Lightroom 4 Beta

[Lost Canadian]

Lightroom 4 Beta is out for public testing. So far I like what I see. Adobe has added a lot just to the develop panel, in addition to the other features added to the rest of the program. So far I like the localized white balance adjustments for mixed lighting and the refinements to the basic panel for highlights, shadows and midtones. Targeted RGB adjustments is pretty cool as well. It's a hefty beta release with lots to play with.

Check it out.
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom4/

 

[1leglance]

I am a huge fan of lightroom and it is pretty much all I use for both pic management and post processing. I don't need the full blown power of photoshop (my wife has those skills).
Thanks for the heads up on the beta

 

[Zigzagn]

Thanks for the info Trevor!! I really link LR3 can't wait to see what ADOBE has come up with in then latest version.
Barry

Lightroom 4 Beta is out for public testing. So far I like what I see. Adobe has added a lot just to the develop panel, in addition to the other features added to the rest of the program. So far I like the localized white balance adjustments for mixed lighting and the refinements to the basic panel for highlights, shadows and midtones. Targeted RGB adjustments is pretty cool as well. It's a hefty beta release with lots to play with.

Check it out.
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom4/

 

[Tucson T4R]

Oh sure Adobe, just keep cranking out improvements to the software I use and love everyday. My wallet with thank them for keeping it skinny. :elkgrin:

 

[targa88]

Would like to have tried out the Beta version- however apparently it is only compatible with Vista/ Windows 7 (since I am running XP = no go)...

 

[Lost Canadian]

You also need to be running a 64 bit machine, and it you're a Mac user you need to be running an Intel machine.

 

[Pathfinder]

I downloaded my copy, and am off to Dallas this weekend for the D-65 Lightroom workshop with Seth Resnick and Jamie Spritzer.

I am looking forward to seeing them put LR3 and LR4 through their paces. The further improvements in noise reduction, and better handing of shadows and highlights looks to be a real valuable improvement in LR4. The 2012 rendering engine and profiles looks to be significantly better than the 2010 profiles, too.

 

[bigreen505]

I downloaded my copy, and am off to Dallas this weekend for the D-65 Lightroom workshop with Seth Resnick and Jamie Spritzer.

Smart man. I love Seth and Jamie, just keep in mind that Seth is probably the most dogmatic person you will ever meet and his opinions are partly funded by his sponsors. Understand why he says what says, but don't take everything at face value.

Remember that beta catalogs can't always be imported into the final release.

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

I would love to sit down with some folks who use LR3 on a daily basis and see how they do it? I honestly think it slows me down so although I have it on my cpu, I never really use it. I must be missing something because I often hear people talk so much about it and how much they love it??

 

[Lost Canadian]

I would love to sit down with some folks who use LR3 on a daily basis and see how they do it? I honestly think it slows me down so although I have it on my cpu, I never really use it. I must be missing something because I often hear people talk so much about it and how much they love it??

Pat, if you know how to use camera RAW, Lightroom should be a breeze. The toughest part of the program is learning how to use the develop panel. Everything else is intuitive and straight forward. Lightroom doesn't require you popping into and out of different programs like Photoshop and Bridge etc, so it shouldn't slow you down, quite the opposite IMO. It's really as simple as importing photos into the library, do it once and everything is automated; you can then organize/tag/flag/batch your photos as you feel fit or just leave them in order of import. Develop those you want to develop, which is as simple as selecting an image(s) and clicking the develop panel at the top of the page, or simply hitting "d" on the keyboard. When you're done developing them you can then export those you want to export straight to your smugmug galleries, flickr, 500px, facebook etc with a simple drag and drop right inside the program. It's super easy, really!

Check out The Luminous Landscapes lightroom tutorials, they're really good.

 

[nwoods]

Pat, if you know how to use camera RAW, Lightroom should be a breeze. The toughest part of the program is learning how to use the develop panel. Everything else is intuitive and straight forward. Lightroom doesn't require you popping into and out of different programs like Photoshop and Bridge etc, so it shouldn't slow you down, quite the opposite IMO. It's really as simple as importing photos into the library, do it once and everything is automated; you can then organize/tag/flag/batch your photos as you feel fit or just leave them in order of import. Develop those you want to develop, which is as simple as selecting an image(s) and clicking the develop panel at the top of the page, or simply hitting "d" on the keyboard. When you're done developing them you can then export those you want to export straight to your smugmug galleries, flickr, 500px, facebook etc with a simple drag and drop right inside the program. It's super easy, really!

Check out The Luminous Landscapes lightroom tutorials, they're really good.

This just isn't the case for me. I'm with Pat. I feel completely overwhelmed and disoriented by Light Room. Buttons and toggles and settings all over the place, and seriously, where the heck are my photos anyway? Import them from my HD? They are already on my HD. How much more disc space is Adobe going to claim on my poor `ole PC?

 

[matt s]

I can only hope they finally fixed the local adjustment brush bug. I have it LR3, if I do local adjustments it effects the a huge area beyond the brush. Known issue and Adobe claims to be working on it. Restarting the program fixes it for a while then like a bad girlfriend it keeps coming back.

 

[HumphreyBear]

^^^^ I'm going to jump on the bandwagon as I don't get it either. A friend of mine who had just taken a greater interest in photography raves about LightRoom and works there almost exclusively, but I've tried different types of photo managers over the years and I'm with EMAM and nwoods in not feeling like it adds value (to me specifically, I know other people love it/them). I wonder if it is (again for me) the fact that I have a process, dare I say workflow, that I am comfortable with and covers all my needs from ingestion through manipulation to archiving. I would like to say that it is because I am a reasonably adept computer user with many years of experience but my friends might say it is because I am stick in the mud languishing in my primeval digital ways.

Humphrey

 

[nwoods]

I wonder if it is (again for me) the fact that I have a process, dare I say workflow, that I am comfortable with and covers all my needs from ingestion through manipulation to archiving. I would like to say that it is because I am a reasonably adept computer user with many years of experience but my friends might say it is because I am stick in the mud languishing in my primeval digital ways.

Humphrey

Well, If you are a stick in the mud, you've got company

 

[HumphreyBear]

Alright!! We should form a club...

For those who do use LR what are the things which draw you to it? Is it because you find it easier to do do most of the functions you generally use, or is it easier to learn than PS (my friend's reasoning, she's daunted by PS). I won't be home 'til next week but I am tempted to try it when I get home, it is lurking on the hard disk somewhere (sprawled over gazillions of bloated sectors as nwoods noted). Famously amongst my friends I am the computer geek who dismissed the iPhone as a jumped up piece of 2nd rate technology that helps people play games whilst they talk. I did kind of miss that bandwagon, so figure I might be missing something here...