This content originally appeared on Envato Tuts+ Tutorials and was authored by Jamie Evan
Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom are both great photo editing programs, but which one is right for you? I've been working as a professional photographer for about 15 years now and have been using both Photoshop and Lightroom to process and edit my photos the entire time.
In this article, we'll take a look at where each program excels so that you can save yourself time and get the most out of your photo edits.
Photoshop vs. Lightroom: What's the Difference?
Right off the bat, it's easy to see there are a number of similarities between Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom. In fact, all of the adjustments available in Lightroom are also available in Photoshop (but not the other way around)! Both programs are industry-standard, high-end photo editors that have RAW image processing capabilities, but they have different interfaces.
Okay, so what is the difference between Lightroom and Photoshop? Lightroom uses a slider-based interface for its editing workflow, which makes it extremely easy to navigate and get results quickly. The interface of Photoshop, on the other hand, is much more of a blank canvas which requires you to actually select the edits you want to make. This major difference between the two programs makes Lightroom the best option for a beginner who's looking to open a program for the first time and immediately begin to make edits.
Adobe bundles Photoshop and Lightroom together into its Photography Plan for US$9.99 per month, and you don't save any money by subscribing to only one or the other.
In this article, we'll take a look at where these two programs excel so you'll have a clear idea of when it's best to use either Photoshop or Lightroom when editing an image.
If you need to source some great stock imagery, be sure to take a peek at the millions of stock photos available on Envato.
Reasons to Use Adobe Photoshop
Working With Layers
Probably the most useful tool in all of Photoshop is the Layers function. Using layers creates a stacking on top of the original image, which means you can add, edit, or remove layers without affecting the original image. Layers can be anything from cloning to adjusting colors to sharpening. Another great thing about using layers is you can toggle them on and off at any point to see what the image looks like without that particular edit—or try reducing the opacity of a layer to decrease its effect.
Retouching: Clone Stamp / Healing Brush
If your image needs a logo removed, hair flyaways fixed, or you need to get rid of a pimple, there are a number of different tools in Photoshop to take care of these issues. You'll find the Clone Stamp and Healing Brush tools in both Photoshop and Lightroom, but the addition of working with Layers gives Photoshop so much more potential to be precise with these edits.
Advanced Sharpening Options
Sharpening is an essential part of any photo edit, and Photoshop offers several different Sharpening tools, from the most basic of them, the Sharpen Tool, to High Pass Sharpening, the Unsharp Mask Filter, etc. Each method interacts differently with an image, so be sure to explore and try out the different sharpening options in Photoshop. Having these options at our disposal allows us to bring out the details and refine the areas of the image that have sharpening applied to them.
Fine-Tuning
In case it's not yet clear, Photoshop is the tool to use when you want to really get into the finer details of a photo edit. You can do an almost endless amount of fine-tuning, from Hue/Saturation adjustments to Warping or Liquifying your image or adding Blur or Grain. If you're trying to bring the best out of an image or working on a small group of images that need some extra attention, Photoshop is absolutely the program for the job.
If you're looking to get out of your comfort zone with your photo editing, be sure to check out some of the Photoshop photo effects available from Envato, such as this Vintage Photo Effect or this Black and White Grainy Photo Effect.
Reasons to Use Adobe Lightroom
Cataloging
The file management and cataloging features in Lightroom allow you to use this program as a sort of 'digital photo book'. As you import your images into Lightroom, it creates previews of the images. Lightroom stores a digital preview of the images, even if the actual photo files are stored elsewhere. This allows you to keep your images and edits easily accessible for any future needs. You can also use Keywords, or different flagging and rating systems, as well as sorting your images into Collections. All of these features make it easy for you to keep your files organized and easily searchable.
Non-Destructive Editing
Because the images in your Lightroom catalog are actually previews, you're not working on the original RAW image file. This means that when you're working in Lightroom, you can see the edits you make changing the photos in real time, but the original photo files are never affected.
This is a big benefit of working in Lightroom, because this workflow means you don't need to save file versions. If you ever want to edit an image again in the future, you can return to it in your Lightroom catalog and your edit settings will be exactly as you left them, allowing you to make a new edit quickly and easily.
Batch Photo Edits
One of the best features of Lightroom is the ability to batch photo edits. Since the Lightroom interface is made up almost entirely of sliders, you can easily and extremely quickly apply the settings from one photo to another, or even an entire shoot!
Anytime you need to edit a large group of images, such as an event, all you have to do is edit one image and then copy your edit settings and sync those across the other images. With the click of a few buttons, you've applied a general edit to an entire shoot!
Working With Presets
If you're making the same edits to your images again and again, you can create and apply custom Presets at the click of a button in Lightroom. With presets, you can choose all kinds of popular editing recipes, from black and white options to contrasty, saturated looks, all incredibly quickly. You can also download custom presets created by other photographers, such as the professional presets available from Envato, which can help you get some really interesting looks in your edits.
Exporting
Once you've finished your edits, you can quickly Export one image or an entire shoot of images from Lightroom. You can export full-size, high-res TIFFs or resized, lower-res, web-sized JPGs in a few clicks. In the export settings, you can customize the file names to be a numerical series or maintain their original file numbers. Once you Export, Lightroom takes care of all of the back end of the file handling, which saves a ton of time when compared to doing this work in Photoshop.
Which Program Is Right for Me?
Photoshop vs. Lightroom, which one should you use? At the end of the day, neither Photoshop nor Lightroom is designed to be a one-size-fits-all editing program. As we've covered, each one excels in different ways, so be sure to know these strengths and lean into them as you edit your images.
If you're just getting started on editing images, there's a wonderful simplicity to Lightroom. It's almost entirely based on sliders, which is a really intuitive way to work. For any adjustment in Lightroom, you can see the adjustment in real time as you move the slider up or down.
However, the simplicity that Lightroom offers is also its limitation. For a more experienced photo editor, the advanced functionalities that Photoshop offers are a must. Having the ability to hone in and make fine adjustments to the image can be an essential part of a workflow.
Reliable software is essential, and in my experience getting to know both Photoshop and Lightroom, especially in tandem with one another, has been the best solution for me and my workflow. Lightroom is a great starting place for any edit, and then when I need to do more intricate adjustments, local edits, or even graphic design work, I have Photoshop ready to go.
Explore More Tutorials and Resources
Once you're feeling comfortable editing your photos, check out some of these tutorials for even more detailed approaches to editing. There are so many Photoshop and Lightroom tutorials from our Envato Tuts+ instructors that will help you improve your photo editing skills.
This content originally appeared on Envato Tuts+ Tutorials and was authored by Jamie Evan
Jamie Evan | Sciencx (2024-06-04T11:32:29+00:00) Photoshop vs. Lightroom: What Is the Difference?. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2024/06/04/photoshop-vs-lightroom-what-is-the-difference/
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