Adobe Lightroom Image Management & Processing Application, Now in Public Beta

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/software/lightroom1.shtml' target='_blank'>http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/software/lightroom1.shtml</a><br /><br /></div><i>"This is a close up first-look at Adobe's Lightroom, a new generation image management and processing application. Because there are not yet any manuals or books available for Lightroom, and likely won't be for some time, I have attempted to provide an introductory primer on the program's major features and functions. This report will by no means be comprehensive, but hopefully along with Adobe's training videos and online information, as it becomes available, we will all learn together how to make the most of Lightroom. My recommendation, since Lightroom is free public test software, is for you to download it, and then use this primer to help understand the program's basic functionality. Reading this article without the program open in front of you will hopefully also be of interest, especially to Windows users, who will have to wait another couple of months before a version of Lightroom for that platform becomes available."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/adobe-lightroom.jpg" /><br /><br />This is an exciting announcement for those of you who are hardcore RAW users, but only if you're using a Mac. I find the fact that Adobe only has a Mac version rather baffling - certainly, this product is an option to Aperture from Apple, but it's in beta and the real opportunity would seem to be a pro-level tool for Windows users that can't user Aperture, not something that competes directly with it on the same platform. Any of you Mac users tried this yet? What are your thoughts?

[Jason Kravitz]

It will be interesting to see how good the new ACDSee RAW management software will be.

[Kent Pribbernow]

I just downloaded the beta and so far the application looks very impressive, but it's clearly modeled after Aperture. The two applications side by side look eerily similar.

As for Adobe's decision to offer a Mac beta first, that's obvious; Macs dominate the creative field. So digital photographers are more likely to be using a Mac for photo work than a Windows PC. What's more...Adobe is clearly targeting Aperture users with this release, which is why they are being uncharacteristically generous by offering a full beta download rather than a feature-crippled trial version. They want photographers who are using Aperture, or considering using Aperture, to give this product a thorough look.

[Phronetix]

It is ironic that after Adobe has slowly retreated from supporting the Mac platform in video and audio production, they've dived back into a Mac only release.

From a business standpoint, this makes sense. Photography pros use the Mac platform almost exclusively. Apple seems to have jumped the gun in releasing Aperture, both from a software functionality and from a hardware availability perspective. This opinion is from a smattering of reviews and articles that I've read since Aperture hit the shelves, as my experience in dealing with RAW is limited to ten pics I took with my digital rebel when it was fresh out of the box.

Nobody but the photo pro needs to work with the RAW format exclusively. I have a colleague who shoots and archives in RAW, then edits, prints and displays in JPG on his iMac. Reasonable I suppose, and it makes him feel one with his high end Nikon. :roll: Melia and I do everything in HD jpg, which is fine and will continue to be perrfectly fine for many years, IMO.

[Jason Dunn]

I just downloaded the beta and so far the application looks very impressive, but it's clearly modeled after Aperture. The two applications side by side look eerily similar.

Unless you're suggesting that Adobe got their hands on an early alpha of Aperature and copied it, I think it's more likely that Adobe and Apple each did their market research and figured out what photographers wanted. I think it's silly when people suggest that one company somehow has the market on good UI design.

[Phronetix]

I think it's silly when people suggest that one company somehow has the market on good UI design.

Clearly this man is in emergent need of the OS X platform and applications. Somebody... do something...QUICK!


:rainbow1:

[Crocuta]

As for Adobe's decision to offer a Mac beta first, that's obvious; Macs dominate the creative field. So digital photographers are more likely to be using a Mac for photo work than a Windows PC.

The article provides hints to another unrelated reason if you read between the lines. The OSX version is in beta now with the Windows version to follow soon and both are scheduled for the same release date. However, it said, if one is completed before the other, then they will not hold up that release. Rather than a clever strategic decision, I believe what we have here is simply a case of two development teams who are on the same planning schedule, but who are actually a couple of months apart in progress. The OSX version is ready for beta and so it's going into beta. When the Windows version is ready, it too will go into beta. Sometimes, there is no deeper meaning.