Lightroom vs. Photoshop — Part 2

In Part 1 of this series, I talked about how I can get the “same” quality of editing in both Lightroom Classic and Photoshop.

What that means is, if you processed the same photo through both softwares and tried to make the results “match,” even an expert would not be able to tell which which software made which photo. Both tools are capable of making outstanding, professional results.

Quality is a top concern for many photographers, and I can confidently say you don’t need to pick Photshop over Lightroom Classic because of editing quality.

So, why would you use one over the other?

Both softwares work based on similar concepts, but implement them in different ways. Lightroom Classic excels at being able to make fast overall edits to photos. It also lets you use masks in a way that works well when “fast and close enough” is the objective.

Lightroom is capable of doing very refined edits as well, but the interface is slower than Photoshop for experienced Photoshop users. So, for doing very intricate work, Photoshop allows you to work faster and achieve a precise result with less frustration and less effort.

The catch, of course, is that you really need to be fluent in Photoshop. I don’t know how long that takes, but what I observe is this: If you can’t spend a fair amount of time in Photoshop every week, you won’t achieve or maintain fluency. So, there is a price to pay to unlock Photoshop’s speed advantages.

I have friends who are software architects. Watching them work from the command line—where they can execute complex instructions with just a few keystrokes—is nothing short of amazing for someone like me who has to use a GUI (Graphical User Interface), pointing and clicking with a mouse to get things done. They can do so much, so fast, but it requires a high degree of proficiency to achieve. That is what Lightroom versus Photoshop is like, in my experience.

For most users, Lightroom Classic is the place to start. It will let you do almost everything you need.

But if you are fluent in Photoshop, the choice between the two is based on need. If you are editing a hundred portraits from a sports team shoot, you will probably do the editing in Lightroom. But if you have a single image you want to push to near perfection, then Photoshop makes more sense because it will actually be faster for those intricate adjustments and masks.

I find that working at the speed I can think helps me get a better result in the end. I can spend more of my time trying different things and less of my time trying to make the interface do what I want. When I start to do very intricate things in Lightroom Classic, I find the effort to work through the interface quickly bogs me down. Hence, the command line versus using a mouse (GUI) analogy.

Again, I’ll say that the starting point for most photographers should be Lightroom Classic because the skills you learn there can be transferred to Photoshop if you decide to go that route. Most photographers who are working for their own enjoyment will find Lightroom accomplishes what they need.