Adobe opens the door on Lightroom

Adobe has unveiled the first commercial versions of its Lightroom image archiving software. 

The company has started taking pre-orders for the application, which is expected to ship in mid-February.

Customers who buy the software early will pay only US$199. Adobe will offer the discounted price until April, after which it will cost US$299.

Adobe explained that the initial price cut is a gesture of thanks to the photography community that helped to beta test Lightroom. The company claims that over 500,000 users participated in the public beta program over the past year.

Lightroom is designed to help users manage large photo libraries. Professional photographers will often accumulate hundreds or even thousands of images in their libraries and portfolios.

The application includes tools that help catalogue and store images, as well as basic editing functions and presentation features.

Adobe said that Lightroom will not be included with the Creative Suite bundle alongside the company's flagship Photoshop and Illustrator products, but will be sold as a separate application for Mac OS 10.4.3 and Windows XP.

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