Why I Use Photoshop Less than I used to

For years, actually decades, since Photoshop's  beginning, it   was the centre of my editing world. I used it every day, often for hours at a time. It was the tool you had to know if you wanted to get anything done. Retouching, masking, compositing, colour work, sharpening, resizing… everything went through Photoshop.

But things change.

Lightroom Classic has quietly taken over much of the work I used to rely on Photoshop for. Lightroom has simply become good enough and in some areas, better for general photo editing.

I only open Photoshop when Lightroom genuinely can’t do something. That includes anything involving layers and layer masks, adjustment layers, blending modes, or advanced retouching tools such as Frequency Separation, the Patch Tool, or Content-Aware Fill. Lightroom also can’t blend exposures, merge elements from different photos, add textures, or create graphics and text. And it has no equivalent to Photoshop’s Liquify, Warp, or Puppet Warp tools.

Example: Sky Replacement and Selective Sky Editing

For years, editing a sky separately from the rest of the photo (or vice versa) meant going straight into Photoshop. You had to create a selection, turn it into a Layer Mask, and refine it using Photoshop’s excellent Refine Edge tools — which are still unbeatable for hair and fur.

But Lightroom has changed that. Not only can it automatically select the sky, it lets me refine that mask using Add and Subtract with tools like Color Range, Luminance Range, and Select Objects. I’ve just completed a 3‑part tutorial showing exactly how to do this: Select Sky, improve it with Add Color Range, remove unwanted areas with Subtract and Select Objects, then duplicate and invert the mask to edit everything except the sky.

Lightroom Creates Much Smaller Files

When I compared Lightroom and Photoshop side by side, using the same image and achieving the same visual result, the Photoshop file added 23 times the original filesize, compared to Lightroom’s edit, which added less than 1% of the original filesize. That's 1% vs 2300%. Lightroom’s adjustments are tiny text-based instructions; Photoshop has to save full pixel layers. I’ll be writing a full article on this soon.

Lightroom Is Faster for Everyday Work

Another reason I stay in Lightroom is simple efficiency. I have a whole set of Export Presets for different sizes, formats, sharpening levels, and destinations. One click and the job is done. In Photoshop, I’d have to open the file, resize it manually, choose the export settings, and save it out each time. Lightroom’s preset system saves a huge amount of time.

Lightroom Does Much of What I Need

My workflow today is simple, efficient, and built around Lightroom Classic. It handles:

• global adjustments
• local adjustments
• masking
• colour work
• lens corrections
• noise reduction
• sharpening
• exporting

And it does all of that without breaking stride.

The masking tools alone have replaced entire Photoshop workflows I used to teach people. Select Subject, Select Sky, Object masking, colour range, luminance range — these tools have become powerful enough that I rarely need to leave Lightroom at all.

I don’t use every tool. I don’t pretend to. I use the ones that matter for the images I actually take.

When I Still Use Photoshop

Photoshop is still extremely useful, but it’s just no longer the default for general editing.

I use it for:

• detailed retouching Lightroom can’t handle
• complex object removal
• anything involving layers
• occasional compositing
• precise cloning or healing
• rare situations where I need pixel‑level control
• Adding text or shapes

But those moments are fewer now that Lightroom continues to improve.

My Workflow Isn’t the YouTube Workflow

I don’t follow the trendy workflows you see online.
I don’t use every slider.
I don’t chase the latest “secret technique”.

My workflow is the one I’ve refined over decades of real use:

• simple
• efficient
• repeatable
• practical
• based on what actually works

I’m not trying to impress anyone with complexity.
I’m trying to get the best result with the least fuss.

Why This Matters for the Website

This site isn’t built around being a “Photoshop guru” or pretending I use every tool every day. It’s built around:

• clarity
• experience
• real‑world use
• practical explanations
• tools that actually matter
• workflows that make sense

I’m not documenting every feature Adobe has ever added.
I’m documenting the tools and techniques that photographers genuinely use — the ones that make a difference.

If I don’t use a tool, I won’t pretend I do.
If Lightroom does something better, I’ll say so.
If Photoshop is still the right choice, I’ll say that too.

This site reflects how I actually work today, not how I worked twenty years ago.