Comparing Lightroom and Photoshop Elements

[cwgrizz]

I can't see that anyone has brought up the question of "what you're used to". It's taken me a long time to learn Photoshop and Photoshop Elements/Layers/Shortcuts/Brushes etc and I wonder if people, like myself, took a look at the other choices and decided that it was just too much work to change. PSE does virtually everything I need and for the price, is difficult to beat. IMHO.

Brad, you bring up a good point. I have been using GIMP for post processing after the initial RAW work in Capture NX-D. Feeling that I might be missing out on something and the fact that PSE15 was on sale, I purchased it. There are some things that I find easier to do in GIMP ie resize the photo and resolution adjustments. As I learn PSE, I find that other things are easier to do using it ie content aware. Familiarity does make a difference to preference.

 

[tea2085]

I have considered PS as overkill for me but I have kept it and LR for the 10 dollar charge a month. Have thought of purchasing just LR but how would I then get updates (which there seems to be many). I do use PS occasionally but would like to drop it and buy a downloadable LR-how would I get updates? Paul

 

[hark]

Brad, you bring up a good point.There are some things that I find easier to do in GIMP ie resize the photo and resolution adjustments.

Walt, Photoshop has different ways to up-size vs downsize photos although I can't recall the exact wording. Bicubic perhaps? Don't know if GIMP offers the same type of resizing. Not all resizing is equal.... Maybe someone more knowledgeable can weigh in.

 

[cwgrizz]

Walt, Photoshop has different ways to up-size vs downsize photos although I can't recall the exact wording. Bicubic perhaps? Don't know if GIMP offers the same type of resizing. Not all resizing is equal.... Maybe someone more knowledgeable can weigh in.

Thanks Cindy. I have been researching it and have come across the Bicubic and a few other settings for downsizing in PSE. In GIMP it is a simple fill in the width and height boxes with the pixels count you want ie 3000 x 2000 and the pixels per inch for resolution ie 72 or 300 etc. I haven't noticed too much loss in quality when downsizing in GIMP for web, but hey my photos can't get much worse anyway. Ha!

 

[Horoscope Fish]

Walt, Photoshop has different ways to up-size vs downsize photos although I can't recall the exact wording. Bicubic perhaps? Don't know if GIMP offers the same type of resizing. Not all resizing is equal.... Maybe someone more knowledgeable can weigh in.

In Photoshop you would use the "Image Size" option found under the "Image" menu. If you want to re-sample the image you can:
...

 

[hark]

In Photoshop you would use the "Image Size" option found under the "Image" menu. If you want to re-sample the image you can:
...
View attachment 238928

Yes, but I'm trying to remember what I read...and I think it was here on Nikonites. Not sure if it was up- or down-sizing, but it had something to do with using 10% increments rather than sizing it all at once?

 

[BackdoorArts]

Remember, Lightroom is not a photo editor, per se, it is a catalog system with an integrated Develop module that allows for comprehensive and non-destructive edits to be defined and stored with an image, In other words, Lightroom, itself, does not apply changes directly to an image file until you either Export it or invoke an outside product (eg. Topaz, Nik, ON1, etc.). Resizing and resampling are done at those times via parameters available in the Export window or in the Preferences associated with the external editor you are using. When an image is sent to another editing program it creates a brand new file that will automatically be added to you Lr Catalog (you can choose to have it stacked with the previous file so you don't lose the connection).

The downside to doing this work in Lr is that you cannot specifically preview the output of the export prior to seeing it, so if you are resizing and (particularly) applying sharpening there are likely more effective and tuneable programs (I've stopped exporting from Lr unless it's 1:1 as I have far more effective resizing and sharpening tools in Photoshop).