First Look: Adobe’s Lightroom 3 Beta Rocks, With One Big Exception
Even though I own both Adobe’s Lightroom and Apple’s Aperture, I use Lightroom because of the advanced development module, the ability to paint on different exposures, and non-destructive editing. I had very high hopes for Lightroom 3, which Adobe just released in beta, and am pleased to say that with one pretty significant exception, I’m very pleased.
Tutorial Videos and more comments after the jump
Rating:
What’s it Got?: Crazy fast rendering, improved more intuitive import workflow, import presets, and greater pre-import filtering. Develop module is expanded with better sharpening, noise reduction, and new FX tools for vignettes and grain. New import / export module, improved web and picture book creation.
What it’s Not: Still overly reliant on Photoshop for anything but the bare basic developing. Cloning and spot removal remain a joke.
Try it Now: Download Free from Adobe.
That exception of course is the neutering of the image-editing engine. A product that retails for two hundred Simoleans oughta at least have “Photoshop Light” built in. Nothing crazy, just layers, masks, and real cloning/spot removal. What we got however is quite clearly a product intentionally designed NOT to cannibalize Adobe’s core Photoshop business.
C’est la vie. The improvements in rendering speed and quality, along with additional workflow tweaks make this is no-brainer upgrade.
Unless of course Apple releases Aperture 3 with a genuine non-destructive editor built in.
Tutorial videos and Adobe eye-candy follow:
