If you are getting started with photography, Lightroom is the place to begin.

The truth is, theres no clear-cut answer it depends on the project.

To help you decide which editing tool is right for your next project weve assembled this handy guide.

It will help you determine when and why you should use each program.

Originally created by Adobe for simple digital photo editing, the programs functionality has greatly expanded.

Photoshop is used by graphic designers, architects, publishers and photographers.

At this point, Photoshop should really be called Photo-Graphic-Design-Animation-Studio-Shop though thats not nearly as catchy.

Save more time. Learn the complete guide to Adobe Lightroom with Ben Willmore.

Lightroom covers the majority, if not all, of the image manipulation tools youll most likely need.

In turn, Lightroom is photo management and photo editing, combined into a single tool.

All of the edits are automatically kept in your Lightroom catalog, which acts as your database of edits and history.

Lightroom is a raw file editor so you dont need Adobe Camera Raw.

Also, because of the photo management capabilities of Lightroom, youll be organizing your digital photography as you import.

If youre comfortable in Adobe Camera Raw, then developing a photo in Lightroom will look very familiar.

If youre a beginning photographer, youll most likely be satisfied with these features.

Lightroom is also much easier to use than Photoshop, which can have more of a steep learning curve.

With Lightroom, you can create collections, add keywords, move multiple images or files around your hard drive, create slideshows, print books, and share your photos directly to Facebook with relative ease.

If you think Photoshop Actions are easy They are nothing compared to the ease of using Lightroom.

Depending on the type of photography you do, this can be fairly often or practically never.

That being said, there are a few specific areas where Photoshop actions and Photoshop elements that outperform Lightroom.

Note: Lightroom does this as well, but with different effect.

The great news is that you can certainly use both Lightroom and Photoshop together because they integrate quite well (particularly in the Creative Cloud).

Adobe Lightroom Vs Os X Photos