"Lightroom 3 comes with some fantastic new features that enable you to edit, organise and share your images easily."
Rosie Khdir
Photoshop is Adobe’s most popular software and Photoshop Lightroom is the perfect accompaniment to your photo-editing suite.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 provides users with leading-edge image processing tools that help to streamline your digital photography.
What we like best
In the latest edition of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom there are plenty of new features that will have you playing around on your laptop for hours.
The best thing about this software is that it allows full editing of Raw files produced by DSLRs. This means that they contain the unedited, raw information that a camera collects. Lightroom lets you adjust this image, making a colder snap warmer and vice versa, and doesn’t lose any of the image quality.
Lightroom 3 also has a new lens correction facility that easily reduces lens defects such as distortion and vignetting, all with a quick click.
Users can also share their newly edited images much more easily with the new online sharing integration feature. You can upload you photos directly to Facebook, SmugMug and Flickr from within the Lightroom library.
The new accelerated performance means that you can do all these tasks quickly and efficiently.
What we like least
This really is a product fit for those who have the extra cash to spend and for those who will use it professionally – this is due to the price tag. It will set you back around £230 for the full package.
You are getting top quality software for your money, as with any Adobe product.
This is a great package for anyone looking to enhance their photo editing suite. Lightroom 3 comes with some fantastic new features that enable you to edit, organise and share your images easily. It is a tad expensive, so amateur photographers who need the full version may want to look elsewhere, but if you have the cash, it is definitely worth while.
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Features
NEW: Lens correction to reduces lens defects such as distortion and vignetting
Add On
Available as an upgrade
Download or CD
Both
Compatible with
Mac and Windows
System Requirements
- Windows
- Intel Pentium 4 processor or equivalent
- Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 3; Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise (32-bit and 64-bit); or Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- 2 Gb of RAM
- 1 Gb of available hard-disk space
- CD-ROM drive
- Mac OS
- Intel processor
- Mac OS X v10.5 or v10.6
- 2 Gb of RAM
- 1 Gb of available hard-disk space
- CD-ROM drive
This one’s for the photographers – pros, beginners or otherwise. The new Adobe Lightroom is out.The first beta of version 3.0 was released in October 2009, then a second on 23 March 2010, so it’s been a fast turnaround. PC Site is here to talk you through the exciting new features.
What is it?
Lightroom is not just a file browser, like Adobe Bridge, although it does help in managing large numbers of images. Though it integrates seamlessly with Photoshop it’s not a full blown image editor. Its purpose is really a combination of the two; viewing, editing and managing.
It uses “nondestructive editing features” such as filters, exposure adjustments and colour controls to alter individual photos or entire sets professionally, while giving you a range of options for displaying or sharing your shots.
What’s new?
Lightroom now supports raw files from over 290 models of camera giving you total image integrity from the start. Adobe has also expanded the range of DSLR video formats that it accepts, meaning you can manage video and photo files side by side.
There is also a lens correction feature through Lens Profiles and Manual Correction, so you can tweak images to remove those little blemishes. Adobe has also added new sliders to allow you to alter the image for a ‘film’ look.
You can now watermark your images and put them into slideshows in order to show to clients or distribute across the web while protecting your work.
There’s a new tethered shooting feature which allows you to instantly bring up shots on a laptop – very useful on any photography shoot.
Adobe has made a nod towards social media in Lightroom with full Flickr integration so you can post straight to galleries.
Lightroom 3 looks to be a solid update on piece of software that’s vital for anyone who wants to take their photography to the next stage.
Specs
Windows
- Intel® Pentium® 4 processor or equivalent
- Microsoft® Windows® XP with Service Pack 3
- Windows Vista® Home (32 bit and 64 bit)
- Windows 7 (32 bit and 64 bit)
- 2GB of RAM
- 1GB of available hard-disk space
- 1024×768 display
- CD-ROM drive
Mac OS
- Intel processor
- Mac OS X v10.5 or 10.6
- 2GB of RAM
- 1GB of available hard-disk space
- 1024×768 display
- CD-ROM drive
If you are interested in Adobe Lightroom 3 visit Adobe to learn more.
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