Adobe Lightroom vs Photoshop CS4 Part II

Photoshop CS4
Having used CS2 and CS3 I thought that CS4 would be just a rebadging of CS3 with a little candy to make me feel good about the upgrade but, whoa CS4 is pretty damn impressive.
I have only just got my version but I like it. The appearance is smoother, sleeker and has some nice features.
Now I know that this a comparison between Lightroom and CS4 but it is totally unfare to compare Lightroom to the complete Photoshop package so lets just look at the Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) and Bridge components to keep things fair.
Bridge is excellent for browsing files and creating workflows which I found particularly hard to do with Lightroom and because I would like Lightroom to have a bridge equivelant, lets not dwell on this part of the review. ACR is where it is at. New tools comparitive to Lightroom obviously made by the same company, designed by the same design crew or at least shared, it is hard to tell them apart. I particularly like the healing tool they have added. It is intuitive and does a great job of blending into the surrounding area. The adjustments tool also has the auto mask which is great. The program layout is not as appealing as Lightroom but it isn't Lightroom it is Photoshop. Just as a side issue, while we are on photoshop (which is a whole new article in itself) there are some great modification to the tools. I like that they added the exposure adjustment tool to the package in the masks.
So if I had the cash which one would I buy. I suppose it depends on a few factors. Either one is great for working in a RAW environment. The tools are very similar and it would be difficult to say one is better than the other. I prefer the look and feel of Lightroom, I like the features to view and compare images, the flagging sytem and the automatic changing of file to DNG.
Photoshop CS4 still has Bridge which is great for file management, ACR has the same tools as Lightroom so it is almost a dead heat. Lightroom still needs photoshop to do editing that isn't in RAW. Lightroom is cheaper about $170 student edition, compared to CS4 which is about $299, BUT you have to buy photoshop something (Elements 7 $199) to complete your photoediting package.
So I personally chose Photoshop CS4 for the complete package, but I have heard a wisper that very soon the Lightroom package will be Lightroom and Photoshop combined. This will then be the premier package to have. Lets just wait and see...

Adobe Lightroom v's Photoshop CS4 Part I

If you are looking for an application for your photo management and development what do you choose, the tested and true Photoshop CS4 or the new kid on the block (comparitively speaking) Lightroom. I have used both and I am going to give my humble review on both programs in two parts. Part 1 will look at Lightroom and Part II will look at Photoshop CS4 with an overall comment on both. Here we go...

Lightroom.
Trying not to be bias but first off I love it! This program is like velvet, very smooth and visually appealing but is has a couple of little niggles that just need to be tweaked to make it the ducks nuts of photo management systems.
On the surface the sleek black and grey appearance is professional and excellent for viewing photo's especially the functions which allow all the program to disappear into the background and display only the large photo image on a black background. The tab button hides the side panels (like Photoshop), the top and bottom bars can be hidden by clicking on the pop up or down arrows and then the program drops back to 50% black transparency by hitting the 'L' key once and then completely black with a second tap on the 'L' key. Perfect for viewing single photos that are under development.
While we are on key shortcuts the flaging system I find especially useful. After uploading photos use the 'P' to flag (or pick) your favorites and for the really bad stuff use the 'x' for a black flag. I usually delete all the 'x' photos at the end of my browsing session. The star rating and colour rating are also available to really define the work flow. Ooo, Oooh there is also a great comparison tool where two similar photos can be compared side by side. There is the selected one and a candidate. If the candidate is better it can be selected and the next candidate can be entered.
The tools that have been bought into Lightroom all work in the raw environment so it is a non destructive environmenr for your photos. The greatest update to the tools is the Adjustments brush which allows the classic dodge and burn process but with a little more class. The auto mask tool is very intuitive and this process easy. I really like that the developers have embraced photography terminology by allowing the user to move adjustments in stops of light rather than the old unrelated numerical system Adobe used to cling to. Besides this tool the rest of the development tools are easy to use and powerful.
The photo management side of things starts from the initial upload. The program is again intuitive an appears to look for new photos that it has not uploaded previously and recognises ones that have already been added. A thumbnail display of photos to be uploaded is used to help with the selection process. Lightroom allows file renaming up to 3 parameters, automatic change to DNG files, copyright metadata embedded, keywords and even completes a backup of the new files onto a specified external hard drive. Little gripe here is that unlike Bridge from Photoshop there is no real browsing at this level. Sure the thumbnails are a good indication but they are just not as good as having Bridge. Second little gripe is that when Lightroom is installed on C: drive (for instance) this becomes the primary drive where files are stored on the database. I like to use 2 external hard drives for all my photos (primary and backup) and not store files on the harddisk of my laptop. So as it stands only one external HD is recognised by the program and there appears to be no way to select a primary drive and the secondary drive. Just a small, very specific, but valid gripe never the less. Oh, by the by a cool feature is that Lightroom recognises when files are missing or the backup portable hard drive is not connected. It displays a '?' or green light where necessary.
Look, I could go on for days about Lightroom. It is a great program that has brought in a heap of features from Photoshop into the raw editing environment. It is also completely compatible with Photoshop as well. So I recommend two things if anyone is serious about getting a copy of this program.
First get a free 30 trial version (this is fully functional it just stops working after 30 days without a key) from Adobe and give it a test run. Get the version from http://www.adobe.com/downloads/
Second check out Matt Kloskowski tutorials. He is a guru and the tutorials give anyone a great jumping off point to start using the program and some of the powerful features it has.
Don't forget to check out Part II where I will look at Photoshop CS4 and compare it with Lightroom. Let us know what you think of Lightroom.