Photoshop is a full-featured image editor designed for complex pixel-level manipulation and compositing, while Lightroom is a streamlined photo management and non-destructive editing tool optimized for photographers. Photoshop excels at advanced creative work; Lightroom excels at batch editing and organizing large photo libraries.
Adobe Photoshop vs Adobe Lightroom — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Professional raster image editor for complex pixel manipulation, compositing, and graphic design.
Non-destructive photo editor and digital asset manager designed for photographers to organize, edit, and batch process images.
Primary Use Case. Learning Curve (Hours to Proficiency). File Size (Uncompressed Project, MB). RAW File Support. Batch Processing Efficiency. Layer & Masking Capabilities. Monthly Subscription Cost (USD)
Choose Photoshop if you need advanced compositing, graphic design, complex retouching with layers and masks, or pixel-level control for creative projects. Choose Lightroom if you prioritize managing large photo libraries, batch editing workflows, quick edits on hundreds of images, and a gentle learning curve—or use both together in the $22.49/month Photography Plan for complementary strengths.
Adobe Photoshop: 12+ AI tools | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 100% (adjustment layers, smart objects, masks) | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 90% of design professionals | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 25 million active users | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 4000+ MB optimized | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: $281.88/year | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Monthly Subscription Cost (Standard Plan)
Adobe Photoshop: $19.99/month | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Annual Subscription Cost (Standard Plan)
Adobe Photoshop: $239.88/year | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 500+ advanced tools | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Typical Learning Time (Beginner to Productive)
Adobe Photoshop: 40+ hours | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 90%+ of design agencies, studios, freelancers | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 7 (Generative Fill, Super Resolution, Generative Expand, etc.) | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 100-200 hours | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: $22.49 | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 50-100 (with scripts) | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 500-2000 (PSD) | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 70% (requires workarounds) | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 300,000 x 300,000 | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: ~500 templates | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 60+ hours | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Via third-party plugins/subscriptions | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Yes (300+ camera profiles) | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: $239.88 | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Yes, desktop app | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
File Size Handling (optimal performance)
Adobe Photoshop: Handles 2000+ MB efficiently | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 100 Firefly credits | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Yes, full 3D and video timeline | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: $20.99/month | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: $251.88/year | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 4+ (Generative Fill, Firefly, Content-Aware, Super Resolution) | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Yes (full support) | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Full (adjustment layers, smart objects) | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 75,000+ | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Full (NVIDIA, AMD, Apple Metal) | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 8/10 | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: $251.88 | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 10,000+ | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 8 seconds | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 200+ | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 100GB | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Windows, macOS, iPad, Web | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Firefly (Generative Fill, Super Resolution, removal tools) | Adobe Lightroom: Super Resolution only (limited AI features)
Adobe Photoshop: Minimal (third-party required) | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 50-100+ hours | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Yes (extensive RAW editing) | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Limited (cloud sync only) | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Unlimited (print-ready) | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Yes (Windows/Mac only) | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Extensive (unlimited layers, advanced masks) | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 8+ tools (Generative Fill, Super Resolution, Remove, Generative Expand, etc.) | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Yes (CUDA, OpenCL, Metal) | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Processing Speed (1GB file, typical operation)
Adobe Photoshop: 2-4 seconds | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 40+ formats (PSD, JPEG, PNG, HEIF, WebP, AVIF, PDF, SVG) | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 8 GB | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: $22.49 (Photography Plan with Lightroom included) | Adobe Lightroom: $11.49 standalone or $22.49 with Creative Cloud
Adobe Photoshop: ~500 built-in templates | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 2GB (requires Creative Cloud) | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Stock via Adobe Stock (requires separate subscription) | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Adobe Fonts library (240,000+ via subscription) | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Advanced: layers, masks, curves, healing brush, content-aware fill | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Used by 90% of professional designers/photographers | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Minimal (0-100) | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 8-12 weeks | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 8+ (Generative Fill, Super Resolution, AI Upscaler, Neural Filters) | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Full 1px-level control across 1000+ tools | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Full (100% functionality) | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Estimated 15+ million | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 8 GB recommended | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: $9.99 (single app) / $55 (full Creative Cloud) | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Unlimited with plugins; native support requires 3rd-party tools | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 90+ formats including PSD, JPEG, TIFF, PNG, AI, EPS | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 12-15 seconds on standard hardware | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: Full offline editing with all tools available | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: No (native); requires external plugins or manual versioning | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 9.5/10 - industry-leading Content-Aware Fill, Generative Fill, Neural Filters | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 6.5/10 - possible but requires workarounds for design systems | Adobe Lightroom: N/A
Adobe Photoshop: 80-120 hours | Adobe Lightroom: 20-40 hours
Adobe Photoshop: Unlimited (30,000+ tested) | Adobe Lightroom: Unlimited adjustment layers only (no pixel layers)
Adobe Photoshop: 500-2000+ MB per complex project | Adobe Lightroom: 2-10 MB per catalog (100,000+ photos)
Adobe Photoshop: 120-180 minutes (manual or scripting) | Adobe Lightroom: 2-5 minutes (Sync Settings feature)
Adobe Photoshop: Via Smart Objects/plugins (requires extra steps) | Adobe Lightroom: Native RAW engine with 150+ camera profiles
Adobe Photoshop: 20+ (Magic Wand, Select Subject, Refine Edge, Content-Aware) | Adobe Lightroom: 4-6 (basic select, brush, range mask)
How to choose between Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom
Compare Adobe Photoshop vs Adobe Lightroom
Adobe Photoshop vs Adobe Lightroom — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for Adobe Photoshop vs Adobe Lightroom. Contains 83 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
Adobe Photoshop vs Adobe Lightroom — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Adobe Photoshop vs Adobe Lightroom.
Can I use Lightroom and Photoshop together?
Yes. Lightroom exports images directly to Photoshop for advanced editing via the 'Edit in Photoshop' button. Your edits sync back to Lightroom as a Smart Object. The $22.49/month Photography Plan includes both applications, making this a seamless integrated workflow used by 87% of professional photographers.
Should I learn Photoshop or Lightroom first?
Start with Lightroom (20-40 hours to proficiency) if you're managing a photo library. It teaches you fundamental editing principles without overwhelming complexity. Learn Photoshop (80-120 hours) afterward when you need advanced compositing, retouching, or design capabilities. Many photographers use Lightroom 95% of the time and Photoshop for specialized projects.
Can Lightroom replace Photoshop for professional photography?
For 80-90% of professional photography workflows (wedding, portrait, commercial), Lightroom alone is sufficient and faster than Photoshop. However, Lightroom cannot perform complex retouching (blemish removal on skin), compositing (blending multiple images), or graphic design. Use both together for maximum flexibility.
Why are my Lightroom catalog files so small compared to Photoshop projects?
Lightroom stores only editing instructions (non-destructive) as 2-10MB catalogs, keeping original RAW files separate and untouched. Photoshop creates .psd files that embed all layers, pixels, and data into a single file (500MB-2GB+), making them much larger and slower to save/load. Lightroom's approach is more efficient for photographers managing thousands of images.
Does Photoshop have a RAW editor like Lightroom?
Photoshop processes RAW files through Camera Raw Filter (a built-in module similar to Lightroom's engine) but requires converting RAW to Smart Objects first, adding extra steps. Lightroom's native RAW engine with 150+ camera profiles is purpose-built for photographers and much faster for RAW workflows. Adobe Lightroom remains the superior choice for RAW processing.
How to Choose Between Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom
Primary Use Case: Adobe Photoshop has Complex editing, compositing, design, graphic design, while Adobe Lightroom has Photo management, batch editing, culling, non-destructive editing.
Consider: Learning Curve (Hours to Proficiency)
Learning Curve (Hours to Proficiency): Adobe Photoshop has 80-120 hours, while Adobe Lightroom has 20-40 hours.
Consider: File Size (Uncompressed Project, MB)
File Size (Uncompressed Project, MB): Adobe Photoshop has 500-2000+ MB per project, while Adobe Lightroom has 2-10 MB per catalog.
RAW File Support: Adobe Photoshop has Yes, with plugins/Smart Objects, while Adobe Lightroom has Native, comprehensive RAW engine.
Batch Processing Efficiency: Adobe Photoshop has Manual or script-based (slower), while Adobe Lightroom has Sync settings to 100+ photos in seconds.
Layer & Masking Capabilities: Adobe Photoshop has Unlimited layers, advanced masks, blend modes, while Adobe Lightroom has Limited to adjustment layers, no pixel layers.
Consider: Monthly Subscription Cost (USD)
Monthly Subscription Cost (USD): Adobe Photoshop has $22.49 (Photography Plan includes both), while Adobe Lightroom has $11.49 (standalone) or $22.49 (Creative Cloud).