Preset Monday & Photoshop World Week

Happy Monday! The preset info is below but here’s some quick Photoshop World info as well. This week is Photoshop World in Orlando, FL. It’s always nice when I can drive to the conference on Monday and back again on Friday. Plus, I’m really excited as my wife and kids will probably make it over for a day or two. Believe it or not, my kids have never seen me teach. Anyway, here’s a recap of what I’ll be teaching -
- Tuesday – “Layers 101″ pre-con.
- Wednesday – “Top 10 Photoshop Technqiues” and recording Photoshop TV Live
- Thursday – 1) Lightroom Basic Training, 2) Lightroom and Photoshop: Connecting the dots, 3) Automating Photoshop for Photographers
- Friday – I’ve got a session on the show floor
Photoshop World is always my favorite week of the year and if you’re going make sure you stop by and say hi and let me know you visit the blog (I just brush off anyone who doesn’t visit – totally just kidding!).

Preset Stuff
OK, on to the preset stuff. This week’s preset comes from my “Suggest a Preset Day” a while back. Some one had requested a Bleach Bypass preset and after researching a little I think I came pretty close in Lightroom. A Bleach Bypass is basically putting a black and white image over a color image. The end result is usually lower saturation and increased contrast (almost like what would happen if you did this in Photoshop with a blend mode). I’ve got two in the included set here. One has more color saturation then the other. Also, be aware that this one increases your Exposure by about two thirds of a stop over what you normally set exposure at so you may need to adjust it down. But it’s supposed to look a little blown out so don’t reel it back too much. Enjoy!

Click here to see a sample of the preset.
Click here to download Matt’s Bleach Bypass Presets
Click here to see a video on how to install presets.

Thursday News Stuff

Hi folks. Time for some news and industry info.

- First the big news. Adobe has released the long awaited “online version of Photoshop”. Not so fast though. The press jumped the gun a bit when they coined this the online version of Photoshop. It’s really not, but if you sit back and think about what it does allow you to do I think you’ll see it’s pretty slick. I’m not saying I’m going to run out and use it everyday but I don’t think I’m alone when I say I’ll be recommending that my family and friends use it. Not because I don’t LOVE those phone calls and emails from them when they get stuck (insert sarcasm ), but because I think it’s a good solution for a lot of people. Scott and I did a quick video that goes over what it really is and you can see it here on his blog.

- I did an online learning center for Photoshop Express with videos on how to use everything. Again, probably not for most people reading this website but it’s a good place to point your friends and family if they want to learn how to use it.

- I just posted a video about my Layers book and what it’s all about. Here’s the link on Amazon and the book has been hanging in the top 200-400 (of ALL books) since it’s release. Plus it’s got a lot of really nice reviews (26 five star ones!). So if you’re still thinking of getting it but haven’t yet, you can watch the video right here as well as order a signed copy.

- I found a website that shows how to reverse engineer presets in Lightroom. It’s an interesting read if you’re into that reverse engineering thing. Here’s the link.

- Scott Kelby did a really nice article on his blog on shooting tethered into Lightroom. You can see it here.

Have a great day!

Wed. Inspiration – Architectural Photography

I’ve been studying Architectural photography a lot lately and I’ve come across some really great websites. Thomas Grubba photography is one of them. He’s got a great portfolio of both interior and exterior photos. Plus, I really liked his Kitchen section as I’m a sucker for a really well designed kitchen (not that I cook) As I looked through his site it made me want to do two things: 1) I kept trying to dissect the lighting. Most architectural photography is a mixture of available light and some type of continuous or strobe lighting and I like to see if I can tell which is being used where. 2) It made me want a new house. Don’t get me wrong, I love my house but some of these places are absolutely gorgeous.

Next, one of the leaders in real estate photography, Scott Hargis, has a great portfolio as well. He’s got some beautiful exterior and interior stuff. Plus, if you’re interested in this type of work I dug up an interview with him that I thought was a great read. Here’s the link.

Finally, here’s a link to Randy Van Duinen photography. Randy’s been a friend of mine for a few years and he’s just got an awesome portfolio (as well as being a really nice guy). Randy helps out at Photoshop World and I see his photos every time I’m there and I always have the same response – “I’m following you next time we go out on a photo shoot!”. Seriously, he’s very talented and I’m hoping to accompany him on some projects in the coming months to see what tips I can pull from him when it comes to architectural photography.

All in all, I think this type of work is great and I’ve been exploring it more and more lately. I actually have a few shoots set up in the Tampa area so I’ll keep you posted. Enjoy!

It's an Easter Chocolate Hangover Preset Day

You guys probably thought I wasn’t going to make it today didn’t you (you have to read Friday’s post to know what I’m talking about). But I’m here, chocolate hangover and all. This preset is a little different from the rest since it’s an Identity Plate. These plates are basically ways to get custom graphics (and text) into Lightroom to use in the Web or Print modules. Well I’ve created a signature ID plate that I think is pretty cool and I wanted to share how I did it. Here’s a quick sample and the steps are right below.
Step 1) Create a new Photoshop document that is 8 x 2 inches at 300ppi. I made mine pretty large so it would work for all print sizes. You can always scale it down later.
Step 2) Download a script font. You can find a bunch on this website. However, here’s a direct link to the font I downloaded (it’s called Scriptina). Then install the font (I’m leaving it up to you to figure that part out).
Step 3) Now create a new type layer; select the script font from Step 2 and type your name. Then drop the opacity of the type layer to around 10-15%.
Step 4) Now create another type layer above the script one. This time pick a different and much more ordinary font (I chose Gil Sans Light). Then type your name again and leave the opacity at 100%. When you’re done it should look like this.
Step 5) Go to File > Save As. Save it as a JPEG file somewhere safe. Then, when you go into Lightroom, add this JPEG graphic as a custom Identity Plate (click here to see a previous video on how to do this). You can use it in the Print module or the Web module and it looks really neat.

Here’s a recap of the resources used and a sample:
- Click here to see a sample of the ID Plate in action.
- Website with script fonts
- My PSD file if you want to look at it. Note that the fonts are rastersized but you can still see the layer order and stuff.

Friday Tip – PSDs and Drive Space

Here’s one right from my past experience this week. Here’s the story: a few days ago I was trying to free up some drive space on my laptop (I know, this doesn’t happen to anyone else right?). Anyway, as I was looking through some photos in Lightroom I thought I’d filter through the whole library to see only my PSD files. HOLY CRAP! You wouldn’t believe the amount of files that popped up. Now realize, I’d never done this since the day I started using Lightroom. I had PSD files all over the place. Some where there for a reason but a lot (I mean like 60-70% of them) were there just because I was messing around. Then it hit me that Lightroom saves the PSD file as soon as you hit “Edit in Photoshop”. Regardless of whether you save it in Photoshop after that – it’s always saved in Lightroom, thus eating up a lot of hard drive space. So the tip is this:

1) Go to the Library module and scroll down the left side to the Metadata Browser
2) Expand the File Type item and click on Photoshop Document (PSD)
3) Select the PSDs that you don’t need anymore by Ctrl/Cmd – clicking on them.
4) Hit the Delete key to delete those photos. If Lightroom asks if you want to remove them from the library or delete from your hard drive go ahead and choose the Delete from Drive option.

Wanna know how much space I freed up by doing this? Over 4 gigs! Apparently, I like to hit the Edit in Photoshop button a lot. Actually, it’s probably from doing a lot of demos over the past year but I’d still bet you’ll free up a decent amount of hard drive space from getting rid of PSDs that you don’t need anymore.

Well folks, another week down. I’m really psyched because I gave up chocolate for lent (don’t ask me why – I have no idea but it became a personal crusade after a while to see how long I could go without eating it) and now I get to eat it again on Sunday. Actually, I was trying to be a good role model for my kids in joining them to give something up for lent and some how my absolute favorite food became the victim. Anyway, I predict a chocolate overload on Sunday (Lent is over on Easter) which could a) lead to a bunch of posts coming out on Sunday night because I can’t sleep or, b) lead to no posts on Monday because I have a chocolate hangover. We’ll have to wait and see. Happy Easter!

It's Preset Day!

Welcome back to another edition of Matt’s Free Presets. This week the preset is one that I’ve been experimenting with a lot lately. I call it Vividity. It’s not really a word but I think it should be so I’ve named my preset in hopes that millions of people will follow and eventually force the dictionary gods (whoever they may be) to add it. Anyway, dreams aside, the preset does just what you think it does. It adds a degree of vividness (which is a word) to your photos. There’s a few different flavors that you’ll see when you download. Level 1 is the least vivid and Level 3 is the most. I recommend staying away from the Level 3 for portraits or photos with people in them as it looks a little too punchy. Otherwise, enjoy ‘em and let me know what you think by posting a comment. Thanks!

Click here to see a sample of the preset.
Click here to download Matt’s Vividity Presets
Click here to see a video on how to install presets.

Lightroom 1.4 Update is Pulled

According to Tom Hogarty, Lightroom’s Product Manager, Adobe has temporarily removed the link from their website for the 1.4 update. There seems to be some “issues” with it so they’ve decided to take it down for now. If you haven’t installed it then don’t worry – there’s nothing more you need to do. If you have installed it, you can get the link to the 1.3 update and revert back. You can read more about it and get the links to the 1.3 update here. Gotta love software updates

Friday Tip – Creating Folders for Presets

It’s time to wrap up another week with a tip and some other stuff.

First off, Jason D.Moore posted a Photoshop tutorial on his website on how to create the cover to my Layers book. I thought it was cool to see. Here’s the link.
(FYI… the Layers book made it in the top 200 of all books on Amazon again. Thanks everyone!)

Also, there’s a fairly in depth review of my Layers book over at www.photographyandthemac.com. It goes into specifics a little more, so if you’re still on the fence it may help out.

Finally, the tip of the week. If you’re a preset freak then your presets panel in Lightroom is probably becoming pretty chaotic. I have two suggestions:
1) Join a program that’s dedicated to treating your illness – the CPFAT (the Center for Preset Freaks Abuse and Treatment). Here’s the link.

2) Create folders to hold the presets in a more organized way. To do this, just right click in the Presets panel and select New Folder. Give it a descriptive name (“Matt’s Presets”, or “Special Effects”). Then just drag the presets you want into that folder directly in the Presets panel. That’s it. It’s a really quick and easy way to organize all those presets.

Alright, that wraps up the week in Lightroom. Check out the next post for some quick Lightroom and Camera Raw update news and have a great weekend.

Lightroom (and Camera Raw) 1.4 Update

Just wanted to let you know there’s a new Lightroom update out there. We’re up to 1.4. Here’s the low-down:
1) It’s mostly camera related, meaning the main update just adds support for some new cameras – no new features.
2) There’s also a couple of bug fixes included.
3) For Mac users there’s some legacy printer driver stuff included.

Anyway, it’s nothing earth shattering and, as I mentioned earlier, there’s no new features. But it’s always good to keep the software up to date. If Lightroom hasn’t prompted you already (it did for me when I launched it today) then click here to get the update and find out more.

Video Tip – Moving Existing Folders

Last week I posted a video about importing and the folder structure that I use. Lots of other ideas spawned off of it and this video is one of them (but there’s more to come). So let’s say you have a folder structure and import system that really works for you now. But you’ve also got lots of photos from the past when you didn’t use the folder structure you do now. What do you do with them? Do you have to delete and reimport? Nope. There’s a much easier way and we’ll take a look at it in this video.

Click here to watch the video. (12Mb)