Do you prefer DPP or Lightroom

[John_SD]

I haven't tried Lightroom, so I cannot comment on its benefits or shotcomings. I am just starting to dip my toes into DPP, and while I am far from conversant about it's intracacies, benefits and quirks, I feel that for now it will be sufficient for my needs. 

A real benefit of DPP, in my view is that it's free -- and it seems robust in its abilities, of which I haven't yet scratched the surface. But so far I like what i see.

Do you guys feel stongly about one product or the other? If so, why? 

[TTMartin]

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@RobertTheFat wrote:

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@TTMartin wrote:

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@Peter wrote:

In my opinion DPP is a good start because the images look like the ones in your camera. With a few adjustments your images are ready to be exported as jpg. What I really miss with DPP is a good shadow/highlight tool. 

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In DPP 4 use the vertical bars with the white triangles in the histogram to control shadows and highlights.

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That's only the beginning. There are also sliders for brightness, contrast, highlights, shadows, and saturation. And you can adjust the color values either globally or with three separate adjustments for each of six colors.

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Most people only try the sliders which give a very limited (fine tuning) range of adjustement. It is the histogram vertical bar adjustments which match what you can do in Lightroom. That is what people unfamiliar with DPP think it lacks compared to Lightroom.

[RobertTheFat]

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@TTMartin wrote:

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@RobertTheFat wrote:

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@TTMartin wrote:

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@Peter wrote:

In my opinion DPP is a good start because the images look like the ones in your camera. With a few adjustments your images are ready to be exported as jpg. What I really miss with DPP is a good shadow/highlight tool. 

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In DPP 4 use the vertical bars with the white triangles in the histogram to control shadows and highlights.

---

That's only the beginning. There are also sliders for brightness, contrast, highlights, shadows, and saturation. And you can adjust the color values either globally or with three separate adjustments for each of six colors.

---

Most people only try the sliders which give a very limited (fine tuning) range of adjustement. It is the histogram vertical bar adjustments which match what you can do in Lightroom. That is what people unfamiliar with DPP think it lacks compared to Lightroom.

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On the histogram, the left vertical bar affects contrast (but usually not as much as the contrast slider), and the right affects brightness. Neither has much to do with highlights or shadows, for which sliders are provided.

[Waddizzle]

"Most people only try the sliders which give a very limited (fine tuning) range of adjustement. It is the histogram vertical bar adjustments which match what you can do in Lightroom. That is what people unfamiliar with DPP think it lacks compared to Lightroom"

That is what people unfamiliar with LR think about it.

LR gives you far more nuance and control over light and dark highlights.  The Detail window pane is showing you some of what LR can do when it comes to noise reduction.

[Waddizzle]

"On the histogram, the left vertical bar affects contrast (but usually not as much as the contrast slider), and the right affects brightness. Neither has much to do with highlights or shadows, for which sliders are provided."

Actually, those histogram adjustments have a direct effect on highlights, shadows, and contrast.  The histogram allows you set thresholds, so that you can pick out the areas you want to adjust, while the sliders apply their adjustments to the entire image.

[RobertTheFat]

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@Waddizzle wrote:

"Most people only try the sliders which give a very limited (fine tuning) range of adjustement. It is the histogram vertical bar adjustments which match what you can do in Lightroom. That is what people unfamiliar with DPP think it lacks compared to Lightroom"

That is what people unfamiliar with LR think about it.

LR gives you far more nuance and control over light and dark highlights.  The Detail window pane is showing you some of what LR can do when it comes to noise reduction.

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I guess LR's nuance depends on knowing what "clarity" and "vibrance" mean. As it happens, I don't. 

[jrhoffman75]

Clarity adjusts mid-tone contrast

Vibrance affects saturation in a smart method. Does not affect colors that are already saturated and also protects skin tones. 

[Waddizzle]

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@TTMartin wrote:

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@Peter wrote:

In my opinion DPP is a good start because the images look like the ones in your camera. With a few adjustments your images are ready to be exported as jpg. What I really miss with DPP is a good shadow/highlight tool. 

---

In DPP 4 use the vertical bars with the white triangles in the histogram to control shadows and highlights.

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Have you ever noticed the horizontal contol bars?  Along the top and bottom edges?

[John_SD]

Out of curiosity, I went to the Adobe Lightroom site to check its price. I was delighted to see the BUY button at the top right of the page, which I clicked, expecting to be presented with a...wait for it....price to BUY the product.

Instead, I was offered two options:

1. Annual plan, paid monthly

2. Annual plan, prepaid

Option 1 requires rental payments of $9.99 a month.

Option 2 requires a yearly rental payment of $119.88 a year. 

What the hell?

It is this kind of trickery and deception that turns me off. 

[TTMartin]

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@RobertTheFat wrote:

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@TTMartin wrote:

---

@RobertTheFat wrote:

---

@TTMartin wrote:

---

@Peter wrote:

In my opinion DPP is a good start because the images look like the ones in your camera. With a few adjustments your images are ready to be exported as jpg. What I really miss with DPP is a good shadow/highlight tool. 

---

In DPP 4 use the vertical bars with the white triangles in the histogram to control shadows and highlights.

---

That's only the beginning. There are also sliders for brightness, contrast, highlights, shadows, and saturation. And you can adjust the color values either globally or with three separate adjustments for each of six colors.

---

Most people only try the sliders which give a very limited (fine tuning) range of adjustement. It is the histogram vertical bar adjustments which match what you can do in Lightroom. That is what people unfamiliar with DPP think it lacks compared to Lightroom.

---

On the histogram, the left vertical bar affects contrast (but usually not as much as the contrast slider), and the right affects brightness. Neither has much to do with highlights or shadows, for which sliders are provided.

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It is actually the midpoint vertical bar that has the most impact on bringing shadows up and highlights down.

edit: you could not adjust the mid-point in DPP 3, that is a change and a big plus for DPP 4.

[jrhoffman75]

If you call Adobe you can buy the perpetual license. It doesn't have all the features as CC version. If you are happy what it has then you would be all set.