Adobe has released a new version of Lightroom, its software aimed at photography professionals and enthusiasts. Version 5 of Lightroom brings new features such as the ‘Advanced Healing Brush’ for removing image defects/elements and ‘Upright’ for straightening photos. Also Adobe has worked on integrating the software with its Behance social sharing service.
The Lightroom 5 application has been in beta since April, since then over 400 bugs have been fixed. The latest version of Lightroom will cost you $149 for new license and $79 for an upgrade from v4. If you are a Creative Cloud subscriber it will be available to you for no extra cost.
Updated features of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5
Most photo editing tools have healing brushes nowadays; to get rid of unwanted specs, blotches and artefacts but Adobe is particularly proud of its Advanced Healing Brush which does a good job of getting rid of unwanted defects in images as well as much bigger elements you might not want in the scene. Check out the video below to see this tool in action.
Upright is a feature that helps users fix tilted and skewed shots to bring better symmetry to photos. Radial Gradient is a useful new tool for off-centre vignette effects; it can be applied in multiple instances. Smart Previews lets you work on proxy files from your image database when you’re away from your main computer. Adjustments and edits made while out and about can be applied to the full size files when you get back to your workstation.
For presenting your photos there are two new features on offer. The function of Video Slide Shows is easily determined from its name. Adobe says this tool will allow you to “Easily share your work in elegant video slide shows. Combine still images, video clips, and music in creative HD videos that can be viewed on almost any computer or device.” Photo Book Creation improvements have also been implemented with more easy to use professional customisable templates.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5 works on Windows and Mac OSX systems. Windows users need Windows 7 or newer with a recommended 4GB of RAM. Mac OS users require Mac OS X v10.7 or v10.8 and also a recommended 4GB of RAM.
