Are You a Lover of the Lightroom, or a Photoshopaholic?

Pedro Ribeiro Simões/flickr

Every master craftsman has a preferred set of tools, and photo editors are no different. Have you found the right tools to meet your needs?
Many people are familiar with Adobe Photoshop — it’s become something of an industry standard for photo editing. But some people may not be aware that Adobe now offers another, more affordable photo editing program called Lightroom.
While both have earned praise for their quality and power, each program has unique features and functionalities that set it apart from the other. Let’s take a quick look at both platforms, so you can decide which one is best suited to meet your photo editing needs.

Photoshop

If you need the ability to get into the nitty-gritty of your photos, or you often fuss over every last pixel, Photoshop is probably the choice for you. With this powerful editing platform by your side, the possibilities are really only limited by the confines of your imagination.
You can shift skewed perspectives, enhance colors, stitch and blend different photos together, and even improve the resolution of low-quality photos.
Photoshop is also customizable enough for even the pickiest of users. If you find yourself repeating the same actions over and over again, you can set up shortcuts to save yourself some time. But it’s important to point out that Photoshop is a highly complex and expansive platform, and you’re not likely to master it overnight.
Of course, all these features come at a price. Photoshop will run you about $700 (or $49.99 per month on its new cloud-based platform). But if you can afford it, possess a willingness to learn, and want complete control over every aspect of your photos, then Adobe Photoshop is definitely the way to go.

Lightroom

Although Lightroom only costs around $300, this program shouldn’t be underestimated. If you’re a professional photographer, Lightroom has some truly incredible features to make your work stand out and improve the satisfaction of your customers.
The program was designed with the working photographer in mind, making it incredibly easy to share images with clients directly or to upload them straight to social media outlets.
In comparison with Photoshop, getting the hang of Lightroom and most of its built-in features is a relative breeze. The software allows you to design presets to make the editing process faster, which can help ramp up turnaround and make your customers happy. Lightroom’s main pull is speed and efficiency, but it can’t compete with Photoshop when it comes to fine-tuning and customization.

Make the Right Choice

Although picking the right photo editing platform can seem daunting at first, all it really requires is a little time and research. Both Photoshop and Lightroom have their own advantages and drawbacks, so it really just comes down to you and your specific needs.
Whichever program you choose, your new, perfectly-edited photos should be displayed in a format that highlights their beauty instead of hiding it. Printique offers a wide range of high-quality, affordable products that will make any photo stand out from the crowd.
Whether you’re editing your work to be printed on high-gloss photo paper or in a beautiful photo album, all it takes to make your hard work show is a visit to Printique.