The post Four Quick Tips for Maximizing Your Lightroom Screen Space appeared first on Lightroom Killer Tips.
]]>Above: here’s our standing view in Lightroom Classic with the left panel hidden. Now, let’s look at different ways to maximize our working space.
2. Press Shift-F again, and now Lightroom’s menu bar up top is hidden as well, giving you maximum real estate. Press Shift-F one more time to return to the regular view. You’re toggling through the three different modes with this shortcut. Here’s a couple more….
3. You can press Shift-Tab to hide all of Lightroom’s panels, so now your distractions are really limited — it’s just your image and the toolbar across the bottom (Bonus tip: if you press the letter “t” even that gray bar across the bottom will tuck itself out-of-site).
4. If you press the letter ‘F,” it hides everything and takes your image full screen (as shown here).
That’s it — four quick tips to kick off what could be an incredible week!
I’m speaking at the FotoClave photography conference on Feb 17-19, 2024, in San Ramon, California. I have a keynote presentation and a regular track session on travel photography techniques, and I have a lot to share, so I hope you can check out the conference. There are loads of great instructors, including the incredible Frans Lanting. I hope you can make it. Here’s the link with more details.
Here’s wishing you a fantastic week!
-Scott
P.S. Don’t forget to stop back tomorrow for “Lightroom Tip Tuesday!” (short one to two-minute video quick tips).
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]]>The post How Lightroom Classic Users can do a Visual Search (cooler than it sounds) appeared first on Lightroom Killer Tips.
]]>STEP ONE: Turn on Syncing. Click on the cloud icon up in the top right corner of Lightroom Classic’s window (click the “Start Syncing’ button as shown above).
STEP TWO: Click on a collection with the images you want to search (it has to be a collection – this doesn’t work with Folder). Once you turn Sync on (like you did in Step One), a checkbox appears to the left of your collections. Click on the checkbox next to the Collection you want to do a visual search through, and a sync icon appears (seen above).
STEP THREE: In your Web Browser, go to this address:
Lightroom.adobe.com
Once you’re there, log in with your Adobe ID (user name and password – the same on you use to log into Lightroom), and that synced collection will appear there. There’s a search field at the top; just type in what you want it to find (in this case I typed in “cars” and it found all the cars in that collection.
STEP FOUR: Here’s another example. In the search field, click the ‘x’ to clear the search, and type in something else. Here, I typed in “Sign,” and it displayed the images with a sign in them in two or three seconds. NOTE: I did not add any keywords to these images – it’s using AI to recognize what’s in the shot, and it displays just those that matches your search term.
He photographs animals in zoos, but sometimes, he doesn’t take the time to tag every animal with a keyword description. He was wondering if there’s a faster way to find and tag those photos with a keyword. Well, using this Visual Search, he could do it. Here’s how:
I hope you find that helpful.
OK, everybody, have a fantastic Super Bowl weekend! (just so you know, I’m going to have an insane amount of those little Nathan’s pigs in a blanket and a mountain of tater tots. But, I’m going to offset all those calories and fat by having them with a Diet Coke. Maybe two. Just sayin’).
Cheers,
-Scott
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]]>The post Create a Photo Summary in Lightroom Classic Export appeared first on Lightroom Killer Tips.
]]>Luckily, it is possible to create a similar output, though not as pretty, using an export plug-in for Lightroom Classic. The name of the plug-in is LR/Mogrify 2, and it can be found (along with many other useful plug-ins) over at the Photographer’s Toolbox (be sure to check out the installation guide for your operating system as it is different for each). By not as pretty, I mean the resulting image will just contain the settings information without any cool graphics along with each item, but if that is sufficient for your needs, then read on …
With LR/Mogrify installed you will find a new section, named Lr/Mogrify 2, has been added to the Export dialog below where export presets are stored. Within this section are all the options you can configure using this plug-in as part of your export workflow. In this example, we’ll utilize the options for Text Annotations primarily, though I did also add an Inner Border to create the opaque effect for making the text more legible and this is where you can customize to fit your needs.
Note: If you get an error message using LR/Mogrify on Mac, check out this post on the Adobe forum for a simple fix.
To start, select a photo to export and click the Export button to open the Export dialog (if not already open). Then, configure the desired export settings for sharing your photo, such as an sRGB JPG at a given pixel dimension (in my case I chose 1080 pixels on the long edge). We’ll come back to the Export location options in a bit.
Now, double-click the Text Annotations option under the Lr/Mogrify section to add it to the Export panels. Here you can choose a font, color, font size, font opacity, and position. This controls how the text will look on the image. You can see my settings below, but you might want to tweak to work best for your needs (also based on the size of your exported photo). Here’s where the magic part comes in, the Text Annotation feature can utilize tokens representing different metadata fields and pull that data into the text in the exported copy. In my example, I added the tokens for aperture, shutter speed, ISO, focal length, camera model, and lens.
That’s the basics of displaying the same information as Photo Summary will display, but you can add more or even less based on your needs. Next, I double-clicked the Inner Border option to add that to the panel for the purpose of placing a partially opaque layer over the photo to make the text more readable. In Photo Summary you have an option for a blurred version of the photo with the text overlayed, but we can’t do that here, so this is my version of that. I set the Width to 100% on all 4 sides and set to 20% opacity.
Once configured, I suggest giving it a few test runs to dial in the settings for the text that works best for the size of your photo. Once you have the text looking the way you want, I decided to export these copies to a subfolder within the source folder and in the same move add them to the catalog. I also opted to rename the exported copies with the photo info by appending -info to the end of the file name.
I also have the Post-Processing step set to Show in Finder so a Finder window opens with the copies at the end of the export, which is totally optional. That’s really all there is to it. If you like this, then click the Add button and save that as an export preset.
To get a copy of just the photo to go with the photo summary I created a second preset with all the same settings with the following exceptions:
This way I can create a copy of the photo that is the same size and settings to the same location as the photo summary version. Then save that as an export preset too. Here’s the really cool part! Once you have those export presets created you can select a single photo and apply both export presets in the same export process. Check out my article on Batch Export to see how.
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]]>The post Today Kicks Off “Lightroom Tip Tuesday” – short video tips and today’s it’s Skin Smoothing appeared first on Lightroom Killer Tips.
]]>OK, that was an easy one (hey, you have to start somewhere, right?). Well, I hope you found that helpful. More to come next Tuesday.
Cheers,
-Scott
The post Today Kicks Off “Lightroom Tip Tuesday” – short video tips and today’s it’s Skin Smoothing appeared first on Lightroom Killer Tips.
]]>The post New Course: My Simplified Lightroom Image Management System (the “SLIM” system) appeared first on Lightroom Killer Tips.
]]>You can buy this course by itself for $29.99 or watch it as part of a KelbyOne Pro Membership, where you can watch all our Lightroom courses (I don’t think there’s anyone out there with nearly as many full-length courses on every aspect of Lightroom and Photoshop)as we do).
Here’s a link to the course.
Have a great Monday, everybody, and here’s to finally getting really organized, backed up, and loving your Lightroom experience.
-Scott
P.S. If you use Lightroom ‘cloud’ edition, I have a separate version of the SLIM system just for you folks. Here’s the link to the cloud version.
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]]>The post Great video: How to Find People in Lightroom appeared first on Lightroom Killer Tips.
]]>It’s the biggest and the best, and I’m super psyched to be speaking there once again. It’s just six weeks away. I have a 20% off discount ticket code you can use (it’s SPKTPS24), but if you’re a working pro, you might be able to get in free (they have some stipulations, but if you meet the requirements, you’re in free). Here’s the link for more details. Hope I see you there!
We’re thrilled to bring you a fresh lineup of brand-new sessions for this year, along with cutting-edge iPhone photography techniques and tips that will elevate your iPhone photography experience. It’s a two-day, two-track
Join us for this 2-day extravaganza and capture the extraordinary—same passion, new techniques, and a whole lot of fun! Register early and save $150! More details and tickets (get yours today), at kelbyonelive.com
OK, no football this weekend, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be football food, so…well..there’s that. At least my team is guaranteed not to lose this weekend. Have a great weekend!
-Scott
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]]>The post How To Reorder Your Panels In Lightroom Classic appeared first on Lightroom Killer Tips.
]]>STEP ONE: Go to the top of any panel and right-click to the right of the panel’s name to bring up a pop-up menu of options. Choose “Customize Develop Panel” (as shown above).
Above: This brings up the ‘Customize Develop Panel’ seen here, showing the default order of panels. The checkboxes on the right show which panels are visible (if you uncheck any panel it hides that panel from view).
STEP TWO: To change the order, simply click and drag on the name of the panel you want to move and drag it where you want it in the list. Above, I’m dragging the ‘Effects’ panel up higher in the list, and when it’s directly below the “Tone Curve,” you’ll see a thin blue line appear. Once it appears, you can let go of your mouse button, and that panel will now appear in that order. When you’re done dragging the panels in the order you want them, click the ‘Save’ button.
NOTE: Don’t worry – if you change your mind later and want to return to the default order, you can just click the ‘Default Order’ button at the bottom of this panel.
STEP THREE: When you click ‘Save,’ a dialog will appear (seen above), letting you know you need to restart Lightroom to have the changes take effect.
Above: Here’s the new order of the panels after the reordering. Again, you can also return to the default order in that same Customize dialog. That’s all there is to it.
Here’s wishing you a better-than-usual Monday!
-Scott
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]]>The post Lightroom in 60-Seconds: How to speed your work using ‘Scrubby Sliders’ appeared first on Lightroom Killer Tips.
]]>The post Lightroom in 60-Seconds: How to speed your work using ‘Scrubby Sliders’ appeared first on Lightroom Killer Tips.
]]>The post How to Easily Create Lighting “Fall Off” in Lightroom Using The New Masking Tools appeared first on Lightroom Killer Tips.
]]>ABOVE: here’s what I’m talking about. I lit our subject with just one flash, and her pants are at least as bright (if not brighter) than her face – the light doesn’t fall off – she’s evenly lit, which is not what we’re generally looking for (lighting-wise).
STEP ONE: In Lightroom, click on the Masking button and then click on “Select Subject” (as shown here).
STEP TWO: When you click select Subject, a red tint appears over your subject (as seen above). If you make an adjustment now, it will affect all of here, so we need to subtract the parts we don’t want to effect.
STEP THREE: To remove something from our mask, click the ‘Subtract” button just below your mask in the Masks panel (shown circled above). NOTE: if you don’t see this button, click on “Mask 1” and the Add and Subtract buttons will pop-down. Now go down into that menu and choose “Linear Gradient” (as shown above).
STEP FOUR: What we want to do is create that fall where her face stays the same, but it gets gradually darker as it moves down, so take the Linear Gradient too; click right near her neck and drag down (as shown here) and it removes her upper 1/4 from the mask (as seen above).
STEP FIVE: Now scroll down to the Tone controls and darken the exposure by dragging the Exposure a little to the left, and pull back the highlights a bit, too (dragging to the left), and that creates the falloff. You can see her pants are no longer the brightest thing – you’ve got that nice fall-off we’re looking for. Her face is the same brightness it was before, and by selecting subject first, it doesn’t affect the background (which it shouldn’t).
Above: Here’s a side-by-side view where you can see the difference. When you do this, the whole thing takes less than a minute, but it makes a world of difference lighting-wise.
Have a great Monday, everybody! (try not to think about what happened in the playoffs).
-Scott
P.S. I’m speaking at the FotoClave photography conference Feb 17-19, 2024 in San Ramon, California. I have a keynote presentation and a regular track session and aboth about travel photography, and I have a lot to share, so I hope you can check out the conference. There are loads of great instructors, including the incredible Frans Lanting. Hope you can make it Here’s the link with more details.
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]]>The post How To Use Lightroom’s Identity Plate to Add a Fine Art Signature Nameplate appeared first on Lightroom Killer Tips.
]]>STEP ONE: The nameplate I’m going to create uses your signature, and there are a couple of ways to get your signature into Photoshop:
(1) Take a nice blank ink pen and sign your name on a fairly large piece of paper, then take a photo of your signature with your phone. Open that photo in Photoshop; take the Magic Wand tool, click it anywhere on the background (to select everything but your signature), then
(2) if you’re lucky enough to have a graphics tablet, then go to Photoshop, open a new document, 6”x3” with a resolution of 240, and then set your foreground color to black, choose a small hard-edged brush from the Brush Picker, and sign your name and save the file. Easy enough.
STEP TWO: Open a new document that is 6”x3” at a resolution of 240, then open up your signature file and drag it onto this document. In the Layers palette, lower the Opacity of this layer to 20% (as shown here), so your signature looks light gray.
STEP THREE: Go ahead and hide that signature layer by clicking on the eye icon next to Layer 1. Now, get the Type tool and type in your studio’s name. In my case, I typed in “Scott Kelby Photography” (I know — how original). The font I chose is Trajan Pro, which, if you don’t already have it installed, you can download it from Adobe’s Creative Cloud app. Add lots of space between the letters. In my example in class, I set the Tracking (space between letters) in the Character palette to 600.
STEP FOUR: Make your signature layer visible once your text is in place. Now, select all three layers (the Background, Layer 1, and your Type layer), go up to the Options Bar, and click on the Center Alignment icon (as shown above) to perfectly center your elements within your image area. Flatten your image layers, and now save your file as a JPEG.
STEP FIVE: Now go to the Lightroom, to the Print Module, and in the Page panel, turn on the Identity Plate checkbox. Then, in the Identity Plate preview, click on the little down-facing arrow in the bottom right corner to bring up a pop-up menu. From that menu, choose Edit to bring up the “Identity Plate Editor” dialog shown above. Click on the “Use a graphical identity plate” button (as shown above), then navigate to your newly saved signature file and choose it. Now, it will appear on your printed page, and you can drag to position it where you want it. That’s all there is to it.
Above: here’s how the nameplate looks at the bottom of a print. As I mentioned at the top, you can also import this nameplate into the slideshow module as well.
There you have it.
UNRELATED NOTE: It’s a BIG divisional playoff weekend for my Bucs. We’re playing the Detroit Lions up in Detriot at Ford Field (a very nice dome stadium – I shot a Bears/Lions there a few years back). However, although of course I want the Bucs to win, I do like the Lions. They are a super tough team this year, and I’ve been rooting for them all season, so if the Bucs lose to them (which is likely – the Lions are favored to win), at least it’s to the Lions, which haven’t been this far in the playoffs in 30+ years, so they definitely earned it. However, if the Bucs do win…OMG!!!! Hey, like I said last Friday…it could happen.
Have a great divisional playoff weekend!
-Scott
The post How To Use Lightroom’s Identity Plate to Add a Fine Art Signature Nameplate appeared first on Lightroom Killer Tips.
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