Did you know that you can reset any individual sliders in the Develop module by double-clicking on the slider name (for example, Exposure)? I knew this tip, but I just recently learned another tip for resetting groups of sliders in the Basic Panel, from David Julian: When you hold down the Alt/Opt key, the word Tone [...]
In this third article of a three-part series on sharpening in Lightroom, I explain output sharpening. Here are the other two articles: Part 1: Overview of the Three Step Sharpening workflow, and Capture Sharpening in Depth Part 2: Creative Sharpening - Sharpening Eyes and Other Local Elements To summarize the first two steps in the [...]
UPDATE June, 2017: While this video was made using Lightroom 4, it is also applicable to newer versions. In this video, I develop a photo to show you my workflow and how I decide what edits to do, and to demonstrate many of Lightroom's Develop module editing tools. This video is part of my Lightroom 4 [...]
Sometimes the sliders move too fast in Lightroom, so it can be hard to get the precise value you want. Here are a few handy tips: Holding the Shift-key down as you slide a slider will slow it down. Below are other ways to get more precision. First, click on the number: Then: You can type [...]
Because Lightroom 4 has different Basic Panel controls than Lightroom 3, if you have created presets in Lightroom 3 that use Basic panel controls, you may be finding that they don't look as expected now that you are using them in Lightroom 4. Sharad Mangalick, one of the Adobe product managers for Lightroom, has written a [...]
If you have upgraded to Lightroom 4, when you look at photos in the Develop module that you had in a previous version of Lightroom, you will see an exclamation point in the bottom right: This is a signal to you that the photo is continuing to use your settings from the old (pre-Lightroom 4) processing [...]
When I crop a photo in Lightroom, I often can't judge whether I like it or not with the whole photo still showing, so I used to have to get out of the crop, decide, then go back in if I want to adjust it further. Here's a tip I picked up from Victoria Bampton (aka [...]
(Updated 1/30/12) Soft proofing is new in the Develop module of Lightroom 4 (the Beta at this point). It allows you to get a better idea of what your photo will look like in print when printing with profiles, and what it will look like when you export to sRGB or another color space. If your [...]
Do any of these happen to you? You have to crop a photo, perhaps because it isn't straight or you applied lens corrections, but the crop cuts out something you really need? Something in your photo is right on the edge of the photo, and needs to be moved up a bit? You need to fix [...]
UPDATE: While this was written during the Lightroom 4 beta release, these instructions and video are completely applicable to the official Lightroom 4 release, Lightroom 5, Lightroom 6 and CC! The Basics panel in the Develop module of the Lightroom 4 Beta may not be the sexiest feature, but the improvements are quite powerful, and the [...]
Occasionally I want to add or subtract more clarity, contrast, or some other setting to or from the whole photo than the Lightroom Basic panel slider will allow. At this point I often turn to the adjustment brush or graduated filter. They are intended for making local changes to a photo, but you can also apply [...]
I hope you aren’t disappointed when you read this, but truly, the most important thing you can do to get great results in Lightroom’s Develop module is to master the Basics panel. It can get you all or most of the way to a stunning photo. Note: This article was written for Lightroom 3. For Lightroom [...]