Photoshop CS3 vs. Lightroom 2 for post

[primesuspect]

I've been a Photoshop user since 1997. Photoshop still ranks as the single most expensive piece of software I've ever purchased. I'm invested in it.

The problem is, I think it's TOO technical for good post-processing of batches of photos. This "Purple" project really made me realize the flaws in my workflow:

1) I shoot maybe 100 photos

2) I use Adobe Bridge to quickly weed out the rejects

3) In Adobe Bridge, I do a second round of sifting, and mark the potential finalists

4) I mark the five finalists

5) Open each in Photoshop, adjust raw settings in the Camera Raw plugin interface

6) Make my post adjustments manually for each photo; cropping, curves, effects, etc.

7) Save as PSD for a master copy, save as JPG large for flickr, and (if necessary) save for web (problem with save for web is it strips EXIF data), for silly forum posting or whatever.

8) go back to step 5, repeat.

It's very time consuming, and photoshop doesn't easily let me copy settings. I can copy raw development settings and paste them to the next photo, but that's a manual and tedious process.

I'm thinking that Lightroom will improve my workflow immensely. I think I'm using Photoshop for a task that it is not optimized for.

[Thrax]

Lightroom has the workflow you desire. I use it at work.

[Snarkasm]

My Lightroom workflow:

1) Import pictures from CF. They all automatically enter the catalog and get saved.

2) Use the Library tab to weed out the rejects - flag and reject as you wish.

3) Click to the Develop tab and set your filter to bring up your picks. Set temperature, tint, black levels, contrast, saturation, lighting curves, everything.

4) Copy adjustments. Select all other photos and hit "Sync." Select exactly what parameters - temperature, black levels, exposure, etc - you want to apply to all your other picks and do so.

5) Small tweaks to individual images.

6) Select all of the images, right click, and export. In the export dialog, I can apply my borders, watermark, wrangle my metadata, resize, send directly to Flickr, and publish a tweet through my Twitter account when they've been uploaded and published.

7) If multiple sizes are needed (which they really aren't, since the RAWs are already stored in the catalog, as is the entire history of everything you've done to the image), export again and change your resizing.

I personally export one size for my own purposes - a jpeg that's been automatically resized to fit inside a 2048x2048 square, which then gets uploaded to Flickr and I use the Flickr AllSizes+ Greasemonkey script to create a bbcode-formatted medium size image that I paste into forums.

If it's going to IC, I export one that's resized to fit inside a 600x600 square and upload it to WordPress instead of Flickr.

It's SO much easier to do in Lightroom. If you need extra stuff after you're done your normal PP, export it to Photoshop and go to town - but don't start there unless you need to. Lightroom is MADE for us, top down.

[GnomeWizardd]

I just Dled Lightroom 2 myself, Gonna give it a shot, Picasa 3 is too weak and Photoshop it too much so hopefully this falls into where I need it too .