How does LR3 + PSE9 comare to CS5?

[HPS3]

I currently use LR3 for most of my editing and PSE9 when needed for layers. I also have Photomattix Pro for HDR and Topaz adjust plugins for LR3. I was just wondering what advantages CS5 has over my current lineup. Can CS5 be used in place of all of my other programs? Can it process RAW files asfast as LR? WBeem, do you use CS5 for all of your processing? I love the way your photos turn out(portraits and landscapes).

 

[photo_chick]

CS5 will not replace Lightroom for image management. You'd still need either LR or Bridge, and of those two IMO Lightroom is by far the better choice.

CS5 (Camera RAW) and LR use the same engine to process RAW files. So while they may look a little different, it's the same tools and results. LR has a few more that you'd leave the Camera RAW window to use in CS5. Where LR is faster for processing RAW files is opening them. With Bridge and CS5 you have to find the file in bridge and then open it up, which opens up camera RAW every time. It's a time waster, IMO. I like having LR open with CS5 and I'll process my RAW file, then right click edit in CS5 and it opens my file up in CS5 for anything else I'd like to do.

There are many tools in CS5 that are not in Elements. But even with the tools there's still a need for some plugins like Photomatix and Topaz or Noise Ninja.

 

[disneyboy2003]

I think the set up that you already have actually works very well for a typical digital photography workflow. Lightroom is made especially for digital photographers, and its modules reflect the step-by-step process you would use for organizing, developing, and presenting your photos.

Photomatix Pro is a program that is specific for HDR, and it does HDR very well. Photoshop CS5 also does HDR, and many reviewers have said that its HDR rivals or comes close to that from Photomatix. If you already have Photomatix Pro, I'm not sure I would throw that away just to get Photoshop CS5.

Topaz Adjust does wonderfully colorful and creative adjustments to your photos, and you see many examples of photos that have been retouched with Topaz Adjust here. Although I personally have not used Topaz Adjust much, I'm sure that if you sat down and took the time, you could probably figure out how to re-create those richly colorful adjustments in Photoshop CS5. However, the whole point of using Topaz Adjust is that you can do all those beautiful adjustments much much much quicker using the plug-in, rather than manually trying to figure out how to redo all those adjustments in Photoshop CS5.

As photo_chick mentioned above, Lightroom uses the exact same RAW processing engine that Photoshop CS5 uses. All the sliders that you see in Lightroom are also present in Adobe Camera RAW (which is found in Photoshop CS5 and Photoshop elements).

Although technically you can choose to use Photoshop CS5 alone to re-create the workflow and postprocessing tasks that Lightroom, Photomatix Pro, and Topaz Adjust does with your current lineup, I would argue that your overall workflow would be TONS slower if you only used Photoshop CS5 to do your work. Plus, you would not get Lightroom's excellent "Library" module to quickly organize, caption, tag, and keyword the thousands and thousands of photos in your library.

Unless there are specific features in Photoshop CS5 that you really really need, I would probably stick with what you already have. As many people have mentioned, photographers who use Lightroom tend to use it for about 90-95% of their postprocessing needs. I'm not sure that using Photoshop CS5 alone by itself would improve your overall workflow (it may even, in fact, slow you down), but it would help address the rare 5% (maybe up to 10%) postprocessing tasks for your photos.

 

[LordAthens]

I won't add much since Danielle and pb2003 pretty much nailed everything, but just a heads up, if you're looking at buying LR3, you might want to postpone just a bit. LR4 is now in public beta (free download from Adobe as a stop-gap solution), so the shipping copy won't be far behind. I always hate buying software then a month later find out the new version just shipped. Regarding LR3 vs PS, this might help answer a few questions as well; http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshoplightroom/faq/

From what I've seen, LR4 isn't offering anything absolutely revolutionary over LR3, but it does bring some welcome features. GPS data is now used natively and it appears that Google Maps is integrated into LR4 now. This is very welcome for those of us that like to tag geographically.

They have also introduced "targeted" zones where you can reduce noise, etc in specific sections of an image instead of to the entire image.

Adobe has also added video editing to which I'm not sure how that will work. LR has always been a photo editing program. If you want to do video work, you go to some like Adobe Premiere, so I'm not sure what the video editing support will be like. I'm not expecting anything major, but it might be nice for those that take the random movie clip here or there and want to do some light editing and upload it to YouTube, rather than someone looking to do a full, professionally edited hour long video.

I'm actually the most excited over native email support. Now you can email images straight out of LR and not have to go through the process that is currently required.

 

[HPS3]

Thanks for all of the answers. I think I'll stick with LR3 for now and just wait for LR4. I want to shoot portraits eventually and have seen how people use the actions like soften skin, brighten eyes in CS5. Can you use PSE9 for these steps? I have PSE9 and havent really used it since I got LR3.

 

[Bstanley]

Topaz adjust plugins for LR3

!!!

I'll be darned, you learn something new every day.

I was not aware I could install my Topaz plugins into LR. I started using LR late last summer and I'm very happy using it for image management and (as already noted) almost all of my editing - but being able to kick out to a Topaz plug-in for those 'special cases' will make it even better!

Thanks!

Now - tell me what else don't I know ...

 

[wbeem]

I currently use LR3 for most of my editing and PSE9 when needed for layers. I also have Photomattix Pro for HDR and Topaz adjust plugins for LR3. I was just wondering what advantages CS5 has over my current lineup. Can CS5 be used in place of all of my other programs? Can it process RAW files asfast as LR? WBeem, do you use CS5 for all of your processing? I love the way your photos turn out(portraits and landscapes).

I have Aperture 3, but I wouldn't switch from LR3 since you have it. At their core, they both do the same job to manage your photos. Everything else is a "nice" feature.

Yes, I use Photoshop CS5 to finish pretty much everything I do. For HDR, I use Photomatix. Not the plugin for Aperture or Lightroom, but the full stand-alone version. It does a better job than the plugin, even if it's less convenient.

Photoshop isn't hard once you know the basics, though it seems daunting at first. My images are the result of little steps to make selective adjustments. I have a few plugins that I like, but the filters I use could also be done in Photoshop without them. The plugins just make it faster and easier.

Before you go off and buy CS5, decide what it is you can't do with your current setup. You may not need new software, but more training and experience. The bulk of what I do in Photoshop is done with layers, layer masks, blend modes, curves, and the built-in Photoshop filters.

 

[HPS3]

Thanks WBeem! I guess I really need to learn the ins and outs of PSE9 first.

 

[photo_chick]

On actions.. in addition to CS5 there are actions available for PSE. But a word of caution, in many cases actions you buy tend to be a "one size fits all' fix. And that just doesn't work for all images. Everything that actions do can be done without them, you just have to take the time to learn the steps involved. And once you do, you'll be able to get customized results for each image. And you can do a lot of this in PSE.

 

[RachelRuth]

I currently have LR3 + PSE9 and I love it. I had the opportunity to use CS4 while I was in school, and did the 30 day trial of CS5. It can definitely do more than Elements, but for me it isn't worth the cost because I feel like PSE9 works great for my needs, esp since 85% of my editing is done with LR3!