AV News 192 - May 2013
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
Keith Scott FRPS
No doubt most readers will at least be aware of the existence of Adobe
Photoshop Lightroom even if they're not actually using it, but if you're not
already aware of it then you may wonder just what the subject of this article
actually does. This software package certainly contains in its title the words
'Adobe Photoshop' but this is not a replacement for Photoshop, it may
however be considered a very useful
working partner and addition to the
world's industry standard image editing
software. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom is
an image management application
database which provides facilities for
importing, cataloguing, viewing, editing,
printing, and publishing digital images.
This is a standalone program which most
people would normally use prior to, and
also subsequently to Photoshop. It is not
a Photoshop plug-in, it does however
compliment significantly the digital workflow of which Photoshop is just one
part. Because both Photoshop and Lightroom are developed and produced
by Adobe Systems the two programs purposely work in a harmonised way,
but with a certain amount of overlap within the editing facilities provided.
First a brief history: Lightroom's concept originated around 2002 with
development in earnest commencing around 2004. Lightroom was initially
released as a Beta version for Mac only systems on Adobe's website in early
2006, although further Beta versions soon followed which added Microsoft
Windows compatibility. The first public release of a non Beta version i.e.
version 1 was released around February 2007. Just like so many other
software packages this initial release was quickly superseded by an update
released in 2008, not surprisingly this was designated version 2. Early in 2010
several new features were added and released as Beta versions with the
public release of version 3 occurring in June 2010. This remained current until
another host of new features were added and released as version 4 in March
2012. This was quite a significant move on the part of Adobe because this
new version 4 did not support Windows XP operating systems. Adobe
assumed that by this date most people would be using either Microsoft Vista
or Windows 7 or perhaps the anticipated release of Windows 8, which now is
in common use. Each major version has of course been subject to minor
updates. It is the norm with software updates that these are designated with
one or more decimal suffix to the version number i.e. v1.4.1, v3.4.1 etc. At
the time of writing the latest is version 4.3 following an update released in
December 2012, this release provides additional camera raw support for
around 20 new cameras including the Canon EOS 6D, Nikon D600, and Sony
DSC-RX1, additional lens profile support, and it also address a few minor
bugs introduced in previous releases.
Page 50