Adobe has released Lightroom Beta 2. The program allows users to import, select, develop and showcase large volumes of digital images. It allows you to spend less time sorting and organizing images, so you have more time to actually shoot and perfect them. Beta 2 of Lightroom is a Universal application that will run natively both on PowerPC systems and on the new Intel-based Macs.
This is prerelease software that includes the following new features:
• Available as a Universal Binary for compatibility with Intel-based Apple hardware
• Crop and Straighten tools included in the Develop module
• Ability to add music to slideshows
• White balance support for the Nikon D2X, D2Hs and D50 cameras
• Ability to create hierarchical keyword sets
• XMP Import and Export capabilities. (Please consult Known Issues list for details)
• Improved Edit in Photoshop capabilities
• Improved metadata handling
Adobe notes: This is a public beta, not a final release. Neither the quality nor the features are complete yet. We want to show you our direction and get your feedback so that we can incorporate it into future releases.
More info and download link here.
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Related MacDailyNews article:
Report: Adobe to take on Apple’s Aperture with new ‘LightRoom’ application for Mac OS X – January 06, 2006
Hmmmmmmmm…..Lightroom beta that is PowerPC and Intel compliant, but Aperture isn’t and there is no way to know when Photoshop will be compliant for both platforms…
There’s something rotten in the state of Denmark…and it ain’t the cartoons…
Amazing what a little competition will do. One wonders how lethargic Adobe would be about creating a Photoshop universal binary if Apple had their own very promising bitmap editor.
very interested to hear performance reviews from anyone. esp compared to the g5 imac, the speed of the interface etc…
adobe must have moved to an Xcode environment b4 they started development on this app.
Hey, Turd, it´s because Lightroom is a new product. Photoshop isn´t.
Lightroom is much better than´s Apple´s version.
I love competition!
Adobe, you want my suggestions.
Fix that old, tired Photoshop, and make Photoshop a better tool for RAW images and I won’t need Lightroom or Aperture.
And, stop pushing that stupid website that tries to show how long you’ve been working on Lightroom. A photo of Graham Nash, a gay photoshoot, and a Epson party doesn’t mean anything. The fact that you are trying to copy Apple’s Aperture says volumes.
Remember that one news, some guy called Steve Jobs ‘ pig headed ‘
i think it was the CEO of REAL.COM ( Real Media Networks )
I can’t believe his company’s stock almost doubled since he made that comment.
O well, i shorted their stock at $8.42, i think their earnings will be dissapointing, even if they arent… everything is already factored in.
Teflon – lots of anger there.
Without Photoshop I, and lots of others, would be out of business.
I doubt they are copying Apeture. More like Apple copying Photoshop to make a program for digital photographers.
Aperature is universal.
I actually dislike where ADOBE is going also
They havent made any improvements to Photoshop in years, they just change the version names but..
Crap still takes 1-2-3 minutes just to load..
Not practical.
I expect Apple to compe up with a nice tool be a photoshop alternative.
Adobe now also owns macromedia ( very sad )
which means they are to big to be able to keep up with the future.
the good news ( relief ) is that now Apple is looking out for us the 1/2 professionals who want perfection and simplicity.
look at adobe and how they even copy the dark background theme used in aperature, even for their website.
really confirms to me that lightroom is just a rip-off of aperature and that if aperature had never been released we’d never have heard of lightroom.
are adobe the company they used to be? you know a company that could innovate? or are they just out to make as much revenue as possible. ie the whole creative suite crap they try to sell now.
in my opinion theyre not, i really get a strong sense that its all about the money for adobe now.
and if im right on that, the time is right for apple to develop their own pro image editor, and pro vector editor.
why was this post deleted by the moderator???
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look at adobe and how they even copy the dark background theme used in aperature, even for their website.
really confirms to me that lightroom is just a rip-off of aperature and that if aperature had never been released we’d never have heard of lightroom.
are adobe the company they used to be? you know a company that could innovate? or are they just out to make as much revenue as possible. ie the whole creative suite crap they try to sell now.
in my opinion theyre not, i really get a strong sense that its all about the money for adobe now.
and if im right on that, the time is right for apple to develop their own pro image editor, and pro vector editor.
ok so its there now. weird man.
Carlo,
Were you using IE again? Tsk, tsk, tsk…
Adobe is lethargic? Apparently you don’t pay a whole lot of attention to the Digital Video world or to aquisitions. Or maybe that they have pretty much slayed Quark?
firefox brother.
i am at work though, yes pc shyte.
Lethargic about creating a Photoshop universal binary for OS X. Read the whole sentence, moron.
I love you too.
How about this arguement instead. Do you think Adobe should rush a universal binary version of the CS suite to market because Apple released an Intel iMac and MacBook Pro? The iMac is not an industrial/professional product, and the MacBook Pro (same specs, different form factor) isn’t either. Both awesome computers/fashion statements, but not pro gear.
Photoshop (and all of CS) is a professional product, and the people that spend alot of money on these products also spend money on a computer with real balls (PowerMac). No Intel PowerMacs, no Universal Binary CS.
Why does Adobe have to rip the Google ‘Labs’ moniker?
Not to mention the whole Apple Aperture look-n-feel.
I guess they’re in Mafiasoft mode now: Sit on your fat ass like a big fat hen on you pile of eggs waiting for them to hatch.
Copying dark backgrounds? Cheap rip off?
Dark backgrounds have been around for a long time. You can adjust the interface in After Effects and Premiere Pro. Check out some of the higher end editors/compositors, and guess what you’ll see. Did all of these companies rip off the Aperture dark background years before it was ever released? I do beleive so.
It takes a long time to right code for a modern program. I seriously doubt that Adobe could’ve seen Aperture when it released (7-8 months ago?) and have a decently functioning Beta release in such a short amount of time.
The market was naturally heading this way. We (graphic artists/photographers) deal with many many images, and it has become a royal headache to have 20 images (any more ends up being too friggen rediculous) open in Photoshop. We needed programs like this, and we are now getting them.
theyve copied aperture as much as they could. you know that and i know that.
yea avid etc have had dark backgrounds, but man its the same product, there was a hole in the market and they couldnt let apple cement there position.
i dont blame adobe for releasing lightroom, i just know they did it as a counter-move, not as a pro-active innovative software release. thats a sign that adobe are scared of apple and know they can hurt them.
if adobe were thinking smart instead of being a pain in the ass, they would have their apps ready already if not within 3 months.
remember, they new about this transition before the public did. bruce chizen had his speech ready when steve announced the move to intel. that was a while ago and with the amount of programmers at adobe it should have been possible.
i think im like most creatives that are aware of whats going on, if apple release a competitor to photoshop and illustrator ill jump ship.
look where apple is with final cut pro and where adobe is with their video editing software…
Adobe would have us believe that it’s important for their products to have parity between Windows and OS X versions. Therefore the UB issue of Photoshop will be delayed until they are scheduled to release a Windows upgrade.
I might have had some sympathy for that position is Adobe had also released Lightroom for Windows. Clearly, Aperture for OS X has stirred them up and they urgently needed to release a Mac-only alternative to prevent Apple from nibbling at Adobe’s market.
During his Keynote, Steve Jobs made some very unflattering comments about Adobe’s laggardness in converting Photoshop to UB. He also made some very complimentary comments about Quark and the fact that they would be amongst the first to do so. Steve may well feel that Adobe need to be given something to worry about and it will be interesting to see if Aperture II gets released in a few months. If such a release included some features geared towards Photo-manipulation, then I think we can conclude that Photoshop is in his sights.
A bit more respect for other people’s opinions would not go astray on these forums – it is possible to disagree with someone without resorting to abuse.
Cheers.
Wow the clueless is strong in this thread. Look. The amount of time between Apple’s release of Aperture and when Lightroom’s beta shipped should tell all but the totally brain-dead that Adobe has been working on this for a while and they rushed it out in an early beta in hopes that there would be those who would wait and see if Lightroom would be better then Aperture before plunking down the cash. Mission accomplished at least for me.
I think Adobe’s doing a good job here- they’re taking another approach at Aperture and that’s a good thing. Heck, they’re giving Mac users a first glance at this and for goodness sakes be appreciative!
As for the appearance, YES, there’s probably a little Aperture-copying going on (I mean they do the same thing), but I think this is a good product and competition is a good thing. The UI is an improvement in some instances over Aperture (in others not so) but that’s a good thing people!
Maybe a sign of good things to come in Photoshop
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” />. Aperture and Lightroom look like they’re already improving eachother, so give it a whirl. I like this software a lot… and their improvements over the initial Beta are amazing (the auto-hide menus, etc.)
Lightroom was developed by MACROMEDIA, not Adobe. It’s been in development over a year. This has nothing to do with competition from Apple. It’s just coincidental.