I have been using Photoshop and Lightroom for a while and came up with a number of reasons why anyone who cares should ditch Lightroom for Photoshop. The application is not as easy as Lightroom, but it gives you the best pictures. Lightroom is good for beginners; it has visible tools which are fairly easy to use and there is an order to the workflow. Although, it has some hidden and complex tools such as using modifier key (alt) while sliding the masking slider in the details panel to show what is being sharpened.

However, ins some circumstances one may need to add more details in a photo. Probably you want to add a fancy text or diffusing multiple images together or you would like to use more powerful retouching tools for a portrait; then Photoshop is the best editing application albeit introduction of many tools across the world.

Here are the reasons why anyone who cares should ditch Lightroom for Photoshop.

Text

Some professional photographers don’t have professionally designed watermarks; most of them prefer writing texts on a photo to symbolize identity. On Photoshop, once you add text, you can then access layer styles to give your text what seems like an unlimited combination of effects. The effects make it easy for photographers to create good texts.

Besides illustrator and in design, Photoshop can also be used to make amazing pictorial posters for digital marketing. This method has been adopted by Kenyan companies that run their digital campaigns and KCB is notorious in such creations.

So, if you wish to write incredible stuff on your photos, switch to PS and learn a few tricks to add a whole new element to your tool box. And it doesn’t end with just the text that can be typed out. You can create selections FROM text and then have more powerful choices at your finger tips.

Layers

Layers are the real deal in Photoshop. The ability to layer adjustments and edits on top of each other in a logical and very clear order makes it easy for a photographer to manipulate stuff with the help of blending modes. You can make non Destructive Layer adjustments on photos then edit them at ease. By layering your adjustments, you see a very distinct and organized map of your edits that you can tweak to exactly how you want. Blend modes are available on layers to change the looks and provide advanced functionality for many alterations. The layers are the most intrinsic features of Photoshop that are not available in other editing tools hence the reasons why anyone who cares should ditch Lightroom for Photoshop

Speed

Editing a photo on Photoshop is like drawing stuff on the sand using a stick. Photoshop gives users a smooth experience because the tools are responsive. A good example is when using dodge and burn techniques. If you use a stylus on a tablet, it literally feels like drawing stuff on the sand because it’s the same motion we use when doodling or sketching something.

Well, this does not mean that LR is substandard; Lightroom is a super awesome application that is extremely powerful but the speed and smoothness of PS vs. LR is like Coca Cola and Pepsi – one is popular and the other one is not.

Photoshop interface is dope.

The application allows you to customize a workplace and organize the tools. This also enables you to have what you need visible at all times. The application makes it easy for users to view the image being edited and you can pack all the tools you use on the various “docks” in the PS interface.

Once you set your work area the way you want, you can then add it as a new work environment and save it. You may want to set up several work areas depending on what you are working on. For instance, you’re not going to want tons of text tools and options visible on screen when you’re strictly working on an image where you may be doing only simple adjustments.

Customization bringsout creative ideas because you can monitor everything as you work hence the reasons why anyone who cares should ditch Lightroom for Photoshop

Photoshop and Lightroom are like cousins

The two applications are compatible since they are Adobe imaging products. Lightroom and Adobe Camera RAW use the same RAW converter engine but lightroom has massive advantage in the organizational department. Ideally, Photoshop does not organize stuff. However, when you are editing a photo in LR and you want to add a text it is a matter of a simple keystroke: CMD or CTRL-E and it exports the file to be worked on in Photoshop.

Creative compositions

Many people use the phrase ‘photoshoped’. The other day a lady photoshoped herself in China and the photos went viral on social media platforms. The application simply makes it easy for people to take themselves somewhere else or carryout a virtual ‘plastic surgery’ and this particular capability adds up the reasons why anyone who cares should ditch Lightroom for Photoshop

Hands on documents

Microsoft word has limited features that are boring, but Photoshop allows one to create top notch professional marketing materials and much more. In addition, it makes it easy for one to come up with good business cards.

For wedding photographers, you could feature an image with the bride and groom with other smaller images on that same image set in whatever arrangement you would like such as the ring shots, cake cutting, and whatever else you can come up with.

Tools

Photoshop is like a supermarket of tools and these tools add up to the reasons why anyone who cares should ditch Lightroom for Photoshop. Here are some of the Photoshop tools for photographic images:

• Quick Selection Tool is a tool that makes very quick selections by simply clicking and dragging your cursor around and it will create a selection based on contrasting edges. It works amazingly well for many uses.
• Color Range is a selection option that picks out a certain color range and makes a selection out of it.
• The Clone Stamp Tool is a powerful tool that lets you sample pixels from one area and then copy those pixels over all with a stroke of a brush.
• The PEN TOOL is also a very powerful tool that allows for extremely precise selections where other tools just can’t do the job.
• The paintbrush allows you to create your own brushes specific for various images unlike the adjustment brush in LR.

Those are the few reasons why you should ditch Lightroom for Photoshop.