, friends, or family with more style and flair using elegant slide shows with music. Slide shows are a breeze to create, and you can share them easily by exporting them as videos, even in high definition
- Flexible Online Publishing
- Post your images to selected online photo-sharing services directly from within the Lightroom Library (may require third-party plug-ins). Showcasing your work and keeping your web images fresh has never been simpler. Support for Flickr, a Yahoo! service, is already built in, and when friends or clients post comments on your Flickr galleries you can immediately see their feedback in the Lightroom 3 Library alongside your images
- Professionals: Boost Your Bottom Line
- Lightroom is an invaluable assistant for professional photographers. You're juggling deadlines, processing and delivering proofs, soliciting client feedback, generating finished images, and marketing yourself and your work. Use Lightroom to do it all better and faster
- More Time for Shooting and Marketing
- Free up time so you can shoot more and expend more effort on promoting yourself and your photography. Lightroom is a fast, intuitive toolset that handles your whole post-shoot workflow in one application. Import, organize, review, and search your images quickly and easily. Adjust multiple photos from a shoot and generate proofs with efficient, timesaving batch operations. Distribute and showcase your images quickly using new flexible print layouts, streamlined integration with online photo-sharing sites, easy web gallery creation, and more
- Sophisticated Output Options
- Take advantage of new opportunities to effectively market your work with the comprehensive output options in Lightroom. Create sophisticated, customized print packages and elegant, easy-to-share slide show videos with music. Easily maintain a fresh, constantly updated web portfolio with flexible online publishing features that let you post images directly to your own web gallery or selected photo-sharing services from within the Lightroom Library (may require third-party plug-ins)
- Easy Access to Assets to Build Your Brand
- Never lose a potential sale. The superior image management, keywording, and searching features in Lightroom let you easily find and reuse any shot in your image library. Easily embed your name, logo, or other information in your images with the new watermarking function. You can apply text or graphic watermarks to an image with adjustable size, position, and opacity, so your brand is reflected in your own style
Creativity and Flexibility
- Nondestructive Environment
- Set your creativity free in a nondestructive editing environment that encourages experimentation. Your original images are always safely unaltered, and it's easy to reverse your steps or save multiple versions of any photo
- Superior Image Processing
- Get the absolute best from your images with state-of-the-art image processing controls that work with RAW files from more than 290 camera models as well as JPEG, TIFF, and other file formats. Make precise overall adjustments or correct targeted areas. Dodge and burn, convert to black-and-white, add grain, reduce noise, adjust sharpness, create vignettes, and more
- Selective Editing Brush
- Extend your creative control with a flexible brush that lets you adjust selected areas of your photo for just the look you want
- Tracking of Editing Adjustments
- Make multiple adjustments to an image while retaining complete freedom to undo your mistakes or try something different later. The History panel automatically tracks your changes with easy-to-understand text entries as you edit. Add set points in the panel at any time so you can instantly return to those versions of the photo
- Before-and-After Comparison
- Get a clearer sense of the effectiveness of your editing adjustments by viewing an original image side by side with a version of the photo that shows the effects of your edits as you make them
Tone and Color
- Advanced Black-and-White Conversion
- Gain powerful, subtle control over the tonal qualities that make or break black-and-white images. Familiar sliders let you precisely adjust the mixing of information from eight color channels when you convert to grayscale
- Simplified Tone Curve Tools
- Make quick, intuitive adjustments to the highlights, midtones, and shadows in your images with sliders or numeric entries. Or click on any region of the photo to directly adjust the part of the curve that corresponds to the tonal value of that region
- Advanced Hue, Saturation, and Luminance Editing
- Enhance color saturation and remove color casts with individual control over eight color channels each for hue, saturation, and luminance
Detail and Correction
- Superior Noise Reduction
- Achieve amazing, natural-looking results from your high ISO images with all-new state-of-the-art noise reduction technology. You won't need more than what's built into Lightroom 3 to get the cleanest images at any ISO
- Intelligent Sharpening
- Make sharp, natural-looking images, regardless of whether they're intended for prints, slide shows, or your online web galleries. Intelligent sharpening lets you enhance detail without introducing harmful artifacts, and you can tailor your sharpening for different end uses
- Red-Eye Removal
- Instantly fix red eye in flash photos
- Film Grain Simulation
- Use new sliders to easily control the amount, size, and roughness of grain that you can add to your images to simulate the look of film
- Lens Correction
- Quickly and easily perfect your images by automatically reducing lens defects like geometric distortion, chromatic aberration, and vignetting with single-click profiles. Even images from the best lenses will be improved
- Perspective Correction
- Get more natural-looking results by applying powerful, nondestructive perspective correction to your images. Reduce or eliminate the distortion that can occur, for example, when you take a photograph with the camera pointed upward, causing buildings to appear to be leaning backward in your image
- Dust-Busting
- Easily remove distracting spots and specks in your images with a single click
Saving Time and Working Efficiently
- One Toolset for Your Photography Tasks
- Get your digital photography essentials in one package that includes what you need to manage, perfect, and showcase all your images
- Support for Video Files
- Simplify your imaging work by managing video and still images in the same efficient application. New support for video files from most digital SLR cameras lets you easily manage both still photos and video in the Lightroom 3 Library
- One-Click Adjustments for Multiple Images
- Save time when processing images by applying the same Develop settings to all the photographs in a group at once using presets or the sync feature. For example, correct the exposure from an entire shoot or convert all of the images to black-and-white
- Tight Photoshop Integration
- Select one or multiple photos and then automatically open them in Adobe Photoshop software to perform detailed, pixel-level editing or to merge multiple photos into a panorama, a high dynamic range photo, or a creative composite. After making your edits in Photoshop, see the results immediately back in Lightroom
- Fast Performance Across Platforms
- Speed up day-to-day imaging tasks and process your images faster by taking advantage of cross-platform 64-bit support. Use the advanced memory handling capabilities of the latest Mac OS and Windows operating systems
- Image Versions
- Let Lightroom track the changes you make to an image in the History panel, with as many remembered set points as you choose. Then switch between versions of the photo with a mouse click
- Image Watermarking
- Easily embed your identity or your brand and logo in your images with more options for customizing their look. The new watermarking tool lets you apply text or graphic watermarks to a photo with adjustable size, position, and opacity
- Intuitive Environment
- Be more productive and efficient, and enjoy the freedom and creativity that comes from working with world-class tools perfectly designed for the job. The intuitive environment and controls of Lightroom are easy to master and let you quickly and smoothly accomplish your photography tasks
- Accelerated Performance
- Get your digital photography tasks done fast and have more time to shoot and promote your work. Already quick performance has been dramatically accelerated in Lightroom 3, saving you time from first look to final image
- Tethered Shooting
- Instantly import and view images as you shoot them with tethered capture, available for select cameras. Use it to make an immediate, highly detailed check of your shot, the lighting, or the shooting setup. Or get instant feedback from clients or subjects
- Develop Presets
- Save time by instantly applying favorite looks to images. When you've perfected a look that you particularly like for an image -- a high-contrast black-and-white effect or a supersaturated color look, for example -- you simply save the settings as a preset and apply it to your other photographs at any time. Many presets are included with Lightroom, and thousands more are available from the thriving worldwide community of Lightroom photographers and experts
- Support for DSLR Video Files
- Take advantage of new support for video files from most digital SLR cameras, which allows you to easily manage and organize both still photographs and video files side by side
- Multiple Monitor Support
- Gain even more speed and efficiency by using a second monitor to enlarge your workspace
- Tools to Manage and Refine Many Images at Once
- Automatically import, rename, group, and even process any number of images from cameras or camera memory cards as they're connected to your computer
Organizing and Managing
- Extensive Image Management Tools
- Take advantage of a powerful set of image management features to organize your photographs, flexibly rate and label them, and find them easily using a wide range of metadata tags and information
- Multiple Viewing Options
- See and evaluate your images quickly and clearly using the Grid view to browse large groups of photos, the Compare view to see selected images side by side, and the Loupe view to zoom in on the finest detail. Instantly switch between views with a single click
- Fast Zooming
- Check for critical sharpness and see small details by zooming in and out of any area of a photo with simple keyboard commands or a click of the mouse
- Collections
- Flexibly group photos according to the criteria or organizing logic that works best for the way you work and the subjects you shoot. It's as easy as selecting the photos and naming the collection. Recall collections with a single click, and easily modify their contents at any time
- Offline Photo Management
- Work with the photos in your Lightroom Library even when the actual image files are stored on media such as external hard drives or DVD discs that are not currently connected to your computer
- DNG Conversion
- Ensure the broadest compatibility and archival security of your proprietary RAW format image files by converting them to the universal DNG format. Convert files already in the Library at any time, or convert new images on import
Finding, Searching, and Sorting Images
- File Renaming
- Make your images easier to find and sort by creating a more logical and useful naming system than the default filenames provided by your camera. Then rename your photos individually, in batches, or automatically as they're imported from your camera, memory cards, or computer folders
- Simple, Customized Keywording
- Track your photos with the keywords that make sense to you -- just type and apply
- Manual Photo Sorting
- Freely sort your photos in whatever order you prefer by selecting any number of images in the Library -- contiguous or not -- and then dragging them to a new location in the grid. It's that simple
- Single or Group Metadata Stamping
- Add as much information to a photo as you like, either individually or to groups of selected images. Store metadata sets as presets and apply them to one photo or to hundreds with a single click
- Advanced Search and Sort
- Use a wide range of searching, sorting, and powerful metadata filtering criteria to quickly find just the photo you want, whether your library contains hundreds of images or tens of thousands
- IPTC/EXIF/XMP Metadata Support
- Make your photos easier to identify, track, find, and analyze. Lightroom accesses, preserves, and allows you to edit a comprehensive set of metadata entries, including standard IPTC, EXIF, and XMP data
- Import or Export of Keywords Sets
- Create a system for tracking and categorizing your images with keywords and then easily synchronize that system between different computers. Export your keyword sets to external files, and import new sets whenever needed. It's easy to transfer them from one computer or user to another
Importing and Exporting
- Easy Image Importing
- Save time with fast image importing. The newly designed import interface is easy to set up and navigate, with clear visual indications of where your photos will be located and how they'll be organized after you've imported them
- Metadata Stamp on Import
- Efficiently combine image management tasks by applying custom metadata or metadata presets to images as you import them
- Timesaving Presets for Import or Export
- Easily save frequently used settings such as metadata, keywords, naming rules, and more. Apply your presets anytime, including on import, and create custom export presets
- Metadata Stamp on Output
- Add metadata stamps with your copyright, instructions for contacting you, or other information to every photo you print or send out
Printing
- More Flexible Print Layout
- Showcase your work in more creative formats using highly customizable print layouts, which you can save as reusable templates. With the new custom print layout creation tool, you just drag one image or several shots onto a page and resize or reposition them as you like
Sharing
- Flickr Integration
- Use Lightroom almost seamlessly with Flickr, a Yahoo! service. Upload your images directly to Flickr from within the Lightroom 3 Library. When friends or clients post comments and ratings on your Flickr galleries, you can immediately see their feedback in the Lightroom 3 Library alongside your images
- One-Click Publishing to Your Website
- Export your HTML or Adobe Flash Player compatible web galleries directly to the web in a single click. Just save your web server information as an FTP preset, and there's no need for a separate application
- Easy-to-Share Slide Show Videos with Music
- Show your images to clients, friends, or family with more style and flair using elegant slide shows with music. Slide shows are a breeze to create, and you can share them easily by exporting them as videos, even in high definition
- Output Web Galleries to HTML or Flash
- Easily present your photos in an HTML or Adobe Flash Player compatible web gallery, which you can preview before publishing. Save time by uploading your gallery directly from Lightroom 3 and by using gallery templates -- a selection of elegant templates is already built into Lightroom, and you can create and save your own
| System Requirements |
Computer: Pentium 4; Intel Mac Operating System: Windows XP SP3, Vista Home Premium (32/64-bit), Vista Business (32/64-bit), Vista Ultimate (32/64-bit), Vista Enterprise (32/64-bit), 7 (32/64-bit); Mac OS X 10.5, 10.6 Memory: 2GB Hard Drive: 1GB Display: 1024 x 768 Hardware: Optical drive |
| Languages | Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Swedish |
REVIEW SNAPSHOT®
by PowerReviews(based on 20 reviews)
Ratings Distribution
100%
of respondents would recommend this to a friend.
Pros
- Versatile (16)
- Easy to navigate (15)
- Accurate colors (14)
- Easy to collaborate across programs (12)
- Easy to customize (12)
Cons
Best Uses
- Professional quality (16)
- Presentations (3)
- Reviewer Profile:
- Quality oriented (16)
- Primary use:
- Personal (11), Business (9)
REVIEWS
Reviewed by 20 customers
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Displaying reviews 1-20
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
- Easy To Collaborate Across Programs
- Easy To Customize
- Easy To Navigate
- Versatile
Cons
- Freezes or Crashes
- Needs plenty of RAM
Best Uses
- Professional Quality
Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
What this product can do is wonderful. Now, with lens distortion correction and improved noise reduction, it is better than ever. However you will need to up your RAM if you find it a bit slow when processing changes to your images. I also experienced some freezing at times, especially when processing large files or using the heal/clone tool. I have 2009 iMac with 2-2GB 1033Mhz DDR3 (4GB RAM) and had to upgrade to 8GB total in order to get this working at a productive speed. The upgrade was really cheap. Cheap enough to make it well worth it. Although I was frustrated for a bit, I am now loving Lightroom 3.
So, install it and see how it runs. According to your machine and your personal standards, you can decide whether or not you need to upgrade your memory to get the results you need.
Overall, Lightroom 3 is state-of-the-art image processing. It will lighten underexposed areas, recover blown highlights, adjust colors independently, correct lens distortion, provide sharpening with controllable parameters, and more. This program will help even the average photographer rediscover his/her work as those awful pictures with white skies and black foregrounds are balanced to a correct exposure. If there is some detail hidden in your shot, Lightroom will pull it out and make it pop.
- Primary use:
- Personal
Pros
- Easy To Navigate
- Versatile
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
I hate post processing photos. LR3 gets you in and out fast. Noise reduction is fantastic. Organizing is very nice.
- Primary use:
- Personal
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
- Easy To Customize
- Fast
- Versatile
Cons
- Difficult To Navigate
Best Uses
- Professional Quality
Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
Great for large amounts of images, very fast interface. Goofy library is taking me forever to get used to, that's the only thing keeping me from giving 5 stars.
- Primary use:
- Personal
Pros
- Easy To Collaborate Across Programs
- Easy To Customize
- Easy To Navigate
Cons
Best Uses
- Organizing and editing
Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
I am strictly an outdoor/nature photographer. After trying the trial version of LR2, and LR3 beta, I decided to buy LR3. I am glad I did. I like the developer for editing photos that don't require more heavy handed PS layers or HDR blending. The brush adjustment with auto mask is an excellent feature that makes the program worth the price alone in my opinion. I can't quite understand why, but this program has changed the way I shoot digital. I try more straight shots now than before, knowing that LR3's tools will do the job without a lot of time at the computer.
- Primary use:
- Personal
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
- Easy To Navigate
- Versatile
Cons
Best Uses
- Professional Quality
Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
Great tool for managing workflow. Very easy to use and make minor to moderate adjustments without ever going to Photoshop.
- Primary use:
- Personal
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
- Easy To Collaborate Across Programs
- Easy To Customize
- Easy To Navigate
- Versatile
Cons
Best Uses
- Professional Quality
- Workflow improvment
Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
I am really enjoying Lightroom!
It definitely improved my workflow. Before I would upload each image into Photoshop, to do color correcting or small adjustments. But, here I can quickly go through images and edit, star, and even add some effects to the images, it saves so much time!
- Primary use:
- Business
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
- Easy To Collaborate Across Programs
- Versatile
Cons
- Difficult To Navigate
Best Uses
- Professional Quality
Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
Anyone who wants to create a much faster workflow.... Shoot raw and use lightroom. I am still getting used to navigating my way around this latest version, but it all looks good so far.
- Primary use:
- Business
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
- Easy To Customize
- Easy To Navigate
- Versatile
Cons
Best Uses
- Photojournalism
- Professional Quality
Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
A writer and photographer, time is important, and in short supply. Lightroom has reduced my importing, developing, and metadata input by at least 60 percent thanks to its easily created presets. The same goes for image exports specific to my online and print clients. Tweaking the image is effortless. But the best part of Lightroom is the learning curve. After watching a couple of Adobe TV tutorials and a few test images to creat the presents, I hit the ground running in about two hours. Certainly I have much more to learn about Lightroom, but it started paying its way in two hours. Beauty!
- Primary use:
- Business
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
I'm currently setting up a photography studio in my basement and bought this program to professionally and efficiently edit my pictures. So far, I'm not disappointed. This program is great!
- Primary use:
- Business
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
- Easy To Collaborate Across Programs
- Easy To Customize
- Easy To Navigate
- Versatile
Cons
- Long learning curve
Best Uses
- Educational Purposes
- Presentations
- Professional Quality
Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
The only Con. is long learning curve for best work
- Primary use:
- Personal
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
- Easy To Collaborate Across Programs
- Easy To Customize
- Easy To Navigate
- Versatile
Cons
Best Uses
- Professional Quality
Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
I originaly downloaded the beta version of this software from the Adobe website. It was so user friendly worked seamlessly with photoshop cs4 and quickly became the only editing software I use.
That when the 30 day free access was up I had it over nighted so I wouldn't have to go a day without it.
- Primary use:
- Personal
Pros
- Easy To Customize
- Easy To Navigate
- Raw Processing
- Versatile
Cons
Best Uses
- Professional Quality
Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
I had downloaded an earlier version of Lightroom on a G4 Mac, was not overly impressed, and kept on using Canon's DPP and iPhoto.
I now have an Intel MacBook Pro (4 GB) and when Lightroom 3 and Aperture 3 came out at roughly the same time, I decided to try them both; but in truth, I never did install Aperture because a) It requires about a gigabyte of disk space for the application vs Lightroom's 100 megabyte, b) As best I can tell from the feature list on Aperture, it does not have lens distortion correction or a gradient filter which are both great features of LR3, c) Lightroom has, from what I can tell, much better layout capabilities for printing, and d) Lightroom dominates the market right now, represents an important product to Adobe, and might be expected to have more future enhancements.
There are still aspects of Lightroom that I have not absorbed, but I have found it easier than either iPhoto or DPP to improve (or as I have begun calling it, "tart up") an image.
After a couple of weeks using Adobe's download version, I ordered a licensed version from B&H. The program is worth the price.
- Primary use:
- Personal
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
- Easy To Customize
- Easy To Navigate
- Versatile
Cons
Best Uses
- Professional Quality
Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
all I have to say is WOW! Every feature in lightroom is worth checking out. and I have probably cut my post-processing time in half then when I was using digital photo professional. And once you learn the quick-keys, you can really motor out some great pictures fast. I recommend this product to anyone who likes photography.
- Primary use:
- Personal
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
- Easy To Collaborate Across Programs
- Easy To Customize
- Easy To Navigate
- Versatile
Cons
Best Uses
- Professional Quality
Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
I have been using the trial verision and just purchased the 3.0 its been stable on my iMac and have had no problems. I love the filters that have been added and like that I can make my own and download others. I really would like to combo this with Photoshop CS5. The lightroom is easy to use and I find it a snap to import and export my photos with my watermarks and filters applied.
- Primary use:
- Business
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
- Easy To Collaborate Across Programs
- Versatile
Cons
Best Uses
- Professional Quality
Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
I did the upgrade from CS4 to CS5 and it was pretty easy. The new content aware stuff is amazing... it's so easy to erase utility wires now.
- Primary use:
- Business
Pros
- Easy To Collaborate Across Programs
- Easy To Navigate
Cons
Best Uses
- Photo editing
Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
I had been using the beta version of Lightroom 3 since January 2010, and all I can say is that I like this program. I was trying to decide between Lightroom 3 and Capture NX2, but after trying both I decide for Lightroom due to they easy of use and nice workflow. It has a very good noise reduction feature. The program run smoothly in my computer, and so far no crashes or problems associated to this program. I'm still learning post-processing but I think is a really good program.
- Primary use:
- Personal
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
- Easy To Collaborate Across Programs
- Easy To Customize
- Easy To Navigate
- Versatile
Cons
Best Uses
- Presentations
- Professional Quality
Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
I do 90% of my weddings using only LR. No need to go to PS
- Primary use:
- Business
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
- Easy To Collaborate Across Programs
- Easy To Navigate
- Versatile
Cons
Best Uses
- Presentations
- Professional Quality
Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
I am finally getting organized. Lightroom 3 makes it easier for me to classify and organize my photos.
- Primary use:
- Business
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
- Professional Quality
Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
Absolutely love it, and love that it can function as pretty much your only editing tool. I tried Aperture for 30 days, and prefer LR3, despite the fact that I am otherwise a dedicated Apple user. LR3 is faster, easier to figure out without supporting training. Has a better retouch tool, better noise reduction. Strongly recommend.
- Primary use:
- Business
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
- Easy To Collaborate Across Programs
- Easy To Customize
- Easy To Navigate
- Versatile
Cons
- Pricey
Best Uses
- Photo editing
- Professional Quality
Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
Love this software. I have been debating if I should L3 or Aperture. I decided on L3 because it's easy to use, intuitive, and lots of on-line support. The import feature is so easy, and importing to two device is a breeze. I'm still discovering new features that is why I only gave it 4 stars instead of 5.
- Primary use:
- Personal
Displaying reviews 1-20
Additional Software
- Price: $399.95
Item is non-cancelable and non-returnable.
If you purchase this software and receive an older disc with Silver Efex Pro, you can get a free upgrade to Silver Efex Pro 2 upon registration with Nik Software.
Tablets
- Price: $349.00
- Click to see current price
Storage Devices
- Price: $69.95
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