Draft Mode Printing

If you’ve seen the Draft Mode setting in the Print module but aren’t sure what it’s for let me try to shed some light on the topic. Let’s say, for example, that you’re making a print for a client. In that case you want the best print possible and print speed isn’t usually the top priority for you. That’s when you’d want to make sure you turn Draft Mode Printing off. Now, let’s say you’re printing out a contact sheet so you can quickly review or catalog your photos. Well, the photos in the contact sheet aren’t necessarily large enough to require a full quality version of the photo for print. In this case, then turn on Draft Mode because it won’t matter. The photos will be small enough so you’ll never know the difference and, best of all, the print speed is incredibly faster since it’s not rendering full quality versions of the photos. Give it a try. The Draft Mode option is in the Print module on the right panel toward the bottom. Happy printing!

Moose Peterson's Wildlife Photography

If you’re into wildlife photography or thought about it then pay a visit to Moose Peterson’s website. Moose is an amazing wildlife photographer, Photoshop World instructor, and an all-around great guy to talk to. As you look through the pages of his website you’ll not only get a peak at some top-notch wildlife shots but you’ll also get a look inside of Moose’s philosophy and photography secrets. You get to see some of the great shots he’s taken but he’ll also tell you how he took them and the set up as well. Plus, you can get out and shoot with Moose at the Digital Landscape Workshop Series.

Lights Out!

One of the more powerful features of Lightroom is the way it brings your photos front and center to you. No shuffling palettes, moving windows, or anything like that. There are panels however and sometimes they may clutter your view of the photo. If this happens and you just want to see your photo, with nothing else then press the L key. This takes you to Lights Dim mode. That means you can still see the interface but it’s very dim and non-obtrusive. Now, if you want to see your photo up against a black background with absolutely nothing else around then press L again to go to Lights Out mode. This hides everything. To get back to the regular view just press the L key once again and you’ll be back to the way things were when you started out. Have a great pre-Christmas weekend everyone!

Chris Linder Photography

Here’s a site that I just stumbled across while doing a search earlier today. Chris Linder is a photographer that specializes in photographing people in extreme circumstances. Be it work or play he’s got some great portfolios that showcase everything from nature to people. I think my favorite part about his stuff is that each photo has a slightly different view than you’d normally expect. Also, if you click on the Teaching link you’ll see that he even teaches some workshops as well. Click here to see Chris’s website.

Before and After Previews

One of the really cool features in Photoshop Lightroom is that you can see a before and after preview of your photos right next to each other. After all, it’s just as important to see where you’re going as it is to see where you’ve been and the Before/After previews help you do just that. It’s a great tool for making the editing process even easier. Plus, there’s a few little tips and tricks that makes using the preview even better.

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Get to Grid View, Fast!

I use this one nearly every time I’m in Lightroom and it’s become so ingrained in my head that I forget about it sometimes. Often you’ll be working with either a) a zoomed in view of a photo b) a photo in the Devlop module c) a slide or d) something in the Print module. Well if you want a quick way to get back to your Library module in grid view just press the G key. I’m tellin ya’ – it’ll become second nature in no time and you’ll use it constantly.

The Photoshop CS3 Public Beta is Here!

Okay, I know this is a Lightroom website and podcast but I just can’t resist. At 4:30 EST on December 14 Adobe has announced the public beta preview of Photoshop CS3. This is huge! They’ve never publicly released a beta of Photoshop before so as you can imagine I’m very excited (which is why I felt the need to make this post on a Lightroom website). Anyway, the beta is being released primarily because of Adobe’s commitment to the Mac Intel platform you can find out all the details you need to know right at NAPP’s own Photoshop CS3 Learning Center. There’s a ton of free videos, details, FAQs, links to other resources, and links to forums where you can discuss the CS3 beta. Check out the official NAPP Photoshop CS3 Beta Learning Center here.

Bill Fortney's Landscape Photography

This week I’m not just going to point you to one of the best photographers you’ll find out there but also one of the flat-out nicest people you’ll ever meet – Bill Fortney. Bill works for Nikon Professional Services and I’ve had the opportunity to go shooting with him a few times. Let me tell ya… this guy sees the world in an entirely different (and beautiful) way then anyone I’ve met. Bill actually runs the Great American Photography Workshops and I’d suggest taking one if you ever get the chance. I’ll actually be teaching at a few next year so take a look. Click here to see Bill’s portfolio.

Rule Of Thirds

While it’s great to crop the photo when you compose the shot, sometimes it just doesn’t work out that way. Many times, after the fact, we realize that we should have framed the photo differently when we took it. Well, as you’d expect, Lightroom has a cropping feature that works great. One of my favorite things about it though is that it automatically puts a “Rule of Thirds” grid over your photo so you can really compose the crop area right – the first time. Check it out in this week’s video.

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Tinting Black and White