Lightroom vs Aperture

Hello,

I couldn't find a Lightroom forum. Is it ok to post here?

As a hobby I enjoy photography and have been using iPhoto 08 which has been a god send for me when it comes to organizing my work.

I feel it's now time to step up to the next level. Some magazines recommend Aperture and others Lightroom.

Can anyone explain in lay man terms which might be better for me?

I use Photoshop a little to retouch my photos. Will there be any added benefits to using Lightroom for editing or organizing over Aperture?

thank you for your responses.

I'm sure it's OK to post here, though technically Lightroom is a variant of Photoshop. :)

To answer your question, as far as what they can do with your photos, Lightroom 2 and Aperture 2 are more similar than dissimilar. You would probably get good mileage from either one.

The main differences are the default manner in which the programs reference the files, some of the output options and a few of the tools and views are different. Aperture by default will gather your images into a library file and create versions within that library as you edit them. Aperture also has an intuitive "lightbox" style layout view that allows you to group and resize image previews as if they were sitting on a table. Aperture also has some very powerful book creation features.

Lightroom on the other hand, leaves your files wherever you put them (in the Finder or Explorer), rather than gathering them into a library by default. Lightroom also has a better range of output options including some pretty powerful contact sheet and web-based functionalities, and in my opinion a better range of creative toning and color options.

In terms of how they can generally process raw images (which is what they're fundamentally designed for), both are very powerful. You might want to check Apple.com and Adobe.com and see if there are trial versions you can download. Hope this helps some. Ultimately I think Lightroom 2 is the more flexible tool, but you'll probably be pretty happy with the purchase either way.

-Dan

Thank you Dan,
This information is extremely useful. I have a better understanding of the differences so now I need to spend more time researching. I like the way iPhoto organizes my photo library for me. It's one less thing to think about ! But, I like the way Lightroom has better editing tools.

Do these editing tools mean I might not need to import the photos in photoshop?
It would be nice to have a Lightroom forum.

Thank you!

Hi jGreen & Dan,

I agree, a Lightroom forum would be a great addition.

:)

Rounik