Lightroom 3.6 Users Manual

[mtndu]

I bought Lightroom v3.6 several years ago and am just now attempting to learn to use it. Is there a user's manual? If I had one, I must have misplaced it. A pdf copy would be great if it's available.

[John Waller]

I assume you're referring to Lightroom 3 released back in 2010? One of the predecessors of the app now known as Lightroom Classic?

[mtndu]

Right. I know I'm a procrastinator but am retired now and would like to learn the program.

[John Waller]

Just checking the version you're seeking help on. It's one of the first things that we need to confirm here since Adobe is fond of confusing and misleading naming conventions and version numbering for some of its apps.

I'm not aware of a manual for such an ancient version. Hopefully someone chimes in who can offer you something useful.

[tmickow]

I'd think you'd be better off investing your time learning something more current than a 10+ year old piece of software, but...

For a manual/book, I would...

1) Check the documentation under the Help menu.

2) Do a search for Lightroom 3 books on the Internet.  I'm sure you can find some dirt cheap used ones.  Here's a link to The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book for Digital Photographers on Amazon.  There are multiple sellers that have used ones listed for <$2.

3) Check a local library, if you have one.

And for a series of video tutorials, have a look at Julieanne Kost's site - https://jkost.com/blog/lightroom-training-videos

[SeanMcCormack]

Don't have such a link,  but here's a slightly older video that introduces 1.3 covers the basics. Import is prettier in V3, but the principles are the same. 

https://video.tv.adobe.com/v/11915/

[mtndu]

Thanks. I'll check out the video.

Any other comments or ideas are greatly appreciated.

I did go through the Help tutorials for 3.6 but they just touch on use of the panels and not much else.

[John Waller]

I suspect you'll only find detailed Help for the current version of Lightroom. So much has changed in the past 10 years in Lightroom and workflows are so different now.

Adobe stopped producing PDF manuals a couple of years ago in favour of online resources. So you may be looking for a needle in a haystack unless you strike lucky at a 2nd hand store or find a manual or detailed tutorials on an enthusiast's website.

Is it an option for you to use the current version of Lightroom?

[mtndu]

I'm old school when it comes to photography - had a physical darkroom years ago, and really enjoyed the photographic process.

I bought Lightroom when I began doing digital photography, thinking it would bring back the old enjoyment of the darkroom process.

That said, I thought it best to utilize my 3.6 program because of cost. But if the current software has improved that much and is easier to use now, I'm open to considering the current version. What would you recommend, knowing that I'm starting out as a beginner in this digital darkroom world?

[John Waller]

The choice is limited to Lightroom (Cloud based, no catalogue) or Lightroom Classic (catalog based).

You can sign up for a 7 day free trial and see what you prefer. If you don't want to subscribe, you must ensure that you cancel. Otherwise you will be automatically transferred to a paid plan and charged each month. 

[Rob_Cullen]

This is the last Reference PDF I have seen, and saved, which was for Lightroom-Classic as of 2018. A lot of the info will still be applicable to v3.

https://helpx.adobe.com/content/dam/help/en/pdf/lightroom_reference.pdf

I deleted any earlier versions that I ever had.. 😞

[mtndu]

Thanks.

[John Waller]

Good find, Rob.

I also found this LR3 User Guide online. (Dropbox link is my personal account).

[mtndu]

Great. I downloaded the files.

Thanks for all your help.