Adobe has released Lightroom 2. Lightroom enables users to view large numbers of RAW or other format photos at a time and to work with photos in groups for editing, tagging, printing, or exporting.
What's New in Lightroom 2
Lightroom 2 adds the following features to the original Lightroom, according to CNet:
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Panorama creation and merge to HDR when used on a system that also runs Photoshop CS3
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New metadata API that permits third-party applications like Flickr to work with Lightroom metadata
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Styles to create JPEG-like images from RAW files
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Dual-monitor support
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Metadata filtering to help find photos faster
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Improved image-sharpening technology licensed from
PhotoKit that improves picture quality for printing
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Smart Collections uses tags to create photos by rating and tags
Additional new and enhanced features listed on the Adobe Lightroom 2 website include:
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New local adjustment brush (touch up specific areas of a photo)
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New extensible architecture through plugins
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New volume management enables you to work with high-resolution previews even when the original images are offline
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New print package support
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Enhanced nondestructive photo editing and batch processing
However, the biggest news is 64-bit Windows Vista and MacOS X support.
To learn more about Lightroom 2 and how it relates to other Adobe software, see the Lightroom FAQ page.
Cha-Ching! How Much to Buy (and Try) Lightroom 2
First-time buyers will pay $299 for Lightroom 2. Upgrading from Lightroom 1.x is $99. A free 30-day trial is also available.
