Photoshop How To

One of the most frequent questions we receive from those new to image editing is, “Should I buy Lightroom or Photoshop?” The simple answer is, “It depends.” For some photographers Lightroom is the best choice, while for others Photoshop makes more sense. And depending upon one’s needs, we may recommend getting both.

In the video below, image-editing expert Tony Northrup walks you through the relative merits of both software packages. He demonstrates why Lightroom is a powerful tool for importing, organizing and culling your photographs, and finding them later via keywords you assign or metadata embedded in the images.

Lightroom also offers basic image-editing tools for removing distortion, highlight/shadow control, selective dodging and burning, adding clarity, and cropping. And for many photographers these capabilities are sufficient.

Photoshop, on the other hand, lacks Lightroom’s cataloging features but it’s a processing powerhouse enabling you to do everything you can imagine and more. It’s also far costlier than Lightroom. So why get both? Watch the video and find out.

You can find more helpful tips on the Tony & Chelsea YouTube channel, and for a look at the power of Photoshop check out a recent tutorial we posted with a color-matching technique from an expert at Adobe.