Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5 (Student/Teacher): Questions before purchasing

Question

Hi,
I'm considering purchasing Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5 (Student/teacher version).  I have several questions I was hoping to get answered before I do so.  I'll list them here...
Does the Student/Teacher version have all the same capabilities and functionality as the standard version of this product?
The software is being offered as a download by a [reputable] 3rd party vendor.  Can the software be downloaded to more than one computer in my household?  (The same vendor does offer a hard-copy version for a mere $2 more, and I'm wondering if I shouldn't just buy that one to be safe.)
One of the primary tasks I need to do with my digital photos most often is resize them, in large batches.  Does Lightroom 5 have the capability to do that?
And finally, is anyone familiar with purchasing Student/Teacher software?  Is my email address with .edu extension enough to satisfy eligibility requirements?
Thanks in advance to anyone who can answer any or all of these questions!
-Steve

Answer 1

Lightroom and Photoshop or two completely different animals in a lot of ways. It isn't a question of either/or, but rather when to use the Lightroom and when to turn to Photoshop.The differences are too great to go into a detailed explanation on a forum such as this. I use both Lightroom and Photoshop. Lightroom is my starting point for all of my work, and I do easily 90% of my work using Lightroom. But sometimes there are things that Lightroom can't do, or Photoshop just does better.
Without going into a lot of detail, Lightroom does not modify the pixels in your image file. All changes and adjustments are stored in what is called the catalog, which is really a database. When you want copies of those images to share that include all of the Lightroom adjustments you export copies for that purpose. Because of this approach to editing, there are some things that Lightroom cannot do. That's where Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, or some other editor comes into play.
Looking back, it's easy to start editing using Lightroom. The thing I had a hard time getting my head around at first was the need to export copies of images to share with others, or to send to a lab, etc. As soon as you have that concept ingrained into your workflow I think Lightroom can be a very powerful tool. But it won't do everything, stitching panoramas, removing objects from images, and other such tasks are easier performed with other software. I'm not saying this to discourage you from Lightroom, but rather to encourage you to consider purchasing Lightroom with another product such as Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. There is "interconnection" between the two programs built into Lightroom that makes the process of going back and forth between the two very simple.
You are probably scratching your head right now wondering what I'm talking about. I apologize. Here is a link to a good set of videos you might want to watch. Then, hopefully it will help you make a better decision.
Getting Started with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5 | Adobe TV