10 replies to this topic

[John Stuart-Clarke]

The Lightroom 4 beta has just been announced... check our Mark's Lightroom 4 beta blog article on the new features now! Downloading...

[Mark Wilson]

So, what do people like and not like about Lightroom 4 beta?

Favourite new feature?
Biggest missing feature?

[Glenn]

Julieanne Kost has done a series of videos on the new features in LR4.

[John Stuart-Clarke]

Mark Wilson, on 10 January 2012 - 08:58 AM, said:

So, what do people like and not like about Lightroom 4 beta?

Favourite new feature?
Biggest missing feature?

Favourite: improvements to the local adjustment brush (I am easily pleased)
Missing: it doesn't look like you can select the inverse of a selection with a single click

[Simon]

Just downloaded it, now going out to get some fresh Grouse shots and try a bit of processing!

[Mark Wilson]

Remember to take a GPS and play with the Map module Simon. BTW, did you recognise the roads on my Map screenshot?

[Simon]

Mark Wilson, on 10 January 2012 - 02:04 PM, said:

Remember to take a GPS and play with the Map module Simon. BTW, did you recognise the roads on my Map screenshot?

I don't need a GPS! Its all logged upstairs and I navigate using just the sun, stars and the growth of trees I certainly did recognise those roads though!

To be honest I don't think I'll use the map module much but the soft-proofing is something I've wanted for a while Just downloading some images of a rogue friend now.

I really like the develop module adjustments with the sliders reflecting the histogram sections. Another tiny but welcome improvement is the snapshot setting which now records a date and time as the default, very useful.

[David Whitaker]

A non-event as far as I can see so far. The adjustment brush tweaks are just that, no real improvement in selection and masking tools. You still need to go into Photoshop to do anything serious in the way of creating a composite image. Video support is still at a very basic level, only crudely editable in Library. Map and Book are of no interest to me. I have no intention of geo-tagging 30k images just to make Map work. Print still seems to be as basic and useless as it ever was.


Am I missing something? I admit that I have only skimmed through the programme looking for goodies. Best new feature sorry I did not find anything worth upgrading for. Worse still I think that I have just wasted 400MB of my 5GB monthly satellite download allowance that finding out.

[Mark Wilson]

Interesting take on Lightroom David. Personally, 95% of my finished images still go through Photoshop, and 100% are managed in Lightroom. I try to use both tools to their strengths and would not expect Lightroom to replace Photoshop in my workflow. The reality is that Lightroom was not designed to do pixel level edits (e.g. detailed masking and selections for composites etc).

Sorry to hear that you feel you wasted 400mb of your download allowance. I would have hoped that the many, many write-ups on the internet, including the one here on WPF, would have given you an insight as to whether Lightroom 4 would have met your needs before committing to the download.

Finally, I am very interested to hear what your views are about the print module in Lightroom - I have always printed from Photoshop as it fits well with my finishing workflow. The few tests I have done have always come out well and I know several professionals that use the Print module to great effect. However, I have heard lots of people complain too, so any details you can throw my way would be of interest.

[John Stuart-Clarke]

David Whitaker, on 12 January 2012 - 08:16 PM, said:

Am I missing something? I admit that I have only skimmed through the programme looking for goodies. Best new feature sorry I did not find anything worth upgrading for. Worse still I think that I have just wasted 400MB of my 5GB monthly satellite download allowance that finding out.

Have you tried processing any images David? The processing engine (PV2012 - LR3 used PV2010) has been upgraded so one of the big selling points is a claimed improvement in image quality, especially at the extreme ends of the range.

[Simon]

I really rate the print module too and the soft proofing feature is going to come in very handy. I probably print as much as any wildlife tog in the UK (having about ten sales outlets just for prints across North Yorks) and Lightroom hasn't let me down yet with regard to its flexibility, workflow and quality of finished print.

The jury is still out on the processing at present, I need much more time to work with it. However, the ease of use has been slightly improved. I'm using Photoshop less and less as time goes on, and I'd hope to be off it completely in due course as I think it has a bit of a stigma attached to it (in terms of the public's view).