Holiday Gift Guide: Lightroom and Photoshop CC

Today’s Post by Mark Toal

If you have a spouse that loves photography and you’re looking for something to get them this holiday season I would recommend Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop CC.

In my job with Panasonic I meet a lot of photographers and I like to ask them what they do with their photos after they get home. I spent many years in the photo finishing business and I know photographers aren’t printing like they used to, if at all. The answer I frequently get is that they put them on their computer and look at them in whatever software came with their computer or camera. They show them to their spouses and anybody else they can get to come over and email a few to family.

Since Adobe Lightroom came out I’ve been using it to catalog, crop and color correct my photos. The catalog feature in Lightroom is worth the price of the software alone and when you add the amazing tools to correct your images and export them to Photoshop or just as a JPEG file it’s an amazing value. And if you want to shoot and process RAW files from the most current cameras Lightroom and Photoshop usually have the latest camera RAW profiles faster than anybody.

Some people, like Joe, who has been quite vocal about this, object to the fact that Lightroom and Photoshop CC are available as a monthly subscription. I hesitated when Adobe went to this subscription model, but for the current price of $9.95 a month you get a lot for you money.

If you’re serious about photography and have made the investment in a good camera you really need to look at Lightroom and Photoshop CC. Heck, you can even download a free trial. There are a huge amount of tutorials on Adobe.com and YouTube on how to get started using it.