More Lightroom Shortcuts

Everyone knows how much I like keyboard shortcuts. They speed things up so I can spend less time in front of the computer and moire time shooting. Well I found this great link to all the keybord shortcuts available in Lightroom (versions one and two). This is a great resource provided by Victoria Bampton that any user of LR should check out. Read more...

Straightening Horizons Part II

Well it has taken us quite a while to sort out the second part of this video on how to straighten horizons but we weren't happy with the quality of the last one and spent a while trying a few recording techniques and are finally happy with the results so here it is. This time we show you how to straighten horizons with Lightroom and Camera Raw. Both are much faster and more elegant than Photoshop I think you will agree. Anyway hope you enjoy and more to come.

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Adobe is working hard with updates

The Adobe Photoshop engineering team has been quite busy over the past few months and has just released a slew of updates:

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 1.3

This is the update you’ve been waiting for if you are on or going to Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard or if you were in the market for one of the hot new DSLR Cameras. Not only do we get improved Leopard compatibility but we also get native camera RAW support for the following cameras:

Nikon D3
Nikon D300
Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III
Canon PowerShot G9
Olympus E-3
Olympus SP-560 UZ
Panasonic DMC-L10

Adobe is first to market with support for the Nikon D3 and D300! The applications also support the sRAW format produced by the Canon 1D Mk III, 1Ds Mk III, and 40D.

Also Adobe has released a Preview of the Lightroom Export SDK (available on http://labs.adobe.com). This will allow developers to create some really cool workflows. Think direct export to Flickr, Smugmug, FTP Hosts, etc.

Adobe Camera RAW 4.3 and the DNG Converter 4.3

Camera RAW getS the same support as Lightroom in these updates.

Adobe Photoshop CS3 10.0.1& Bridge CS3 2.1.1

The most significant fixes in the Photoshop 10.0.1 update include the following:

A crash that could occur when Microsoft Intellipoint software is installed has been fixed.

• The speed of moving objects contained within multiple layer sets has been improved.
• The speed of closing large documents has been improved.
• Converting images to CMYK using certain profiles no longer results in black files.
• A crash that could occur when saving a 4-bit BMP file with 16 or fewer colors has been fixed.
• The Save for Web feature now includes an option to “Include XMP” (metadata) in the settings menu within the main Save for Web interface, making the existing capability easier to access.
• When using Save For Web with “Include XMP” enabled, all XMP data is now included in the optimized file.
• A problem that could cause the incorrect printer to appear within the print dialog box has been corrected.
• Images no longer print with odd-sized margins on various Epson printers, or print smaller and off-centered.
• Printer settings in Windows® are saved with a document while that document is open. If a document has not had Page Setup settings applied to it, the document will get the previous page setup used during the current session of Photoshop.
• Photoshop now turns off Windows ICM (system color management) when “Photoshop Manages Colors.”
• Print color matching has been improved.
• A problem that caused certain laser printers to show distortions when printing to a nonsquare resolution has been fixed.
• Images saved as DICOM and reopened in Photoshop CS3 are no longer corrupted on PowerPC® based Mac computers.

The Adobe® Bridge CS3 2.1.1 update includes the following fixes and enhancements:

• A new preference to enable High Quality Preview has been added to Bridge’s Preferences > Advanced panel. When enabled, the preference addresses the problem of a soft or blurry preview appearing in the Preview panel and in Slideshow mode.
• Data loss that could result from replacing a folder with another folder by the same name has been prevented.
• Issues that could cause Bridge to crash (for example, when encountering a PDF or AI file) have been corrected.
• A problem that could cause Bridge to lock up when using arrows to navigate has been fixed.
• XMP data is now handled correctly when added to CR2 files.
• A problem that could cause the Loupe tool not to be available after exiting from Slideshow mode has been corrected.
• Rapid clicks to select multiple files are no longer interpreted as a double-click, so unintended opening of multiple files is now reduced.

All of the updates above are available for download from adobe.com and should be available through the Adobe Updater.

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Lightroom Shortcuts

Full screen editing in Lightroom, F to enter fullscreen and Shift + Tab to hide the panels.

Following on from yesterdays post about Photoshop shortcuts, here are the top ten Lightroom shortcuts.

1. F changes the screen mode just like in Photoshop, same key too!
2. Again just like in Photoshop Tab hides the panels, Shift + Tab hides the filmstrip and module picker as well to give you a fullscreen view.
   
3. D, go to Develop Module. You spend most of your time here anyway so it mays as well be easy to get to.
4. G go to Grid mode in the Library. You spend a fair bit of time here so at least it is easy to get between the two now.
5. The next few tips refer to the develop Module only. First up is W which selects the Eyedropper White Balance tool in the Develop Module.
   
6. R selects the Crop Overlay
7. N is the Remove Spots tool
8. \ (backslash) shows the image as it was upon import Y offers a side by side before and after view and Shift + Y show a split screen.
9. To export image press Ctrl + Shift + E. This works on a single image or multiple images selected in the filmstrip or grid.
10. Ctrl + Shift + I opens up the import dialog.

Happy clicking, shutter clicks that is, not mouse clicks! Read more...

Lightroom Rocks

The more I use Lightroom the more I like it. I keep finding new ways to improve my images and speed-up my workflow.

I normally import Raw images using auto tone. I use this as a starting point and if I don't like it I can always hold down the Alt key which turns the Tone heading in the Basic panel into a reset button. Today I found out I don't even need to hold down the Alt key, just double click on any of the headings in the develop panels and it will reset that section of the panel. If it is just one setting I find I don't like I can reset it by double clicking on the slider handle.

Pretty cool, huh!
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