Have you ever taken a photo that you thought could use a little more spark? Maybe you want to make the colors more vivid, bring out the highlights, or increase the contrast. Whatever your vision is, Adobe Lightroom can give your photos a perfect touch up. In this article, we will discuss what Adobe Lightroom is, how to use Lightroom, and compare it with other photo editing software tools out there.
Image from Adobe
What is Adobe Lightroom?
For many photographers, Adobe Lightroom is their go-to software for photo editing. Not only do many photographers consider it an industry standard, it’s also easy to navigate. Lightroom can be used for editing, cataloging, image resizing, and so much more. Read on to find out how to use Lightroom.
How to use Lightroom
Lightroom is particularly great for photographers who don’t need to do extensive editing. If you’re not planning to drastically alter the body of your subject, put them in outer space, or edit-in any other kind of backdrops, Lightroom is great for you.
What does Lightroom do?
Lightroom acts as an editing software and photo library with amazing capabilities. In addition to editing, you can create photo books and slideshows, geotag your images with a virtual map, and create easy to navigate organizational folders.
Lightroom is also a RAW file converter. If you shoot in RAW mode and decide to edit with other software, you may have to use an additional program to convert the raw file format. Lightroom is capable of editing photos in all kinds of formats, including TIFF, DNG, and JPEG. RAW file formats include CR2 and CR3 files (for Canon cameras) and NEF files (for Nikon cameras).
One of the best things about Lightroom is that it has non-destructive editing, meaning your edits don’t actually manipulate the original file. You preserve the original and export the edits as another file type, creating an additional image.
The importance of RAW
Shooting in RAW mode on your camera is best for adjusting your images in Adobe Lightroom because you will have more control manipulating your images. File quality also doesn’t drop due to compression, you preserve more image detail, have a wider color range to work with, and more conversion potential.
Importing and organizing your photos
Photos that are already on your computer do not automatically show up in Lightroom. First, you need to import your photographs – which can be done by either clicking the “import” button seen on the Navigation panel when in the Library tab, or you can import from “file” on the upper menu. Once you’ve selected the photos you want, click “done.”
You can also create “collections” for your imports to organize your photo editing projects. Simply scroll to the collections section in the Navigation pane and create the collection by clicking the + sign. You can create a collection, smart collection, or collection set. Read more about the differences here.
It is important to note that when you import photos into Lightroom, the photos do not live in Lightroom, but rather Lightroom is storing the metadata and location of your photos, and separately saves the manipulation data so that the original photo remains unaltered. Any changes you made to the image must be exported as a separate file to see these changes outside of Lightroom. Additionally, if you relocate where you are storing your original files, you must re-sync the image location to your Lightroom catalog. Learn more about Lightroom catalogs and how it reads your images here.
Lightroom editing
Once you’ve imported your photos and organized them the way you want to, you’re ready to begin editing. Select the photos you want to edit either from the “imports” section of the library, or from one of your collections. Once you have highlighted the photos you want to edit, move to the tabs on the upper right side of your screen and click “Develop.”
In Develop mode, you can perform several functions:
1) Adjustments
(that's me!)
In the adjustments function, this is where most of the photo manipulation happens. You can change the exposure levels, highlights, contrast, shadows, and much more. You can also adjust the hues and saturation of your image.
2) Crop
The crop function allows you to adjust the frame size (length and width) and rotation of the photo. You can also adjust the position of the photo in a cropped frame using the gridlines as a guide to set the image in a pleasing and eye-catching way.
3) Healing
This tool lets you adjust blemishes and other “spots” that you would prefer not to have in an image. You can also use the “clone” part of this tool to blot out minor interferences to the photo.
4) Red eye correction
This tool is only needed in flash photos where the eyes of the subject have a strange often reddish glare. The tool will correct the eyes to appear more normal.
5) Masking
The masking tool is very similar to the editing function, except instead of editing the entire photo, you can select aspects of an image that you want to edit. There is a brush tool where you can specifically draw over the parts of the image you want to edit differently, or you can use an auto-selecting mask for your subject or the sky. When you change the highlight, contrast, exposure levels, or anything else that the tool provides, the only part of the images that changes is what you’ve selected.
Exporting your photos
When you have finished editing your images, you will need to export your photos in order to share them with others. Simply take your cursor to the “file” part of the main menu in the upper left corner and click “Export.” To learn more about the exporting process and the best settings to use, check out this video.
Lightroom Classic vs Lightroom CC
Adobe offers two versions of Lightroom – Classic and Creative Cloud. This article describes the usage of Lightroom Classic, but Creative Cloud (CC) also offers benefits of its own.
Lightroom CC is available to use on mobile, desktop, and web. Everything you work on in CC is saved to your Creative Cloud account. File backups are automatic, the ease of use is more streamlined, and CC has automatic tagging and intelligent search. Lightroom Classic is only available on desktop and is a little more complicated to navigate. CC is great if you intend to do some simple editing and want quick, easy access to photos and storage. It’s a good way to introduce yourself to Lightroom without being overwhelmed by all the capabilities of Lightroom Classic. Classic is great if you want to take your photography to the next level and advance your editing and cataloging capabilities.
Adobe Bridge vs Lightroom
Adobe Bridge is a software in the Creative Cloud collection that is often overlooked. While Bridge can’t be used for actual image editing, it is a great way to organize your creative files – whether they are photos, videos, audio, or files from InDesign and more. Bridge is ideal for easy and quick previewing, organizing, editing, and publishing. It’s basically an ultra-fancy browser for all your creative files.
However, while Bridge may be great for organization, it is not something you will want to use for photo-editing as it does not possess that capability. You should only use Bridge if:
You like organizing your own files and creating your own structure
You would prefer to edit your images in Photoshop
You work with a wide variety of creative assets
For the purposes of this post, I am strongly recommending Lightroom for photographers. If you have a variety of creative interests and pursuits, Adobe Bridge could be a useful organizational tool for you. Check out this article for a more detailed overlook of Bridge vs Lightroom.
Lightroom Alternatives
Unfortunately, Lightroom isn’t free, but it is relatively affordable. You can buy a subscription option for as little as $9.99 a month. If you’re not ready to make the commitment, you can get the free trial first. But maybe you’ve heard enough about Lightroom and you’re interested in exploring other platforms. Here are some free and paid alternatives to Lightroom.
Free Options
Image from RawTherapee
1) RawTherapee
RawTherapee is a great alternative to Lightroom, particularly if you shoot RAW on FujiFilm cameras since those files are often difficult to work with. It is considered one of the best free Lightroom alternatives.
2) Capture One
This platform is considered to be a great alternative for professional photographers, though it can be very helpful for beginners if they are willing to invest the time to learn the user interface. It can be difficult to navigate at first but has a lot of unique features. This free version is great for Fuji and Sony camera users. The premium version (discussed in the next section) is compatible with most RAW files.
3) Darktable
Darktable is another great alternative that supports most RAW file formats. It also offers free tutorials, allows you to easily revert to original photos, and you can send your images directly in an email.
4) Lightzone
The unique thing about Lightzone is that it works on a layer-based system called Zone Mapping. This is comparable to Photoshop’s layering system. With Zone Mapping, you can easily blend, manipulate, and stack photo-editing tools. Lightzone also has excellent black & white photo processing software. However, it is a simple software – lacking features such as advanced asset management, a library of effects, or tone curves. The lack of advanced features does make the software easier to learn, and Lightzone also has its own forum where you can find help from other users.
If you own an Apple computer, this software is free to use and readily at your disposal. This software can import and edit RAW files, including Apple ProRAW images. Apple Photos also has intuitive search options, and you can use Apple’s cloud storage to access your photos any time if you have multiple Apple devices. However, it lacks a lot of editing tools, so it will not be the best for professionals.
Paid Options
Image from Affinity Photo
Capture One Pro can import Lightroom catalogs and possesses many tools like Magic Brush, Speed Edit, Dehaze, and Style Brushes. One of the benefits of this software is that it can import Lightroom catalogs. You can also import presets and this software is compatible with most RAW files.
DxO Photo Lab is another great Lightroom alternative. It has all its editing tools in one place, so you don’t have to go around trying to find exactly what you’re looking for. Some of its tools include noise reduction, masking, and a repair tool (like the “spot” tool in Lightroom). It also comes with the Nik Collections Plugin, a bonus of 7 unique and professional presets for your photos. DxO has a free trail you can check out as well.
With Affinity Photo 2, you can enhance your images with editing tools like levels, curves, or white balance. Additionally, what makes this software so great are its extras like HDR merging, panorama stitching, focus stacking, and batch processing.
Best tutorials for Lightroom beginners
Adobe offers some tutorials for Lightroom beginners, but there are some other great YouTube videos that you can browse as well. Here are some I recommend:
Lightroom Classic Tutorial for Beginners | FREE COURSE (comprehensive 2 hr video)
Summary
Adobe Lightroom is arguably the best tool to use when editing your photographs, especially if you shoot in RAW mode. It’s not free, but it has a low monthly subscription cost and includes cloud storage. For those of you looking to make your images pop, Lightroom is one of the best software tools to have at your disposal.
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