Noob question LR vs. DPP

When I first got my camera I installed DPP and was really happy with what it let me do to pictures. Then I saw most people are using LightRoom to do what I'm doing with DPP, but I don't know why. What does LR give you that DPP does not?

DPP is a raw conversion tool. Lightroom is a raw conversion tool, with a library management system, and photo editing software system included. In other words lightroom does a heck of a lot more than DPP. DPP is free, does a good job at what it does, and has the advantages of using your camera's settings as a starting point. But I find that I like lightroom more though. The tools seem more intuitive to me.

When I switched to LR it took a few days to get used to it, but its nice to have a file managment system built in, being able to build collections is real nice and keeps me from making mult. copies of the image if I want it in different collections (I have the same image of my daughter in, Portraits, Dance, Kids).

I also now prefer the tools and work flow of LR more so then DPP

I was a die hard DPP user for many years. I could not stand Adobe colours but they have made big improvements in the last few years and now with camera profiles added it's even better.

It took a lot to push me to Adobe. First off I used DPP as my converter, converted to TIFF and then did the final work in PS. OK for a handful of shots but mass edits were a nightmare, not to mention the storage space required for the TIFFs. LR's catalogue system remembers all your adjustments so after Jpeg output, transfer to CD, etc you can can delete them. Jpeg storage does not take much space but you can output the processed images a year later with few mouse clicks. You can do the same with DPP but there is no output sharpening option. LR's output page also has a lot of added features DPP does not.

LR has far better highlight recovery, NR and as the members stated all types of adjustments DPP does not offer. I have PS so I will occasionally export and image into PS for advanced editing and back into LR. Do you have PS? If not you can do that with Elements but there is an added cost for that. Not necessary as you can pretty much do everything you need to with LR. I came off PS so I am kind of hooked on it. A local award winning photographer who has a fine art printing business does everything via LR.

LR takes a while to get used to. I did not like it at first but now I could no live without it. It cut my PP time at least in half. For my hobby shots I still use PS because I use sharpening actions. You can't use actions in LR.

One more thing LR offers is thousands of presets and many are free. I have hundreds and I never paid for one of them.

Try the free download and youtube has tons of great videos on how to use it. Only thing is be very careful where you place your catalogue when you first open LR . If you don't it will pick a location and you will have to look for it. Mine is on my primary external drive.

Another thing. DPP has recipes which is great however it will change everything on all photos each time you use it. The sync feature in LR lets you select what you want to sync. Colour only, sharpening only, or several selections so you previous edits are not effected.

digital paradise wrote in post #16016948
Another thing. DPP has recipes which is great however it will change everything on all photos each time you use it. The sync feature in LR lets you select what you want to sync. Colour only, sharpening only, or several selections so you previous edits are not effected.

You can get (sort of) the same, by selecting the images you want to alter in the main window, hit Cmd-T for the Tool palette, then adjust whatever setting you want. It will be changed on all images, while other settings remain unaltered.

That is true. Instead of "select all".