Lightroom Secrets

Create a Quick Drop Shadow in the Print Module

Dec 162012

The Print Module has gotten better since Lightroom 1. But not by much. While great enhancements have come to the Develop Module and the Library Module, the Print Module still lacks many features. One of those missing features is the drop shadow. There is no way to put a drop shadow behind an image directly from the panels. However, if all you need is a simple graphic drop shadow, here is quick way to accomplish that.

Start in Photoshop

You will need to have a solid black image in your Catalog to start. The simplest way to do this is to fire up your favorite image editor (Photoshop in this example) and create one. Don’t worry about proportions since you can fill a cell with the image. Use the File > New menu to bring up the new dialog.

Make sure your background color is set to black before creating the new image. Here we’re creating an 800 px by 800 px image filled with the background color. Once that opens simply use the Save for Web menu to save a full quality JPEG. Then import that new JPEG into your Catalog.
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Lightroom 4.3 Is Now Available!

Posted by Gene McCullagh 5 Responses »

Dec 132012

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Lightroom 4.3 is now available to download! Lightroom should prompt you to update the next time you run it or you can download the update directly. For the Windows update click here. For Mac, click here. This update addresses some outstanding problems, adds new camera support, and some new lens profile. For complete details visit Adobe’s Lightroom Journal.

The problems that this release fixes include:

Autolayout produces a Book with the correct amount of pages but without any images added. Please note that this only occurs when the filter is set to “Unused”.
Uploading large panorama images to Revel cased Lightroom to crash.
The “Unused” filter was not properly filtering images within the Book Module.
Lightroom hangs while changing the Exposure adjustment by typing in a numeric adjustment. Please note that this only occurs when the Enter key is not typed to confirm the adjustment and another Develop adjustment is tried. Also please note that this only occurs on Windows.
After creating a new folder in Lightroom, attempting to undo that folder can sometimes cause a corrupt catalog.
An image can be simultaneously flagged as both a Pick and Reject at the same time.
Using multiple colors within a single text cell within the Book Module can cause Lightroom to crash.
Unable to post photos to Flickr when the image filename contains an apostrophe.
The active Develop slider, the one controlled with + and – keys, defaults to Exposure when moving from one photo to another.
Catalogs from Photoshop Elements 11 would not update in Lightroom.
Site titles longer than 70 characters created in the Web Module can cause Lightroom to freeze.
Cell padding linking lost between sessions.
Deleting the top image in a stack causes the entire stack to disappear.
Tethered capture fails when turning camera off and back on. This also can occur if the camera goes to sleep and then wakes. This occurs only with Canon cameras and on Mac only.
Cropping an image to a small size sometimes causes the image in Develop to become blurry.
AVCHD video formats are not properly importing into Lightroom. Please note that this only occurred on Mac.
Enable Profile Corrections does not auto find iPhone 4 profile.
Crop doesn’t update in second monitor if navigator panel closed. Please note that this only occurred on Mac.
TIFF files can experience tonal shifts within Lightroom.
Mask overlay are displayed in filmstrip and navigator. They should only be displayed in the Develop Loupe.
Video files created on an iPhone 4 flickers when played in Lightroom.

So don’t delay. Go get your update today!

Perfect Photo Suite 7 Now Has Three Editions!

Posted by Gene McCullagh 4 Responses »

Dec 082012

I’m a big fan of onOne’s Perfect Photo Suite (no surprise to regular readers!) but some photographers I’ve spoken with said they couldn’t afford the entire suite and wished that there was just a stand alone version or a Lightroom version at a lower cost. Well there’s some good news from the onOne folks!

onOne Software has released a Standard Edition and a Lightroom & Aperture Edition of Perfect Photo Suite 7 to complement their existing Premium Edition of the photography software suite. Starting at $79.95, the tiered options give photographers the ability to choose the solution that fits their workflow and budget.

The Standard Edition allows usage of the entire Perfect Photo Suite 7 as a standalone application. This edition is ideal for those who do not use Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Lightroom, or Apple Aperture but still want to enhance, stylize, and retouch their JPG images with a professional touch, and create and edit multi-layered files without Photoshop.

The Lightroom & Aperture Edition of Perfect Photo Suite 7 is designed for the photographer who does not use Photoshop but uses Lightroom or Aperture as the hub of their photo management and editing workflows. It provides powerful image editing tools that do not exist in those products and gives users the ability to extend their image editing power, maximize their creativity, and solve the most common problems in photo editing. With the Perfect Photo Suite 7 Lightroom & Aperture Edition, users can work with a variety of image formats including RAW, JPG, PNG, and TIFF, create and edit multi-layered files, and access any of the Perfect Photo Suite 7 modules directly from Lightroom or Aperture. After adjustments are made, images may be saved as a .PSD, .TIF, .PNG, or .JPG right next to the original image in their Lightroom or Aperture library—providing true non-destructive editing. This edition of the Suite also works as a standalone application for quick touch ups and edits.

The Premium Edition is the version of Perfect Photo Suite 7 that has been available since October 31, 2012. It offers photographers the greatest flexibility and seamless integration of Perfect Photo Suite 7 with their workflow of choice. The Premium Edition provides all of the functionality of the Lightroom & Aperture and Standard Editions—offering direct access to Perfect Photo Suite modules from Lightroom, Aperture, and as a standalone. It adds functionality as a plug-in to Photoshop and Photoshop Elements which allows users to create or refine layer masks, resize CMYK, Grayscale, or LAB color mode images, use a dedicated batch processing module in Perfect Resize, use modules as re-editable Smart Objects, incorporate within Photoshop actions, and get direct access to module presets in a dedicated onOne Panel.

A free 30-day trial of Perfect Photo Suite 7 Premium Edition is currently available.

So why wait? This also makes a great holiday gift for the photographer in your life!

New Lightroom eBook from Craft & Vision

Posted by Gene McCullagh 6 Responses »

Dec 042012

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I have had the pleasure to review Craft & Vision books before (see: Dodge & Burn: Leading the Eye with Lightroom & Photoshop) and the latest offering from author Piet Van den Eynde is a must have in your Lightroom collection. Piet continues to put out excellent content in a very approachable style. His newest title, Lightroom 4 Unmasked, is no exception.

I found this eBook to be appropriate for the advanced beginner to intermediate Lightroom user. Upgraders will welcome the many sidebars Piet uses to point out the new features and changes in Lightroom 4. As with all eBooks from Craft & Vision Lightroom 4 Unmasked is beautifully designed and presented. There are annotated screenshots illustrating what Piet is covering in the text as well as some great photography transformed via Lightroom.

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Spread among the 312 pages (yes, this is a large eBook!) are 60 different “cases” that Piet uses to illustrate how Lightroom can function in the real world. These are, to me, the heart of the book and well worth the $20 cost of admission. If you are looking for a great Lightroom eBook then look no further. I heartily recommend this one!

Spend a Dollar – Save Some Time

Posted by Gene McCullagh 2 Responses »

Nov 252012

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“A hamburger, fries, and a Coke… and change back from your dollar!” It’s been a long time since that ad slogan was true. These days there seems to be less and less you can get for a dollar. To be sure, there are value menus and fast food chains and no shortage of dollar and 99 cent stores. But can you really get value for that dollar? If you are a Lightroom user (and I suspect your are) then have a look at the Adobe Dollar Store. Here, you can get some bang for your buck.

Adobe Dollar Store is a new site that really shows some promise. Jill Levenhagen is the entrepreneur photographer behind the site. Jill says she “love[s] photography and editing and just about anything creative!” While the site is still very new there are some nice templates to be had there. And yes, each is a mere $1.00. Here are a couple of samples from Jill’s collection. (You can click the thumbnails for a larger version to view.)

A New Lightroom Resource

Posted by Gene McCullagh 3 Responses »

Nov 102012

One of the things I like most about the Lightroom community is how it grows and changes. Lightroom users just love to share their knowledge and discoveries with all of us. We all benefit from that collegial attitude and it fosters a true sense of community. Keeping with that spirit there is a new Lightroom resource for you to add to your list: Lightroom 101.

Lightroom 101 is run by Scott Prokop, a photographer and Lightroom teacher in Saskatoon, Canada. Scott launched the site only a few short weeks ago. I had an opportunity to talk with Scott about his new site. He is enthusiastic about sharing his experience with the community. While the site is new I encourage you to stop by and let Scott know what you’d like to see and hear about. I am confident that Lightroom 101 will grow into a valuable resource for the Lightroom community and you have the chance to help out.

You can also follow Scott’s endeavors on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

Perfect Photo “Sweet” 7

Posted by Gene McCullagh 1 Response »

Nov 042012

onOne Software has released the latest update to their Perfect Photo Suite and this is far and away the best version to date. The newly redesigned interface is just the beginning. New tools. New presets. And a new member of the suite, Perfect B&W, make this a great release. Take a look at onOne’s introductory video to get a taste of what’s new.

Your Lightroom 4.2 Update Is Ready

Posted by Gene McCullagh No Responses »

Oct 032012

The Lightroom Team has been hard at work and now you can benefit! Go and download the Lightroom 4.2 update today.

The update adds support for new cameras and lens profiles. Additional camera models are now tetherable. You can get the full list over at the Lightroom Journal. To get the update you can use the “get update” function in Lightroom or download it from Adobe. Click here for the Windows version. Click here for the Mac version.

This update also addresses quite a few bugs that crept into Lightroom 4:

Stacked photos were hidden in both the Grid view and Filmstrip. This occurred when photos get unstacked as a result of enabling auto-stacking.
Folder stacks with virtual copies were unstacked when moving to another folder.
When scrolling through the filmstrip (at somewhat fast rate), occasionally a “gray” image was displayed for an instant and then replaced by the correct image preview.
The Navigator Panel in Map did not pan correctly.
Parents and synonyms of “do not export” keywords also did not export.
Occasionally were unable to publish videos to Facebook
Audio did not play in video files after creating a slideshow that contains music (Win 7 only)
Image select arrow on keyword list didn’t display when keyword list contained a large number of keywords
Unable to edit Lightroom photos as jpegs in Photoshop Elements
Carriage Return in either the Title or Caption field invalidated a Flickr upload.
Tether capture bar disappeared after deleting photo (Win only).
Back Cover of Book layout had Horizontal text on spine rather than Vertical
Sharpening was not applied to books that were exported as JPEG files
Double-byte characters were not exported to Books saved as PDF files
Unable to type accented character in book module in LR4
Luminance Noise slider was unresponsive when Clarity is greater than 0.
Develop keyboard shortcuts (+ and – keys) no longer worked in older process versions such as PV2010

This is a free update for all Lightroom 4 owners so don’t delay!

Relax in the Lounge!

Posted by Gene McCullagh 1 Response »

Sep 222012

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Earlier this week I was fortunate to receive an email from the folks over at SLR Lounge inviting me to take a look at their new preset system for Lightroom 4. I hadn’t heard of them before but it’s a big world out there in cyberspace and I am often pleasantly surprised. So I downloaded and installed the presets and set about watching the videos. I was really impressed by what I saw. It is no mistake that there’s a star in the logo for this system! It shines!

I have used and reviewed many other preset collections for Lightroom over the years. They just keep getting better and better.

Don’t be fooled by the name here. There are more than just your standard collection of presets included. You can read all about it on their site (CLICK HERE). Take a look at their intro video below and then I’ll give you an overview of the features.

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