Lightroom - is it just me?

Everyone says Lightroom is the go-to software for processing, so after a trial I bought the software. First impression was not good; a really cheap cardboard box with just a disc and no instructions which for the price is unacceptable. Expected to trawl through YouTube instead, so I have now forked out for a book at another £20. In other software I can open a folder and see the RAW files as images but not Lightroom, they have to be laboriously imported first. Editing tools for spot removal etc are really basic, Elements is far better. Maybe I am missing something but it just feels clumsy and counterintuitive.

Depends on what you want to do with it, and why you chose it.

I use it as my main software for photo developing, but agree it took a while to come to grips with.

Sing out if you want a hand with anything specific, there are many here who can help.

Thanks very much for the offer, but that's one of the points I am making. I use AutoCAD software for work which came with a comprehensive manual just like when you get a Pentax camera. Anyhow my eyes glazed over after chapter one of the Scott Selby book and got increasingly irritated by his jokey style, but I have noticed I get more impatient with things as I get older! I am getting to grips with the basics and got it rather than lots of different special software for panorama merging etc. but not really interested in spending hours on clever tricks for which it seems Photoshop is intended.

I can't remember the last time i read a manual for anything to be honest, the internet has made them mostly redundant for me.

Youtube is excellent for Lightroom videos, lots of talented people on there.

Also, to be fair to Adobe, they do have a pretty extensive learning area on their website for Lightroom, all for free: https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/lightroom/tutorials.html

But, I do agree, if you're buying a boxed copy of something it should perhaps come with at least a quick start guide.

The main point of Lightroom is that it is a system for managing your images as well as editing them. If you only wanted some editing software, you did indeed buy the wrong package. I have found, however, that I do 95% of my photo-related tasks in Lightroom starting with downloading the images from my SD cards and moving on from there. Most of my images are also entirely edited in Lightroom. If, however, some form of cloning (beyond simple spot or red eye removal) is needed, I get Lightroom to drop me into my now-antiquated version of Photoshop (CS3), and once I have finished the new version automatically appears in Lightroom. One of the things I really like is being able to have multiple 'virtual' versions of the same image with different edits applied (e.g., BW and colour, toned or not toned, etc.) but only have one physical copy of the image on my rapidly shrinking hard-disk.

I agree the lack of a manual is a pain, and I hate the cloud-rental scheme that Adobe has gone with (I haven't bought into that idea yet, and will avoid it as long as I can), but once you get the hang of how it all works, it is a great tool.

I'd have to pretty much echo what Womble has said. I did try the rented version but soon reverted to the disc based V.4. If I've got stuck I've been able to call on a friend who has been using the software for some time - but It has only been necessary a couple of times.

I'm wondering why you only came to this conclusion after buying it rather than during the trial period??

By the way, the latest version or RAWTherapee is excellent and has some powerful tools. I especially like the Tone Mapping module.

I am on a steep learning curve here and had just got the hang of Elements 8 (a freebie with my computer), so thought with time I would understand it better, and it does have features I wanted which Elements doesn't. The trial was an online download but I didn't want the subscription option. I thought that for £85 it would be packaged better and at least have basic instructions with keystrokes etc.

£85 is not a large amount for such sophisticated and complex software development. They keep the costs down by using adequate packaging and ensuring the help you may need is provided online where it's far easier to keep up to date.

Keyboard Shortcuts:
► https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/help/keyboard-shortcuts.html

In a cost cutting, but under the guise of eco aims, many products do not feature a printed manual these days.

Essentially they are selling the software, that's the product, and it is what you have received.

The documentation for it is online, and honestly is superior to a printed manual. Both in terms of there being a video channel to actually show you step by step, and in terms of it staying current as you apply updates over time.



Free ebooks etc are out there

And here

Actually, they are selling the license to use it. You don't own software (unless you write it).

Thanks guys.

Autocad basic is currently £1,480 a year. How much did you pay for Lightroom?

What womble says