Posted by Amy Lindsey on June 17, 2011 at 10:00 AM
Hi gang,
I attended my first Meetup group for the Indy (Indianapolis) Media Artists last night and won a grand prize package of my choice of any Adobe product except the Master Collection (a $2100 value). Not being proficient at Photoshop, Lightroom, or any other software programs, I need some help choosing a product. I plan to get some 1-on-1 tutoring in whichever product I choose, but wanted some input from all you smarties who know these programs. What's your favorite and why? Is it simple to use/learn? Will it help me with faster workflow? (I can't imagine my workflow can get much slower. I'm self-taught and it's really trial and error for me to edit photos at this point.) What i'm really looking for is software that can help me edit my landscapes and some portraits (mostly boudoir, maternity, and engagements, but wouldn't mind doing a wedding here and there).
I have been contemplating going back to school to take graphic design classes and make a career move, but I'll settle with just learning how to use the software well enough that I could do graphic work on the side. It'd be cool if I could design my own website, but not mandatory. What can you all suggest?
Thank you in advance for your time. I'm hoping to really learn whatever product I choose so I can stop feeling like an outsider among such a talented group of photogs!
Amy....all I could say is that any graphic design career, classes, etc, is going to require a working knowledge of Photoshop as a minumum. There are so many avenues to learn this software. NAPP is a good place to start.
Joe Rogers
Posted by Laurie Wendt on June 17, 2011 at 11:54 AM
Amy, What a great prize! Congrats! If you can choose a package, I would look at the Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 Design Premium. As someone who's been working with Photoshop for 18 years, I'd have to say that is my favorite. I would say learning Photoshop can be intimidating for some but their is so much on the web about techniques for photographers. You can easily learn these step by step techniques as you need them. I also have Lightroom but haven't really looked at it much, since I know Photoshop so well.
Posted by Tom Stermitz on June 17, 2011 at 1:07 PM
Photoshop is essential for multiple hobbies, disciplines or careers. Any of the other products depend on your specific needs. They can be quite complex and detailed to learn, which is fine if they are what you need, but take up space and upgrade costs if they aren't. I mean, I've been a web designer and only really needed photoshop, but I'm old-school and never used Dreamweaver. Web has become specialized, so the graphic designer at a web shop would pretty much only use Photoshop and Illustrator, then turn the project over to a programmer. Indesign is also highly specialized for print publication.
The short of it is, don't go down the full suite path unless you really are heading to design school. The stupid thing is you can't update from CS Suite to just CS Photoshop, so your long-term expenses are real and recurring.
FOR PHOTOGRAPHY.
I find Photoshop and Bridge essential. That combo includes Adobe Camera Raw, which is most useful for non-destructive adjustment of lighting, cropping, lens correction, noise, sharpening, etc. Photoshop gives you a lot of tools for masking, dodgin/burning, localized editing.
Many people like Lightroom for more complete asset management, but I like the way Bridge keeps all my files in "normal" computer directories instead of a library like Lightroom or iPhoto does. I'm tempted by Apple's Aperture because it also respects my directories, but I am happy with my Camera-Backup-Bridge-Photoshop procedure.
I think one reason to use Aperture or Lightroom is that the library allows you to keep track of and find a specific photo out of thousands from previous years. As I already have my processing process in Bridge, ACR and Photoshop, I may just use iPhoto for my final collection.
I agree with Laurie... A great prize and it would only be worth it to get the complete creative suite. The main one in there is Photoshop, but well worth it.
Hi Amy, great prize! You have two choices, it's quite simple being Photoshop and Illustrator comes with either of them:
- Design Premium if you do plan on going to graphic design school as it includes InDesign (Pagemaker) and Dreamweaver for web design (and Fireworks for web ditties like rollovers)
-Production Premium if you plan on getting into DSLR Video. Sounds like graphic design is what you're after, so choice #1 is the only choice, so I also agree with Laurie also.
This will light up the forum I'm sure, but just forget about Lightroom. It's strictly for single-layer photoediting and cataloging. If you get further into Graphic Design in addition to your photography, your absolute tool of choice will be Photoshop CS5 Extended (along with Illustrator), and what you will learn on the graphics side will make you quite proficient at the photo side of Photoshop. LR has zero graphic capabilities. It's an excellent tool for cataloging/asset management, but to use it only as that is a waste. For cataloging, Bridge CS5 has come of age, and you'll need to learn that to also handle all of your non-image graphic files. There are Lightroom users on here who wil use nothing else and that's great for photography, but since you now will own a powerhouse software suite, look down the road and be ready for your graphic interests and just get the Design Premium Suite. HOWEVER, if you can get LR for free, then grab a copy, because if you one day switch to high-volume shooting such as weddings, LR will be your bestest friend. For crafting single landscape images, you already have the big cahuna coming, PS CS5 Extended. BTW: Will you need to go PC shopping?
For training, Lynda.com for $25 per month is an unbelievably huge site for Adobe training. You can get training in many places, but all-you-can-watch for $25/month is hard to beat, and they have hundreds of hours of CS5 training on their website. But Adobe.tv is a great place to start for FREE.
Amy, just came across Adobe's YouTube Channel, tons of training vids on there also: http://www.youtube.com/photoshop?trackingid=ISXJR. Just don't read comments, most people talk/write like a sailor, lol.
Thanks for the advice everyone! I've decided while i'm getting the free software to trade up from a Dell to a Macbook Pro. I've been contemplating switching to a Mac for a couple years so this seems like as good a time as any to make the change. I'll give it all a try and let you know how it works out in a couple months.
Discussion
7 repliesI attended my first Meetup group for the Indy (Indianapolis) Media Artists last night and won a grand prize package of my choice of any Adobe product except the Master Collection (a $2100 value). Not being proficient at Photoshop, Lightroom, or any other software programs, I need some help choosing a product. I plan to get some 1-on-1 tutoring in whichever product I choose, but wanted some input from all you smarties who know these programs. What's your favorite and why? Is it simple to use/learn? Will it help me with faster workflow? (I can't imagine my workflow can get much slower. I'm self-taught and it's really trial and error for me to edit photos at this point.) What i'm really looking for is software that can help me edit my landscapes and some portraits (mostly boudoir, maternity, and engagements, but wouldn't mind doing a wedding here and there).
I have been contemplating going back to school to take graphic design classes and make a career move, but I'll settle with just learning how to use the software well enough that I could do graphic work on the side. It'd be cool if I could design my own website, but not mandatory. What can you all suggest?
Thank you in advance for your time. I'm hoping to really learn whatever product I choose so I can stop feeling like an outsider among such a talented group of photogs!
Joe Rogers
The short of it is, don't go down the full suite path unless you really are heading to design school. The stupid thing is you can't update from CS Suite to just CS Photoshop, so your long-term expenses are real and recurring.
FOR PHOTOGRAPHY.
I find Photoshop and Bridge essential. That combo includes Adobe Camera Raw, which is most useful for non-destructive adjustment of lighting, cropping, lens correction, noise, sharpening, etc. Photoshop gives you a lot of tools for masking, dodgin/burning, localized editing.
Many people like Lightroom for more complete asset management, but I like the way Bridge keeps all my files in "normal" computer directories instead of a library like Lightroom or iPhoto does. I'm tempted by Apple's Aperture because it also respects my directories, but I am happy with my Camera-Backup-Bridge-Photoshop procedure.
I think one reason to use Aperture or Lightroom is that the library allows you to keep track of and find a specific photo out of thousands from previous years. As I already have my processing process in Bridge, ACR and Photoshop, I may just use iPhoto for my final collection.
- Design Premium if you do plan on going to graphic design school as it includes InDesign (Pagemaker) and Dreamweaver for web design (and Fireworks for web ditties like rollovers)
-Production Premium if you plan on getting into DSLR Video. Sounds like graphic design is what you're after, so choice #1 is the only choice, so I also agree with Laurie also.
This will light up the forum I'm sure, but just forget about Lightroom. It's strictly for single-layer photoediting and cataloging. If you get further into Graphic Design in addition to your photography, your absolute tool of choice will be Photoshop CS5 Extended (along with Illustrator), and what you will learn on the graphics side will make you quite proficient at the photo side of Photoshop. LR has zero graphic capabilities. It's an excellent tool for cataloging/asset management, but to use it only as that is a waste. For cataloging, Bridge CS5 has come of age, and you'll need to learn that to also handle all of your non-image graphic files. There are Lightroom users on here who wil use nothing else and that's great for photography, but since you now will own a powerhouse software suite, look down the road and be ready for your graphic interests and just get the Design Premium Suite. HOWEVER, if you can get LR for free, then grab a copy, because if you one day switch to high-volume shooting such as weddings, LR will be your bestest friend. For crafting single landscape images, you already have the big cahuna coming, PS CS5 Extended. BTW: Will you need to go PC shopping?
For training, Lynda.com for $25 per month is an unbelievably huge site for Adobe training. You can get training in many places, but all-you-can-watch for $25/month is hard to beat, and they have hundreds of hours of CS5 training on their website. But Adobe.tv is a great place to start for FREE.
Congrats and enjoy your prize!