When you import a folder of images, the folder will show in the Folders panel, but you may not see the parent folder that it lives in. For example, when I imported my first 2009 shoot folder, Lightroom did not show me that it lives inside my 2009 folder, which lives inside my Pictures folder. That's [...]
Need to produce a print of a specific size, like 5"x7"? These are most likely not the proportions of your original image, so somewhere in your workflow you will need to crop the image to these proportions. You could use the crop overlay tool in the Develop module to get the proportions and then go to [...]
A lot of people have a hard time understanding where their images are in the Lightroom environment, what the catalog is, and how it all fits together. This is completely understandable, as the terminology is confusing. Think of a public library — you have stacks and stacks of books everywhere — the main floor, 2nd floor, [...]
If you regularly work on two or more computers and carrying an external hard drive is not a problem, then consider putting your images and your Lightroom catalog on the external drive, so that you can move easily between the two. If your catalog is currently on your internal hard drive, you will need to move [...]
When you import images into the Lightroom Catalog, Lightroom keeps track of where those images live -- in what folder, on what hard drive. This shows in the Folders panel in the Library Module. Imagine moving the car while your family or friends are inside the convenience store. (I confess to having done this once !) [...]
I wrote a post recently about making snapshots while you work so that you can explore different versions of your image -- for example, a black and white and a color version -- with the goal of having just one version in the end. If you want to end up with two or more versions -- [...]
Have you ever worked on an image, been satisfied with your work, but then wanted to try some other things with the option to get back to what you had? Perhaps you want to compare different versions of your work to decide which you like best — for example, a color version, a black and white [...]
When I don’t take the time to use a tripod, my horizons are often not straight. Here’s an example: Crooked Horizon To fix this in Lightroom, in the Develop Module tool drawer underneath the histogram, click on the Crop Overlay tool (R). Crop options appear beneath it, and a grid is placed over your [...]
There are many ways to add keywords to images in Lightroom, but one of my favorites is to spray them on with the Painter tool. It is quick, and even fun. In the Library module, click on the paint tool in the toolbar below the grid: In the Painter options bar that appears, choose Keywords from [...]
Check out my post over on O'Reilly Digital Media's Inside Lightroom blog on the miracle of two button printing in Lightroom. If you have been printing in Photoshop, you will be amazed at how you can streamline your printing process.
Take advantage of Lightroom 2's (or Camera Raw's) adjustment brush to create images that are part black and white and part color. I will start with the color image below, and convert all of it to black and white except the poster and the can. In the Develop module, click on the adjustment brush [...]
The Post Crop section in the Vignettes panel of the Develop Module of Lightroom 2 (AND THE EFFECTS PANEL OF LIGHTROOM 3) allows you to add creative vignettes. It is called Post Crop, because the vignette will always adjust to any cropping you do, even if you crop after you create the vignette. Unless you have [...]
