Lightroom 2 Tips, Tricks, and Techniques

[drg]

PLEASE READ FIRST ! ! !

This post is for adding your tips and discoveries about how to make ADOBE Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 work better, faster, quicker, etc. If you have a particular problem or question not addressed here, feel free to post, but it might get answered more quickly if posted separately.

Thanks!

O.K. down to business.

Previously mentioned in an earlier post but worth mentioning again is that with the release of LR 2.0 there is a killer tip site from ADOBE and the Lightroom folks. It can be linked to at:

http://www.lightroomkillertips.com/

As of today, August 14, 2008 there are several handy notes already there including a link for graduated filter presets (for sale).

The brush adjustments and volume browser notes are worth reading!

1-> My first addition is to say that I'm using separate portable drives of the USB type for individual customer and using a Volume Label that includes identfying information. Then when I disconnect them and move them to another machine, I know just from the Volume label what I've got in that drive. You still of course need to perform backups.

Another note for using the Lightroom that is not new to LR 2.0 but is worth noting if you haven't discovered it:

2-> When using the Crop Overlay, if you 'unlock' the padlock you will have a far more flexible cropping tool as you can define your own proportion/ratio just by dragging. Not new, but I've seen many people who miss this one.

3-> One last note, be cautious as to which Reset you click on in the various panels and windows. There are Local and Global. The local can reset a series of brush or crop work (example) but the big RESET at the bottom will take you back to the original version. There is an undo of RESET but it doesn't seem to work if you have also cleared the history.

More soon and please chime in one and all with your own

KILLER TIPS, TRICKS, and TECHNIQUES for the Lightroom!

[drg]

The design of the workspace in Lightroom allows for non-destructive editing and the creation of Virtual Copies. This is not new to Lightroom 2.0 but the added editing and adjustment tools w/2.0 make this process even more valuable.

A method/workflow to explore a photographs possibilities:

1. Select an Image - Click with mouse.
2. Type Ctrl+' this creates one virtual copy.
3. Rate the image by pressing a key from 1 to 5. Any rating not in use works.
4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 until as many copies are made as variations or different edits of the photo exist as you intend with which you want to experiment or try.
5. Select a virtual copy and make your edits or changes.
6. Repeat step 5 for as many changes as you desire.
7. Filter the images based on the rating from step 3 and you will get a screen like this (with appropriate minimization and hiding/concealment of toolbars and panels).



The changes are all in one group that can either be displayed this way or via a slide show to evaluate and a final 'cut' can be made.

The advantage to this over other editing methods is that there is no physical copy taking up disk space that has to be erased or archived later. The original image, (RAW, DNG, JPEG, TIF, etc) remains unchanged and as reference.

If you have questions let me know.

[drg]

This entry to Tips, Tricks, and Techniques won't really improve your workflow, but it is kind of fun to know!

First in the screen shot, notice the Identity Plate usage in the upper portion of the left panel. There are many built in fonts, and of course being an ADOBE product any True Type font works! The Identity Plate has a very important use in an upcoming post! (hint, hint)

Secondly the Splash screen (that's the guitar) is invoked by calling up the "About ADOBE Photoshop Lightroom 2" under the HELP pull down menu, and then pressing the ' R ' key. An Easter Egg that was also present in version 1.x. Do you know what that one was??

Third, notice the end panel marks. In this case a variation of my intials in a rainbow color that at one time a version was used here at Photography Review as my Avatar. To do this:

1. Create a graphic or logo that you wish to display in Photoshop.
2. If you start with a transparent background layer, or convert the
background to a tranparent layer, all you will have is the logo
and not a colored surround.
3. Size it accordingly. (there is a Lightroom small/large option too)
The sizing is varyable and a fairly large mark can be used if
desired.
3. Save the final as PNG file type.
4. Open the Interface Preference menu/dialog under the
PREFERENCES pull down menu.
5. Go to Panel End Mark.
6. Under Panel End Mark go Panel End Mark Folder (to see where it
is and open it).
7. Copy the Custom End Mark you created into the Panel End
Mark Folder that you have open.
8. Close the Interface menu.
9. Re-open the the interface menu and the Custome End Mark
will now be displayed in the pull down list (by file name) for use.

Simple and fun! A photograph can be used as an End Mark !

[drg]

Lightroom has a large number of 'one key' features that make it powerful in all its modules such as using the TAB key to cycle through or hide the side panels in the various modules.

Modifying some these 'one key' commands with a the usual Shift, Alt, or Ctrl combos adds to very quick changes in the function of the Lightroom.

There are some slight differences in these from Module to Module and instead of memorizing them all or creating cheat sheets or using (shudder) keyboard overlays, there's one keyboard command to memorize above all else:

' Ctrl / '

This will pop up a 'cheat sheet' in a context/Module sensitive form to remind you what the quick way to cycle between views or panels is for the part of the Lightroom you are currently using.

Another very useful key and this is a single key command is using the ' ~ ' to toggle the Flag status of a photo.

Happy editing and sorting!

[drg]

[ Commands in bold using the hyphen '-' are the same as commands listed elsewhere or if I interchange them as with the plus '+' key. 'Ctrl-x' and 'Ctrl+x' both mean to press simultaneously the Ctrl key and the x key to produce the command result. Upper and lower case are indicated in some instances and may be important!! ]


The Stacks grouping facility in the Library Module is a rather obscure feature, but one I've used more and more. This feature is supposed to simulate piling up actual slides on the old physical light tables in to keepers and 'like' groups.

The 'quick reference commands' leave out important capabilities.

1. With a Stack expanded, select any image in the Stack and use 'Shift-S' to make that image the top or viewed image when the Stack is collapsed. This is a little easier than using 'Shift-]' to scroll or rotate through all the images to push down and pop up several different candidates and thoroughly shuffle the Stack order.

2. With several stacks collapsed on the Filmstrip, you can select any combination (Mouse Click, Shift-Click, Ctrl-Click, etc) and then Flag them with the '~' key. This helps as then those 'selected' stacks can be filtered into a group or new collection quickly.

3. Collapsed Stacks that have operations performed on the top image such as Auto-Tone or Painting may only reflect what is done in the top image. An example is making a Virtual Copy, if you select a Collapsed Stack and make a Virtual Copy, it only copies the visible image at the top of the Stack, and adds it to the Stack.

4. Should you accidentally click on Unstack when meaning to Expand the Stack (and I've done this a lot with the pull down menu),

'Ctrl-Z' is an Undo the Unstack command when performed immediately after the inadvertent Unstack.

'Ctrl-Y' is a Redo command if you wish to toggle back and forth.

These are slightly safer than continuing to fumble a pull down menu if for some reason you are so inclined.

[Wild Wassa]

I'm not sure whether this is old ground for experienced Lightroom officianados.

Changes made in Lightroom are more evident on RAW files than the same changes when applied to the equivalent JPEG or files converted to TIFF.

Having tried to correct chromatic aberration on a TIFF file this morning, which wasn't working, I then put the RAW file (the original image file) into Lightroom to try the same correction and the difference was amazing.

I've been in the habit of converting RAWS to TIFFs for post processing and then going into Lightroom. For chromatic aberration corrections I might now do this process firstly rather than finally, which I've also been in a bad habit of doing.

Warren.

[Canuck935]

For speedy work flow in LR2 I import with minimal previews. This allows me to get to work immediately. Only when I want to see a particular image larger does it render a larger preview.

Then I quickly go through my images and find the rejects, flagging them as so with a stroke of the x key. Once I've flagged all the rejects, I can delete them all at once. I believe it's in the Image file menu, towards the bottom called Delete rejected photos.

Now I find my keepers, flagging them as "picks" by hitting the p key. If I need to choose between a group of images I'll use the compare or survey modes to find the winner.

It's also nice to make user presets for the develop module for settings that you use often. When it comes to sharpening, I find LR's own presets for landscape and portrait sharpening do an excellent job.

[SmartWombat]

For chromatic aberration corrections I might now do this process firstly

Absolutely right.
There's not much point in processing the image if you haven't removed the CA first.

[benlinus]

Thanks for sharing such nice tips. Light groom really work fine with photo editing. Its best among all of the photo editor. I had great experience with it.

[losceriffo]

Hello Drg; I have a tricky question: how can I share my iPhoto library with Lightroom?
As soon as I try to include my iPhoto folder it looks like it doesn't like it.
I would love to know how to solve this problem; of course; I'm a Mac user.
Thanks in advance