Does anyone use Lightroom with Elements?

I'm an amateur who uses PSE 5. I don't have any burning urge to move to CS3, due to the cost and the learning curve.

I do, however, wish that I had the same raw processing capabilities as CS3.

I think Lightroom provides the same raw processing as CS3.

I just re-read the May OP article on Lightroom. The Develop module sure sounds tempting. I don't care about the other modules.

Does anyone know if Lightroom-processed files, which I assume can be saved as psd's, are compatible with PSE?

Thanks.

Lance - I have used Lightroom with PSE, and know of several others who use it as their standard workflow. Lightroom, I think, can store things both as TIFF and PSD. It also has a lot of good catalouging capabilities. I think most people's standard flow would be to start by bringing their RAW files into Lightroom. Then everything can be executed from there.

-- Tagging, sorting, etc
-- RAW processing using Lightroom/ACR
-- Further editing by launching files into Elements from inside Lightroom (this is a nice feature that means you don't have to remember paths, lauch another program, tell Lightroom to refresh, etc. Instead, you just tell it you want to edit the file in Elements, and save when you're done with Elements.)
-- Final printing from Lightroom

The little bit I've used this flow has seemed really nice. If/when I get a camera with RAW mode, I'd likely make this my flow. I've used it with both RAW and JPGs, and there isn't as much advantage to working on JPGs in Lightroom.

Lance,

I use both PS Elements 5 and Lightroom. They are compatable and compliment each other.

I didn't need all the capability of PS CS3...I never used any version of the full phtoshop. I don't need all the graphic capabilities.

I import my images into either Elements or Lightroom...but I usually bring them directly into Lightroom. There is a simple command under edit in Lightroom that lets you export to Elements for further editing.

I usually shoot in raw and I find I get better results and more options in Lightroom than Elements. Lightroom handles jpeg as well.

I've used the Lightroom slide show option and it does a great job...also created my own web page and uploaded from Lightroom. While you may not see the need to use Lightroom's features beyond Develop at present, the more you work with it and learn about it, you may find you will experiment more.

For me, these two are a great combination...and they do everything I want to do.

I have a copy of The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book by Martin Evening...a little pricey, but a good resource. It's published by Peachpit.

Hope this helps.

Another Lightroom & Elements user here. I'm still crafting my workflow but one great factor is that the Targeted Adjustments feature for many of Lightrooms available adjustments in the Develop module is so powerful that much of what you may want to do in CS3 or Elements can be quickly, easily and very intuitively done in Lightroom. In many ways the real trick is deciding what mods are best done in LR and which are best done in Elements. Often it's specific to the image you're working on.

The Photoshop Elements 5 Book for Digital Photographers has great workarounds for some missing or obscure functionality in Elements. (I saw a 26 low price on Amazon.) Luminous-Landscape has a video download on Lightroom that can be helpful although a good book is probably just as well too.

I'm frankly not feeling the need to go to CS3.

Thanks, everyone!!!

I just ordered Lightroom.

I may be back to you with questions soon.

Lance,

I demoed Lightroom with my Elements 3. It will send an image to elements editor from develop just fine.

The three things pushing me towards PS CS3 are full 16 bit support and the ability to batch process and record actions. I've tried these in the trail version and really liked the added capability.

I prefer the Elements Organizer over bridge, but from my demo of Lightroom, I think I would be able to use it the same way as I use Elements.

One thing I remember that I did not like in Lightroom was that it seemed to stack my jpeg and raw images making it difficult to work on the jpeg. There are times when I do prefer to work from the jpeg. Elements organizer keeps these copies separate, which I prefer.

Mel brings up a terrific point - the 16-bit support of CS3 versus none (or close to it) in Elements. If you're using JPGs this doesn't matter. But if you are converting RAW files to 16-bit TIFF or PSD files, then you'll be downgrading to 8-bits using Elements. This usually shows up in smooth gradients, where they start to look posterized at 8-bit, and allow very little latitude for processing.