Adobe has released the latest update to Photoshop Lightroom. Now at version 1.3, several areas have been addressed. While none are earth-shattering, Adobe has taken the time to implement subtle changes based on user experience. Dig a little and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
For you Mac fans – Leopard is now supported! Mac users can get the upgrade here.
Windows users can get the upgrade here.
Ian Lyons over at Computer-Darkroom has an excellent review of all the changes. Check it out!
Wait! Wait! I’m not being rude! Really! PUXing is another way to rate your images after a shoot.
Whether you come back with 300 images from a landscape shoot or 3,000 from a wedding you still have the inevitable task ahead of you of going through the images and deciding what stays and what goes. There are many ways to approach this. Some people will rate images with stars; 5 stars are OUTSTANDING and 0 stars go to the cyber trashbin. Others use the color coding method; RED for great shots, BLUE for the trash. Still others will do a combination of stars and colors.
I don’t know about you, but for me, with very few exceptions, I have three categories of images:
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom provides an excellent system for me in the form of the Pick and Reject flags. Here’s what I do when I’m ready to start my review process.
After I’ve imported the images into Lightroom I go down to the filter bar in Library grid view and filter for unflagged images. Then I close all of the panels with SHIFT+TAB which leaves me with a screen full of thumbnails. I tend to make my thumbnail previews fairly large so I can see some detail. You can even do this in loupe view.
Now I’m ready. Looking at the first image I either hit the P key or the X key. P is for Pick and X is for Reject. (We’ll get to U in a minute). Once I do that the image disappears from my view! It’s not gone it’s just that the image is no longer unflagged so the filter removes it from the view.
If I’m undecided then I move on to the next image and leave the previous one alone. As I progress through my shoot the only thumbnails I can see are the unrated ones. When all the images are gone I know I’ve made a decision on all of them.
I can now change the filter to show me Rejected files only. I take a quick run through of these and if I’ve changed my mind I hit the U key to unflag the image and remove it from the rejects. It’s a simple matter at this point to create a directory and drag the rejects to it for holding. I like to keep the rejects around but sequestered until I’m sure I really don’t want any of them.
Turn off the filter and now your picks and unflagged are there. Now is the time to bestow the honor of 5 stars on those marvelous few images.
This has been a real time saver for me. No longer do I hover over an image stuck in the unanswerable quandry “is this a 3 star or a 4 star? 4…no wait it’s not tack sharp so 3…but the composition is stunning so 4…and so on and so on….” So if you haven’t PUXed yourimages give it a try. You’ll like it!
THE WAIT IS OVER! Yes indeed! Adobe has rolled out the FREE upgrade to Photoshop Lightroom 1.1
Aside from some bug fixes there is an abundance of new functionality just waiting to be explored! Windows users can click here to download the upgrade. Mac Users – click here .
For those of you who have Scott Kelby’s excellent book on Lightroom check out Scott’s blog . He promises to post a free PDF upgrade to the book highlighting the new features.
So why are you still reading this? Get over to Adobe and start downloading!!!!!!
Scott Kelby is the source for all things Photoshop! In a recent blog post Scott tells us that Adobe Lightroom Product Manager, Tom Hogarty, previewed some of the features in the upcoming … say it with me now… FREE upgrade to Lightroom 1.1. Not much detail is given in Scott’s post but it would appear that Adobe is listening to the photographers out there and reacting quickly. If this keeps up then Aperture may fade into oblivion.
If you are interested in Lightroom and the National Asscociation of Photoshop Professionals have I got a deal for you! Jump on over to the NAPP site and join. It’s $99 for a one year membership. Members are able to get $100 off the purchase of Lightroom for the next few months. So, instead of paying $299 for Lightroom you’d pay $199 plus $99 for the membership. Not only are you $1 ahead but now you have access to all of the member benefits of NAPP. You’ll get Photoshop User Magazine as well as Darkroom NAPP’s new Lightroom only magazine. It’s really worth it so take a look.
Photoshop Hall of Fame winner Jack Davis has put together over 25 presets for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and has made them available as a free download! Just go on over to the OnOne Software site. You can click here to go directly to the download page.
Unlike many presets, Jack has designed these to be used as an orderly workflow that minimizes the need to move a lot of sliders to reach your goals. Also included on the download page are about 30 minutes of video tutorials. Here Jack walks you through how to use these presets.
This is an excellent set of presets and shows the enormous potential for photographers to share their workflows with the rest of the new and growing Lightroom community. Thanks Jack!!
If you’ve had a chance to play with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom then you’ve no doubt discovered that you can customize the interface with your own identity plate. Lightroom allows you to replace the default logo and name in the upper left corner with your own text or graphic identity plate.
That same Identity plate can be used in the Slideshow and Print modules to add a touch of customization to your presentations. But there is more to the identity plate than meets the eye!
In Photoshop, you can create custom borders or overlays that Lightroom can use in the Print module. Any area left transparent will let your photograph show through. For example, go to Photoshop and create a stylized black border. Leave the center area transparent and save the file. In Lightroom, go to the Print module. In the panels on the right you will see a section for Overlays. Check the identity plate checkbox. You can then use the drop down to locate your new border. Lightroom will bring it in (usually at a smaller size). Using the scale slider or the handles, resize the border to fit your image. The black border obscures the edge and the transparency lets your photo show through! THis also works in the Slideshow module.
Go ahead and experiment! Colored borders, marbled borders, even embossed copyright overlays will work! There’s something new to find in Lightroom everyday!
The good folks at NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) have launched an excellent learning center for the new Adobe Photoshop Lightroom! Tips, Tricks, and step-by-step video tutorials abound!
NAPP continues to put out very high quality resources for it’s members and the Photoshop community at large. Click here to visit the learning center!
While you’re there consider joining NAPP . There are some great benefits!
