difference in photo editing software

what is the difference light room, photoshop elements, and CS5????

In lightroom you can't do layers. You can't crop out and place one image on top of the other.

I THINK Elements is like cs5 but not as "blown out" on all the gizmos it comes with.

and cs5 you can do...just about everything with it. Layers, color adjustments, cloning etc. etc.

I think that's the difference basically... oh and the price. haha.

mosteller wrote in post #11857830
what is the difference light room, photoshop elements, and CS5????

If your asking, please dont get cs5. Learn lightroom. Its a powerful RAW image editor as well as a powerful digital asset management program. Lightroom is a all in one program.

Ive got cs5 30 day trial...and im doin well with it, since there are tutorials on youtube. I just want to know the difference in the 3. I doubt Ill be able to afford the cs5.

Get the 30 day trial of each, learn what you can and decide for yourself.

Lightroom has the same Raw processor as the full version of Camera Raw in CS5, so in that sense the two share the same Raw processor and Elements has a "Lite" version of Camera Raw.

From there, the paths differ -- Lightroom "wraps" its editing tools with tools and an integrated interface for organizing and outputting final images that make common tasks for photographers work smoothly and efficiently and has some other very nice features for working through your various things. But, Photoshop and Elements are built around the Photoshop editor, which is made for sophisticated and powerful image editing on a bitmap and graphical level.

The two platforms (Lightroom along with Photoshop CSx/Elements) work together well as companion pieces -- any people prefer a Raw-centric workflow using Lightroom as their "main" app and occasionally jump to one of their image editing programs. Others like to use LR for organizing tasks and "basic" edits then jump routinely into Photoshop. Of course others prefer to stay in Photoshop, use Camera Raw for relevant tasks and then rely heavily on the image editor capabilities.

See the explanations for Pixel Editing and Parametric Image Editing (PIE) here:

http://www.dpbestflow.​org/links/36

thanks for the info

Thanks for posting this. I actually had the same question. I used Photoshop back in college, which was a decade ago. I liked it, but lightroom didn't exist then and I was wondering exactly what it did.

It seems like you don't really need lightroom if you have PS, but that it's not a total waste to get both.

I get the student pricing since I went back to grad school now, so I'll be getting at least one of them.

Sauer Grapes wrote in post #11865520
Thanks for posting this. I actually had the same question. I used Photoshop back in college, which was a decade ago. I liked it, but lightroom didn't exist then and I was wondering exactly what it did.

It seems like you don't really need lightroom if you have PS, but that it's not a total waste to get both.

I get the student pricing since I went back to grad school now, so I'll be getting at least one of them.

True that you don't need Lightroom. Lightroom was designed to give an integrated approach for photographers to do most common tasks we face from day to day, but anything Lightroom can do can be done by other applications if you don't mind switching from one interface to another -- either using the Photoshop approach of opening numerous dialogs and tools or going "wide" and using multiple apps combined to do all that Lightroom can do with one integrated app!

tonylong wrote in post #11865856
True that you don't need Lightroom. Lightroom was designed to give an integrated approach for photographers to do most common tasks we face from day to day, but anything Lightroom can do can be done by other applications if you don't mind switching from one interface to another -- either using the Photoshop approach of opening numerous dialogs and tools or going "wide" and using multiple apps combined to do all that Lightroom can do with one integrated app!

Yeah--I don't use lightroom, because I kinda have my own way of organizing things, but I definately recommend it. Same great raw converter as cs5 (ACR). Good non-destructive editing. Good UI. Good file management. Makes quick efficient work of tons of photos. It's an all-in-one solution. Gives basic retouching (quite powerful actually, plus plugins), file management, good raw conversion, etc. That+ elements is affordable and most all anyone will need.

CS5 is for those who want to spend more time in post, or enjoy it, or need it (i use cs5, but it's definitely not necessary). Elements is like a lighter easier to use (in some ways) version of CS5. It's missing some features that you probably won't need. :P

Also, no matter what you pick--don't forget Canon's free DPP software. I find it does a better job with some raw files. I use it often. The UI is not the prettiest, but it's simple, easy to understand, supports most useful tasks, and does a *great* job. And the lens corrections for supported Canon lenses are *great*. Edit: the only downside really is that the noise reduction, especially luma, and the sharpening, aren't as good as in ACR. That plus photoshop elements (less than $100) is all almost everyone needs. Hell, I'm sure I could easily be satisfied with those two programs only.

Remember that Adobe has 30 day trials. You can convert them to the full version if you buy 'em, too.

Oh, and if you want fractal based resizing, gamma correct resizing, deconvolution filters, etc. Don't spend money. Remember free image analyzer. Donate to that guy, he rocks.

woos wrote in post #11865892
Also, no matter what you pick--don't forget Canon's free DPP software. I find it does a better job with some raw files. I use it often. The UI is not the prettiest, but it's simple, easy to understand, supports most useful tasks, and does a *great* job. And the lens corrections for supported Canon lenses are *great*. Edit: the only downside really is that the noise reduction, especially luma, and the sharpening, aren't as good as in ACR. That plus photoshop elements (less than $100) is all almost everyone needs. Hell, I'm sure I could easily be satisfied with those two programs only.

Heh! Over the past year I've become a big booster of DPP despite the fact that I've been Lightroom-centric since it first came out.

Once DPP added horizon straightening I dedided to go ahead and install it. It's fun, and has become my go-to app for quick Raw conversions with shots that don't need a lot of "serious stuff"!