Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3

The latest instalment of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom promises to deliver an improved workflow and some very exciting new features - but is this latest version of the popular software a huge leap forward, or simply an underwhelming side step?

If you think Lightroom is just a RAW converter, you’re very much mistaken. Lightroom is an image organisation, processing and output application, with five self-explanatory modules – Library, Develop, Slideshow, Print and Web – that almost offers photographers a one-stop editing solution. Since its launch in early 2007, it has firmly established itself as a favourite among professionals and enthusiasts alike.
Lightroom 2 saw some really interesting upgrades (particularly graduated filters, folder browsing and the adjustment brush), so expectations were high for Lightroom 3. At first glance, it looks and feels very familiar, with the exception of a few minor tweaks in the application window. However, most of the work has taken place under the hood and some of the existing features have been overhauled and vastly improved. There are also some exciting new features that extend the usability of Lightroom, such as the arrival of Point Curve, which allows more precise control of contrast and brightness.

New features
* Drag and drop publishing to online services such as Flickr and to specific folders on your hard drive.
* Image collections can now be viewed in the Develop module, providing quick and easy access to your files.
* Video files can be imported and organised as easily as image files.
* Point Curve has been added to provide advanced brightness and contrast control.

Grain
The ability to add grain to images to mimic the look of film at different ISO levels is a new addition. The overall effect can be controlled using three easy to use sliders – Amount, Size and Roughness. This feature is great for adding texture and also very useful for blending noise reduction into images. Luminance noise reduction can make shots look ‘painterly’, but a low level of grain can break up the effect to produce more realistic results.

Noise Reduction
One of the most exciting features in Lightroom 3 has to be the new noise reduction control. Noise reduction was available in both previous versions of the software, but this time it’s really something to shout about. The algorithm that controls the function has been completely re-written to provide outstanding noise reduction with more realistic results and less overall softening of images. It can almost perform miracles, but like all good things too much of it can have a negative effect.
Luminance Noise Reduction is at the heart of the upgrade and successfully smoothes the appearance of the grain-like quality of noise, with edge sharpness and fine detail successfully maintained. However, this should be used sparingly because despite being very effective, images can begin to look unreal.
Colour Noise Reduction is the other half of this feature, used to reduce the coloured speckles associated with noise. The overall effect hasn’t changed a great deal, but the effect of the Amount slider seems to have been increased, and of course there’s the new Detail slider to deal with edge desaturation if it occurs.


Import
One of the core initiatives behind the Lightroom 3 upgrade was to increase the efficiency of the workflow. There are a number of ways this has been achieved, but one that stands out is the importation of images. The new import window is much slicker looking and feels like a part of Lightroom, rather than the File Browser window used in previous versions. 
Importing manually with each new folder of images is as clunky as before, but the import dialogue now allows for import settings to be saved, vastly speeding up the import process. The thing we noticed most about importing was the sheer speed of uploads. Images now load into the catalogue noticeably quicker than before.

Lens & Perspective Correction
Lens Correction has been completely overhauled and now features automatic correction for a number of lenses. There’s a long list of supported lenses already on the list, and more should be included in the future. Each lens profile takes care of lens distortion such as barrelling, removal of chromatic aberration and resolving vignetting. If you find the effects too strong, or your lens isn’t supported, you can also manually adjust them. Then there’s the arrival of Perspective Correction, which allows you to perform manual lens correction, including vertical and horizontal distortion, for example when you’ve taken a photo looking up at the subject rather than from the same level. It has pixel level limitations but still remains very effective.

Multi-image print layouts
The Print module allows you to print images in a variety of ways, including single images, contact sheets and picture packages. There’s now an option to drag and drop different images onto a single document at different sizes with the new Custom Package option. In Lightroom 2, it was only possible to print a single image file in a range of sizes on a single page, so this is a very handy new function.

Final Verdict
Lightroom 3 really does feel like an update, as issues in the previous version have been well addressed. Many of the changes and improvements don’t jump straight out at you, but experienced users will notice them as time goes by.
Like any update there were a few new features that we found underwhelming and would expect to see improved in the future. One example is Tethered Capture, which is when you shoot with your camera connected to a computer. Unfortunately it only allows you to input images directly from your DSLR to Lightroom at the capture stage. You can release the shutter, apply develop and metadata pre-sets and see large previews at the point of capture. But is it worth being tethered to a computer for this? You can’t even change camera settings or use Live View. Hopefully an update will improve this.
It was also a shame to see that the Spot Removal tool has remained the same since version 2. The tool is fine for basic spotting but it’s crude compared to cloning tools in Photoshop, and falls down in more complex cloning situations. Lightroom is well on the way to providing an all-in-one software option for photographers, but it’s not quite there yet.
The most impressive improvement by far has to be Noise Reduction. On the whole it’s much improved since Lightroom 2, which alone could make this software well worth buying, it’s that good. This is a realistic upgrade option for experienced users, and for newcomers thinking about taking the plunge. At £230 for a full boxed copy it’s reasonably priced for what it does. Once you’re part of the system, upgrades are an even more palatable £73. Is it worth the money? Absolutely.

Try it for yourself by downloading the trial version from www.adobe.com/products/photoshoplightroom

Product specifications
Street price: £230 for full boxed copy, £73 for upgrade
Drive: CD-ROM drive
Display: 1024x768 display

PC requirements:
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 processor or equivalent
Operating system: Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 3; Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise (32-bit and 64-bit); or Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit)
RAM/Memory: 2GB of RAM

Mac requirements:
Processor: Intel processor
Operating system: Mac OS X v10.5 or v10.6
RAM/Memory: 2GB of RAM