What Lightroom is: A software that cataloged photos, tagged, helps in sorting, processing and development takes over and assists in the publication. In short, the entire so-called digital workflow is displayed.
The focus in the cataloging lies on images certain regain quickly a large amount. Similarly, large amounts new incoming pictures can be quickly and effectively tagged and sorted. These are tasks that require primarily agencies, professional photographers and advanced amateurs to a certain extent. A photo agency must in a few seconds can be found from 100,000 photos a very specific subject. This is a requirement that from the amateur mindset "I will now time to look at the photos from Canada Vacations 2001, which are indeed in C: \ pictures \ Kanada2001" quite fundamentally different. Also may have with a professional photographer by 100 images tagged simultaneously at one time, be converted into black and white and stripped of a certain color cast. These things dominated Lightroom outstanding.
The administration takes place in a database catalog, you have to learn to think in collections and keyword lists, and to break away from the way of thinking in real Windows / Mac folder structures.
Many professionals take pictures with good reason in RAW format, so speak with digital negative. The development is done on the PC, also here Lightroom excellent points. Remove color casts, reduce noise, improve white balance, perform sharpening, Smaller corrections, an area of the photo indemnify without the original ones. These are typical tasks of digital photo development and processing - that make Lightroom well.
Print images, exporting for the customer or create a slide show - even these requirements it is justice.
The amateur can work with this workflow as well, but it requires training and an understanding of how this program works. Those looking for a Picasa with advanced features, will not be happy. Anyone incorporating a few days with the help of a reference book or with the many tutorials on the net and gets involved in the mindset of the Lightroom makers, on the other hand gets a great tool in the hand.
What Lightroom is not: Lightroom is NOT a graphics program, not Photoshop, GIMP and not not paint. Create functions for the targeted manipulation of images, to the fact painting, to photomontage and graphics have nothing to do with digital photo workflow and available in Lightroom or only very limited. Who needs it, for example to be should Photoshop Elements or look, or to one of the many free alternatives.
Who wants to deal quickly and simply with a new program, a handful will save vacation photos, "only" JPG photographed, cut here and there or want to remove red eye and has no problem to look for a few minutes after the photo of Aunt Erna, the example is better off with Picasa.
Otherwise: Try Free version, read tutorials on the net, or a book deal with the Philisophie Lightroom and are very happy with the product!
One last sentence for technology: Lightroom runs on Windows 64bit as "real" 64bit application (and of course as a 32bit version on 32bit Windows). That makes up for a large memory (> 4GB) positive impact if necessary. It is very stable and mature. Instabilities and consistency problems with the catalog or Probelme with large collections, such as those, for example, reported versions of the Photoshop Elements Organizer, I could not find in Lightroom.
My clear 5 star recommendation to all those who deal with this program or are willing to learn it!