I'm out to buy one this week... have currently been doing all my pp in photoshop and need something just simpler. I will bring select images into ps to add actions to, ect.. but I need something for my overall wedding edit....

So this is where all you smart tech people come in.

.....let the debate begin. Which is better? And why?

I can't say which is better, but I can say that Lightroom does what I need it to do, better/faster/easier than Aperture.
My suggestion, test them both. I used Aperture for about 6-9 months, then tested Lightroom and have not gone back to Aperture. It does what I need it to.
I don't shoot weddings, but I can rip through a whole soccer, football or basketball game in about 3-4 hours, going from 1500 images to 150 images, Editorial assignments (100-150 images) go even faster; captioned, cropped, rotated, color/density/contrast corrected, exported and FTP'd. Captioning takes the longest time, and I usually do that last.

The best suggestion is to download both and try them. They basically do the same thing differently.

As a user of both, this is my experience...

One of LR strongest points are the global presets. It does have some great and logical develop module, but I find that it interprets my D200 files on the darker side. I also find its healing tool weaker than Aperture. What I do not like from LR is its workflow of panels. Some people like it, I find it fragmented. In Version 2 they did improve it some, but still to fragmented for my taste.

I do love Aperture. Version 2 is much faster and responsive than 1.5 was. I love its plugin arquitecture, its HUD and the organizational tools are better than LR 2 (although much improved in L2). The healing tool is excellent, and its Book design tool is incredible. You can design your albums right in Aperture using RAW files, adjusting them within Aperture itself or going to PS without having to switch out of the design. And it does interpret my D200 files much better than LR, to the point that I don't have to do much adjusting, which compensate for the lack of global presets.

What is curious is that in my machine (MAC PRO with 4gig) LR 2 runs slower than Aperture 2. Almost as bad as Aperture 1.5 did. Switching between images, creating previews, switching between panels, LR 2 runs slow on my machine.

Again,that is why I suggest to try them both. Some would say that LR is faster than Aperture (at least I have to say it was. I do not think that is true after Aperture 2). My experience is different. Your may too.

If you go by popularity in OSP I am sure that LR 2 will win that contest. But you should not by anything just based on popularity or because someone says is better, but you should buy it because it solves your problems.

For me, Aperture is that tool. But if Aperture wasn't an option, I would be very happy using LR 2.

The global presets can't be emphasized enough!!! What it takes multiple steps to do in Aperture you can do with the push of one button in LR!!!

Photographer's Edit is built solely around a LR workflow, so needless to say I believe in it.

I reeeaaally wanted to like, no, LOVE Aperture simply because it is after all, an Apple designed product and I LOVE all things Apple. That said, once I started to really see the global presets functionality of LR, there was no doubt in my mind what my workflow was going to be patterned after. This one feature alone is worth the price of admission... if you value your time.

It's worth noting too that LR2 fully supports the plug-in architecture and you will be seeing some pretty killer integration from plug-in companies like onOne and others. I'm a happy man if I am only opening PS for no more than 10% of a shoot. With presets and plug-ins, that's what LR2 gives me.

Now if only Showit would release a LR2 plug-in for Showit Web!!

If LR Is slower than Aperture 2 I'll stick my finger in my eye...repeatedly. I'll be switching to LR (for the presets) when I take a break this winter.

With that said, Aperture has been good for me, I'm just tired of missing out.

Lr recently released v 2.1 and its a hell of alot faster than the v2.0 version update ur LR you'll be happy!

Could not live without LR!

I've never used Aperture, and have no reason to. Lightroom is hands down the best piece of software for basic workflow. I have my presets laid out in such a way that I can just work down the list with every image and it is just butter. I couldn't imagine running without presets.

Good. I am making a bunch of changes for 2009 (still not sure what many of them will be! Ha!) But working smarter not harder is one of the changes. I'm living in photoshop right now and I need to knock it off.

I was an idiot and didn't buy LR when I had my FTS coupon code. I can't imagine that would still even work...if I could even find my FTS stuff. Any other way to get a discount on it? I pay full retail for everrrything it seems, just wondering if anybody knew a way to save some $$.

aperture is a different type of software compared to lightroom. aperture is more of an organization tool as well - they are doing a lot of upgrades for aperture and there are not a lot of plugins andmore on the way.

Hey Betsy! NAPP members get 10-15% off all Adobe products, along with a ton of other discounts such as free shipping on any purchase from B&H.



One of the nice things about LR2 is that you can pretty much configure it to organize your photos the way you want it to. You can even work "offline" with your original photos stored on an external drive.

I must admit, it was a bit confusing at first to see just how many ways organizing can be done, but you'll figure one out that best fits your workflow. Definitely try the 30 day free trial.

Lightroom has revolutionized my workflow. From 3 days for wedding workflow down to 6 hours.

But, I've never really used Aperture for an extended period of time, so I guess I'm biased

Lightroom's presets are amazing tools and make my life so much easier. Really, you should atleast try the demo. At first I didn't like it, but once you get the hang of it, it's awesome.

PM me if interested in some awesome LR presets.