Adobe releases Photoshop Lightroom 3 for Mac OS X, Windows

On Tuesday, software giant Adobe announce the release of Photoshop Lightroom 3 for Mac OS X and Windows. Per AppleInsider, the new version includes bells and whistles such as support for DSLR video files and tethering shooting on selected cameras.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 boasts a performance architecture that Adobe said better handles growing image libraries and provides a superior raw processing engine with noise reduction and sharpening tools. The new 64-bit capable software also has new features to optimize workflows.

Adobe said Lightroom 3 was rebuilt to be fast and responsive, and the new application provides a fluid experience for photographers. Images are said to load almost instantaneously, and importing of images has been redesigned to be more intuitive, with added previews and default selections that give users quick access to sort through and find images.

Lightroom 3 also allows users to import and manage DSLR video files, as well as take advantage of tethered shooting for select Nikon and Canon cameras. It also has a new set of photographic tools for features like Luminance and Color Noise Reduction, which are said to help produce a clearer picture from high ISO or underexposed images while still preserving details.

The latest version also adds the highly requested Automatic Lens Correction feature, which improves results 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.

There’s also a new straighten tool, allowing users to perfect vertical vertical and horizontal perspective, additional presets for applying more photographic adjustment styles, three new contemporary vignette styles, and a grain effect to add a more natural look with images.

Output options in Lightroom 3 have also been expanded, with new capabilities to publish collections to online sharing sites (for example, Flickr users can sync accounts to Lightroom with one click, and integration with other websites can be added through third-party plugins).

Lightroom 3 also has customizable print layouts which provide more refined control over how photographers present final images, and new watermarking features with options to modify text, size, location and style. Users can also export polished slideshows as video files with the option to add audio and title screens.

Photoshop Lightroom 3 is now for both Windows and Mac on the Adobe store and retails for US$299 for new users, and US$99 to upgrade. The app requires Mac OS X 10.5 or later and an Intel-based processor to run on the Mac end or Windows XP with Service Pack 3 or later on the PC end.