Photoshop CS3 Public beta released.

Loads of information over at Photoshop News, along with tutorials and a link to Martin Evenings CS3 book. There is a free download of the first chapter. This does apply to Lightroom in a big way because Camera RAW 4.0 Beta is included and contains features found in Lightrooms Develop Module, including Fill Light, Recovery and Vibrance. Hopefully this will bring XMP compatibility between the 2 programs.
Update Martin Evening has confirmed that his beta (later than 4.1) is compatible with ACR4 and CS3. Tom Hogarty has also indicated that there in still no proper compatibility with B4.1 though.

More from PPE

Martin Evening has posted an enlightening article on Beta 5 and the Adobe presence at PPE over at Photoshopnews:
http://photoshopnews.com/2006/11/08/photo-plus-east-new-york-2006/

Beta 5 at PPE

Jeff Schewe demoed Lightroom Beta 5 at Photo Plus Expo in New York. He did add that caveat that he was unaware if it would actually be released to the public. Among the other things added was a spot healing tool. Here's a collection of posts from people at PPE:
Rob Reese:
"I attended a couple of sessions on Lightroom at the PhotoPlus Expo in New York yesterday. I thought folks might like to know that Jeff Schewe was showing Beta 5 at the Adobe booth. He was clear that this didn't mean that a Beta 5 was ever going to be released and still wouldn't say when the production version would be out.

I wish I had taken better notes. One very interesting thing he demonstrated was the healing brush (very cool). He suggested that in the final implementation you would be able to remove dust spots and then apply the "healing" to other shots with the same spot pattern.

He also demonstrated the variable zoom. You will be able to pick from a list ranging from 1:4 to (in the demo) 1:11. The 1:11 is apparently a programmer's joke (like the amp in the movie "Spinal Tap" - it's one better isn't it?).

Wish I could remember more. I'm not an in-depth user of Lightroom at this point, so I'm not sure if some of the other things he showed were new or not.

OK - I remembered two more things:

There are now view options in the print module, showing an overlay of printer and profile selection on the image.

"plug ins" will be accomplished by allowing folks to add additional modules (like Library and Develop), so in the future I can imagine a Noise Ninja or Lightzone tab. However, the SDK will not be available until after the 1.0 release. "

DAJr comments :
"I was also at the PPE show on Friday, and caught one of Jeff's LR presentations at the Adobe booth. For those who want the option of NOT using the database, there is hope... While I didn't see it "in action," I did catch a glimpse of a new "FOLDERS" tab on the left, in Library mode, next to the "COLLECTIONS" and "SHOOTS" tabs. I can only hope that this is for the purpose of using LR in folder, rather than database mode.

DAJr
www.dajphotography.com
"

Interesting.
In this same thread, Michael Tapes mentions that Beta 5 still may not be a public Beta. Michael Reichmann of Luminous Landscape has previously stated that Beta 4 was the last beta and having a .1 release with 4.1 seems to support that. As a lot of people felt that these Public Betas were more like Alphas, it may be that the feature complete Betas may not see the light of day to keep stuff secret for the V1.0 release. Time will tell.

Resources

Adobe Evangelist George Jardine has started a post on Lightrrom resources worth checking out:
http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/webforums/forum/messageview.cfm?forumid=72&catid=589&threadid=1212473&enterthread=y

Beta 4 released.

Finally!

SAN JOSE, Calif. and COLOGNE, Germany - Sept. 25, 2006 - Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced an update to the public beta of Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom(tm) software at the Photokina tradeshow in Cologne, Germany. Available immediately for download from Adobe Labs (http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom), this update unites the product feature set for Windows® and Macintosh platforms, giving professional photographers a new way to import, manage and showcase large volumes of digital photographs. More than 325,000 people have opted to try Lightroom during the beta period and feedback has been fueled by over 3,400 of them sharing input in Adobe online forums. The final version of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom is expected to ship in early 2007.

"From the moment we introduced Lightroom beta we opened up the process to photographers, making them a part of our 'virtual development team' and allowing them to tell us exactly what this application needs," said Deborah Whitman, vice president of product management for Digital Imaging. "Engaging with this community has helped us build a better workflow solution and has made watching its evolution more exciting and dynamic."

The final branding of the software, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, confirms its place within the Photoshop family, a line of products that meet the needs of novice snapshooters, photo hobbyists and a diverse set of professional customers.

Lightroom Feature Advancements and Raw Processing Support

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom beta 4.0 offers improved digital photography workflow tools, including a precision white balance selection option and a more streamlined and elegant user interface experience with customizable controls. An intuitive new tone curve adjustment feature provides powerful image correction capabilities, allowing users to visually obtain excellent midtone, shadow and highlight adjustments.

New enhancements in the Develop and Library modules include time-saving tools such as the ability to re-name and convert files to Adobe Digital Negative Format (DNG) after importing into the Lightroom library. New filters, search presets and organizing options allow for quick retrieval of images and greater flexibility.

Lightroom supports over 125 native raw file formats, in addition to JPEG and TIFF, and brings raw conversion into a single workflow experience. The latest camera models supported by this beta are the Nikon D2Xs, Sony A100, as well as preliminary support for the Canon Digital Rebel XTi (400D) and Nikon D80. This support means that photographers can use Lightroom with even the newest cameras on the market, knowing that the image files will be recognized today and into the future.

Thriving Community Support

Adobe hosts an online community site for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom beta which features artists in the Lightroom Showcase Gallery (http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom/gallery) and provides an arena for photographers to share their portfolios using Lightroom slideshow functionality. Photographers will find inspiration in the documentaries of well-known photographers posted in the community and gallery.

Pricing and Availability

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom beta is available for free download from the Adobe Labs Web site at http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom. Recommended system requirements are Macintosh OSX 10.4.3, 1 GHz PowerPC G4 processor or Windows XP SP2, Intel Pentium 4 Processor, and 768 MB RAM and a 1024x768 resolution screen. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom beta is a universal binary application that will run natively on PowerPC and new Intel-based Macintosh systems. The final version of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom is expected to ship in early 2007. Further details around pricing, system requirements and availability have yet to be determined.

Lightroom Gallery Update

Despite coming close to Photokina time and an expected Beta 4 release, Adobe have found time to update the Lightroom Gallery. It's now gone from 2 to 4 pages and includes a 60 photo gallery by none other than Lightroom Guru and Photoshop Hall of Famer, Jeff Schewe. Also featured is a Beijing Gallery by Julieanne Kost.

Beta 4 'nearing completion'

With the release of Adobe Camera Raw 3.5, Thomas Knoll took time to detail both the coming of ACR 3.6 in the fall and of the Beta 4 release. Of concern to a lot of people is the Nikon D80 and the Canon 400D (XTi), which is not in the ACR 3.5 release. Thomas says the ACR 3.6 release is an accelerated cycle and will cover these and other cameras released at Photokina.
Lightroom Beta 4 will be released before this and will include both cameras.
http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx/.3bb6a869.3bc1b01e contains the full information.

Luminous Landscape Lightroom DVD 2: The Making of.

Jeff Schewe has posted a great photo essay on the The Making Of the new DVD. I know my copy is sitting in my letterbox awaiting my return from sunny climes. I'll be sure to post a review of it when I'm sitting at home with the rain on the window.

Beta 4 Previews at Photoshop world.

http://www.oreillynet.com/digitalmedia/blog/2006/09/post_1.html
Not being in the inner circle and being on holiday, I'm not the first in with this. Thanks to MethodPhoto for the link.

Jeff Schewe also mentions some of the new features including Vibrance and Fill Light from Raw Shooter and a new Curves tool:
"Yes, Beta 4 was indeed demoed today at Photoshop World...pretty cool new stuff too...Fill Light and Vibrance in Develop as well as an entirely new cruves UI with on the curve or on the image adjustments...George Jardine will be demoing B4 the next couple of days as well..more info later."
Andrew Rodeny, Author “Color Management for Photographers”, says of the new Curves UI, "Nothing like it I've ever seen. Super intuitive and powerful".
My mouth is watering at the prospect. Hopefully Jeff will get time to post more information soon seeing as the Beta is being shown in Public.

Lightroom Gallery

The Lightroom gallery has loads of new galleries added. Go on over: http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom/gallery/

Photoshopuser Lightroom Videos.

In case you missed this useful series of tutorial video from the NAPP they're at : http://www.photoshopuser.com/pages/lightroom/videos.php