Free trial of Adobe Lightroom 4

Okayyou · #1 Posted **Jan 10, 2012, 6:41 PM**

Came across this on the web today. Adobe just released the Beta version of Lightroom 4. It is free to download from today until January 15th. The software will work until March 12, 2012 which is a pretty long trial time.

Download here:

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom4/

If you already have lightroom this will install as a separate program, not as an upgrade.

See some of the new features here:

http://www.photoshopuser.com/lightroom4

You have to register an Adobe ID but other than that no strings attached.

Nineties Flava · #2 Posted **Jan 11, 2012, 2:26 AM**

Thank you for the link, I've been playing around with this for the last hour... it's vastly superior to what I've been using (GIMP). I'm really not looking forward to when the trial date ends lol.

Nineties Flava · #3 Posted **Jan 11, 2012, 2:33 AM**

Here's what I was able to do with it on a pic I posted on this board a week ago. Here's the original pic (not processed):

Here's what it looks like Lightroomed:

I like how easy the GUI is to navigate.

diskojoe · #4 Posted **Jan 11, 2012, 5:44 PM**

i heard that there are plug in issue with the new version due to the new processing system. Wondering what they plan on doing for this?

flar · #5 Posted **Jan 12, 2012, 12:38 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nineties Flava

Thank you for the link, I've been playing around with this for the last hour... it's vastly superior to what I've been using (GIMP). I'm really not looking forward to when the trial date ends lol.

Lightroom and Gimp do different things. Gimp doesn't organize your photos or decode RAW images. Lightroom is not nearly as powerful as Gimp for retouching.

There are some free programs that have a similar interface to Lightroom, like Rawtherapee. For a while I used Darktable (Linux only, I think), which is almost identical to Lightroom, but eventually went back to Gimp+Ufraw.

Nineties Flava · #6 Posted **Jan 12, 2012, 8:18 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by flar

Lightroom and Gimp do different things. Gimp doesn't organize your photos or decode RAW images. Lightroom is not nearly as powerful as Gimp for retouching.

There are some free programs that have a similar interface to Lightroom, like Rawtherapee. For a while I used Darktable (Linux only, I think), which is almost identical to Lightroom, but eventually went back to Gimp+Ufraw.

Thanks for the info! I'm very ignorant when it comes to photo-editing lol.

diskojoe · #7 Posted **Jan 12, 2012, 1:37 PM**

I still use photoshop cs4. Its a little older but gets the job done. Plus I cant work without my layers and my spot healing tool.

Okayyou · #8 Posted **Jan 12, 2012, 7:28 PM**

I think light-room is redundant if you already have Photoshop. Bridge works just fine as a file browser and camera raw has all the features of lightroom. The layers in masking in PS would keep me from switching. However, the flickr and 500px uploader, along with the map and book features are pretty cool.

photoLith · #9 Posted **Jan 12, 2012, 8:05 PM**

I have lightroom 3 and love it, but where is the freakin cloning tool? Is there even one? A lot of my photos have dust on them from the lenses and I want to retouch these dust spots but havent found a cloning tool like in photoshop.

flar · #10 Posted **Jan 12, 2012, 8:17 PM**

^^that's why there's photoshop (of Gimp). Lightroom is mainly a way to organize your photos, pick through them and quickly process RAW images. Anything else you send the photo to Photoshop.

The nice thing about Lightroom (and other similar software) is that you can quickly apply the same treatment to a batch of similar photos. It's good for many people's workflow. A lot of photos don't need retouching or more complex things with layers and masks.

Okayyou · #11 Posted **Jan 12, 2012, 9:29 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by photoLith

I have lightroom 3 and love it, but where is the freakin cloning tool? Is there even one? A lot of my photos have dust on them from the lenses and I want to retouch these dust spots but havent found a cloning tool like in photoshop.

I'm pretty sure you are looking for the spot removal brush brush. Not sure about LR3 but in 4 it looks like the male gender symbol, circle with an arrow. Click on your spot, adjust the size and then move the second circle to an area to replace the spot.

xzmattzx · #12 Posted **Jan 13, 2012, 3:54 AM**

What is Lightroom? Is it like Infranview, but better?

i_am_hydrogen · #13 Posted **Jan 13, 2012, 4:36 PM**

^it's like Photoshop lite.

diskojoe · #14 Posted **Jan 13, 2012, 7:27 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by i_am_hydrogen

^it's like Photoshop lite.

I never used it but it seems to be just like the raw converter that you have in photoshop.

Via Chicago · #15 Posted **Jan 13, 2012, 9:00 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Okayyou

I'm pretty sure you are looking for the spot removal brush brush. Not sure about LR3 but in 4 it looks like the male gender symbol, circle with an arrow. Click on your spot, adjust the size and then move the second circle to an area to replace the spot.

Yea, this. I use it all the time. Actually is a great tool.

I dont know, Ive always been intimidated by Photoshop so Lightroom serves me quite well. Photoshop is essential if youre doing heavy editing, but for most people it contains way more power than you will ever need. Lightroom is streamlined to replicate the workflow of a photo darkroom, wheras Photoshop allows a million different functions for advanced graphic design, etc. My understanding is they're supposed to work in tandem, with Lightroom serving the function more of an organizational tool and also allowing bulk adjustments. For my purposes though (raw conversion/noise reduction/white balance adjustment/contrast/toning/spot fixes, etc) its more than enough.

Another thing is that Lightroom is non-destructive whereas with Photoshop its possible to make permanent changes to a file.