Elements 6.0 or Lightroom

[gene_kublanov]

I currently own Elements 4.0 and I'm familiar with it. I'm guessing the

Elements 6.0 won't have a much different interface than 4.0 but I could be

wrong. I don't know much about Lightroom except that its' $200 more and many

photographers rave about it. I shoot Canon in RAW. Would Elements 6.0 be able

to convert Canon RAW files. I know that Lightroom can convert Canon RAW files

however I would have to lear a whole new workflow. I just need to hear from

the experts out there what is a better choice an why.

[tonybynum]

LR is a completely different system than PS. LR is a powerful raw processor that does NOT adjust the RAW file, it also has a very powerful system for organizing your images. It makes slideshows, and web pages simple. If you do a lot of processing of images, LR is the way to go. However, I find that you also need PS to make minor and specific adjustments to you images. LR allows you to open a file in PS but then also saves it to LR. The catalog system used by LR is very safisticated and allows you to bring photos in through a number of means, you can leave them where they are at and import them, import them to a new drive and convert your RAW to a DNG if you wish.

 

If you shoot a lot and do a lot of work where you need to process a lot of files and submit them to editors, it's an awesome program, the catalog system is outstanding. If youre mainly a "hobbyist" or dont need to process a lot of shots or have tens of thousands of images to keep track of, you should do fine with just PS 6.0.

[gene_kublanov]

Thanks for your reply Tony. Does Elements 6.0 have the ability open Canon Raw files?

[steve_dunn2]

<cite>Does Elements 6.0 have the ability open Canon Raw files?</cite>

 

<p>Of course, just as previous versions have. Depending on what Canon camera you have, you will need at least a certain version of ACR. The latest versions of ACR run only in newer versions of Photoshop-family products, but as PSE6 is the latest version of Elements, it can use the latest version of ACR and therefore supports the widest selection of RAW files. I have PSE3 and it cannot run the latest versions of ACR; I'm not sure if your current PSE4 can.</p>

[godfrey]

Lightroom is a photo management system integrated with metadata editor, sort/grade/

find facilities, and RAW processing. It allows global cropping, color and tonal adjustment,

sharpening, lens corrections, and some spot cleanup. Also does templated printing,

slideshows and simple web output. Editing is completely non-destructive. The output of

editing is created by Exporting, not by changing the original files imported.

 

Photoshop and Photoshop Elements are primarily image editors, allowing extensive global

and selective image processing, with modest to limited facilities for organization/find/

sort/grade/etc operations, and with plug-ins that enable RAW processing and other

functions. With them you open, change, and save files.

 

Either PSE6 with the latest Camera Raw plugin or Lightroom will process your Canon RAW

files. You have more editing facilities in Photoshop Elements, and more organizational

facilities in Lightroom. Lightroom is meant to work in conjunction with more powerful

image processing applications to provide a complete workflow, although for many its

capabilities are all that's necessary.

 

I use Lightroom + Photoshop CS2. Around 10% (or less) of my image processing time is

spent in Photoshop. Lightroom handles easily what I used to spend a great deal of my time

doing with the file system and other image management systems.

 

Godfrey

[gene_kublanov]

Please excuse my ignorance but what is ACR and does is come with Elements 6.0. By the way I use a Canon 5D and 40D.

 

Gene

[msd52]

I am a hobbyist that shoots mainly raw. I LOVE Lightroom's database capability and as we know with the amount of shots we take and keep in this digital age orginization is a must. You can download Lightroom for 30 days as I did before I made my decision. For me 85-90% Lightroom the rest PS.

[rich_morgan1]

ACR is Adobe Camera Raw, a raw converter. It's built into Elements, Photoshop and

Lightroom. I don't know which version of ACR is in Elements 6, but Photoshop CS3 and

Lightroom both use version 4.2.

[glenbarrington]

Technically, ACR is not in Lightroom. However ACR and Lightroom share many of the same algorythms and much code. There is no way to insert ACR into the body of Lightroom the way you can with PS element and Photoshop.

 

So if you neglect to upgrade Lightroom when V1.3 comes out, you won't be able to download a copy of ACR and use that to convert your old copy of Lightroom to 1.3.

 

PSE and ACR is a great way to begin with raw. Because I don't like the Organizer built into PSE, I used ACDSee as my organizer and set up PSE to be my default editor in ACDSee.

 

So when I right clicked on a raw image in ACDSee and selected "Edit", the raw image was sent to PSE, then ACR intercepted the image and opened it in ACR. I could then adjust the raw image, and depending on which on screen button I clicked, I could send it on to the PSE editor as a standard PSD or tiff file, or send the raw image back to ACDSee without further processing.

 

Using the PSE organizer worked essentially the same way, but Like I said, I liked ACDSee better.

[images_in_light_north_west]

Light room flat out blows away elements, however light room by itself is not the end all and there is no end all, you will still need PSE or other to finish the job

[glenbarrington]

Ross Murphy wrote, "Light room flat out blows away elements, however light room by itself is not the end all and there is no end all, you will still need PSE or other to finish the job"

 

I don't entirely agree. I have found the LR 'tweaks' to be a more than adequate stopping point for many photos. However, I DO agree that there will frequently be a need for finsihing up at least some photos with an editor.

[acedigital]

If you have'nt tried Canon DPP, its on your Canon software CD - used for processing RAW file - I have also begun using Lightroom and love the web galleries and slideshow capabilities. You could export from Lightroom to PS Elements and use the interface you are familiar with for final edits and enhancements. Give DPP and the trail of Lightroom a shot to see the different capabilites. They are all intended for slightly different uses.