Adobe's Lightroom is a software tool used by many digital photographers who need a way to catalog, organize, develop, and print/output your images. The Lightroom SIG meets Monday, April 3, 2017 from 3p.m. to about 4:30 p.m. in the Activities Building - Game Rooms 1 & 2. We will cover how to move to Photoshop CC which is part of the Lightroom-Photoshop package offered by Adobe. We will cover some simple adjustments best made in Photoshop. Then how to return to Lightroom by just saving the adjusted images and NOT using "save as". "Save As" often causes Lightroom to not find the images requiring you to do extra work. Rename the image using Lightroom if you want to change the name. We will quickly review the other panels in Lightroom - MAP - BOOK - SLIDESHOW - PRINT - WEB.
The Print Module is great and many think is one of the best printing applications. The Map module shows where your images where taken if you have GPS data in the metadata. Slideshow give you a simple and quick slideshow and the web module makes a quick and simple web page. I like ProShow Gold or Producer for slideshows. Every business offering photobooks has its own program for making their books. Just export the images and use them with the suggested program. If you like the one book manufacturer used by Lightroom, give that a try with the Book module. We will then finish this series with questions and hopefully some answers. In the Fall of this year, a "Getting Started with Photoshop CC" is planned for another 4 to 6 sessions. And in the Fall, the LIghtroom SIG will be running and you can come there to ask questions and continue to improve your photography skills - before you take the image and after you take the image. Below is my current "Workflow" which will always be a WORK IN PROGRESS. WORKSHOP: Getting Started with Lightroom 6/CC.
If you want a comprehensive free Tutorial on getting started with Lightroom CC, I highly recommend J. Kost’s “Lightroom Video Tutorials”
http://blogs.adobe.com/jkost/lightroom-training-videos LIGHTROOM CC Develop Panel
A WORK IN PROGRESS Lightroom CC – Create Stunning Images using the Basic Panel http://blogs.adobe.com/jkost/tag/the-basic-panel Draft of Ron Addison’s workflow. MY WORK FLOW: 0. Set Preference – under Edit in Windows Mac OS – Choose Photoshop – Preferences
View J. Kost video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjUtKAmJ_9c&feature=youtu.be In Preference > External Editing go to Edit in Adobe Photoshop 2017. Here are my settings:
File Format: TIFF – (more views can view TIFF than PSD) Color Space: ProPhoto RGB is my recommendation. I try to keep all the colors and pixels I started with as long as possible.
Bit Depth: 16
Resolution: 240 or 300
Compression: none Additional External Editors:
You will need to fill this in for each NIK – Topaz filter that you use.
I use the same settings as I have above. NOTE: You have to change these settings as they are not the default settings. ======================== Before and after images should be examined as your made changes in the image. Have a plan for what you want the image to say to a viewer. 1.- Develop module – last section. Make sure Process is set to current. Profile is set to your choice. If your camera is Nikon or Canon you will have several choice. Select one say vivid or landscape and see what your raw files start off looking like. This will give your raw files the look of a jpg photo with added contrast and colors. Gives you a head start on developing the image.
Lens Corrections Remove Chromatic Aberration – occurs most often with low quality lens. It is color fringing around the edges of subjects in the picture often subjects with backlight. Check this box if you see the fringing. https://digital-photography-school.com/chromatic-aberration-what-is-it-and-how-to-avoid-it/
2.- Move up one section to Effects and move the “Dehaze” slider. This may make an image you like. I don’t do this but others find it helpful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijbaxJeKKU8&feature=youtu.be
While you are in Effects, straighten the horizon and or correct perspective such as building leaning because of lens used. 3- Basic Panel Exposure – make any needed adjustments. Usually nothing is needed. - Tint – I would not change this at first. You can move any of the sliders do see what happens. Double click on the name “Tint” and it will return to original setting.
- Highlights and Shadows – View image
- Reduce Highlights by moving slider to left;
- Open up shadows by moving slider to right
- White/Black Balance – Alt (Mac-Opt) Click and move white slider to right until little white comes through then back off until it is gone (Sun, glare should remain white. (Look at image too.) ; Alt (Mac-Opt) Click and move black slider to left until little more black comes through. (Most images benefit for some black. Images with fog almost always benefit from Black in foreground to show there is fog.)
- Clarity 30-80/Vibrance 25-40 to taste.
- Saturation – I do not use this option I use #4 below instead.
4 – Tone Curve Panel Minor adjustments – try medium contrast point curve 5 – Color/BW Panel - Set on Saturation
- Based on picture, pick colors to adjust and move left for less or right for more.
- Switch to Luminance and adjust same colors to taste
6 – Split Toning Take a look at this tutorial for a tutorial on changing to Black and White, Split Toning and adding a vignette. http://blogs.adobe.com/jkost/tag/vignettes
7 – Detail - Quick fix – Sharpening 40, Detail 25, Masking 0 Luminence depends on your camera and your ISO settings. However, it is usually better to reduce the noise before you use to Photoshop or any other application that edits at pixel lever. Note: Lightroom noise reduction better than the one in Photoshop because you are working with the RAW image here. Many thinking it is as good as those offered by NIK, Topaz, etc.
- Make fine adjustments with Adjustment tools – SEE BELOW
8 – Effects
Post-Crop Vignetting - Apply minimum vignette – usually black (slider to left), color priority and 100% feather are good places to start. A unique feature of this function is that you crop the image later, the vignette will be reapplied.
9. Transform Use the Upright section to correct perspective such as a buildings leaning. If one of the auto selections do not work, you may draw up to four lines along the edges to correct perspective.
The Transform area allows manual adjustments and should seldom be needed. ADJUSTMENT TOOLS 1 – Crop (R) - Level horizon
- Pick custom or size (e.g. 8x10)
- Unlock if “custom” - eg landscapes
- Cycle Overlay - “O”
- CROP to taste
2 – Spot Removal (Q) - Pick “Clone” or “Heal” - Clone – copies pixels, Heal – copies “color” texture remains
- Adjust size of brush “[“ or “]”
- Click spot, move sample area to suite
- Or, Click and Hold and select an area
3 – Red Eye 4 – Graduated, Radial Filters and Brush - Work more or less the same
- Radial Filter – has a mask that can be switched
- Brush – like Spot Removal has brush variants
- Adjust all basic functions within a specific area
- Color Adjustment is through temp/tint control, or via a color dropper
- Adjust brush size and paint with mouse
- Click erase button and paint to erase
Here is some additional information that may be useful. All your editing is non-destructive which means that the original image is still there no matter what you do. This allows you to have fun trying new approaches. Also, you can make virtual copies that occupy almost no space on your hard drive. You can change virtual copies to black and white, different crops, etc. You will not end up with many versions of an image scattered around your computer. Another useful feature is the ability to find your images and make collections of your images. In summary, Lightroom can be your solution to getting your image from pressing the shutter to final output. - If you do not have Lightroom CC, Lightroom 5 or Lightroom 6, please download a 30 day demo copy from: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-lightroom.html .
- Also, please go to http://www.lightroomqueen.com/ and sign up for Victoria Bampton’s free newsletter and get her free Lightroom eBook for your version of Lightroom and also download the free demo images. Here is a quote about the eBook:
“The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom – Quick Start Guides are 70-80 page PDF eBooks, and they’re yours to download FREE when you sign up for my newsletter. It’s a series of simple tutorials designed to help you get started with Lightroom and learn the basics, while avoiding the most frequent problems” Lightroom is available as Lightroom 6 with a perpetual license or as Lightroom CC which is part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud Subscription which requires a monthly or yearly payment. The monthly payment is currently $9.99. Amazon sells Lightroom 6 for $143 new or $79 upgrade. Lightroom CC is updated with new features regularly and the package includes Photoshop CC and some other products. Lightroom 6 does not include updates. The future of Lightroom 7, if there is a version 7, is not clear.
For more information on this topic see:
http://laurashoe.com/2015/04/21/which-should-i-buy-lightroom-cc-2015-or-lightroom-6/ I recommend that you find time to watch Terry White’s “How To Get Started With Lightroom CC” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFf1WScRlOk This YouTube video is about an hour and 15 minutes and gives you a good overview of Lightroom. On Tuesday, November 15, 2016 at 2 pm in the Photo Studio will be the second workshop on “Getting Started with Lightroom.” We will be taking a first look at the Develop Module. I will go thru my workflow for getting an image to completely processed (Developed) in Lightroom. Also a very brief review of the previous how to get images cataloged by Lightroom Julieanne Kost has a compete FREE series of tutorials that will give you all the info needed to use Lightroom. http://blogs.adobe.com/jkost/lightroom-training-videos same tutorials on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmXfFxjdp3CHCRpDULlvcaqWfK_zLPWF2 LIGHTROOM CC GETTING STARTED SERIES 01. Lightroom CC – Overview of the Lightroom Interface 02. Lightroom – Importing Images From a Camera Card 03. Lightroom – Importing Photos from your Computer into Lightroom Quick Tip – Creating a Custom File Renaming Templates in Lightroom Quick Tip – Adding Copyright and Contact Information to Photographs in Lightroom 04. Lightroom CC – Organizing Your Photographs Quick Tip – Don’t Move Photos Behind Lightroom’s Back 05. Lightroom CC – Viewing and Selecting Images Quick Tip – Creating Custom Sort Orders in Lightroom Quick Tip – Customizing View Options in Lightroom 06. Lightroom CC – Comparing, Rating, and Prioritizing Images Quick Tip – Deleting Photographs in Lightroom 07. Lightroom CC – Using Filters to Quickly Find Photos 08. Lightroom CC – Creating Custom Collections of Images Quick Tip – Working with Smart Collections in Lightroom 09. Lightroom CC – Cropping Images Quick Tip – Saving Changes to Files in Lightroom 10. Lightroom CC – Create Stunning Images using the Basic Panel Quick Tip – Shadow and Highlight Clipping Warnings In Lightroom Quick Tip – Applying Changes to Multiple Images in Lightroom 11. Lightroom CC – Removing Lens Distortions and Correcting Perspective Quick Tip – Multiple Undo, the History Panel, and Before and After View in Lightroom 12. Lightroom CC – Changing Hue, Saturation, and Luminance Quick Tip – Selective Coloring Effects in Lightroom 13. Lightroom CC – Using the Radial and Graduated Filters 14. Lightroom CC – Enhancing Isolated Areas of an Image with the Adjustment Brush 15. Lightroom CC – Removing Dust Spots and Imperfections 16. Lightroom CC – Converting Photographs to Black and White Quick Tip – Taking Advantage of Virtual Copies in Lightroom 17. Lightroom CC – Adding Color Toning to Black and White Images Quick Tip – Adding Cross Process Effects in Lightroom 18. Lightroom CC – Adding Vignette and Grain Effects 19. Lightroom CC – Creating and Saving Presets in the Develop Module 20. Lightroom CC – Viewing Images on a Map 21. Lightroom CC – Moving Between Lightroom and Photoshop Quick Tip – Panorama Merge within Lightroom CC Quick Tip – High Dynamic Range Imaging within Lightroom CC Quick Tip – Opening Multiple Photographs into a Single Photoshop File 22. Lightroom CC – Exporting Images Quick Tip – Create a Custom Watermark in Lightroom Quick Tip – Emailing Photos from Lightroom 23. Lightroom CC – Book Module Basics 24. Lightroom CC – Modifying Book Layouts Quick Tip – Customizing Page Templates in Lightroom 25. Lightroom CC – Working with Text in The Book Module Quick Tip – Setting Text Over a Background Image in Lightroom. 26. Lightroom CC – Publish a Slideshow Quick Tip – Creating a Custom Identity Plate in Lightroom 27. Lightroom CC – Print the Perfect Image 28. Lightroom CC – Printing a Contact Sheet of Photographs Quick Tip – Printing Multiple Images to a Single JPEG in Lightroom. 29. Lightroom CC – Using the Web Module to Create Galleries 30. Lightroom CC – Publishing Collections of Photographs to Facebook 31. Lightroom CC – Working with DSLR Video 32. Lightroom CC – Web Collection Sharing Across Devices 33. Lightroom CC – Going from Desktop to Mobile – An Introduction to Lightroom Mobile Resources for Lightroom.
The goal of the workshop is let you develop a basic understanding of how to use the Library and Develop Modules in Lightroom. To see the images on your computer and use it’s develop features available for your images. These resources help provide other approaches to getting started with Lightroom. And Julieanne Kost’s series will also introduce the other modules. Terry White’s “How To Get Started With Lightroom CC”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFf1WScRlOk A very complete series of tutorials from Julieanne Kost, who works for Adobe:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmXfFxjdp3CHCRpDULlvcaqWfK_zLPWF2 A series of written tutorials from Adobe:
https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/how-to/import-photos.html This is an excellent series of tutorials from Anthony Morganti Learn Lightroom 6 / CC - Episode 1: Quickstart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bECi0ZQAB34 Here is an older video that is still very useful. Two videos by Ben Willmore – NOTE: The import function has changed some since this video was made |
