You already have Lightroom Classic, or you’re about to start using it, and somewhere online someone mentioned you’ll need Photoshop too. That’s possible, but let’s look at how the two programs work separately and together.
What Lightroom Classic Is Built to Do
Lightroom Classic handles the bulk of a photographer’s workflow: importing, organizing, rating, and the color and tone adjustments most images need. Getting a library organized is usually the first problem it solves, and from there it covers most day-to-day editing. For a lot of photographers, the Lightroom: Organizing and Editing class is the right place to begin and will teach you how to manage your folders and effectively edit your files.
Where Lightroom Stops and Photoshop Starts
Lightroom Classic includes some retouching tools, that can do many things, but for more complex retouching, many people find Photoshop more capable and easier to refine. There are more retouching tools with more user control. While Lightroom Classic can make very precise masks of some types for selective editing, Photoshop has a few more tools to use in the mask making process. In Photoshop, layers and layer masks can offer more control over how an edit is applied.
Should something be cut off at an edge, Photoshop allows for extending a canvas, and possibly generating missing content. Correcting the converging lines in a photo of a building can be done in Lightroom, but Photoshop offers more flexibility and options to do this. None of this replaces Lightroom. It picks up where Lightroom’s tools reach their limit.
Photoshop offers other possibilities that are not part of Lightroom Classic, such as the ability to add text or graphics to a photo, and the ability to combine different images in the same photo. It also has the ability to create new content using AI.
Inside the Photoshop for Lightroom Users Class
The Photoshop for Lightroom Users class sets up the Photoshop interface specifically for editing photos, not graphics, since the two setups look different. From there it covers moving a file from Lightroom Classic into Photoshop and back, retouching with the correct tools, making selections, working with layers and masks, adding canvas to a photo, architectural transforms, and Photoshop’s newer AI-assisted tools. Sessions run over Zoom, with screens shared both ways, and stay capped at 6-7 participants.
The Cost Question
Adobe makes Lightroom and Lightroom Classic available on their Lightroom plan for 11.99/month. They bundle Photoshop with Lightroom Classic and Lightroom under their Photography Plan for 19.99/month. If you are already on the Photography plan, then you have access to Photoshop. If you are on the Lightroom plan, then you can contact Adobe to change your plan. Specific setup questions for your computer are covered on the FAQ page.
So Which Class Do You Actually Need First
If your photos are organized and mostly need color, exposure, and tone work, Lightroom Classic covers that on its own. If you’re running into a specific limit, a retouching job Lightroom can’t handle cleanly, a composite, an architectural shot with distorted lines, that’s the signal to add Photoshop. Most students should learn Lightroom first and add Photoshop either to help with specific situations, or just to expand their awareness of what it could help with. If you’re not sure where you stand, individual instruction is a way to get a second opinion before committing to a group class.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to buy Photoshop separately?
Can I take the Photoshop class without a Lightroom class first?
Will this class teach graphic design in Photoshop?
How many students are in the class?
Not sure which class fits where your photos are right now? Email Eliot at eliot@washingtonphotofocus.com and describe what you’re running into, and he can point you to the right one.
