Adobe has launched an update to its Lightroom software, boasting faster performance, facial recognition, HDR Merge, Panorama Merge, and more.
The improvements are all welcomed by photographers, and some upgrades are as much as 10 times faster than the previous version of Lightroom. The update is part of Adobe's Creative Cloud program.
"Photographers at any level are driven by their passion to capture the perfect shot and make it incredible," said Adobe Digital Imaging Products vice president Winston Hendrickson. "Whether you shoot with a DSLR or smartphone, the Creative Cloud Photography plan gives everything you need to organize, edit and share amazing photos on mobile, Web and desktop—thanks to the imaging power of Lightroom and the magic of Photoshop."
Lightroom is increasingly used by photographers for photo management, and it is currently one of the only Adobe programs available as a standalone purchase at $149. Users can also rent the software for $9.99 per month, as part of Adobe's increasingly popular creative cloud suite of programs. The monthly rental fee also includes Adobe's Photoshop, used for more intense photo editing.
The demarcation between Adobe's Photoshop and Lightroom has always been blurred, especially because of the fact that Lightroom includes some rather intense photo editing features. Despite this, Lightroom is more often used for photo editing and basic photo tweaks, while Photoshop is used for more precise editing that will require some time and effort. This distinction between the two programs does not change with this update.
One of the biggest additions to the software is facial recognition, which will come in handy for those who need another way to identify their photos. Users will be able to tag individuals in the photo, after which they can quickly find photos with particular people simply by searching for those people.
Another important feature is HDR Merge, which essentially allows users to combine two or more photos of the same scene taken with different exposures.
Panorama Merge lets users put together multiple pictures into one "widescreen" photo, similar to what many smartphones currently do.
The best way to take advantage of these new features is through Creative Cloud, which is available for OS X, Windows and even mobile users. Not only that, but Creative Cloud will also help users keep all their photos synced across multiple platforms, which can be extremely handy for those who use more than one device for their photography needs.
