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Archive for category Lightroom

Lightroom 3 Beta’s Publish Services – Part 2

Oct 25

Posted by Gene in Adobe, Lightroom, tutorial | Comments off

In Part 1 we examined how to use Publish Services to control target folders on the hard drive using the Hard Drive Publish Connection.

There's another Publish Service that comes with Lightroom 3 Beta. The Flickr Publish Service allows us to connect Lightroom to a Flickr account (or multiple Flickr accounts) and manage our photostream from within Lightroom. However, there are some pitfalls to watch out for. Remember, this is beta software, so as you come across issues or areas that can be improved please join the conversation over at the Adobe Forums and tell the Lightroom team about it. You can help make this a great release!

We start by creating the connection to Flickr. Click on the Set up… on the right side of the Flickr bar in Publish Services.


flickr.jpg

That brings up the Lightroom Publishing Manager we saw in Part 1.

LPM Flickr.jpg

The two differences here are the Flickr Account section and the Privacy and Safety section. Privacy and Safety are pretty self explanatory and relate to how the images are displayed in your Flickr account.

To make the connection press the Log In button. This brings up the authorization dialog. In order for Lightroom to be able to connect to your Flickr account, you need to grant permission to Lightroom from your Flickr account.

Flickr Auth.jpg

Click the Authorize button and your browser will open and take you to Flickr. If you are not already logged into your Flickr account, login and you will see the authorization screen.

flickr screen 1.jpg

Since you came here from Lightroom click the NEXT button in the right side box.

flickr screen 2.jpg

Flickr reminds you of what giving permissions to Lightroom means. Click the OK, I'LL AUTHORIZE IT button.

Flickr Services.jpg

If all has gone well then Flickr will bring you to the success screen. You can now close your browser. When you return to Lightroom where the final dialog is waiting for you.

flickr done.jpg

Click Done and you will see that the connection has been established.

flickr logged in.jpg

Click the Save button and you will see your Photostream connection in the Flickr Publish Service.

photostream.jpg

Whew! Now you can control your Photostream from Lightroom. Drag and drop some images onto your Photostream then click on it to see the Publish window. Click the Publish button to upload them to Flickr. You will see them in the Published photos section.

flickr published.jpg

If we check our Photostream on Flickr we find that they are there!

Flickr Your Photostream-1.jpg

Pretty neat, eh? Wait. It get's better. If someone makes a comment on your image in Flickr those comments will attach themselves to the image in your Lightroom catalog! No, really!

flickr comment.jpg

Here's a comment entered in Flickr. Now press the Publish button again. Select the image and check the Comments section on the right side panel.

Lightroom comments.jpg

There's the comment we entered on Flicker. You can also enter comments here that will upload to Flickr. We can also see how many times this image has been made a favorite.

We can also create sets in Flickr right in Lightroom. This is as simple as creating a Photoset under the Flickr Publish Service. Right click on the Flickr bar and choose Create Photoset…

photoset.jpg

If we add some images to this Photoset and click the Publish button a new set will be created on our Flickr account.

set.jpg

As more online Publish Services are added this will become a very powerful feature and workflow tool!

Now for a few warnings! I warned you that this is BETA software. If you delete an image from your Flickr account online it will be forever stuck in the Photos to be deleted section of your Flickr Publish Service! Only delete images published via Lightroom using Lightroom! That will keep your catalog and your Flickr account in synch.

There is also a difference between how Lightroom interacts with Flickr STANDARD accounts and Flickr PRO accounts. With a standard account you CANNOT edit an image and republish it to Flickr. That's a limitation of Flickr's API. Delete the image from your Flickr Publish Service, make the adjustment, add it back and Publish.

If you have a PRO account you CAN republish images. When you make a change the image will move to the Re-Publish section. Click the Publish button and the changes will be uploaded to Flickr.

There are lot's of ways to put Rule #5 into practice with this new beta. so get out there and enjoy!

Lightroom 3 Beta’s Publish Services – Part 1

Oct 25

Posted by in Lightroom, tutorial | Comments off

Prior to the release of Lightroom 3 Beta we had the ability to upload our images to various online sites via the Export dialog. Jeffrey Friedl provided several excellent plugins for the Export dialog making it easy to export to these online services. He is hard at work turning those into Publish Services. By the time the final release of Lightroom 3 is ready I'm sure we will have a lot to choose from! For now, let's take a deeper look into how this new features works!

You can find Publish Services in the left side panel of the Library module. When you first start install Lightroom there are two basic services provided: Hard Drive and Flickr. Hard Drive allows you to create folders to receive images via Publish Services. This can be very useful for adding to a folder that is synched to your iPod/iPhone. Perhaps your screensaver is based on a folder of images. Make this a target and you can easily add and manage that. Or perhaps you are compiling images for a client to view and you first want to collect them in a folder from which you can FTP up to your client viewing portal. Interested? Let's take a look.

To start, click on the words Set Up… on the right side of the Hard Drive bar in Publish Services.

HardDrive.jpg

When you do that you are presented with the Lightroom Publishing Manager dialog.

Lightroom Publishing Manager.jpg

There's a lot going on here. For the Hard Drive the name of the Publish Connection is inherited from whatever folder is the destination. Also, take note of the warning in Export Location section that the location cannot be changed once the connection is created.

Many of the sections are reminiscent of the Export dialog. Go through and set up how you would like images to publish. These parameters CAN be changed after the connection is created so don't worry about getting stuck. Lastly, there is a Watermarking section that takes advantage of Lightroom 3 Beta's new watermarking capabilities. When you're done press Save and your connection will appear under the Hard Drive service.

HDConnection.jpg

Now that we have a connection let's Publish!

Simply drag and drop images into the published folder. Published folders act very much like other collections. In fact, you can create Smart Published Folders too! Click on the folder and you will see the images displayed in the New photos to publish section.

ToBePublished.jpg

Now press the Publish button! The images now appear in the Published photos section and are now on the drive in the target folder.

published-1.jpg


finder.jpg

OK. That's nice. But what does this get us? Well, let's make an adjustment to one of the images and return to the published folder.

modified.jpg

The adjusted image has moved from the Published photos section to the Modified photos to re-publish section letting us know that the image in Lightroom no longer matches the image in the folder and we need to republish.

If we remove an image from the published folder it moves to yet another section, Deleted photos to remove.

deleted.jpg

It is important to note that if you remove images from the published folder they are deleted from the folder on the hard drive!!! If you change your mind just drag the deleted image and drop it back on the published folder.

So when we press the Publish button our modified image is published to the folder replacing the prior version and the image scheduled for removal is deleted.

republish.jpg

This feature is rich with possibilities!

I mentioned before that it is also possible to create Published Folder Sets. These can contain other published folders and will appear in the target folder as sub-folders. It's a useful way to organize the target folder.

In Part 2 we'll take a look at the Flickr Publish Service.

Lightroom 3 Beta Is Here!

Oct 22

Posted by Gene in Lightroom, News | Comments off

LR3.jpgYes! It’s here! Head on over to Adobe Labs and download the Lightroom 3 Beta! Adobe continues its laudable practice of releasing Lightroom as a public beta to get important feedback from its users! Thanks Adobe!

First, a word of CAUTION. This is a true beta. DO NOT use this in production! Make copies of any images you intend to work on inside the beta. There are still known, and perhaps unknown, issues to be ironed out before Lightroom 3 is ready for production work.

Whew! Now that we have the warnings out of the way let’s dig in and see what’s new!

Watermarks

Finally! Useful watermarking comes to Lightroom. The new watermarking functionality let’s you use text or graphics based watermarks. You can control the size, position, opacity, color, and rotation. You can also save watermarks so you can choose which one to apply.Watermark Editor.jpg

Watermarking is available in the Print and Web modules. You can also apply them during export.

Slideshow Movies

Lightroom 3 Beta adds the ability to create a movie in H.264 format. The movie will include any music you have chosen for your slideshow.

Print Packages

You are no longer tied to one image per page when laying out your custom print packages. Now you can use multiple images and different sizes on one page or across multiple pages.

New Import Dialogs

Getting your images into Lightroom 3 Beta is a whole new and improved process. There are now two different import dialogs: compact and full. The full dialog covers nearly all of the Lightroom interface and will show you where the images are coming from, what images are being imported and where the images are going. Add to these three main areas all of the expected frills such as keywords, metadata presets, backup copies, selection check-boxes, and the ability to save import presets and you have one powerful import tool!

Lightroom-13.jpg

A nice feature of the full dialog is the ability to zoom an image so you can examine it more closely before deciding to import.

The import presets become very useful as workflow enhancers. If you have regular sources of images that you regularly send to the same destination then you can set up the preset and call upon it in the compact mode.

Lightroom-14.jpg

The compact mode of the import dialog is much smaller and quicker.

Publish

This is a great new feature! Lightroom 3 Beta comes with a Publish connection to Flickr. More will be rolled out later (yes, Jeffrey Freidl is hard at work!)

Publish let’s you create a connection to an online site (or a folder on your drive). Images added to the publish collection are uploaded to the site. If you make any changes to an image it rejoins the “ready to publish” queue and will upload the changes.

Lightroom-15.jpg

But wait! There’s more! Call before..sorry I just got carried away! It’s not just a one way street. When comments are posted online they will download into Lightroom and appear with your images!

Stop back in a few days. I’ll be posting a short tutorial on using the Publish feature.

Some Develop Module Enhancements

Lots of tweaks here. Improvements have been made to the capture sharpening and color noise reduction algorithms.

The problem with the post-crop vignette has been solved by letting you choose whether to vignette using Color Priority or Highlight Priority. Some photographers didn’t like the unnatural look of just adding black or white to the edges and this addresses that.

Now I know you try your best to shoot so your images have as little noise as possible. But sometimes we yearn for the days when fast films had visible grain. Enter the Grain Tool! Now you can add as much grain as you like and adjust the size and roughness of that grain. Give your images some texture and edge!

Because so much has changed under the hood, Lightroom 3 Beta introduces the concept of Process Versions. Whenever major changes are made to the RAW processing features, a new Process Version is created. Now, instead of just updating your image automatically, you can choose which Process Version you want. No more mysteriously changing images!

Other Tweaks

There are so many things going on here and I’ve only scratched the surface!

A few simple changes such as the appearance of Collections in the Develop module makes getting to images much easier. Also, filters are now lockable. When you change from one collection to another you can lock the filter so it will apply wherever you go.

Well, this is getting to be a long winded post. I’ll be back with more about Lightroom 3 Beta.

Now It’s Your Turn

In order to make this a great release Adobe needs your feedback. Play around with the beta. Let them know what isn’t working or could work better. Join the conversation over at Adobe Labs and be part of making Lightroom the best it can be!

Additional Resources

Aside from Adobe Labs check out posts from these fine Lightroomers: Victoria Bampton, Ian Lyons, Jeffrey Friedl, John Beardsworth, Clicio Barroso (in Portuguese), Richard Earney, and The Lightroom Journal.

Watermarks

Finally! Useful watermarking comes to Lightroom. The new watermarking functionality let’s you use text or graphics based watermarks. You can control the size, position, opacity, color, and rotation. You can also save watermarks so you can choose which one to apply.Watermark Editor.jpg

Watermarking is available in the Print and Web modules. You can also apply them during export.

Slideshow Movies

Lightroom 3 Beta adds the ability to create a movie in H.264 format. The movie will include any music you have chosen for your slideshow.

Print Packages

You are no longer tied to one image per page when laying out your custom print packages. Now you can use multiple images and different sizes on one page or across multiple pages.

New Import Dialogs

Getting your images into Lightroom 3 Beta is a whole new and improved process. There are now two different import dialogs: compact and full. The full dialog covers nearly all of the Lightroom interface and will show you where the images are coming from, what images are being imported and where the images are going. Add to these three main areas all of the expected frills such as keywords, metadata presets, backup copies, selection check-boxes, and the ability to save import presets and you have one powerful import tool!

Lightroom-13.jpg

A nice feature of the full dialog is the ability to zoom an image so you can examine it more closely before deciding to import.

The import presets become very useful as workflow enhancers. If you have regular sources of images that you regularly send to the same destination then you can set up the preset and call upon it in the compact mode.

Lightroom-14.jpg

The compact mode of the import dialog is much smaller and quicker.

Publish

This is a great new feature! Lightroom 3 Beta comes with a Publish connection to Flickr. More will be rolled out later (yes, Jeffrey Freidl is hard at work!)

Publish let’s you create a connection to an online site (or a folder on your drive). Images added to the publish collection are uploaded to the site. If you make any changes to an image it rejoins the “ready to publish” queue and will upload the changes.

Lightroom-15.jpg

But wait! There’s more! Call before..sorry I just got carried away! It’s not just a one way street. When comments are posted online they will download into Lightroom and appear with your images!

Stop back in a few days. I’ll be posting a short tutorial on using the Publish feature.

Some Develop Module Enhancements

Lots of tweaks here. Improvements have been made to the capture sharpening and color noise reduction algorithms.

The problem with the post-crop vignette has been solved by letting you choose whether to vignette using Color Priority or Highlight Priority. Some photographers didn’t like the unnatural look of just adding black or white to the edges and this addresses that.

Now I know you try your best to shoot so your images have as little noise as possible. But sometimes we yearn for the days when fast films had visible grain. Enter the Grain Tool! Now you can add as much grain as you like and adjust the size and roughness of that grain. Give your images some texture and edge!

Because so much has changed under the hood, Lightroom 3 Beta introduces the concept of Process Versions. Whenever major changes are made to the RAW processing features, a new Process Version is created. Now, instead of just updating your image automatically, you can choose which Process Version you want. No more mysteriously changing images!

Other Tweaks

There are so many things going on here and I’ve only scratched the surface!

A few simple changes such as the appearance of Collections in the Develop module makes getting to images much easier. Also, filters are now lockable. When you change from one collection to another you can lock the filter so it will apply wherever you go.

Well, this is getting to be a long winded post. I’ll be back with more about Lightroom 3 Beta.

Now It’s Your Turn

In order to make this a great release Adobe needs your feedback. Play around with the beta. Let them know what isn’t working or could work better. Join the conversation over at Adobe Labs and be part of making Lightroom the best it can be!

Additional Resources

Aside from Adobe Labs check out posts from these fine Lightroomers: Victoria Bampton, Ian Lyons, Jeffrey Friedl, John Beardsworth, Clicio Barroso (in Portuguese), Richard Earney, and The Lightroom Journal.

Review: LRKeys

Oct 4

Posted by Gene in Lightroom, software | Comments off

iTunes-2.jpg Lightroom has its first iPhone application! LRKeys from Baum Computer and Graphics helps you learn the many keyboard shortcuts Lightroom provides in order to make your workflow more efficient.

I had the opportunity to take LRKeys out for a test drive and was pleasantly surprised by its simple and enjoyable approach. It provides a preference pane that allows you to set it in either Windows or Mac mode as well as turn sounds on and off. The sounds are cheers when you answer correctly and groans of disappointment when you get a question wrong.

Questions are presented with four choices.


iTunes.jpg

Once you choose an answer you receive immediate feedback.


iTunes-1.jpg

It's a clever way to learn the keyboard shortcuts and well worth the $0.99 pricetag!

Lightroom Resources from the Source

Jul 21

Posted by in Adobe, Lightroom, Tips | Comments off

There are many resources on the web for learning about Lightroom. Sometimes it's good to go back to the source. Adobe has a few great resources for Lightroom users that you should add to your list of favorites. Here are a few.There are many resources on the web for learning about Lightroom. Sometimes it's good to go back to the source. Adobe has a few great resources for Lightroom users that you should add to your list of favorites. Here are a few.

Adobe User Forums
Users, Community Experts, Adobe Employees and others hang out over at the Adobe Lightroom Forum and help each other. This is an excellent resource for interactive exchanges of ideas and questions.

Phosphors
If you've spent any time at the Adobe Lightroom Forum then you've probably met up with Anita Dennis. Anita does some excellent work helping the community with Lightroom (and other applications). She presently runs an Adobe blog called Phosphors dealing with Lightroom, Photoshop, and Bridge. Check it out for some great insights.

Lightroom Journal
The Lightroom Team over at Adobe also runs a blog called Lightroom Journal. Here is a great place to check to see what's going on with Lightroom and Lightroom development.

Community Help
This site brings together the best tips, tricks, and support from around the web and from inside Adobe. Go over and visit the Photoshop Lightroom Help and Support site. There is a link from there to the online Lightroom Help System (which is also available from the help menu inside Lightroom). Instead of a static manual, this is living document with comments and questions from users. Anita Dennis and a team of Moderators keep things up to date and on point.

So next time you have some Lightroom issue you need help with, check out the source over at Adobe!