You finally have your first reflex camera in your hands. You have started taking photos like crazy with the automatic mode and you are amazed with the good results it gives you compared to the old compact you had from a few years ago. You take it everywhere, you photograph everything, you like the weight of it, the lens, the zoom, everything.
Once the initial euphoria has passed, you begin to see a flaw in it. It doesn’t focus where you want, it doesn’t expose where you want, it doesn’t blur the background as you would like. You take a look at the and you solve doubts little by little 😉 . One day you dare with the semi-automatic and manual modes of your camera, and you fall in love again, the euphoria and magic of photography return, and this time to stay. A few days later you are still elated, but you miss being able to refine that final image a little more. You don’t know exactly what, but you feel that with some editing that image would improve a lot. Then you decide to take the plunge and throw yourself fully into the world of publishing. And then comes the eternal question. Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Photoshop Lightroom?
Well, like everything in life, it depends 😉 Let’s see what its main advantages and disadvantages are so that you can decide for yourself which is the perfect editor.
Main advantages of Adobe Photoshop
- It allows retouch images very precisely thanks to its many powerful editing tools (clone stamp, patch, etc.).
- lets work by layers with different images, which allows you to fine-tune settings as well as perform montages very effectively.
- It allows record actions: To save you long and monotonous processes that you do over and over again, you can record the process of a series of settings as an action. The next time they all start up with the push of a button.
- Allows you to edit videos, add text and other design tools not purely photographic.
- It allows you to add all kinds of effects to the image (lights, reflections, etc.).
Main drawbacks of Adobe Photoshop
- Record directly on top of the originalso if you are careless it is easy to lose the original photograph.
- Does not edit RAW files (so you have to go through Lightroom or Adobe Camera RAW first and import it into Photoshop from there).
- Does not organize the imagesto do it you must do it externally (for example with Adobe Bridge) or these other programs to organize and order photos.
- You have to work with the images individual.
- unintuitive and difficult to use.
- It is expensiveso you have to think carefully if you are going to squeeze its full potential.
Ideal Photoshop User Type
Anyone with a lot of free time, patience, and a desire to learn can be a Photoshop user 😉 , but the truth is that Adobe Photoshop is aimed at high-advanced photographers, graphic designers, professional portrait artists, fashion editors, etc. Photoshop has been the undisputed king of editing since this concept exists in digital format, and it still is, but it is not suitable for everyone, since most photographers looking for basic adjustments get lost among so many possibilities, actions, buttons, etc. Photoshop is as complete as it is dense. Luckily there are other options that, depending on what aspects, have little to envy their “older brother”.
Main advantages of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
- It is easyintuitive and quick to use.
- It is specially designed for photographersso it takes into account their needs and eliminates more superfluous or unnecessary elements or actions
- It allows organize very effective all your images, tag them, share them on Facebook, rate them, and so on.
- non destructive editing. It works on the original RAW and what it shows is a preview of the image when exported to another format (how it will look once exported to JPEG for example), but the original RAW is not modified. This is very important, because Photoshop does and it is easy to lose the original images irretrievably. With Lightroom you won’t have this problem.
- Allows you to work with several images at the same time (for example to make the same adjustments to all of them).
- It is cheaper than Photoshop (you can buy the license for around €130).
- Combine editing and archiving efficiently (so you can save yourself other programs like Adobe Bridge to organize the images or Camera RAW to edit the RAW files that are the ones that usually accompany Photoshop)
Main disadvantages of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
- Just edit photos
- Can’t add text
- Does not allow mounting
- If the image requires very advanced, specific or detailed adjustments, Photoshop is more complete.
Ideal type of user
As I’ve mentioned before, Lightroom was designed with the specific needs of photographers in mind. Its intuitive and easy-to-use interface, together with the possibility of storing images in a practical and effective way, make Lightroom the perfect option for anyone who just wants to work on the image. If you know Adobe Camera Raw and it works for you, Lightroom is somewhat more extensive, with the advantage that it also allows you to store images efficiently. In other words, if your work doesn’t need very specific touch-ups, or to combine several images (panoramic, HDR, montages, etc.), I dare to assure you that this is your program.
Where to get Photoshop and Lightroom
Adobe currently offers both Photoshop and Lightroom with monthly subscription plans.. If you don’t know if this is for you or you’re not sure, you can always use the free trial month they offer.
They have various plans with Photoshop, Lightroom, or the entire suite of Adobe applications (video, graphic design, etc.). They also have a specific plan for “Photography”, which includes both Photoshop and Lightroom (so you don’t have to choose) for 144 Euros per year (or 12 Euros if you prefer to pay monthly).
you have it all here.
summarizing
I have to admit that I love the magic of Photoshop to create nonexistent worlds, impossible lights, incredible images. I am fascinated by its perfection, its details, its INFINITE possibilities. But it is also complicated, heavy, difficult to learn and tiring. When you spend hours retouching an image, tinkering, taking notes, doing trial and error, looking for tutorials on the internet, and you realize that with another program you would do it in a third of the time and headache… Anyway 😉
That was my process; start with Photoshop, which at that time fascinated me, because at that moment what my body asked me to do was precisely create other realities, beyond photography.
But when my artistic-not-exclusively-photographic streak calmed down a bit 😉 , I discovered Lightroom. And what a great find. Next to Photoshop it is very easy, the results are incredibly good, the possibility of storing the images within the same program is great and very practical. It occupies less space (3 programs in 1) and has everything you may need to improve your image at an amateur, intermediate and advanced level.
From my humble opinion, if I had to recommend one for exclusively photographic uses, I would have it clear: Lightroom 😉 (Of course, it should be noted that both are EXCELLENT programs 🙂 )
And if you want other free alternatives to Photoshop, you have these, among which you will find Photopea, for example.
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