Adobe CC

JH Foto

Senior Member
I have today took the plunge and signed up for Adobe CC with a special price offer. I think it will take a while to learn how to drive it and for now I will continue to use Elements (along side it) as I have for years
 

Gruyanidas

Senior Member
I have today took the plunge and signed up for Adobe CC with a special price offer. I think it will take a while to learn how to drive it and for now I will continue to use Elements (along side it) as I have for years
Be patient with adobe. Learn basics starting with tools and so on. I have started recently and it goes well so far. Wish you a good start!

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Start by using lightroom only and don't even go into Photoshop till Lightroom is mastered. Use the import function in Lightroom and start off using keywords from day one. Simple keyword like the place you shot or what you were shooting. One keyword for the entire set. Easy way to get started. Just use lightroom like you did elements. Simple tweak of cropping, exposure and sharpening. I have a preset for the main things that gets applied on import that handles some of the basics that you pretty much need to do on all photos. Message me in Facebook and I can send it to you and walk you through installing and setting it up.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Start by using lightroom only and don't even go into Photoshop till Lightroom is mastered.
Why? I jumped straight into Photoshop and just... Learned it. I guess it's a good thing no one told me how hard it is to learn Photoshop because I'm certainly not the sharpest knife in the drawer and even I found it relatively intuitive and pretty easy to learn once I got started. There's no need to understand, much less "master" Lightroom before starting to learn Photoshop; you just have to decide you want to learn to use Photoshop.
.....
 
Why? I jumped straight into Photoshop and just... Learned it. I guess it's a good thing no one told me how hard it is to learn Photoshop because I'm certainly not the sharpest knife in the drawer and even I found it relatively intuitive and pretty easy to learn once I got started. There's no need to understand, much less "master" Lightroom before starting to learn Photoshop; you just have to decide you want to learn to use Photoshop.
.....
I learned photoshop first and used it for years before picking up Lightroom. The reason for the suggestion is the KISS method. Learning one task at the time is less confusing and you can truly master it a lot faster. And frankly, you can do probably 75% of you standard post processing in Lightroom. I took me a while to go what I thought at first was stepping backwards to learn and embrace Lightroom. LEarn a task and use it till you don't have to think about it and then move on the the next task.

There are geeks like you and me that might can dive in and learn all if it at the same time but that is not the norm.

For those among us that are not familiar with the KISS method

KISS is an acronym for "Keep it simple, stupid" as a design principle noted by the U.S. Navy in 1960. The KISS principle states that most systems work best if they are kept simple rather than made complicated; therefore simplicity should be a key goal indesign and unnecessary complexity should be avoided. The phrase has been associated with aircraft engineer Kelly Johnson (1910–1990) The term "KISS principle" was in popular use by 1970. Variations on the phrase include "Keep it Simple, Silly", "keep it short and simple", "keep it simple and straightforward" and "keep it small and simple".
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
I started out with Elements then I bought the stand alone version of Lightroom. LR was very different than Elements. When I bought the Adobe subscription of PCC and LR, I switched to shooting RAW. LR and Camera RAW are essentially the same but laid out a little differently from one another. Since LR is a RAM hog, I mostly use Camera RAW and PCC since I don't organize my files through LR.

Good luck with the switch. There is a learning curve but it is well worth it.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
I learned photoshop first and used it for years before picking up Lightroom. The reason for the suggestion is the KISS method. Learning one task at the time is less confusing and you can truly master it a lot faster. And frankly, you can do probably 75% of you standard post processing in Lightroom. I took me a while to go what I thought at first was stepping backwards to learn and embrace Lightroom. Learn a task and use it till you don't have to think about it and then move on the the next task.

There are geeks like you and me that might can dive in and learn all if it at the same time but that is not the norm.
At the risk of sounding argumentative I guess what I'm not understanding is why this approach couldn't be applied to learning Photoshop. Now, I don't mean to "push" learning Photoshop over Lightroom - that's a race I have no dog in - but by the same token I am *very* opposed to what seems to be an all-to-common belief that Photoshop is difficult to learn; primarily because it's not. If you possess the faculties required to learn Lightroom, you could just as easily learn Photoshop.
 
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JH Foto

Senior Member
Thanks for you input guy's, as I said I have been using Elements for years and still discover new things with it. I just thought I should push my editing skills a little further......:)
 

nickt

Senior Member
I used Elements for a few years. I forget what versions I used. I never got 100% comfortable with it though. I don't know why, its not a bad program. I tried LR and it just felt more intuitive for me right from the start.
I would suggest as you try LR out, embrace it as your main editor. Import all your photos. ADD them, don't copy or move them. That might get you off to a bad start if LR starts moving your files around unexpectedly.
Here is a link to what I am talking about:
https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/help/import-photos-video-catalog.html

And if you do need to move stuff around, do it from within LR so that it knows about the move.

Another tip in case you want to start more slowly. LR has an auto import function. You set up a single folder that LR monitors. You can drag a file into this folder and LR will automatically import it. I use this if I get a picture not from my camera. Either fixing something for a friend or if I am playing with a picture that I got here on the forum. It might put you more at ease to just start by adding a few photos by this method. Once you get going though, you should import your whole library. Using ADD, your files will stay right where you have them now.
https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/help/import-photos-automatically.html

LR vs PS? I don't know. Two different tools. I'm not so comfortable with PS. Not surprising since I felt shaky with Elements. I only use PS under adult supervision, lol. I follow along with tutorials and advice here. I can do a few PS things on my own.:encouragement:
 

LouCioccio

Senior Member
I teach Elements for our computer club. I do find Elements adequate for most users. The only time I started not to like it was version 11 on a Mac. Before that all the small windows moved and you were not locked in now I feel confined like a prisoner. I normally use CS5e for all my own work but now have been looking for alternatives to Adobe products mainly because of the subscription. When I updated it was usually every other or two versions until they put a stop to that. Its the same for Elements if you get a new camera that not supported lets say 11 you would have to buy new no upgrade path to 13 or 14 to get access to the ACR thats (crippled) compared to the new version. With LR you can use the updated ACR and save as a tiff and finish any more tweaking in Elements or PSCS6.
http://nikonites.com/landscape/19189-post-your-sunset-shots-63.html#post575882 Here is one I did in Corel AfterShot Pro then to PSCS5 then to On1 Photo 10. I do have others such as Affinity, Acorn and Pixelmator but I always go back to Photoshop since version 4. Almost addicted:loyal: to it. Usually because I actions that will do what I want. I do have LR6 but have been spending more time in AfterShot Pro and getting more used to it.
Just my 2¢

Lou Cioccio
 
At the risk of sounding argumentative I guess what I'm not understanding is why this approach couldn't be applied to learning Photoshop. Now, I don't mean to "push" learning Photoshop over Lightroom - that's a race I have no dog in - but by the same token I am *very* opposed to what seems to be an all-to-common belief that Photoshop is difficult to learn; primarily because it's not. If you possess the faculties required to learn Lightroom, you could just as easily learn Photoshop.


My reasoning is that Lightroom should be first strictly for the organizational tools that it has. Also many of the simple things that people already might know from other programs so it is an easier transition to learn. Lightroom is basically Adobe Camera Raw on steroids. The majority of people can learn one program at the time better and faster. Once you learn Lightroom then Photoshop makes a lot more sense and can be learned a lot faster. I started in Photoshop and I know it quite well. The reason I even started with Lightroom is that my files became impossible for me to find a photo that I wanted to take another look at. Lightroom was the answer to that. I am still going back and working on keywords to fill in all my old photos. I wish I had gotten started with Lightroom from the very beginning. I think I would have been a lot better organized than I am now. Since I have started with Lightroom I have found that it does handle at least 75% of my needs. Just my opinion that lightroom is a great place to start.
 

JH Foto

Senior Member
I do have a question, when editing is completed how do you save ? I have found I can go to export but is there not a quicker way ?
 

wornish

Senior Member
I do have a question, when editing is completed how do you save ? I have found I can go to export but is there not a quicker way ?

Just use File - Save this will save the file in the same format as it was loaded.
or File - Save As to change the format to jpg or whatever you want.


If you want to save it for the Web as a jpg then its better to use the Export - Save for Web option it allows you to resize it, set the quality (file size) and it keeps the EXIF data.
If you use Quick Export then you lose most if not all of the EXIF.
 

Danno

Senior Member
You do not need to go through a separate save step to save. The edits are saved in your catalog as you make them. When you export them the program will apply the edits to the photo in the format you choose.
 
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