Adobe ACR

I recently installed the LR 3.4 update. Does this also mean that Adobe Raw 6.4 was installed with it?

I also have CS5. Will this work with CS5, or do I need to download this separately for LR3.4 and CS5?

thanks for the help

I'm pretty sure LR 3.4 uses the same engine as ACR 6.4, but it does not actually use the ACR 6.4 files that CS5 would use. So having LR 3.4 does not mean your CS5 with an older ACR will be able to open the newer RAWs supported in 6.4.

You just need to open Bridge and run the Help/Updates utility and you will get ACR updated.

So you know, Lightroom is an executable program in which the Raw processing engine is built-in. ACR was designed as a plug-in for Bridge and the Photoshop Editor so it is just a single discreet file.

I am new at these programs and how they execute behind the scenes, so I am asking these questions to learn a little more.

The "full" ACR 6.4 downloads as part of the LR3.4 upgrade. It is seamless, and I will not show up in my Windows folders (Control Panel) as a separate program.
I believe that ACR is really not a full blown software, it has been designed as a plugin type of software.

In CS5, the plugin is separate from the program?

Sorry if I sound uninformed...it is because I am.

Why in the heck does everyone get so anal-ytical about what ACR is or is not?

Tony's advice is the best and simplest method to check for and install any Adobe CSx updates.

If you have the latest versions of LR and Photoshop/Bridge/ACR, you have no worries. But if you have a major version mismatch like LR 3.4 and Photoshop CS2, and you choose Edit in PS from LR, the image will be edited subject to the limitations of the CS2's version of ACR.

IOW, you'll lose any advanced edits made by LR,

It is and it isn't. It is a complete entity in itself but it cannot operate unless it is integrated into the master program PSCS. Think of a machine that has a small control component that plugs into a socket on the machine and receives its power through that socket. When an improved version of the component is developed you just throw away the old one and plug in the new. That's how PSCS and ACR work, which is convenient because you don't have to download the whole PSCS every time there is an update to ACR (every 3 months). In LR, however, the control unit is hidden inside the machine so every 3 months you have to update the whole thing.

tzalman wrote in post #12426036
It is and it isn't. It is a complete entity in itself but it cannot operate unless it is integrated into the master program PSCS. Think of a machine that has a small control component that plugs into a socket on the machine and receives its power through that socket. When an improved version of the component is developed you just throw away the old one and plug in the new. That's how PSCS and ACR work, which is convenient because you don't have to download the whole PSCS every time there is an update to ACR (every 3 months). In LR, however, the control unit is hidden inside the machine so every 3 months you have to update the whole thing.

Chase
Some of us are somewhat anal -me- and need to understand stuff that will not make a difference in the long run

Elie
The way you explained this is exactly how my mind works. Thank you for the help.
BTW- I just went to the update windows of both LR3.4 and CS5 and performed the updates. So now I know based on Elie's explanation that LR is good to go, and so is CS5, as I can now see that ACR 6.4 is listed as one of the plugins.

Thanks again