Lightroom 4 vs Photoshop Elements 8

[timberghost72]

I just purchased lightroom 4 a few days ago and have installed and registered it and then a buddy of mine gave me a copy of Elements 8. I haven't installed that yet. I don't have much of any experience with any photo editing software except for the Canon DPP that came with my camera.
 
My question is which one of these two are better or more user friendly.

Also I assumed that I could do HDR with Lightroom but looks like I can't. To do that can I just download a plug in for HDR?

Ok another question. I don't see in Lightroom where I can add borders to my photos. Is that an option?

I'm not great at learning new software (actually horrible at it) so any help, tips, or advice would be much appreciated. I love taking pictures and learning photography and my camera but not a fan sitting at the computer trying to figure out how to edit and if I am doing it right or just making the images worse 

I may or may not have 100 more questions 

Thanks Tony

[huntnphool]

Lightroom

[uplandhunter870]

i use lightroom 4 and really like it, never used photoshop elements.  once you get used to the adjustments in lightroom it becomes really user friendly and you can do a lot of editing really fast.  i may be wrong but i thought adobe came out with a plug in or upgrade to allow lightroom to do HDR and stitch pano's together, Phool can correct me if im wrong as far as borders i have no idea

[huntnphool]

i use lightroom 4 and really like it, never used photoshop elements.  once you get used to the adjustments in lightroom it becomes really user friendly and you can do a lot of editing really fast.  i may be wrong but i thought adobe came out with a plug in or upgrade to allow lightroom to do HDR and stitch pano's together, Phool can correct me if im wrong as far as borders i have no idea

I don't know if lightoom can do those things, I use CS for that.

[timberghost72]

I found this for HDR  http://www.hdrsoft.com/. Looks like a plug in for 30 bucks.  I haven't had a chance to play with lightroom much yet. I need to get on it.

[Wazukie]

I use both Lightroom 4 and Elements 10.

[popeshawnpaul]

i use lightroom 4 and really like it, never used photoshop elements.  once you get used to the adjustments in lightroom it becomes really user friendly and you can do a lot of editing really fast.  i may be wrong but i thought adobe came out with a plug in or upgrade to allow lightroom to do HDR and stitch pano's together, Phool can correct me if im wrong as far as borders i have no idea

I don't know if lightoom can do those things, I use CS for that.

Just go to the print file and put a border on it.  Then print to file jpg whatever size you want.  With LR4, you don't need HDR software.  Notice your Highlights, Shadows, and Whites sliders.  You can buy external software for HDR though if you want intricate HDR output.  LR4 is about workflow.  If you are looking to edit one image, any software program can do that.  With LR4, you can fix one picture in a series and then hit the sync button and all the images you want get synced with the same changes.  You can then keyword, categorize, create collections, and easily export to a website.  It's a great way to keep a library of photos organized.  If you just shoot a few images on the weekend then use whatever you want.  I shoot way too many photos to use just photoshop.  Organization was a nightmare before LR for me.

Tom Reichner is the only professional photographer I know that doesn't use LR.  My only gripe about LR...there is no clone stamp like on PS.  There is another tool that is almost as useful in most situations but the actual clone stamp would be nice.

[hunting4sanity]

I'm such a newb at this I probably can't even ask an intelligent question, but what does the full Photoshop CS6 do for you that Lightroom doesn't?  I've used Elements and get okay results, but I'm thinking of trying something else.  So would Lightroom be a good upgrade over Elements for general photo improvements?

[Holg3107]

Lightroom is superior. Elements is a worthless joke that shouldn't exist IMHO. You have to move the the full photoshop versions to really get any benefits.

[popeshawnpaul]

I'm such a newb at this I probably can't even ask an intelligent question, but what does the full Photoshop CS6 do for you that Lightroom doesn't?  I've used Elements and get okay results, but I'm thinking of trying something else.  So would Lightroom be a good upgrade over Elements for general photo improvements?

You, and I, would not use 95% of what PS can do.  It's for graphic designers/artists and really advanced photo improvements.  LR is more intuitive to photographers and I rarely ever use PS anymore.  Elements is just a basic editing program.  If that's what you need, then that's the tool to use.  None of these will make your photo better than when you took it really.  Like they say, crap in, crap out.  You still need to take a good photo.

Do you have a large photo collection or a lot of workflow?  Need help organizing photos?  If so, go LR.  If not, you can get by with elements or the software that comes with your camera.  If you already have LR, use it. 

[timberghost72]

Wow lots of info. Thanks guys. I dont have a ton of photos yet but like the organization and library features of LR.

[Alchase]

Lightroom is extremely easy to learn.
I am no where near the experience level of some of the guys that already posted, but Lightroom made it easy to organize 15 years of photos in a logical fashion. And the plugins to Smugmug, Shutterfly, etc... are a godsend when exporting stuff up to your service.

I only use PS if I am doctoring or changing a photo or getting creative. For photo processing Lightroom is very efficient, especially when you are going through hundreds of photos.

[MuleySniper]

Yeah Lightroom is awesome. I hardly open PS anymore. How is the new version? Much for change?

[Alchase]

Yeah Lightroom is awesome. I hardly open PS anymore. How is the new version? Much for change?

Some of the controls are named differently between Lightroom 3 and Lightroom 4, but the functionality is better IMHO.
4.3 is now out.