Tuesday 08 Jun 2010 - 11:44
Adobe has announced the availability of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 for Mac and PC after a period in beta.
Lightroom 3 is billed as the essential digital photography workflow solution that allows photographers to quickly organise, enhance and showcase images from one application. The final version of Lightroom 3 comes with a completely redesigned performance architecture that better handles growing image libraries insists Adobe, and provides an raw processing engine with noise reduction and sharpening tools to improve image quality significantly.
The 64-bit capable Lightroom 3 includes new features that optimise workflows and allow images to be shared in creative ways, including support for DSLR video files and tethered shooting on select cameras. Images now load almost instantaneously explains Adobe, while the import experience has been redesigned to be more intuitive, with added previews and default selections that give users quick access to sort through and find images.
Lightroom 3 now allows users to import and manage DSLR video files, as well as take advantage of tethered shooting for select Nikon and Canon cameras. The Adobe software offers Luminance and Color Noise Reduction tools to help produce a clearer picture from high ISO or underexposed images while still preserving details.
A much-requested Automatic Lens Correction feature can now dramatically improve the results possible with any lens by allowing users to apply profiles that correct for undesirable geometric distortions, chromatic aberrations, and lens vignette effects that most lenses introduce to the image according to Adobe.
Lightroom 3 now also have a straighten tool to help perfect vertical and horizontal perspective, additional presets for applying more photographic adjustment styles, and three new contemporary vignette styles and a Grain effect to add a more natural look with images.
Output options have also been enhanced with Lightroom 3, with new capabilities to publish collections on online sharing sites. Flickr users have the ability to synch their accounts to Lightroom with one click, and integration with additional online photo sharing sites can be added via third-party plug-ins.
Customisable print layouts provide more refined control over how photographers present final images, and new watermarking features with options to modify text, size, location and style, help give professionals and amateurs flexibility for branding images to protect images online. Lightroom 3 now also includes the ability to export slideshows as video files with the option to add audio and title screens.
Lightroom 3 is available to download from www.adobe.com/uk/store and in store with a SRP of £198. An upgrade price of £63 for qualified registered Lightroom users is also offered along with a free trial version for new users.
Recommended system requirements are Mac OS X 10.5, 10.6 with Intel based processor, or Microsoft Windows 7, Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise or Windows XP with Service Pack 3.
Full Lightroom 3 details can be found at www.adobe.com/uk/products/photoshoplightroom.
Nick Spence
For more information see the Adobe Web site.
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