Portraiture plugin - PS or LR version?

I'm finding I'm using LR more and more for normal photography, and only fire up PS for stuff that really needs some heavy tweaking. Been looking at the Portraiture plugin and looks pretty darn cool. I downloaded the PS version because it seems to do a couple more things, but nothing too significant. But then I wonder why if I intend to do most of my processing in LR. I'm not a professional, just a major, obsessive enthusiast who wants to take good family portraits with new baby growing up.

What are your thoughts?

Like you, I am a photographer tragic, and my workflow uses both LR and PS but I use nearly all of my plug ins in CS. I have a few plug ins such as NIK, etc that may be used in both LR and PS but I tend to use them in PS.

For my workflow I use LR to catalogue and do global adjustments to get an idea of which images will become my keepers. Once I decide which ones I will work with I move to PS.

I like to do my major editing in PS because I can use layers and masks to do local adjustments and have much more control over my adjustments using these tools.

I used to do all basic edits in Lightroom and my complex stuff in Photoshop. I just installed CS5 and I am taking the Lynda.com training to learn how to use it. I plan to transition over to all PS in the near future. I just feel that working in one software application simplifies everything.

I just installed Portraiture today for Photoshop and have played with it, so far I am pretty impressed with it.

Good points, guys. Getting the LR version would probably suffice for now, but I guess the PS version would give the ultimately smartest choice.

troypiggo wrote in post #10584822
Good points, guys. Getting the LR version would probably suffice for now, but I guess the PS version would give the ultimately smartest choice.

It's all in your preferred workflow and processing needs. If you are in the habit of and prefer using PS for certain processing needs, then it makes sense to have your tools all there. If, though, you prefer to work in Lightroom for all but special needs, then it makes sense to have more tools there.

Of course, there's a good case for getting a package with plug-ins for both so you can be free to choose for any given photo.

It is all personal choice, there is no benefit from doing one vs. the other. It really comes down to what you do most of your work in. I used to use Lightroom exclusively but that was because it fit my workflow better. My business has changed now so Photoshop is going to benefit me with more features and abilities then Lightroom. So it makes sense for me to have all my plug-ins in PS.

The only advantage I can see to having the PS plugin, which is what I use, is the output can be on a seperate layer for additional tweaking without affecting the underlying original if you wish to.

This is true.

I like the ability to have layers in photoshop, this way I can mask them if I need to. For instance, I find with blondes that sometimes Portraiture softens the hair because it has similar hues to some of the skintones. In PS I can mask the layer and brush out the hair areas.

For photographers that work with Photoshop and Lightroom, but primarily with Lightroom*, which would by my estimate be about 90+% of Adobe using enthusiasts and professional photogs; what advantage would there be to Portraiture for Photoshop over Portraiture for Lightroom?

And what limitations or workflow considerations are created by Portraiture for Lightroom when going to Photoshop is deemed necessary?

*Probably the main purpose of Lightroom and the reason it is so popular with photographers, is, besides it's cataloging ability, because it allows one to avoid having to open Photoshop as often.

I don't think anybody, besides technogeeks that like playing with it for it's own sake, WANT's to go to Photoshop to retouch portraits. Usually, it's more like one goes to PS when one has to because it's the only way to do many things. Photoshop is a slow and cumbersome program that can only deal with one photo at a time, another shortcoming Lightroom largely alleviates.