Alex Hardy

Lightroom has launched, with Aperture squarely in its sights.

… but enough about Adobe’s lousy design.

These applications target professional and “prosumer” photographers, who naturally want to work with RAW image files. They offer powerful management, adjustment and workflow solutions without many of the design features of Photoshop - which may be surplus to such a user’s requirements.

Last year, rumour and counter-claim circulated around the quality of the original version of Aperture and the fate of its development team. Now at version 1.5.2 one can only assume that the application’s birth pains are behind it and take it on current merits.

What Lightroom loses from Aperture’s head-start, it may regain through aggressive pricing (at $199 it is $100 cheaper than Aperture) and Adobe’s clever extension of the Photoshop name, which will lend it instant credibility. You may be of the opinion that using Photoshop’s name to bolster a fledgling app weakens Photoshop, but that depends on whether you consider Photoshop to be a brand in the first place.

I consider it a product, and one so entrenched that there is little that could possibly do it harm. Adobe does risk confusing customers (…is it a cut down Photoshop? …where does Photoshop Elements fit in? …how does it stand alongside the CS family?), but clearly communicating what Lightroom is, and more importantly what it isn’t will alleviate that issue.

Superficially, there isn’t much to choose between them so I hope Adobe will offer a trial of Lightroom. Aperture offers a 30-day trial, and to be able to test drive them for comparison would be useful to many. It remains to be seen whether Macromedia’s culture of offering trials for their products will seep into Adobe.

Mostly, I’m pleased that Lightroom and the recently announced return of Premiere to the Mac signify that Adobe has regained some competitive spirit, and is no longer content to sit on its laurels.

Posted on Wednesday, January 31st, 2007 at 3:02 pm under Design, Photos, Toolbox. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.