Adobe announced the immediate availability of Photoshop Lightroom 3 on Tuesday, ending a public beta testing phase that began in October 2009. The new version of the professional image management and editing application includes improved image touch up tools, enhanced slideshow features, additional print output options, and 64-bit support.
Lightroom 3 includes updated noise reduction tools that help keep images sharp without washing out colors, along with a new sharpness filter produces a more natural look thanks to updated algorithms. The previous sharpness filter is still available for users that want to stick with the look the older version offers, or for images that have been sharpened with older versions of Lightroom.
Slideshows can now be exported to multiple formats optimized for target devices such as mobile devices like the iPhone, or video sharing Web sites. The Slideshow feature also supports auto-timing presentations to the length of the music.
Lightroom’s printing module added support for custom packages and easier watermarking with a new watermark editor. Contact sheets can now include any background color, too.
Version 3 also supports DSLR video files and tethered shooting from some Canon and Nikon cameras.
Lightroom 3 requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.5 or 10.6 and 2GB of RAM. It is priced at US$299, and upgrades cost $99.