Why I buy this one ?
- Enhance specific areas of a photo, or precisely adjust overall color, exposure, and tonal range nondestructively
- Automatically import, rename, and sort your entire shoot; find your photos quickly with powerful yet flexible sorting, selecting, and organizational tools
- Present your work in dynamic slide shows, interactive web galleries, and a variety of flexible print templates; easily upload your photos to popular online photo-sharing sites
- Configure your workspace to manage image workflow and presentation more efficiently thanks to support for multiple monitors
- Every change you make to an image is automatically tracked, so you can return to any state with a single click

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What our customer's say!

"Great Program, but...", I'm impressed with the program, but one such as this merits a manual for effective use. The price certainly justifies the printing costs. I had to buy an "aftermarket" book so as to be reasonably sure I'd get the full good of the program.

"Best Photo Software ", Lightroom 2 is the best photo organizer and quick editor I have ever used. I really like the organizer bar. And, I create web pages in minutes, crop pictures, adjust exposure and color temps, export my RAW images to JPG, touch-up red eye, and much much more. I haven't used CS3 in months.

"Keep up the good work Adobe!", My search for the perfect photo management and editing program began earlier this year. While I'm not a professional photographer by any means, I am an enthusiasts like many of you who are considering Lightroom. The pros will all say that Photoshop is a must, but for amateur enthusiasts like us, it is way overkill as well as an expensive solution that screams out for a simpler solution.

On the other extreme are programs like iPhoto and Photoshop Elements 7 which are not sophisticated enough for anything but casual snapshot takers.

With Photoshop, iPhoto and Elements out of the running, I had to choose between two competing software: Lightroom or Aperture. If you have a PC and not a Mac, the choice is much simpler since you can't pick Aperture. Each had it's own strengths and weaknesses. Aperture, for those who have used both, is easier to use since the the layout and workflow was designed with simplicity in mind. It is also about $100 cheaper than Lightroom. However, I own a Sigma DP1 which used a proprietary RAW format (X3F) that precluded me from using Aperture. At the time, neither programs accepted the DP1 format. However, since Adobe is faster at releasing RAW updates, I figured that I had a much better chance of an update from Adobe than Apple in the near future. It turns out that I my assessment was correct as Adobe recently updated their RAW converter which now accepts the DP1 while Apple is still Sigma deficient.

I started using Lightroom 1.4 earlier in the year. Although I wasn't able to directly import photos directly from my Sigma, I was able to convert it in the Sigma software first before importing them into Lightroom. The program is broken into five separate modules which follows the workflow of someone who wishes to go from importing the photos off their camera to the finishing product whether it's for print, web or anything else. I will now describe the five modules and my impression of them:

Library:
This is the first module. It allows you to import, organize as well as quick adjust photos coming in from your camera or memory card. There are a few changes in 2.0 from the previous versions. Mainly, the left side of the module has been reduced to just three panels. You can now create collections so that all your vacation photos, for example, can be grouped together. That makes it simple to see grouped themes in your pictures. There is also a smart collection which functions much like the iTunes smart playlists which would key in on tags so that it automatically grows or shrinks as your photo collections change. People using Photoshop would welcome the better integration.

Develop:
This second module is probably where most people spend most of their time. It allows for the fine tuning of photos to just the way you want it. It's not as powerful as Photoshop, but it should be sufficient for anyone who doesn't wish to alter the photo so much so that it's no longer like the original. Unlike Photoshop, you can't create things that weren't there in the photos to begin with. It's everything you need to adjust the photo.

The new 2.0 version now has a graduated filter tool so that you can add that effect to your images. There's also a retouch brush which allows you to paint in exposure, brightness, clarity, and saturation. There's even a section to correct for vignettes if you have lens issues.

Slideshow:
I don't do slideshows so I don't spend too much time here but suffice it to say, it has everything you need to create just the right presentation.

Print:
The print module has all the printing settings and adjustments for printing that can make the print look great. It will also allow you to output to jpg so that you can print it somewhere else. The allowance for package makes batch printing easier.

New to 2.0 is the ability to support 16 bit print output for those printers that have it.

Web:
I also don't spend too much here but you can create html galleries for your web pages.

Adobe seems to still be in rapid upgrading mode for Lightroom. They have just released an update to 2.0 which further improves and program. I expect there to be additional tweaks to the program as time passes since they seem to be locked in a battle with Apple's Aperture for dominance.

All in all, Lightroom 2.0 is a very powerful tool that will allow any enthusiast to fully exploit whatever photos they have taken to its maximum potential.

"64-bit systems supported: Priceless ", Adobe knows how to make fine software applications, and Light Room II is perhaps my favorite of all time (I've used Photoshop through CS2, Lightroom, Acrobat, etc...) As simple or complex as the user needs, its full featured editing and organization are impossible to beat. While the true professional editor will miss things from the heavier hitting Photoshop, virtually all the tools a photographer could ask for are available. I find that I rarely if ever use CS2 unless I run into a particularly daunting problem that Lightroom cannot manage. However, I am a bit of a purist, and don't 'clone' out undesirable things from photos, or do large scale image merges. I use Lightroom II like a darkroom, not to perform digital wizardry to fix inherently flawed images or create art digital mashes of photographs.

The best feature of Lightroom II in my opinion isn't really a feature, but support for 64-bit systems. Not just compatibility, but a special 64-bit version, able to take advantage of the additional ram afforded by 64-bit processing, as well as the native speed increase from the processor. This is simply fantastic, and makes working with very large RAW files seamless and quick. Navigating larch batches of 16mb+ files is also very smooth with zero lag.

There are a few things that have been changed from the original Lightroom that annoy me (the much more complex process of selecting the crop tool for example, which has been moved from the lower left of the main screen to the tool bar under the 'develop' tab for example) but these are merely preferences, and things that I will eventually adjust to. Overall, the improvements far outweigh any negative changes. I especially like the ability to isolate part of an image for color adjustments. This makes fixing a minor coloration problem easy. I no longer have to load the image into CS2, make changes, and then re-open in Lightroom. This makes my work flow much simpler and I find myself using CS2 less and less.

A tool for anyone serious about digital photography with a enough muscle to edit almost any image, Lightroom II is a fantastic product and well worth the price. Rarely have I encountered a more stable, easy to use, and downright fun software. Now if only Microsoft would take some cues from Adobe...

"Photoshop Beyond!", As a lifelong Apple user, old Art Director and Adobe fanboy, I was extremely happy with Lightroom 2. NOT Photoshop Lite but IS a darkroom guru! Superbly designed for pros to enhance the heck out of images to pro standards, period. My highest recommendation to Adobe for turning me on to Lightroom. Have Photoshop? you probably have the CS and thus can live without SOME of lightroom, but I love the way it helps me track my tons of stuff in an orderly way. KUDOS ADOBE!!!

Organizing! As a designer AND archivist of thousands of images and many more to come, I needed Lightroom's capability to keep them all sorted, properly imported and with the opportunity to go back and undo changes (very, very smart!).

Adding sepia and effects is much simpler than Photoshopping; photographers don't want more unnecessary junk, they (we) want to get to where we want to go and back up to the right one. Here ya go!

Filters and whizbang stuff are terrific. Ease of transforming for web or print and everything in between is great. More than I'd asked for!!!

Downside: Loads a bit slow on mine, but expected on older Macs. Time for an upgrade to compliment this fantastic new app!

Upside: Organize! Adjust! Clean up! Post and look totally brilliant with your photos! Even a novice can look pro here, and that's no exaggeration. Old "Photoshop tricks" are mastered here and wonderfully great to work with.

Read this reviews before You buy...

"Good softwware but pricey...", I'm a Mac user. I use iPhoto for the majority of my photo related needs. I don't take a whole lot of pictures so my editing needs are simple and basic. Lightroom is pretty much the Cadillac of iPhoto level type editing and organizing software. While I enjoyed the look and options available, I couldn't help but feel like this was a bit too much for my occasional use. Those who take a lot of pics, and who use Photoshop a lot probably would feel more at home with it than I did.

I could get used to it, and probably wind up using it more than I intended if I only took more pictures to begin with. For the pros, this is a great piece of software, for the casual photo taker, this might be a bit of overkill. It does what it does well, I just really don't need it for my level of picture taking. 4 out of 5 for most people...give or take one star depending on if you work with a lot of pics or not.

"My new photo companion", I had no expectations for this product so i had to go through it slowly. I tried the previous version and didn't see much use of it.
I have been using Photoshop for too long to go for a shortcut application.

I have been using Lightroom 2 for 1 week now and I have had no reason to do anything in Photoshop except the healing effect which is helpful to clean the dust and lens spots.

LR2 can do almost anything and might be a good reason not to spend those $$$ to get CS4 which is getting too complicated even for someone who has used it for 13 years.

"A powerhouse for organization and editing", I am a Photoshop CS3/Bridge/Adobe Camera Raw user, and when Lightroom 1.0 came out in beta for user testing, I downloaded it and tried it out. At the time, I didn't see much use for the application, and my other Adobe applications seemed to offer me the same and better, so I opted not to add Lightroom to my photo processing arsenal. I took this most recent opportunity to tryout Lightroom 2.0 however, because of all that I've been hearing about its improved functionality from fellow photographers - I wanted to see for myself what it could do.

I've hardly scratched the surface on this feature-rich application, but there is much to admire here. With Lightroom, Adobe offers a photo-centric application (as opposed to Bridge, which attempts to be everything for any user from any of Adobe's applications, including audio, graphic design and video applications) that is sleek and professional and very, very useful.

One of its main strengths, and I believe its main purpose, is as an organization database for the ever-growing amount of digital images today's modern photographer typically accumulates. I've found Bridge to be a sluggish image viewer - point it to a folder of several hundred RAW files, then go have a 20-minute tea break until it's done setting up the previews. With Lightroom, you can import your images into the database in one go and forever after they can be viewed immediately whenever you open the application. I've been amazed so far at how quickly I'm able to access images in Lightroom and get started on the selection and editing process with very little lag time.

RAW file editing functions are immediately available in Lightroom (in Bridge you have to open a separate Adobe Camera Raw application to begin edits, another 60 seconds at least), and much of what you can do in Adobe Camera Raw is available in Lightroom as well - exposure adjustment, curves, clarity, etc. There appear to be some differences, however - for instance, unless I've missed spotting it, Lightroom appears to lack the one-click convert-to-B&W feature that ACR provides (I would expect to see this in the hue/saturation/luminance tab, where it exists in ACR). Lightroom now allows spot editing (although no selections), which my current version of ACR can't do, in some cases saving me a trip into Photoshop altogether.

Overall, I've been very pleased with how much editing functionality Lightroom immediately makes available to me and thus how far along I can get in my editing before I need to open Photoshop to finish things up - not having to bop around among two or three applications at once throughout most of the workflow saves a lot of time.

I have yet to have a need for or tryout the Slideshow, Print, and Web tabs of the application, so I can't provide any critique on those in this review.

So five stars to Adobe Lightroom 2 for its sleek, intuitive interface and PS CS3-worthy suite of editing tools. All this functionality in one single application provides a welcome improvement to speeding up the photographer's workflow.

"Industrial Strength Power Tool for Photographers", Photo technology has advanced more in the last five years than it probably has in over a century. For me, the unfortunate side effect of all of this digital wizardry are the hundreds of gigabytes that are crying out for easy organization and efficient editing. Thankfully both Adobe and Apple have stepped up with heavy duty apps that largely solve the many challenges the digital revolution has thrust upon advanced amateur and professional photographers.

Mac users find themselves with a difficult decision between Apple Aperture 2.1.1 and Lightroom 2. Both products are focused on efficient workflows for organization and editing but take dramatically different approaches to getting that work done. As an Aperture user I was excited to be sent a copy of Lightroom to review and compare how the two apps work. After several hours of poking, prodding, and a whole lot of photo editing, I came to the conclusion that both are superb for what they do. While there are a few things that I like better on Lightroom and vice-versa (I much prefer Lightroom's file management for instance), nothing stood out for me as a deal maker or breaker for either product.

And while this wishy-washy conclusion may sound like a cop-out, it really comes down to how you, the photographer, edit photos and which workflow will best fit into how you approach that work. The problem is that once you're committed to Lightroom or Aperture it is difficult, if not impossible, to switch and maintain all of the editing and organizational data. Neither Adobe or Apple provide a pathway to import a library created on their competitor's product.

So here's my suggestion: try before you buy. While Apple and Adobe are locked in the grips of deadly competition we the consumers benefit not only from two great products to choose from but also 30 day fully featured free trials of each. Download both and begin experimenting to see which of the two will best fit your needs.

The decision is easier for Windows users. That's because there's nothing better for Windows than Lightroom. Users in a mixed Mac and PC environment will also find that Lightroom's libraries are also completely cross-compatible, so work can be started on a Mac and finished on a Windows PC. Users upgrading from Adobe Photoshop Elements as well as the older Photoshop album can import their existing album structures into Lightroom with relative ease.

Adobe continues their proud tradition of redefining photography with this product. It's clear that everything they've learned from two decades of Photoshop, combined with feedback from their customers, has gone into this version of Lightroom.

"Complex, amazingly complete.", (14DEC08)
So, got this on a whim. Started to use it and thought I'd better get more help. My friend who uses it recommended I get "The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter)" by Scott Kelby, which I did (from Amazon, of course!). I'm on Chapter 2 and really like the way it is taking me through the capabilities of Lightroom (for Mac, BTW). I cannot say yet whether Lightroom is going to be more to my liking than Apple's iPhoto which I've used for all (>4000 pics) my digital photos up to now - to do that will take many more weeks of use, and then maybe it'll still be questionable. I can say that if you're just starting out with digital photography (no matter how amateur or professional) and own a Mac, this software will make a great anchor for your work. I recommend the book, also, BTW. You'll be starting fresh and getting your pics safely and logically stored and arranged. Loads of options for adjustment, sizing, arrangement.

More to come: