The choice between Lightroom and Photoshop is one issue that keeps coming up from our readers. Because they are unclear of the differences between the two, many beginners find it difficult to make this choice. I’ll discuss the fundamental differences between these two Adobe software suites in this post, as well as the functions they serve and the capabilities of Photoshop that Lightroom does not have.
One of the most widely used Raw developers is Lightroom (Classic).
Explain Photoshop.
Since its debut in 1990, Photoshop has evolved into a comprehensive software suite with a wide range of features and capabilities to serve not only photographers but also graphic designers, architects, animators, publishers, and even 3D artists. Photoshop was originally designed as a straightforward image editing tool. Think of it as the Cadillac of image editing, capable of unending growth through software updates and upgrades as well as specialized plugins from Adobe and other software vendors, called as “filters.”
Advanced local editing and image manipulation are strengths of Photoshop. Want to combine many photographs to make a panorama? or use a carefully calibrated High Dynamic Range shot? or remove flaws in the skin? Can you make someone look shorter, taller, thinner, or fatter as an alternative?
Photoshop can do all of that and much more, yes. The list of Photoshop’s features will definitely never be complete, thus it would be pointless to try. The term “Photoshopped” has entered our common vernacular as a result of the constant exposure we receive to altered images that may seem real but are fake thanks to Photoshop.
Explain Lightroom.
Digital camera raw image processing is done using Adobe Lightroom. Compared to Photoshop’s finely-grained local and raster editing capabilities, Lightroom frequently places a greater emphasis on global editing and basic local editing than it does on full-fledged image modification.
Prior to utilizing Lightroom, I only used Adobe Camera Raw, which enables the opening, editing, and conversion of Raw files, and Photoshop, which was time-consuming and ineffective.
The hardest challenge was sorting and classifying the altered photos on my hard drive. As my file collection grew, I realized I needed to find a better method for managing my images. And that’s when I discovered Lightroom.
Lightroom is a database-driven Raw image editing and management program that automatically reads and writes information about each image into a new database called “catalog.” This new database contains information about each image, including the camera model, date and time of capture, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and white balance, among other things.
As images are imported, Lightroom offers the capability to automatically add metadata to each picture. You may annotate images with different terms, flags, and star ratings. This makes it exceedingly easy to choose the best pictures from among hundreds of others, edit them selectively or in groups, and then export the altered pictures to online photo-sharing websites like Flickr and Facebook. This type of labeling and indexing is not feasible in Photoshop since it does not keep a database of organized photographs.
The Develop Module in Lightroom
Additionally, there are two versions of Lightroom: Lightroom Classic and Lightroom CC (formerly known as Lightroom Creative Cloud). To keep things simple, I’ll simply talk about Lightroom Classic, which is the desktop version that most photographers use. The term “Lightroom” currently refers to a cross-platform, cloud-based version of Lightroom Classic with less features targeted for beginners. Visit Lightroom vs. Lightroom Classic to learn more about the differences.
Features of Lightroom’s Image Editing Tools
Lightroom comes with a specific set of tools to help you transform raw image data into a polished, processed image suitable for display or printing. The following tools are available in Lightroom’s Develop Module:
- 1. Equipment and Histograms Examples of sub-modules include Histogram, Crop & Straighten, Red Eye Correction, Spot Removal, Graduated Filter, Radial Filter, and Adjustment Brush.
- 2. Camera Profiles, Color, and Black & White Treatment in the Basic Sub-Module; White Harmonics Whites, Blacks, Highlights, Shadows, and Contrast are all characteristics of presence; as are clarity, dehaze, vibrancy, and saturation. Tint and Temperature Tone:
- 3.Level Curve Region: Point Curve; Sub-Module; Highlights, Lights, Darks, and Shadows.
- 4.Hue, Saturation, and Luminance in Color, HSL, and B&W Sub-Module.
- 5. Distinct tones Hue, Saturation, and Balance for Highlights and Hue, Saturation, and Balance for Shadows.
- 6.Detail Sharpening: Luminance, Detail, Contrast, Color, Detail, and Smoothness all help to reduce noise; Amount, Radius, Detail, and Masking Sub-Module.
- 7.In the Lens Corrections, disable Chromatic Aberration and enable Profile Corrections. Lens Profile Sub-Module; Manual: Defocus, Vignetting, and Distortion
- 8.Auto Transform, Transform: X Offset, Y Offset, Aspect, Scale, Rotate, and Vertical are all included in the transform sub-module.
- 9. The Effects of Post-Crop Vignetting Style, Amount, Midpoint, Roundness, Feather, and Highlights are included in the Sub-Module, whereas Amount, Size, and Roughness are included in the Grain.
- 10.Hue and Saturation, Camera Calibration, Red, Green, and Blue Primary: Process Version, Tint, Red, Green, and Blue Shadows Hue and saturation are important.
As you can see, there are a lot of choices, from cropping and basic exposure tweaks to fixing lens-specific problems like barrel distortion. Below is a screenshot of the Histogram and Basic sub-modules:
By storing them as presets, you may make particular alterations to a selection of images. When Adobe updates Lightroom, new sub-modules and other sub-module-specific features become available.
Lightroom offers built-in modules for slideshow creation, printing, exporting photo galleries for the web, and other activities in addition to the aforementioned image editing tools.
Photoshop tools for picture editing
When a Raw image is retrieved from Photoshop, Adobe Camera Raw launches and offers Photoshop access to Lightroom’s image editing tools. Although it doesn’t appear precisely like Lightroom, Photoshop and Camera Raw allow you to do every single image-editing function, including White Balance adjustments. Even minute parameters like Lens Profiles are updated concurrently in both Lightroom and Camera Raw thanks to Adobe’s simultaneous updates. An image of the Camera Raw panel is seen below:
Here is a comparison of the exposure sub-module:
However, Photoshop has considerably more powerful local editing features than Lightroom, and it can even produce graphic design and digital art. Photoshop allows for the infinite stacking of layers to create expertly made HDR images. It’s also feasible to make more complex changes, like replacing cats with dogs. In general, Photoshop is the best tool if you need to do really complex local changes, like erasing items.
Some photographers use Photoshop and Adobe Bridge as part of their workflow without utilizing Lightroom. Bridge is neither a database or catalog system, although sharing certain capabilities with Lightroom. Think of it as a browser or file manager. A similar search with Lightroom could take a few seconds to complete since the database is search-optimized, as opposed to going through all files, which might take some time. If you’ve been using Adobe Bridge, give Lightroom a try. You won’t ever want to use Bridge again.
Photoshop or Lightroom: which should you use first?
Should you start using Photoshop or Lightroom is the primary question. Since Photoshop already includes all of Lightroom’s image alteration tools, it wouldn’t make sense to start using it. For the following reasons, most photographers should always use Lightroom:
- 1.Lightroom is easier to use than Photoshop, and its user interface is particularly made for interacting with and editing raw photo files.
- 2. Lightroom comes with a lot of post-processing tools that are suitable for most photographers.
- 3. Lightroom immediately builds a productive photographic process.
- 4. Lightroom’s ability to quickly go through and edit a large number of photos without the hassle of opening and closing files boosts productivity. For instance, you may quickly apply the identical white balance modifications to several photographs from the same shot using Lightroom.
- 5.Lightroom will assist you in maintaining organization by centralizing all of your photos into an easily searchable and accessible library.
- 6. Lightroom functions as a program for organizing files and media, allowing you to make folders and subfolders on your hard drive and mass-renaming files using templates.
- 7.Photo editing in Lightroom is non-destructive, meaning that the original file is never permanently changed, unlike Photoshop, which blends destructive and non-destructive editing.
- 8. Unless different layers are kept for each adjustment, Photoshop won’t store earlier changes. You may use Lightroom to go back and alter settings after making modifications.
- 9. Lightroom may overlay image information while editing photos. That is not feasible once Photoshop has opened a photo.
These are the advantages of using Lightroom that personally matter to me, even though I’m sure there are many more.
Remember that I previously suggested using Lightroom to begin with. This is due to the fact that Lightroom is unable to execute some operations that Photoshop can. In contrast to Photoshop’s robust healing tools, removing things in Lightroom is feasible but comes with certain restrictions. Lightroom just lacks many extra features, such as the ability to focus stack photos, work with numerous layers, and blend several exposures completely manually.
In general, photographers that do a lot of local editing, stacking, combining several exposures, or intense retouching will benefit greatly from utilizing Photoshop in addition to Lightroom. You’ll probably be OK using Lightroom alone if you just sometimes conduct local editing and make most of your changes globally.
Adobe also provides a Lightroom-only subscription with 1 TB of storage; however, this is not the leaner, cloud-based version of the Lightroom Classic application covered in this article, which has less features. As a result, most photographers should start using the “Photography Plan,” which contains both Photoshop and Lightroom.
If you’re just getting into photography and would like to try out a different image editing application without having to pay a monthly membership fee, look into Adobe Photoshop Elements. It still has a lot of Photoshop’s tools, filters, and functionality even if some of them have been deleted.
Think about Photoshop Elements as a hybrid between a light-weight Photoshop and a light-weight Lightroom. Photographs may be organized, edited, printed, and published using Photoshop Elements, but if you want to use Lightroom’s picture organization capabilities, it can also sync with Lightroom without any issues. If you only occasionally take pictures of your family and sporadically capture scenes from nature and landscapes, Photoshop Elements is a fantastic solution. If you’re interested in how Photoshop Elements and Lightroom differ from one another, see our page comparing them.
For many photographers, using Lightroom and Photoshop together is the optimal photography workflow. All you have to do to edit an image in Photoshop from within Lightroom is to right-click it and choose “Edit in Adobe Photoshop.” After making all the required alterations, saving the image imports the revised version of the image back into Lightroom. When you open the image in Photoshop, this automated two-way conversation takes place. There is no requirement for imports or exports.
If more work in Photoshop is required, you may simply do it in the Library area of Lightroom.
Every photographer requires dependable software in the end. If you think you need more tools for in-the-moment editing, try Photoshop after getting comfortable with Lightroom’s features. But be cautious—using Photoshop can be both pleasurable and annoying. The learning curve for this difficult piece of software is rather severe.
