As hard as Adobe works to keep up, when you buy a newly released camera, it may be quite a while before there is a new Lightroom release to support it. In the meantime, Lightroom will not recognize your camera raw files. And if you haven't upgraded from Lightroom 1 or 2, you will never [...]
The tone curve is not the most intuitive feature of Lightroom or Photoshop. In this tutorial I will explain how to read the curve, and then how to use the basic version of it in Lightroom and Camera Raw. Note that this is a rewrite of an old post. If you are a Photoshop user, [...]
If you watched my video tutorial on the Custom Print Package in Lightroom, you know how to make a collage of photographs. Here’s an example I put together quickly, leaving the background color white, and adding a grey stroke border to the images (the black frame is not part of the result): You could make your [...]
I was flattered when David over at Seven by Five (sevenbyfive.net) asked if I would contribute to his popular blog. We were thrilled when Adobe featured the article on their Facebook page yesterday. If you haven't yet read my 10+ Little Lightroom Tips That Can Make a Big Difference, head on over. Check out more [...]
As I wrote in my recent post on sharpening in Lightroom , occasionally when I go to a photography show at a gallery, my first reaction isn’t “What great/horrible photographs!”, but rather “Wow, too much sharpening!” Sharpening has always been a tool that is easy to go to far with. Unfortunately, with all the new powerful [...]
I wrote this post in early 2009, so I am sure that many of my readers haven’t seen it. I decided to repost it because it is an important concept for digital photographers to understand. As you may have heard, with digital, unlike film, your goal should be to expose your image as brightly as possible, [...]
Adobe has announced that the release candidates for Lightroom 3.5 and Camera Raw 6.5 are available. Release candidates are one stage away from official release — Adobe uses the release candidate to get test results from a wider group of users. I wouldn’t hesitate to download the release candidate if I needed a specific feature; [...]
I was having dinner last week with my good friend Martha, who is a very talented photographer, when she suggested that I do a post on sharpening in Lightroom. Yes, this is what instructors and photographers talk about at dinner, even after the wine is poured! Coincidentally, in the past week, two other readers have also asked [...]
You may be photographing in raw rather than jpeg because you know that raw files contain more information and because they are unprocessed, giving you more flexibility. But how do they contain more information? Among other things, digital photography raw files are captured at a higher bit depth — depending on the camera, 12, 14 or [...]
If you want different versions of an image, such as with different crops or both a black and white and color one, you can create virtual copies in Lightroom. These aren’t duplicates of your file — you will still just have one file on your hard drive, but multiple sets of Develop instructions for that [...]
I posted this tip a little over a year ago when Lightroom 3 came out, but I thought I'd post it again, since surprisingly it is one of my most-read posts. Looking to blur out a background to reduce distractions? In Lightroom 3 or later, use the adjustment brush with Sharpness at -50 to -100. [...]
Sometimes I find that for cloning or healing I need to put one Lightroom spot removal fix right on top of another. If you have used this tool, you know that this isn’t directly possible — putting the cursor over an existing circle just gives you the hand tool to move that circle. It finally occurred [...]