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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.
| 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 |
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Most Liked Positive Review
First time user of Lightroom3
This is my first purchase of any type of software for my post processing. I love photography and along with hiking it is my favorite passtime/hobby. The first thing I noticed after loading ...Read complete review
This is my first purchase of any type of software for my post processing. I love photography and along with hiking it is my favorite passtime/hobby. The first thing I noticed after loading it us was how intuitive the program was. In just a couple of minutes I was able to import a catalog of photos, tweek them by adjusting tone, brightness, etc., setup some presets for export, put in a copyright and then export back to their original file folder. I am a Nurse Practitioner and computers are not my strong suit but by just viewing the opening window I saw all of the tools in a flash that I needed to get started. AND I love the workflow "agenda" of the program. No more saying to myself "well now what do I need to do and which window do I go to to do it". I give the company Kuddos for giving such incredibly professional help in their "help" section. To have the person instructing to be a published expert on using this software gives the product integrity and also gave me confidence that I learning the product from the best in the field, not simply following uninspired directions from a software programmer. This truely is a jewel of a product and well worth the money spent. My photos have never looked better and I have never been so excited to find the time to sit in front of a computer. I am afraid I have not had enough time with the product nor the comparable experiences to give any negative feedback or constructive criticism.
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Most Liked Negative Review
Needs work
Adobe version of a photo management and developing software. Well, the developing aspect is extremely good, with tools like the dust remover which is seamless and the lens correction. It also offers a ...Read complete review
Adobe version of a photo management and developing software. Well, the developing aspect is extremely good, with tools like the dust remover which is seamless and the lens correction. It also offers a plethora of options for color balancing, sharpening etc. No need to turn to Photoshop for most photography needs.
The output section is also very complete and easy to use.
The database function on the other hand still need much work. For instance, just move a folder on your HD and look at Lightroom get completely lost, or the way it deals with duplicate files; awful. Trying to sync multiple computers is a nightmare as well.
Also, version 3.3 is quite buggy, at least on PC. One often get corruption on displayed images, necessitating a shutdown cycling of Lightroom, and it has problems detecting system fonts on Win7 x64.
The software is also very expensive for hobbyist, so are the upgrades.
Reviewed by 347 customers
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Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
Lightroom is great. Easy to install and get moving. My only complaint is there is no manual included, no tutorials, just the disc. For first time users it is a must to purchase the lightroom book or get tutorials online.
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Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
Lightroom is incredibly easy to use, making most photo editing tasks simple. The design of the software makes it much faster than other programs available I've used. The design of the user interface aids the user in reaching the full capabilities of the package in a short period of time.
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Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
I am an amauture photography always looking for a fun shot to share from a trip. Lightroom gives me the ability to edit like a pro. It does not do everything Photoshop will do but is customized to the main functions a photographer needs.
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This is for the photographer. I've upgraded from Elements and am learning the new software. This is exactly what I needed; a tool that can take me where I need to go.
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I haven't had too much time to use this product yet, but all I can say is: Where have you been my whole life?
A must have for anyone who is even the slightest bit serious about photography.
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Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
The program is great in what it can do but it is designed as if you are running it on an iPhone. I guess you just have to buy it to see what I mean.
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Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
I recently switched from Aperture to Lightroom for managing both my personal images as well as images for my photography business. Lightroom is proving equal in every way, and actually more intuitive with respect to file organization. It is taking some time to learn the new workflow of Lightroom, especially with regard to editing, but everything presents itself clearly in the layout of the software.
The only problem I have encountered was during the import process creating my catalogs. It was not uncommon for me to need to force quit Lightroom and reattempt in import. It never took more than one restart, but I wish it had always worked the first time.
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Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
a great product for those that want more file management, they are already managed in my computer, now the program wants to do it all over again. tough learning curve.
once you have a picture you cannot save a tradisional way, an export auto save feature, just not for me, it may get better I don't know.
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Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
Great for simple editing and for navigating. Much more user friendly than bridge. Combined with powerfull plug ins is the way to go. The less photoshop the better.
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Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
The process flow is useful if you have no post experience, and catalog management is phenomenal if your image library is vast. This is all well and good, but Lightroom really shines when you start doing the actual post WORK.
Intuitive options allow for quick learning, and the functionality built in is fantastic. Adjust exposure, white balance (with custom dropper feature for you wise gray-card users!), the usual Saturation etc-- it's a complete package! I highly recommend Lightroom 3!
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Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
I use Lightroom to streamline the photo editing process. It easily integrates with Photoshop and makes saving multiple file simple.
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Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
I'm still working on establishing an efficient work flow, and I've found numerous helpful tutorials, so I just have to decide which one makes the most sense for me, and tweak it to fit my needs.
Already I'm wondering how I ever got along without this program. I always shoot in RAW, and this is by far the best program I've found for converting my images. Still in the learning curve, but I'm impressed so far!
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Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
I have been using elements for several years but when I bought my new computer I wanted to change my photography software. SO, I chose Lightroom 3. It's fantastic! I also bought Scott Kelby's book to go with it - the software is powerful, a must have for any photographer. I highly recommend it! As for down side on it, I haven't found one YET.
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Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
i love how fast work flow is with this. Worth every penny.
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Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
Correcting photos
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Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
This Lightroom 3 software is a great overall photo editor for beginners to advanced photographers. I've only had it for a little while but the interface is easy to use and I love using it to edit RAW pictures.
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Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
I used to be an avid Aperture user, and felt it was getting to laggy and slow and Apple wasn't updating it fast enough, so after my last big trip, I imported and have been editing that library from Lightroom now and I won't even look back!!
The library management is great, the editing is phenomenal, noise reduction technology is totally amazing and well implemented. The integration with Photoshop for minor touchups is seamless and works flawlessly!!
I can't wait for version 4 to come out (sounds like very soon) for the integration of "places" and GPS data like Aperture had!!
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Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
I am a Pentax dSLR user and shoot RAW extensively. I had been using Silkypix V3 (here to fore SP) and was happy with it. However, when I upgraded to the Pentax K5 (super camera, pretty much best APSc dSLR, but that is another review)I found that I needed to upgrade SP to V5 and that sent me onto research into new software.
I trialed LightRoom3, Corel x4 and Bibble, but I did a pretty deep investigation into LR3. I already owned SP3 and liked it so I did not actually test SP5. However, the cost to upgrade was actually $200 which was on par with new software from above.
I ended up buying LR3 at B&H for less than $200. It is very stable, has all the functions and workflow features I wanted. It does batch well, has full image adjustments, many presets plus the ability to create presets (very important). It is about as fast as SP in batch raw conversion.
Some gaps versus SP; It does not have an auto white balance tool nor auto select capability other than tone (confirmed with Adobe). It is not browser based so you must import photos. This is a different process than what I am used to. Not a bad thing just that I prefer browser base photo selection.
The price at $200 was less than the upgrade of SP3 to SP5.
Bibble was good as well but it was roughly the same price as LR. I thought LR offered more support (both web and user), and the tools were more readilly available.
Corel x4 is a very good JPEG editor and is more stable than previous verions, but its RAW conversion process is not nearly as good as the above programmes. I use Corel X3 for JPEG editing, and it is fine and at the price (under $100) is easily the best value for JPEG editing, offering most of what you find in Photoshop at a lower price.
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Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
I use this product to process Raw photos, and manage a large collection of images. THe software is intuitive to use. My only complaint is the native support to edit in photoshop is not for elements.
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Comments about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows:
I'm just an amateur at this and I've been using other editing programs for a long time. On the recommendation of a friend I decided to switch and I love the Lightroom 3 program. I have found it especially easy to make corrections to my photos when needed and to print out the size photos that I need. I use it nearly every day and wouldn't think of changing. So far I haven't found anything in particular that I don't like.
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