Lightroom version 2.4 now available
Lightroom version 2.4 is now available for download at:
Seems to be just bug fixes plus new camera support.
Use Different Text Comments with Lightroom Slideshow
This week I was asked the question by a Lightroom user …
How can you set up the Lightrooms Slideshow to display a different text overlay comment for each slide?
This can be tricky as if you just use the Custom Text field at the bottom of the Slideshow Module you will get the same text appearing on every slide.
Here is how to do it …
- In the Slideshow Module click on the ABC button to bring up the text field. It will open up with a default label of Custom Text
- Click and hold the text label and scroll down and select Edit..
- A text template editor dialogue opens. I use an EXIF data field to put in my text comments for each slide.
- I use the EXIF field “Label” which should be empty for your images. Select Label in the first drop down under EXIF Data and click the Done button.
- You have to return to the Library module and type in your EXIF Label for each image you want to use in the slideshow.
- Then when you play the slideshow you should see the different text for each slide.
A bit long winded, and I would not do this often, but it can be done.
Using the Erase Brush with Local Adjustments
When using the Local Adjustment Brush in Lightrooms Develop Module it is worth noting that in addition to the two brush presets – A and B – you can also select the Erase brush.
I have used the Local Adjustment tool many times and have always deleted corrections that have been incorrectly applied. Using the Erase brush allows you to quickly remove or tidy up the edges of your correction.
This is similar to how you would work in Photoshop using a mask but much easier and all within Lightroom.
How Ratings and Flags Differ in Lightroom
Did you know that Star Ratings apply globally in Lightroom. This means that if you rate an image as 4 stars it will keep its rating in Grid view, each Modules Filmstrip and in any Collection that the image appears in.
By contrast if you Flag an image as a Pick it will only keep the Pick Flag for that view. So you can Flag an image in a collection and have the flag be specific to that collection alone.
This is useful when you want to create a collection and work with Pick Flags without having the Picks show up in the main catalog – or in other collections. An image can be flagged as a Pick in one collection but not in another.
Colors work the same way as Star Ratings i.e. they will keep the color globally across Lightroom.
Quickly Increase the Thumbnail Grid Size
When you are in the Library Module you often want to change the size of the displayed thumbnails in Grid view.
My normal way of doing this is to use the thumbnail slider on the right of the toolbar. This works OK – provided you have the toolbar displayed (press T) and if you have activated the slider tool.
A much quicker way is to use the plus and minus keys to increase or decrease the thumbnail thumbnail size. This works when the Toolbar is hidden giving you more viewing area. A quick press of the plus or minus key and the size changes.
Worth remembering this one!
Press the J key to cycle through thumbnail views
A little used Lightroom shortcut key is J.
Repeated pressing of J will cycle you through the different thumbnail views. They are:
- Plain – no information other than the thumbnails themselves
- Ratings and flags
- Ratings, Flags and selected metatdata
I find the most useful one to be 2 – ratings and flags – and tend to leave my thumbnails set on this most of the time. Lightroom will remember the J setting between sessions so you can set it an it will open up in your preferred view.
You can customize the metadata which is displayed in using 3 – the metadata view – by right-clicking the thumbnail when you are in the 3 – metadata – J view.
Hope this helps …
Use Show Guides to Speed up Print Layout
When you are printing from Lightroom it is worth tuning on Show Guides in the Guides section on the right side of the Print Module.
There are a number of advantages in doing this. The main one being that you can interactively layout your print using the mouse. As shown below you get a cursor which allows you to re-size the image or any of the cell guides. This is much quicker and easier than using the sliders in the Layout section of the Print Module.
It is worth checking all of the options under Show Guides as this activates the drag and drop layout option. In addition you can see at a glance the size of the final image on your chosen paper.
Three Tips to Optimise Lightroom Printing
If you print your photos from Lightroom using the Lightooms default Print Module settings you will will usually get very acceptable results. Most of the time this may be all you need.
Even with a modest inkjet printer you can take a few simple steps which will improve the image quality. Here are three things you should do to ensure you are getting the best prints you can.
- Check and clean your print heads each time you print. I wasted countless sheets of expensive paper by not doing this !
- Calibrate your screen. Even if you use a software calibration tool, such as the one which is included with Photoshop, you will get better results than if you do not. If your screen is set too bright, with high contrast or with a color bias you will not have a chance of printing what you see on the screen
- Use a printer profile which matches the printer and paper you are using. Remember to turn off color correction in your printer drive when you do this.
Printing from Lightroom is very straight forward but you can obtain much better results if you keep on top of the tasks above.
Top 3 most useful Lightroom Shortcuts
Here are my top three shortcuts which I use all the time.
1. Hide and Show the Lightroom Tool Panel – "T"
This one is good as it will make the image viewing area bigger. If you are trying to increase the size of your thumbnails and cannot find the size slider – press "T".
2. Toggle between Before and After – "\"
Use the "\" key to switch between the current editing state and the image before you started editing. You can quickly switch back-and-forth which is good for focusing in on minor changes. Note you can also toggle between the currently selected History State and the original image which is good for seeing the effect of an edit prior to changing your mind.
3. Toggle between Color and Greyscale – "V"
Really powerful this one if you like working in black and white. It gives you a quick ‘look-see’ to check if an image might work in black and white.
Lightroom Hardrive Problems
My Lightroom library has been playing up again!
I have tried rebuilding the catalog but this time it did not work. The main problem was slow loading well as the missing image file icon appearing on thumbnails in Grid view.
Files missing icon
I the noticed the my computer was very slow in starting and decided I had better check my hardrives.
There it was. My photos drive had lots of problems, lost clusters and all that. Running the OS drive repair utility fixed the problem. I my case Diskwarrior for the mac or use the Disk Repair utility for Windows. As a bonus my whole system now starts faster and the OS is not trying to get a defective drive stable on startup.
It is worth doing a disk repair frequently as small errors build up and eventually the disk slows down or fails.
Related Links
Lightroom Tips Library
Optimize the Lightroom Catalog