Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 for Windows & Mac - Student & Teacher Edition

Pros: It's an amazing photomanaging application with great developing tools built in. It has a large number of templates distributed with it and has access to a large repository of online templates as well. Student pricing is excellent with this version of Lightroom and Newegg's shipping was excellent as usual. Student validation was a quick and efficient process. Kudos to Adobe to making it simple and fast. I've spent most of my time in the library and development modules and have found the process to be very intuitive and self explanatory. In the few cases where I have gotten stuck, there has been a wealth of information and resources out there on the net as Lightroom is a very popular and powerful software.

Cons: It's a little bit laggy under Windows 7 (Ultimate 64bit) dual core AMD with 4 GB of RAM, though Adobe is supposed to address those issues in a later revision.

Overall Review: Having recently gotten into dSLR photography, I soon realized that I had outgrown the tools provided by Canon's DPP (Digital Photo Professional) and needed something that had much more organizational ability. Lightroom made a huge difference to my workflow and I have enjoyed going back and cleaning up many of the pictures I had left for post-processing before. The total time it takes me to process after downloading has reduced and I'm thrilled with my purchase.

Pros: Absolutely amazing, does most everything I need, and makes editing photos incredibly easy! Registering the product was also surprisingly easy; Since I used my student email address to register, Adobe did not even need a scan of my school ID or anything, and I got my registration code immediately!

Cons: none I can think of.

Overall Review: I am an avid amateur photographer, with a Nikon D60 (I plan to upgrade soon). I don't know how I ever lived without Lightroom, it is amazing! It makes editing photos so simple and user-friendly, I used to dread editing, but this program makes it a delight! I have heard some people say it runs kind of slow, however it is just about instant for me. But earlier this year I had built a $1000 computer, so I wouldn't know how fast it is on a standard machine. If you are an avid photographer, BUY THIS NOW! It will make life so much nicer.

Pros: I am familiar with Adobe products including CS and Premiere but this is the first experience I have had with LR and it has changed the way I view and interact with my photos. The software installed easily from my trial copy I had installed and it was a very simple confirmation system to confirm my student eligibility.

Cons: The only suggestion I have would be to include some sort of basic walk through video training other than the smart bubbles which pop up occassionally. Most of the things I have learned via Youtube tutorials.

Overall Review: Big Big Fan.

Pros: LR4 is a great program which complements Photoshop for those who see themselves as newbies to semi-pro. Ordered on a Sunday, received the following Saturday via USPS.

Cons: none

Overall Review: I really wanted to comment on how easy it was to register this product. I am a professor at a private university in Texas. It is true that on the outer box, there isn't a way to figure out what your serial number is. But, if you open the bloody package, there is a yellow square piece of paper which gives you simple step-by-step instructions on how to obtain your serial number. Step 1 - Have your email address, for faster processing, use your school email address. Step 2 - Make sure you're connected to the internet. Go to www.adobe.com/go/edu-validate Step 3 - Follow instructions onscreen, entering following product code <a white sticker with the product code is on the yellow square paper>. After following the directions, my serial number was emailed to me a few hours later (on a Sunday). No scanning of school ID, or sending my paystubs. A simple email with a .edu address was all it took. I just wanted to write a quick note to encourage those students/professors/teachers who are interested in this product at a good discount.

Pros: Great for organizing and editing photos.

Cons: A little sluggish when switching between modules.

Pros: Works very well. Handles RAW files, which many photo apps cannot do. Works reasonably fast when rendering RAWs to JPG or other formats. user can create their own pre-sets or import pre-made ones. Non-destructive editing, no changes are made to the original files, ever. The de facto "standard" among many serious enthusiasts and professionals.

Cons: Changes to the original files are not visible in any other application, as the actual files themselves are not altered. Files must be exported (which then applies the changes) before adjustments can be viewed in other apps. Pricey, many other capable photo tools are priced much less. Many tools are "non-intuitive" and must be learned before they can be applied with much success.

Overall Review: The wife, who performs photography professionally, has been using this for about 8 months now. At first, she was intimidated and overwhelmed, but she was determined to learn and use the "standard" among other photo professionals. It took a few months, but now she finds Lightroom 4 indispensable and relies on it after every photo shoot to adjust and manager her growing library of work. Lightroom is not really a replacement for Photoshop, nor vice-versa. They complement each other well, with Lightroom performing easy overall changes, and Photoshop going in for more specific and varied changes and fixes.

Pros: Great software. Easier to use than photoshop

Cons: Poor customer service by adobe. You have to scan your school ID and\or transcript and send to Adobe in order to validate software. This takes at least 2 business days. Not efficient for a tech company

Pros: 2 day shipping was right on time :)

Cons: No instructions included as to receiving a serial number to install the program. I've registered academic versions with Adobe before, but this is ridiculous. Found a product code and googled til I found a page to input it - but comes back invalid. Product descriptions says instructions included, but uh-uh. Three hours of frustration - and must wait till Adobe reps man the phone in the morning, or newegg looks into the matter.