Adobe announced Lightroom 3 today !
It’s a major upgrade. If you’re using Lightroom 2 don’t even think about not upgrading. If you’re not using Lightroom, think about it – seriously.
The shipping version has new features not available in the public beta version. (Automated Lens Correction is the big one.)
Price $299 new / $99 upgrade.
Learn more in a free webinar by Julianne Kost – Thursday, July 15, 2010 10:00 am PDT. Professional Photographer Workflow – Adobe Photoshop CS5 and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.
Learn more at Adobe.com here.
Read Adobe’s press release here …
Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom®3 software is available! Lightroom 3 is the essential digital photography workflow solution that allows photographers to quickly organize, 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 optimize workflows and allow images to be shared in creative ways, including support for DSLR video files and tethered shooting on select cameras.
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.
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. Customizable 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
The estimated street price is US$299 for new users with an upgrade price of US$99 for qualified registered Lightroom users.

Learn More
Additional information on product features, upgrade policies, pricing, and language versions is available at http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshoplightroom/. Visit AdobeTV to see videos highlighting the new Photoshop Lightroom 3 features. Go to http://tv.adobe.com/product/lightroom/. Attend a live eSeminar on the Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5 workflow by Adobe Evangelist, Julieanne Kost.

Professional Photographer Workflow—Adobe Photoshop CS5 and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
Thursday, July 15, 2010 10:00 A.M. PDT
Julieanne Kost will demonstrate how you can leverage the tight integration between Adobe Photoshop CS5 and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom software to create a completely fluid workflow to manage and edit images. Learn how to easily select multiple photos in Lightroom and automatically open them in Photoshop CS5 to merge them into a panorama, an HDR image, or a multilayered Photoshop document. Discover the ease of “Edit in” the power of presets for exporting files as well as how to hand off images from Lightroom to Photoshop CS5 to automatically run actions for speed and efficiency.
Join the Lightroom Community
Facebook (www.facebook.com/lightroom <http://www.facebook.com/lightroom> )
Twitter (http://twitter.com/lightroom <http://twitter.com/lightroom> )