Elements versus Lightroom

[Paul]

Hi folks
I am currently doing a 30 day trial on Adobe Lightroom 2. As a rule I use Elements 7 for post processing. My post processing usually involves working with raw prior to opening into PSE and them some cloning and cropping if necessary. I have tried to sharpen pictures with PSE but can't seem to see the benifit. I also use levels and some color enhancement as required.
So, my question is. Is there any advantage to buying Lightroom 2 at $ 300.00 US or should I stick with PSE? I find the setting up of catalogues very tricky in Lightroom as compared to PSE. This might be a matter of familiararity or ease of use. I have not found the Adobe tutorials very helpful either. In fact, in my opinion, they are downright hopeless.
Can anyone help me with this one.

All the best,

Paul

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Paul,

Lightroom definitely will NOT help you sharpen better, everything you need is in Elements. To be able to see the differences, you must be viewing the image at 1:1, or 100% using the zoom tool.

There are plenty of threads on sharpening here at CiC, but you might want to start with the tutorials
SHARPENING: UNSHARP MASK

And here's the definitive thread on Sharpening

Cheers,

[ScoutR]

I have to agree with Dave. If you have Elements and are comfortable with the catalouge part of it you have everything you need.

I got Lightroom first and I do like it, but now that I have Elements, I am finding that there is much more that I can do. Personally I like the LR catalouge, but it's what I'm used to.

Dave is right about the sharpening. There is just much more flexibility with Elements, and it seems LR just does not allow for proper sharpening. Something to do with the minimum radius being too high (you'll have to read up on it), but I've seen an improvement when I take the time to do the sharpening in Elements as opposed to LR.

There really is a lot of good information here on how to sharpen with Elements. I for one have found it all very helpful, and am seeing improvements as I practice. The Local Contrast Enhance sharpening is something you really want to study and try out to see the effect.

Personally I find Elements has a steep learning curve, and the controls in LR seem more responsive and easier to manipulate, but the more I use Elements the more I think that I should have started with it instead of LR.

Bottom line, I'd stick with Elements. LR is slicker, but Elements does more. Please consider that I am a relative newbie to all this, but those are my thoughts based on my limited experience.

Wendy

[aertaylor]

Hi
I've got Elements 8 - brilliant for catalogue - and some quick editting.
I've tried PhotoShop, but prefer the FREE 'GIMP' - sometimes I think that GIMP is better than PS. Try it! Its free and legal and damn good!
Tony

[bmpress]

Re Elements vs Lightroom

There is a new Lightroom v3.0 which folks tell me has a much better sharpening capability than v2. More importantly, LR is much more than a photo editor. It can actually keep a person from going nuts by its automatic backups, non-destructive edits, and data base capabilities.

I have also found that it is much easier to use and much faster to get things done. Since I have purchased LR 2, I seldom have use for Photoshop. But if one needs to do cloning, patching etc., then you can interact between both programs to work on both programs and even keep it all non-destructive.

Barry

[Blazing fire]

Hi
I've got Elements 8 - brilliant for catalogue - and some quick editting.
I've tried PhotoShop, but prefer the FREE 'GIMP' - sometimes I think that GIMP is better than PS. Try it! Its free and legal and damn good!
Tony

I got used to photoshop cs4 faster than GIMP. To me, GIMP has a MUCH steeper learning curve. As always, try both out and see which fits you.

Re Elements vs Lightroom

There is a new Lightroom v3.0 which folks tell me has a much better sharpening capability than v2. More importantly, LR is much more than a photo editor. It can actually keep a person from going nuts by its automatic backups, non-destructive edits, and data base capabilities.

I have also found that it is much easier to use and much faster to get things done. Since I have purchased LR 2, I seldom have use for Photoshop. But if one needs to do cloning, patching etc., then you can interact between both programs to work on both programs and even keep it all non-destructive.

Barry

FYI, LR 3 beta can be downloaded from Adobe labs.