I’ve been using the Adobe Lightroom 3 Beta for a while now to enhance my photos for the Gadget Reviews section. It’s the easiest and yet most powerful photo enhancing tool I’ve ever used. I certainly glad that today the software has gone final and it even has more surprises in store! For example, check out that crazy ISO noise reduction feature on the photo above! It’s like another too good to be true feature like the Adobe Photoshop CS5 Content Aware Fill! I’ll check to see if I can get a review license and tell you all about the goodness of the software.
Full press release below.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Now Available
Major Release Advances Image Quality, Performance and Workflow Flexibility for Photographers
SYDNEY, Australia — June 8, 2010 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the immediate availability of Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® 3 software for Windows® and Macintosh, the essential digital photography workflow solution that allows photographers to quickly organise, enhance and showcase their images from one application. First released as a public beta in October 2009, the final version of Lightroom 3 introduces a completely redesigned performance architecture that better handles growing image libraries and provides an unrivaled raw processing engine with noise reduction and sharpening tools to achieve the highest image quality. The 64-bit capable Lightroom 3 includes new features that optimise workflows and allow images to be shared in creative ways, including support for DSLR video files and tethered shooting on select cameras.
“There have been over 600,000 downloads of the Lightroom 3 public beta, which has supplied us with a huge amount of valuable feedback from a passionate community of professional and advanced amateur photographers,” said Kevin Connor, vice president of product management for Digital Imaging at Adobe. “The open dialog we have with our customers allows us to further improve Lightroom and provide the best tools they need to produce high-quality images. We’re happy to see that so many people are anxiously anticipating the final release, so they can start taking advantage of all the new features they had a hand in developing.”
“Stunning natural scenery, great people and the outdoor lifestyle we’re fortunate to enjoy in Australia and New Zealand are all elements that have helped create a very strong local photographic community,” commented Michael Stoddart, product marketing manager for Adobe Pacific. “As a result, the launch of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 software for Windows and Macintosh is particularly significant and we’ve already seen a lot of interest during the beta process. We look forward to receiving the initial feedback from Australian and New Zealand photographers – professional and hobbyists – following this new release.”
Public Beta Process Perfects Lightroom 3 New Features
Re-built from its core to be lightening fast and responsive, Lightroom 3 adds power throughout the application to provide a fluid experience for photographers. Images load almost instantaneously, and the import experience has been redesigned to be more intuitive, with added previews and default selections that give users quick access to sort through and find images. Helping streamline and adapt to photographers’ changing workflows, Lightroom 3 now allows users to import and manage DSLR video files, as well as take advantage of tethered shooting for select Nikon and Canon cameras.
New state-of-the-art photographic tools help photographers bring out the best in their images. Unrivaled Luminance and Color Noise Reduction tools help produce a clearer picture from high ISO or underexposed images while still preserving details. The highly-requested Automatic Lens Correction feature can dramatically improve the results possible with any lens by allowing users to apply profiles that correct for undesirable geometric distortions, chromatic aberrations, and lens vignette effects that most lenses introduce to the image. Users now also have a straighten tool to perfect vertical and horizontal perspective, additional presets for applying more photographic adjustment styles, and three new contemporary vignette styles and a Grain effect to add a more natural look with images.
Lightroom 3 Expands Image Showcasing
Output options have also been enhanced in this release, with new capabilities to publish collections on online sharing sites. Flickr® users have the ability to synch their accounts to Lightroom with one click, and integration with additional online photo sharing sites can be added via third-party plug-ins. Customisable print layouts provide more refined control over how photographers present final images, and new watermarking features with options to modify text, size, location and style, help give professionals and amateurs flexibility for branding images. Lightroom 3 now also includes the ability to export polished slideshows as video files with the option to add audio and title screens.
Pricing and Availability
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 for Windows and Macintosh is available through Adobe Authorised Resellers, the Adobe Australia Store and the Adobe New Zealand Store, The estimated street price is AU$412 for new users with an upgrade price of AU$136.12 for qualified registered Lightroom users. Recommended system requirements are Macintosh OS X v 10.5, 10.6 with Intel® based processor, or Microsoft® Windows® 7, Windows Vista® Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise or Windows XP with Service Pack 3, Intel® Pentium® 4 processor, 2 GB RAM and a 1,024×768 resolution screen.
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