Lightroom(1.1), CS and RAW Question

[nighthound]

I picked up Adobe Lightroom (ver 1 with 1.1 update) and I was wondering if Photoshop CS(ver 8) would would function along with Lightroom. I have PS CS3 coming Monday for my MacBook Pro but my older G4 desktop will have PS CS(8) only. It has over 1 GB of Ram and fits the OS requirements by Lightroom. Will PS CS(8)/Lightroom(1, 1.1) be able to work with RAW files from the 5D and 20D? If so, will there be some compromise feature-wise? Thanks in advance.

NH

[aries67]

I don't know the answer to your question sorry but I'm very interested in what you think of Lightroom. ;oP Have you used earlier versions or is this the first time you've tried it?
Cheers

[mdephoto]

NH, I can't remember if CS8 ACR supported the 5D and 20D raw formats or not -- if so, they would be listed in the ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) support for the 3.* versions as CS8 is not going to support the latest versions of ACR (4.1 for example). That also means that the tools that you have in LR are not going to be available to you in CS (fill light, recovery, sharpening, clarity, etc.) since LLR 1.1 is using the ACR 4.1 engine.

You could probably process the raws in LR and save them as dng files and then open them in CS8 and see the changes that you made to the files in LR and go from there.

In terms of using CS8 as your editor from LR -- don't know but it would not hurt to try -- but I am guessing you will not get all of the functionality -- like round tripping -- but I am just guessing here.......

As you probably have guessed you are also going to have some compatibility issues in moving psd files between the MacBook Pro and the G4 if you are careful in the features and functions you use in CS3 (especially if you leave layers open) anyway....

[Ron Lacey]

I picked up Adobe Lightroom (ver 1 with 1.1 update) and I was wondering if Photoshop CS(ver 8) would would function along with Lightroom. I have PS CS3 coming Monday for my MacBook Pro but my older G4 desktop will have PS CS(8) only. It has over 1 GB of Ram and fits the OS requirements by Lightroom. Will PS CS(8)/Lightroom(1, 1.1) be able to work with RAW files from the 5D and 20D? If so, will there be some compromise feature-wise? Thanks in advance.

NH

Lightroom 1 and 1.1 will open 5D and 20D RAW files. PS CS (v8) will open 20D RAW files if you have the ACR 2.4 upgrade, it will not open 5D files, you need PS CS2+ for that I'm afraid.

Ron

[Ron Lacey]

You could probably process the raws in LR and save them as dng files and then open them in CS8 and see the changes that you made to the files in LR and go from there.


Can't see any benefit of saving DNGs to open in PS, the Lightroom develop module is considerably better than PS CS(v8) ACR2. You can send LR files directly to any version of PS you have installed.

Ron

[Ron Lacey]

I don't know the answer to your question sorry but I'm very interested in what you think of Lightroom. ;oP Have you used earlier versions or is this the first time you've tried it?
Cheers

Image processing in LR Develop module is identical to PS CS3 in every respect they are identical.

Ron

[mdephoto]

Image processing in LR Develop module is identical to PS CS3 in every respect they are identical.

Ron

Ron, I will agree that the underlying engine (ACR 4.1) is the same and I assume that this is what you are talking about and thus the capabilities are the same...

I also assume that you will agree that the interface is slightly different ..... for example, you can't grab the histogram in CS3 nor is there anything like the TAT is CS3.... and thus how you go about things can be a "bit" different.....

[Ron Lacey]

Ron, I will agree that the underlying engine (ACR 4.1) is the same and I assume that this is what you are talking about and thus the capabilities are the same...

Yep what LR calls the Develope module.


I also assume that you will agree that the interface is slightly different ..... for example, you can't grab the histogram in CS3 nor is there anything like the TAT is CS3.... and thus how you go about things can be a "bit" different.....

Yes the interface is different in colour stlye and arrangement but the controls or adjustments you can make are identical. Not sure what TAT is:) but yes you're correct about the histogram. I was addressing the the RAW converter in LR not the Library or export modules.

Ron

[aries67]

Image processing in LR Develop module is identical to PS CS3 in every respect they are identical.

Ron

Thanks Ron - I have CS2 atm. I was more interested in the advantages of using Lightroom as a workspace. Is it worth having if you're a serious hobbyist?

[Ron Lacey]

Thanks Ron - I have CS2 atm. I was more interested in the advantages of using Lightroom as a workspace. Is it worth having if you're a serious hobbyist?

I'd say it's worth having if you don't have CS3 just for the RAW converter. I'm not over enthused with it's library module and it has no graphics capabilities. I was able to get it for free by virtue of the fact I was a licensed Rawshooters Premium user, I wouldn't have bought it since I do have CS3. You should download and try out the demo too see if it's for you.

Ron

[aries67]

Thnx Ron. I think I will try the demo out.
ta

[viewfinder]

I have just started to try out Lightroom 1.1 (which is much better than version 1.0).

I agree with what's been mention above regarding the similarity in the develop module. I have CS3 and Bridge, so in a sense I have no need for Lightroom in the RAW conversion workflow, but what is missing in Bridge is the cataloging facilities or the library module.

These are my impression thus far with Lightroom 1.1, still plenty more to learn about it, so these may change as I get used to it:

Pros:

Catalog support (multiple catalogs)
Collection support (arbitrary disjointed sets of images)
Non-destructive virtual copy support
Non-destructive keyword and metadata support (i.e. keywords etc. are stored external to image file - does not modify original images)
Print module
Selective importing
Option to stack RAW+JPEG images when importing
Better search capability (database driven on entire catalog)
Better keyword and metadata search support (database driven on entire catalog)
Better browsing and viewing support
Better presets support
Great compare image support
Interesting and extensible (scriptable) web export, and many other scripting capabilities if you are keen


Cons:

Catalog support - only one catalog can be open at any one time
Selective importing (can't be use as a general browser for all existing images on disk)
No support for opening image in PS directly (need to write to intermediate file)
No support for opening image as Smart Object
Limited direct XMP sidecar file support (VERY slow if enabled...)
Can be very slow at times
Somewhat unstable still on Windows XP


For me the most compelling reason for using Lightroom is the non-destructive cataloging support. I don't like Bridge at all where it has to write keywords and metadata directly back to the image file (JPEG file in particular). From the search/filter perspective, the catalog in Lightroom is database driver and cover your entire asset, while Bridge is only limited to the current folder.

Though I wish Adobe would address the cons soon, these are basically the features I like about Bridge. The slowness and instability is a major concern too. A disclaimer here regarding the slowness and instability - it could be due to my particular computer though I wish I could find a way to improve/solve these.


Regards,
Jonathan