Adobe Upgrade For Photographers

While Adobe’s new Photoshop Lightroom 2 software targets photographers, it is also hitting hard in their pockets with a RRP of AU$539. If you visit the US you can pick it up for US$299, or if you are already a registered user it will cost US$99 – this is yet another case of a product that seems a lot more pricey considering the US and Australian dollars are close.

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The product itself will help photographers with new enhancements such as dual-monitor support, advances in non-destructive localised image correction, and streamlined search capabilities. It is claimed to simplify photography from shoot to finish.

It is Adobe’s first application to support 64-bit for Mac OS X 10.5 Macintosh computers with Intel processors and Microsoft Windows Vista 64-bit operating systems. Lightroom 2 also provides improved memory performance for dealing with large scale images.

The Library module in Lightroom 2 is said to streamline and accelerate photographers’ workflows. With the ability to visually organise images across multiple hard drives, Lightroom 2 and its Library Filter Bar makes it easy for users to quickly find the images they need.

The Suggested Keywords feature helps photographers keyword their images by making intelligent suggestions based on their own previous efforts. New dual-monitor support allows users to expand their workspace, giving them flexibility to edit and organise images in a way that maximises an additional display.

In the Develop module, the new Local Adjustment Brush lets photographers fine-tune specific areas of an image to precisely adjust color, exposure and tonal range without affecting other areas of the image.

A Graduated Filter expands the toolbox in Lightroom, allowing for edits to larger areas by applying gradually diminishing or increasing adjustment effects such as exposure, clarity, and saturation, alone, or in any combination.

Lightroom 2 also helps photographers print more efficiently by quickly arranging photos of multiple sizes on one or many pages with flexible and customisable templates to maximise paper and ink. Intelligent algorithms automatically determine optimal sharpening for screen or print, producing crisper images faster.

RRP
Acrobat 9 Pro Extended
Full/Upgrade
$999/$329

Acrobat 9 Pro
Full/Upgrade
$749/$279

Acrobat 9 Standard
Full/Upgrade
$549/$179