CS5, Lightroom 3.2 or both? Any Suggestions please.

That's perfect, the combination lightroom and photoshop works very well. I don't know how you work but use DNG if you've both programs, it works much better than if you use PEF because it takes some step out of the workflow.

Can you edit DNG files directly in CS5? I hate having a PSD file for each external edit and I wish I could just use XMP modifications like within Lightroom.

I always soot in RAW (DNG) + jpeg, so I should be fine. I just LOVE the Content-Aware tool.
Gone are the days by hours and hours of cloning and it surprisingly works very well. The Liquefy Tool is cool and so is the Puppet Wrap is fun as well and may come in handy from time to time.
Like I say, there is so much in it, it just blows you away.
Definitely Lightroom is next!
Many thanks for all your helpful input. I really appreciate it.

I have to say that content aware heal saves some time but it doesn't get it right anywhere near as often as I'd like. I get better results with spot removal abuse in Lightroom.

The clone stamp in Photoshop is a complete pain though where as the spot removal tool in Lightroom is much easier to use.

Like I say, at the moment I have 'only' CS5 and Illustrator to play with. I am sure that Lightroom will be good as well but I would not know till next week.

I couldn't do without Lightroom but could easily do without Photoshop. in fact I don't use photoshop at all. I use Corel photopaint for any bitmap work I can't do in Lightroom. but frankly the only time I use Photopaint is for cleaning up scanned 35mm film negatives before importing them as digital negatives in Lightroom.

I use the plugins Color Efex pro and Silver Efex Pro from Lightroom

Yes DNG opens directly from lightroom to photoshop and they work almost as PSD.
You can even select several photos and directly merge them into panorama or HDR in photoshop, with PEF you first need to convert them.

I don't believe you can save as DNG though... well maybe if you stay with one layer but ain't sure about that.

I use Nik as well but find it not flexible enough in lightroom, Layers is such a powerful powerful tool in photoshop that i can't do without.
If lightroom had layers it would be perfect.
The only thing i really miss in photoshop is the easiness how lightroom works but like said you can find many features back in ACR and Bridge so it's not a terrible lost.

You can edit them, but you can't save in .DNG or .PEF.

They are digital negatives and just like film negatives, apart from physically damaging them, they can't be edited.

Any changes you make can be saved to any one of a number of file formats including .TIF and .JPG.

So I might as well export to PSD or TIF and work on the copy then?

If you stay in Adobe Camera Raw, yes. No need to save/export to TIF or PSD, etc...
(Basically same photo editing features and functionality as Lightroom, just a different UI).

Sure. It is an extra step to export first than to just edit directly in Photoshop and then saving when/if necessary. But it all ends up the same.


FYI, I believe OnOne software is working on some sort of plugin to allow layers in LightRoom. Not sure how that is going to work. I am sure it should be interesting to see their interpretation of "Layers".

Well, I don't need to export it. If I right click on the photo and say edit in photoshop elements it creates a PSD in my library, same location as the original and opens it for editing.

I was just hoping CS5 might save me having the extra file.

By default if you right click and edit in CS5, it will edit an "in-memory" copy without first creating a file on disk. (I am sure there is a temp file, but it is lost if you don't save). I like this, as I many times use multiple images for a composite and don't want extraneous HUGE TIFs or PSDs laying around.

By default, and oddly, CS5 will show the filename with suffix DNG (or PEF, I suppose) in the title bar, but when you save it, you need to choose a proper file type. You will not be allowed to saving directly into the DNG file format. (dunno if that makes sense... you'll see what I mean if you give it a try)

If you use the settings to specify Open With Application and specify CS5, then you can have it export as a TIF or as a PSD before editing within CS5. This takes longer due to the export and leave the file on disk regardless if you choose to save the file within CS5 or not.

Yes but you need to export it then and with DNG you don't need to, that's what i mean you cut out a step in the workflow. Not a big step but still.

Sometimes i go to PS for a very simple edit, for example i love to use a softlight layer to enhance the contrast and saturation but the edit is so simple that i don't save it but directly make it into a print or web image.

edit: amoringello was faster.

I am still going to be landed with an extra file either way so I may as well create it at the start of the process and not have to worry about losing some parts of the edit.

I think I'll stick to 'Edit in PSE' + 'Stack with Original' and then I still have everything in my Lightroom library.

Well, you may not want to create them all at the start. The point is, or it may eventually be, that you will find less use for PS and PSE. You may find that your ate able to do most of your work in LightRoom itself. Many people find that 90% of their work can be done within LightRom or Aperture and use PS/PSE less and less.

I only go to Photoshop now for creating compositions of multiple elements, or more complex editing that LightRoom cannot handle.
You may find that creating all those TIFs and PSD at upwards of 80MB each is not worth the extra disk space, and that staying with 15MB DNG of PEF as long as possible has its own benefits.

Another benefit to delaying export being that if you export at the start, then make changes within Lightroom at a later time, you will need to re-export. Possibly creating another large TIF or PSD file on disk and in the library. Add to that the possible confusion of which file did you modify within LightRoom last?... was it the original RAW file, or the TIF file?

Anyway, as long as you have a consistent workflow, it will all work out. Just throwing out possible pitfalls before you hit them.
I think I've changed my workflow half a dozen times before it was something I can live with doing on a regular basis.