Photoshop Lightroom 1.0 is Adobe’s latest addition to its suite of industry leading software for graphic artists.

Compared to Photoshop, Lightroom brings a focus on the productivity and workflow needs for working photographers, adding database tools to manage photo libraries, and a responsive new interface specialized to the needs of digital photographers. Work in Lightroom is organized in an elegant new user interface that adapts to the various stages in a photography workflow. The interface shows center area for working with images, with panels on the left, right, and below which adapt to the particular tasks at hand. When working with a library of images, for example, the panels show tools for importing and managing large collections of images. You can label, rank, keyword, and search for images. The development module brings up different panels with tools for adjusting and editing the images. Additional modules help you prepare images for printing or other purposes. Lightroom works with images in all of the standard formats, such as jpeg and tiff. The latest generation of digital single lens reflex cameras (DSLRs) and high end compact cameras offer their best results working with so-called RAW images. These are the files of unprocessed data straight from the camera’s digital sensor. Photoshop Lightroom seamlessly handles RAW images from virtually manufacturer’s current model cameras, of course including Adobe’s own digital negative format (DNG). Moreover, edits for DNG or RAW files are stored non-destructively, thus preserving the original image. Compared to Photoshop, the $299 Photoshop Lightroom more focuses more specifically on the needs of photographers. Gone are many of the pixel manipulation tools used by graphic artists. New are a newly designed user interface, an integrated database for managing photo libraries, sophisticated tools for accurately adjusting exposure, color balance, and sharpening. For many photographers, whether amateur or professional, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom may become the principle tool of their trade.