Currently I am using Bridge, but have been looking into getting Lightroom. Is it any better? What is the difference? Thanks so much!

Bridge is a image/asset browser and its organizational skills very basic. Uses ACR for RAW conversion and it is destined mostly to be companion to Photoshop.

Lightroom is design to be an organizational tool to help photographers quickly organize, select and edit images. Then quickly correct the images and output them be it via printing module, web module or even with very basic presentation skills that you can use to show your clients the images. It has many tools that Adobe ACR does not have.

It is design to reduce your trips to Photoshop.

With version 2 you will be able to do localized image corrections and work with two monitors.

If you are a photographer that has to quickly navigate trough thousands of images, like wedding or press photographer, Lightroom is the right tool. If you are a Fine Art photographer, for example, you may be able to do without Lightroom, but still, Lightroom will help you organize and search through all your images, something that Bridge wasn't designed to do.

One of the biggest strength of Lightroom is the Global presets. They extend the LR power from a strictly correction tool to a creative one helping you to do quickly things that you could only do in PS before.

My suggestion, download the trial version of Lightroom beta 2 and play with it. I believe you will quickly discover that you will fall in love with it. You can extend the trial period if you get one of Lightroom current users to "invite you" to extend. There are plenty here that will be happy to "invite" you to extend. Let me know.

Hi Caroline,


In my opinion.... Lightroom is the BEST by far. For speed and ease of use, Bridge isn't even in the same ballpark.

I use Bridge for other tasks.... mainly veiwing, selection, album design etc .... but seeing as Bridge is already included with PS, I didn't mind paying extra for LR for its great RAW workflow alone! LR does other cool stuff as well. Online proof galleries, slideshows etc. I've even got a couple of plugins like 'SimpleVeiwer' which is brilliant... and quick!

I honestly can't remember how I ever manged without Lightroom. Just buy it.... or at least download the trial and check it out for yourself first. Try Googling "Lightroom tutorials". There's tons of help out there to get you started.



Of course LR doesn't replace Photoshop.... but I'm thinking you already know that.

Annie

My two gripes about Lightroom

The import step

The way curves work


If Adobe did way with those two things I would stop using Bridge/ACR entirely

I. Love. Lightroom.

Love it. Love it. Love it.

I had LR before I had CS3 so I've never learned how to use Bridge. Maybe I should. But I still love Lightroom more.

I use both, I run everything through Lightroom first, color correction, curves, white balance, just about everything. Once done with that, I export to Bridge. In bridge, I will run PS actions on them - sharpening, sizing for web, print, etc. I also have a lot of actions in PS that I can't get in LR but don't use them all that much-and I really think I'd like to.

Thanks everyone! I'll definitely have to try Lightroom. I appreciate your taking the time to respond.