I just bought my first printer and from what I've read here and learned on the MR/Schewe tutorial, should soft proof my images before printing. I work with LR 2.5 and do not own or know how to use PS. Is there alternative soft proofing software that will work with LR and does a good job, or do I need to get the VISA card out again? I'm hoping the answer is yes - PS is not cheap and there is enough on my plate already without having to learn PS. But I'll do what have to do.

Thanks.

If you have some time, wait a while. At present you need Photoshop to soft-proof.

A simple softproof can be done more applications.

Qimage, Idimager, picture window pro are some off them.

Yes, it is true that you can view the image as a softproof in Qimage but there is no easy way to adjust it, other than using and adjusting an "associative filter" and revisiting the Softproof choice, and repeating until the results are satisfactory. In Photoshop you get a realtime comparison between the softproofed image and the original, and can use adjustment layers to make the softproofed version resemble the original as much as possible.

Mark,

If you've gone through the hassle of calibrating your monitor, buying a decent printer and having your paper profiled I'd say soft proofing through PS is a necessity. They mention soft-proofing in Lightroom as a future capability but who knows when that will happen. LR 2.5 is supposedly the last modification before we go to LR 3.0; but there are no guarantees that 3.0 will have softproofing.

You might be able to find PS CS3 or CS2 around somewhere cheaper and do softproofing there - I don't think that the softproofing has been tweaked much between upgrades.

Note - I'm MarkDS, not Mark F - the original poster, and I know this was not addressed to me, but a couple of comments: I don't know what printer Mark F bought and what paper he intends to use, but if he has a printer which can produce the gamut of an Epson 3800, and if he is using a gloss paper such as Ilfrod Gold Fibre Silk (or similar) with a high DMax, the real importance of soft-proofing is much diminished. I've produced prints directly from LR 2.5 with this combination, without softproofing and the outcome relative to the display image is uncannily close - and that's because of the gamut and DMax of the printing conditions. And I'm saying this as an avid believer in soft-proofing, because before we had these nice Baryta-based papers, I used matte papers which have lower DMax and less gamut and really DO need the soft-proofing. So like everything else in this business....."it depends".

There are credible rumours that LR 3.0 will include soft-proofing; when it will ship we don't know, but it is likely to be measured in months, not years. That's why I suggested waiting if that's an option. As for the idea of getting second-hand versions of PSCS (CS3, CS2) of course Adobe doesn't have an after-sale market for dated Photoshop versions, so before you buy a license from someone else, it would be advisable to phone Adobe and ask them whether they would transfer the license key between third-party sellers and purchasers - unless someone reading this knows this story and can advise here. The problem is that the original purchaser needs a valid license key for the immediate previous version in order to buy an up-grade to the new version, so if it were allowed at all, you would need to find a key for two versions ago - and an installable "EXE" on your machine. I agree that the soft-proof function has most likely not changed over CS2-CS4.

Good point about the aftermarket CS2 or CS3 - I've bought from friends in the past but never online as far as this goes.

I might debate you on the soft proofing with Illford GFS and 3800. I've used this combination and I still find benefit in softproofing even with a custom paper profile. I think it really depends on the finished product you're looking for. PS is useful for so many other things (Its tonal curves are more refined than LR) that its worth the price IMHO.

Cheers,
Alex

CS3 for Windows can be had on eBay from $100, full version, new in box; I looked at the "completed" listing. That's the way I purchased my CS1 and later an upgrade to CS3.

ANother way: http://buywisecorp.com/search.php?q=photoshop+cs4

I just look at eBay - quite incredible. I wonder what's going on!

I make my own paper profiles, they're good, and I soft-proof routinely as well; all I'm saying is that with this combination the importance of soft-proofing is diminished - I didn't say it has become un-useful. And how useful it is will vary from image to image too.

Thanks to everyone for their responses. Sorry for the lag in responding - I've been chasing the fall foliage and jut got back.

Based on the replies I will bite the bullet and buy a copy of PS, although the learning curve scares me, big time. Even if LR ultimately includes soft proofing, I'm coming to the conclusion that there are just too many instances when using layers will save the image.

Thanks again.

PS my printer is a brand new Epson 4880, bought on a terrific Epson sale.

It's a good decision - you won't look back after you do that, and to help you down the learning curve I recommend you download Jeff and Michael's tutorials on Camera Raw and from Camera to Print.

I also agree that it would be just WRONG for softproofing to not be in 3.0. LOL....

Most felt that feature was needed in v2.0 was mentioned on this board in pretty clear terms that softproofing would not be in a point release but in a .0 release. I agree with Mark.....wait time probably measured in months at this point.

Cheers...

Todd in Chicago

P.S. Isn't the 4880 fabulous!?? Glad you got such a great deal Mark (F)!