Adobe has made a beta version of Lightroom 4 available to download on Adobe Labs. The new version adds new basic tonal adjustments to extract additional tonal detail and some new local controls, including noise reduction, moire and white balance. It also add additional native support for basic video editing, including trimming and many of the traditional image adjustment controls. Lastly, it adds new exports options including email and (at long last) the ability to soft proof images in preparation for printing.

The beta is free to download and is available now through until March, when there will either be another beta, or the full new version will be available.

Adobe Debuts Photoshop Lightroom 4 Public Beta on Adobe Labs.

Free Lightroom 4 Beta Delivers Unparalleled Image Processing and Workflow Efficiency for Photographers

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Jan. 10, 2012 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 beta for Windows and Mac. Available as a free public download from Adobe Labs, Lightroom is the essential digital photography workflow solution helping amateur and professional photographers quickly import, manage, enhance and showcase their images. Lightroom 4 beta is a preview of new features and capabilities that will be offered in the final release of Lightroom 4, expected in early 2012. The beta features refined technology for superior shadow and highlight processing, expanded management capabilities including enhanced DSLR video support and the ability to create beautiful photo books from within Lightroom. Adobe encourages photographers to try the beta release and provide feedback to the product team.

“Giving early customer access to new versions of Lightroom has helped our team deliver an outstanding battle-tested product that really stands up to the demands of photographers worldwide,” said Winston Hendrickson, vice president of Digital Imaging Products, Adobe. “The much anticipated release of Lightroom 4 beta continues this tradition and shows how much Adobe values customer insights into photography workflows.”

New Features in Lightroom 4 Beta.

Lightroom 4 beta is a major software update adding a broad range of new capabilities based on feedback provided by the photography community. All new basic tonal adjustment controls extract the entire dynamic range from cameras for stunning shadow details and highlights. The software features additional local adjustment controls, including Noise Reduction, Moire and White Balance.

New native video support gives photographers the capability to play, trim and extract frames from video clips shot on DSLRs, point-and-shoot cameras and smartphones. Many standard Lightroom image adjustment controls can also be applied to video clips and adjusted videos can be exported as a H.264 file or published directly to Facebook or Flickr.

Lightroom 4 beta provides photographers the tools to create impressive photo books with rich text controls and a variety of easy-to-use templates, as well as a direct link for photo book creation from within the new Book module. Also, a new intuitive Map module displays images already assigned a location, provides location tagging controls and saved locations for effortless assignment of a photographer’s common locations.

In the Develop module, the addition of soft proofing helps photographers tune images in a destination color space to ensure prints and Web content look their best. In addition, customers can now email images directly from Lightroom using an email account of their choice including Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail.

Adobe Photoshop Family.

Adobe Photoshop CS5 and Photoshop CS5 Extended are at the heart of the Photoshop family, joined by solutions for users at every level who want to bring out the best in their digital images either at home, in the office or on the go. Photoshop Lightroom 4 beta addresses the workflow needs of amateur and professional photographers, helping them create, manage and showcase images in impactful ways. Photoshop Elements 10 provides consumers with powerful yet easy-to-use tools that organize, edit, create and share photos memories. For mobile devices, Photoshop Touch app transforms images with core Photoshop features custom-built for tablets; and Photoshop Express is a free app for simple photo fixes and enhancements, and sharing to social networks.

Pricing and Availability.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 beta is available immediately as a free download on both Windows and Mac at Adobe Labs. Customers can submit feedback on the community powered feedback site. Users can also connect with the Lightroom team directly on Facebook (www.facebook.com/lightroom), via Twitter (www.twitter.com/lightroom) or on the Adobe Lightroom blog. For Lightroom how-to videos, visit the YouTube Lightroom channel.