Which program is finest, Adobe Digital camera Uncooked vs Lightroom? And which must you use in your images workflow?
On this article, I’m going to share a radical comparability of those two applications. I’ll focus on all the important thing options, from enhancing capabilities and file varieties to digital asset administration and integration.
By the point you’re executed, you’ll know which program is best for you – and I’ll even clarify how one can successfully combine each applications into your enhancing workflow.
Let’s get began.
What Is Adobe Digital camera Uncooked?
Adobe Digital camera Uncooked (ACR) is a RAW file converter. It turns a RAW file right into a extra versatile file sort, akin to a TIFF, JPEG, or perhaps a PSD – to be able to simply preview, share, or edit your work.
ACR started as a Photoshop plugin, permitting photographers to open RAW information, convert them in Digital camera Uncooked, then proceed with enhancing in Photoshop. But it surely quickly grew to become a everlasting fixture of the Photoshop setting (approach again in 2003, when Adobe first launched Photoshop CS).
Since then, Digital camera Uncooked has gone by loads of iterations. Right this moment, it provides lots of of enhancing choices, together with primary publicity changes, primary shade changes, and focused (native) changes through brushes and filters. Whereas ACR can’t match the expansiveness and depth of Photoshop, and whereas it’s technically nonetheless a Photoshop plugin, it now packs the facility of a standalone editor.
What Is Lightroom?
Lightroom is a picture enhancing and digital asset administration (DAM) program supplied by Adobe.
Not like Adobe Digital camera Uncooked, Lightroom is cut up into a number of modules, every with a delegated operate. As an example, you get a picture library (for importing and organizing photographs), a Develop module (for making edits), a Print module (for getting ready photographs for print), and extra.
Lightroom was initially labeled “Photoshop Lightroom,” with the aim of high-volume picture processing that simply wasn’t attainable in Photoshop. Observe that Lightroom’s builders took the (already current) Adobe Digital camera Uncooked and caught it into Lightroom’s Develop module – so the enhancing options in each applications are functionally similar, with the identical sliders, the identical adjustment instruments, and as of the latest main replace, an identical enhancing format.
In different phrases:
In the case of enhancing, ACR and Lightroom are primarily the identical program.
That stated, there are some necessary variations, particularly with regards to workflow and digital asset administration (and I focus on these in depth beneath).
The Benefit of Nondestructive RAW Enhancing
Each Digital camera Uncooked and Lightroom are nondestructive RAW editors, which implies they regulate RAW information with out overwriting the unique picture.
So should you improve the publicity in ACR or Lightroom, you’re not really brightening the unique pixels; as a substitute, you’re writing the modifications to a picture catalog (Lightroom) or to a sidecar file (ACR).
The unique RAW picture all the time stays untouched.
Why is that this necessary?
It means that you could make as many modifications as you need to your information, but you’ll by no means destroy the unique. All the pieces is reversible. In case your tastes change otherwise you make a mistake, you’ll be able to all the time reset the edits and begin over.
Additionally, ACR and Lightroom (together with Lightroom Basic, Lightroom, and Lightroom Cellular) all acknowledge each other’s catalogs and sidecar information – so you’ll be able to edit in a single program, change to a different, and head into a 3rd with full continuity.
And since ACR and Lightroom presets are the identical, you’ll be able to import any Lightroom presets into ACR and vice versa.
What Are the Benefits of Lightroom?
As I defined above, Lightroom and ACR provide similar enhancing packages.
However Lightroom provides a degree of performance on high of its enhancing:
Digital asset administration.
In Lightroom, you’ll be able to import information of every type (together with each RAWs and JPEGs), then you’ll be able to arrange them into completely different collections, give them key phrases, rankings, flags, and far, way more. And after organizing, you’ll be able to transfer into the Develop module to make edits, then again into the Library module for additional group, and so forth.
It is a enormous deal. It’s a method to preserve your complete photographic workflow – from group to enhancing to exporting – in a single place, and that is invaluable for novices, lovers, and professionals. Plus, Lightroom isn’t simply a digital asset administration program, it’s the digital asset administration program, one which outperforms a lot of the different choices available on the market and is utilized by loads of world-class professionals.
Examine this to Adobe Digital camera Uncooked, which incorporates zero group capabilities. You click on to open a file, you edit the file in ACR, and also you put it aside, export it, or proceed on to Photoshop. There’s no organizing photographs into folders or collections or anything. (You possibly can add a star score, however it’s not particularly helpful except you employ Adobe Bridge, mentioned beneath.)
What Are the Benefits of Adobe Digital camera Uncooked?
As you’re now conscious, Adobe Digital camera Uncooked is generally only a portion of Lightroom that converts information for Photoshop.
However this does include some advantages.
For one, ACR doesn’t use a catalog; picture edits are saved alongside the unique RAW file. This may be helpful if you wish to share RAW information with one other laptop – as a substitute of sending your RAW file plus the entire Lightroom catalog, you’ll be able to simply ship the RAW file and the sidecar file (which is conveniently positioned proper subsequent to the unique RAW).
(You can make Lightroom do that, however it takes some setup, plus it takes up further space for storing.)
And two:
Adobe Digital camera Uncooked is made for Photoshop, so it’s extremely straightforward to begin in ACR, do some enhancing in Photoshop, after which (through Adobe’s Digital camera Uncooked filter) make further modifications in Digital camera Uncooked.
Sure, Lightroom does provide Photoshop integration. But it surely’s not practically as handy because the ACR-Photoshop workflow, so for many who plan to spend a lot of time in Photoshop, ACR is very interesting.
Digital camera RAW + Bridge vs Lightroom
For these of you who like Adobe Digital camera Uncooked however are pissed off by the shortage of DAM capabilities, there’s a resolution:
Adobe Bridge.
Bridge was launched again in 2005, and it’s simply a picture organizer – so it may act because the DAM companion to ACR’s enhancing.
For photographers preferring to not use Lightroom, Adobe Bridge is a lifesaver. You possibly can arrange photographs in Bridge, then do RAW conversions and primary edits in Adobe Digital camera Uncooked earlier than making main changes in Photoshop.
Plus, Adobe Bridge is a photograph organizing program that’s utterly free.
Methods to Use Lightroom and Digital camera Uncooked Successfully
Adobe Bridge is nice – however what if you wish to stick to Lightroom for picture group, however you additionally need to have the ability to entry Adobe Digital camera Uncooked? What do you do?
You possibly can mix ACR and Lightroom by a helpful little workflow:
First, you import and arrange your photographs in Lightroom.
Then, you can also make primary changes within the Lightroom Develop module.
When you’re able to do higher-level changes, you’ll be able to right-click on a picture and choose Edit In > Open as Good Object in Photoshop.
Your file will open in Photoshop. You may make any Photoshop changes you want. And you may additionally use the Digital camera Uncooked filter, which helps you to entry ACR inside the Photoshop interface.
Adobe Digital camera Uncooked vs Lightroom: Conclusion
Adobe Digital camera Uncooked and Lightroom are each wonderful applications. The secret is to find out which one works for you.
In the event you spend most of your time in Photoshop, ACR (plus Bridge) is perhaps the higher alternative. However should you desire Lightroom’s enhancing and group capabilities, you’ll be able to all the time work successfully with Lightroom and Photoshop – and, if you want it, the Digital camera Uncooked filter!