Lightroom 5 versus Elements 11 / Camera Raw 7.4

Eyelight

Senior Member
All the little Nikonites combined is like The Great Photographer of the Mountain.

So, one of the things I have learned in my short visit to the Mountain is the value of post processing the average image. I have used PS Elements 11 mostly for cleaning up scans of film, but sitting at the feet of the GPM, realize the ability to do more post could be a plus and more adjustment for RAW files than appear to be in ViewNX 2 could be a plus.

So, I was looking at acquiring Lightroom 5 and in the process of figuring out if my laptop would run it, I discovered that Elements 11 can open RAW files and make more adjustments via Camera Raw 7.4.

What can Lightroom 5 do that Elements 11 w/ Camera Raw 7.4 cannot?

Can LR5 achieve a better end result or is it more a case of easier to use tools?

Or something I don't know enough to ask?

I would rather spend $1 on a lens I don't need than on software I don't need.:)
 

sonicbuffalo_RIP

Senior Member
I have both and I will say this....Elements is way easier to use, but Lightroom can make adjustments like white balance nuch faster and is the best organizer. Lightroom has a steep learning curve, but you can get used to it. I'm still learning the nuances of it after a few months with it. Overall, I think you'd be better served by using LR.
 

Dave_W

The Dude
This is an age-old topic. While LR is great for editing, it is equally as important a filing system for your photographic files. So of those three listed programs, LR will be the most useful. Btw-Camera Raw is built in to LR and PS-elements.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
One very important distinction between the two is that Photoshop Elements uses a "lite" version of ACR, while Lightroom gives you the full tool. Differences? PSE lacks the following modules present in the Lightroom Develop Module (i.e. ACR)...


  • Tone Curve
  • HSL / Color / B&W
  • Split Toning
  • Lens Correction
  • Effects (i.e. vignetting)
  • Tools
    • Spot Healing
    • Brush Adjustment
    • Gradient Adjustment
    • Radial Filter

(Note that many of the missing pieces are available as layer adjustments in some form post-RAW edit)

PSE is still more than enough by itself for most editing, but unless you find the need for layers I find that LR is the more complete tool on its own. Using the two together I could probably do 95% of my editing completely, with the Content Aware Fill being the biggest Photoshop feature not available in either.
 

SteveH

Senior Member
I use Lightroom, but then I also bought PS elements simply because Amazon offered it cheap for a day (£30!)... I have never opened Elements, but its good to know it there!
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
I use Lightroom, but then I also bought PS elements simply because Amazon offered it cheap for a day (£30!)... I have never opened Elements, but its good to know it there!

That's like buying a car and never driving it. Get in there and learn that sucker!! ;)
 

Eyelight

Senior Member
One very important distinction between the two is that Photoshop Elements uses a "lite" version of ACR, while Lightroom gives you the full tool. Differences? PSE lacks the following modules present in the Lightroom Develop Module (i.e. ACR)...


  • Tone Curve
  • HSL / Color / B&W
  • Split Toning
  • Lens Correction
  • Effects (i.e. vignetting)
  • Tools
    • Spot Healing
    • Brush Adjustment
    • Gradient Adjustment
    • Radial Filter

(Note that many of the missing pieces are available as layer adjustments in some form post-RAW edit)

PSE is still more than enough by itself for most editing, but unless you find the need for layers I find that LR is the more complete tool on its own. Using the two together I could probably do 95% of my editing completely, with the Content Aware Fill being the biggest Photoshop feature not available in either.

I'd single this out and say it was the best answer ever, but the other responses have also been very helpful.
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
I'd single this out and say it was the best answer ever, but the other responses have also been very helpful.

Gosh, I don't know if I'd go that far (LOL). But since a picture is worth 1000 words, in an attempt to make it even better...

Here is an image opened up in Full ACR via Photoshop...


Screen Shot 2014-05-12 at 9.09.19 AM.jpg

...and here is the same image opened up in the "lite" version using PSE 11...

Screen Shot 2014-05-12 at 9.10.11 AM.jpg


If you'll look at the tool icons immediately above the image, and at the tabs immediately below the histogram, you can see (if not necessarily understand) the difference in functionality between the two.

The Lightroom Develop module is nothing but ACR laid out in a vertical set of collapsible panels. I cannot find any additional functionality in that module of Lightroom. So, ostensibly, Lightroom is merely Adobe Camera RAW wrapped in an extremely powerful set of Catalog and Sharing functions. That, for most photographers, is probably enough. It's the digital version of the classic darkroom, where you can dodge, burn, and do basic exposures, but not a lot of fancy manipulations. With Elements you trade some RAW functions for Photoshop functions, so it's like "ACR Lite" + "Photoshop Lite". What you need depends on what you want to do.
 

Eyelight

Senior Member
Ah. It's the classic trim down the flagship to sell to the masses, but add some stuff that'll make people want to give up HEC (hard earned cash) for both. Makes sense. I'll probably download a copy of LR 5 from AMZN.

Been looking this morning and now know enough to add to the questions.

Is LR 5's organizer drastically different from the Elements Organizer 11 or do they do about the same thing?
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
This just my opinion... being a nerd, and software junky, I have all of them...

The big difference between PS, Elements, and LR is layers... LR doesn't have layers, per se...

LR is slanted more toward the photographer that wants to adjust the image... without getting into the manipulation aspects of graphics... It started life with the features a photographer needs...

Elements and PS, natively started out as a graphics program that evolved over time to include photographic concepts... and is slanted more towards the graphic artist that wants to add/create a graphic image...

Under the skin... coming from the same manufacturer, they all contain the same features. They're just arranged differently...

Conceptually, all you need to learn/understand is the feature set... "contrast, exposure, wb, cropping" etc, and after that, you can find your way around any of these programs...
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Is LR 5's organizer drastically different from the Elements Organizer 11 or do they do about the same thing?

LR's Library module is head and shoulders above PSE's Organizer. If all you want to use it for is the preview and browsing functions then they'll both do it. LR adds a myriad of tagging, keyword searching and metadata maintenance options, along with the ability to build collections, publish directly to websites (PSE may do this), predefine various Export formats, and probably other things I'm not using. PSE will allow you to apply tags and organize by folders on your hard drive, but it's not much more than a glorified Explorer/Finder function. LR is a cataloging tool.
 

Dave_W

The Dude
I always considered the organizational abilities of Lightroom to be its real selling point. Its editing capabilities are fine but you can find that in most all image editing software. However, the ability to keep track of multiple catalogues, even catalogues on external drives, is the real power behind the software.
 

Eyelight

Senior Member
Here is Adobe's take on comparison of Photoshop vs Elements features:

Adobe Camera Raw differences between Photoshop and Photoshop Elements

Elements is sort of the stripped version.

Good info keeps pouring in.:)

Where Adobe loses me is how they title the software. I had come to the conclusion that Photoshop is now family of software that includes all the various titles, but no longer a single program.

Does the title Photoshop refer to one software and Lightroom, Elements, etc are pieces that can be bought separately?
 

WayneF

Senior Member
There are two image editors, Photoshop ($600 class) and Elements ($100 class). Both include Adobe Camera Raw (Elements has basics, but is abbreviated).

There is also Lightroom, a file organizer and Raw editor (not a classical photo editor, but Raw is its own philosophy).

All three use the same Adobe Camera Raw module, but each organize the screens in their own way. The Raw tools that are shared are the same tools however.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Good info keeps pouring in.:)

Where Adobe loses me is how they title the software. I had come to the conclusion that Photoshop is now family of software that includes all the various titles, but no longer a single program.

Does the title Photoshop refer to one software and Lightroom, Elements, etc are pieces that can be bought separately?
Adobe doesn't make it easy...

The word "Photoshop" in Adobe-ese can refer to one of two things. It can refer to a particular family of products that includes the following: "Adobe Photoshop Elements 12", "Adobe Premier Elements 12", "Photoshop Lightroom 5" and "Photoshop"; although normally Adboe will use the phrase "Photoshop family [of products]" or something along those lines. The other meaning is the specific product named "Photoshop" all by itself.

.
 

Eyelight

Senior Member
There are two image editors, Photoshop ($600 class) and Elements ($100 class). Both include Adobe Camera Raw (Elements has basics, but is abbreviated).

There is also Lightroom, a file organizer and Raw editor (not a classical photo editor, but Raw is its own philosophy).

All three use the same Adobe Camera Raw module, but each organize the screens in their own way. The Raw tools that are shared are the same tools however.

My version of the differences :)

Lightroom = Lightroom
Photoshop = Photoshop
Photoshop Elements = Photoshop Lite
@Dave_W makes perfect sense, but only after reading @WayneF to a clueless one such as I.
 
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