Lightroom Q&A Day
I thought it was time for another Q&A post since I had a lot of questions from comments built up. Here goes:
What do you do if you add a color to the graduated filter and want to remove it from objects in the forground?
Last week I did a video showing how to erase (kind of) areas of the Graduated filter and that’s where this question came from. The answer unfortunately is no – you’re pretty much out of luck. You can always try to paint with the Adjustment Brush and add the opposite color (if you added blue, then try adding yellow to counteract it) but that’s a bit of a hack and would give you unpredictable results. So, if you fall into this category, your best bet may just be using the Adjustment Brush instead so you don’t affect the area you don’t want color in.
Do you know when the LR2 ACE is coming out?
Nope. I haven’t heard of a date yet. I’ve seen estimates that it may come out as early as the beginning of 2009 but nothing definite. The LR 1 ACE came out about a year or so after LR 1 was released so let’s hope that LR 2 doesn’t follow.
What is an .M4V file and why are your movies in that format?
The .M4V video format is a Quicktime video format that iTunes requires for podcasts. Right now, the video posts here “should” be mirrored in iTunes (I know there’s some issues there) so you can grab the podcasts from there too. If you want to watch them, you need to download Apple’s free QT player. However, our web team is working on a video player that will let you watch the videos directly from the website and I’ll keep you posted.
Isn’t Quicktime the video player that constantly pops up ads and asked you to buy a bunch of crap?
Nope, that’s Real Player. I avoid it like the plague. Quicktime is actually very nice and may just remind you from time to time that there’s a Full version available out there for a $29 purchase 😉
Do you directly answer individual questions, or is there a way for me to get answers to specific questions? Â For example, how will I get an answer to this inquiry?
OK, I get this question a lot. Folks will post a comment and say they couldn’t find a contact email address for me. The reason being is I actually get every single comment that comes through on this site (via email updates). I’m the sole comment “controller” if you will, so when you post a comment it’s like emailing me. If you have a question that’s the best place to get it answered. That said, it’s impossible for me to go in and answer all questions which is why I’m extremely grateful that a group of people are active on the comments and help answer questions (THANK YOU!!!).
Is it possible to understand Lightroom 2 with the Lightroom 1 book and your online classes? Â
I thought this was a good question to cover here because the person who asked mentioned the slower economic times and how they’re trying to make the most of what they have. I figured, he’s not the only one in this boat. So here’s the deal. I absolutely think you can learn LR 2 with a Lightroom 1 book / DVD / online training class. Lightroom 2 hasn’t changed dramatically since version 1. The Library is still the Library and the Develop module is still Develop. I will say this. Collections have changed, Folders have changed a little and the Develop and Print modules have some major new features. There’s also a ton of other little things that make LR 2 a worthwhile upgrade. If you’re fairly savvy with imaging programs you can probably figure the stuff out, and I’d definitely recommend to use what you have available to you before you run out and buy something new. However, if you’re not that savvy and just learning, then having a different interface with different tools and layout is most likely going to get confusing as you try to learn. In the end though, I’d say give it a try. If you find it difficult to to figure things out with your existing training material then it may be time to grab a new book or DVD/Online training course.
Will the DNG Camera Profiles (covered in this video) work for photos in the JPEG format?
Nope. The camera profiles in the Calibration panel will only work for Raw and DNG files.
Great post as always matt.
After watching videos of Matt Kloskowski and Scott Kelby “100 reasons why to use lightroom over bridge” I moved to lightroom and find everything way too much batter in lightroom.
I have one question about filter photos. When I went to perticular folder and then want to filter by some keyword lightroom displays all the photos with that keyword in whole catalog. Is there any way I can filter photo in only perticular folder?
For example I have 3 folder and suppose I’m in 3rd folder and want to filter photos which have landscape keyword withing 3rd folder but when I select the landscape keyword to filter photos it displays all the photos which have landscape keyword from all 3 folders instead of displaying images from only 3rd folder.
Please help me with that.
I´ll try this out on with my CANON pics…
Has anyone come up with LR2 settings that replicate the CANON Camera settings for Monochrome / Sepia / Yellow / Green Filters / Sharpness / Contrast / Saturation etc.
If I set Sharpness to 7 and Saturation to 7 on my Camera, what should be the equivalent setting in LR2?
Similarly, if I set the Camera to Monochrome with Yellow Filter, what should be the equivalent setting (on a standard preset) within LR2 to reproduce the same image one sees in DPP.
Thanks
P.S.: I realize that the stock response to the above query has been “why do B&W in the Camera when you can do it inside LR2” 🙂 My response to that is if I had spent time in the field setting up a picture style and like the result, why waste more time on it within LR2. I realize LR2 does not read all of CANON’s RAW data, hence was wondering if anyone had come up with standard presets for CANON B&W, SEPIA etc…
Where do you put “people” in lightroom. I am migrating over from iView Mediapro which has that category as well as “events”.
thanks, John
Hey Matt!
Love your work and really appreciate your presets. I’ve used alot of them in my work. I have a question. Do you know of a way to password protect a lightroom catalog? What I’d like is when I open LR and select a catalog, a dialogue box with a password would come up to get into it. Any ideas or suggestions?
Jim
Found the info:
http://lagemaat.blogspot.com/2008/05/great-prints-from-labs.html
It’s not perfect, but it’s a lot closer.
Matt,
Thanks for all you do.
When will LR be able to use downloaded printer files from various printers, so that the output is calibrated to certain printers? It works if we have the printer physically attached to our machine – but there’s no way to export JPEGS (for example) that are already calibrated to printer profiles?
Any help is appreciated.
Bill
Matt,
For the user that wants to learn Lightroom using the videos and Lightroom 1 book. It may be less confusing if they download the 30 day trail of Lightroom 2 and use it to learn Lightroom 2 with the videos. The install would be to a separate directory and they could create a separate catalog.
Steve
Hi,
on the “.m4v” format…. My pc woudl not play it, but I found that if you save it and change the name to “.mp4” any player (WMP, Winamp,etc)takes them perfectly… you can also just save the “.m4v” and go “Open With” your favourite player and, after complaining, it will open with no problem. I guess the format is the same.
Hope it helps.
ET
Hi Matt
As I understand in LR if you apply print sharpening this will only be visible in the final print, but will it be embedded if the image is edited in PSCS4?
I’m thinking here for instance about soft proofing, if it’s not applied there then I’ll have to go back to LR for printing which would make my soft proofing pretty impredictable…
Matt,
Can you or someone help me out with a HDR problem? I downloaded the Photomatix Pro trial and I am deciding on whether to buy the full standalone version or just the plug-in. The problem I am having is when I send images from “merge to HDR” from Lightroom, Bridge, or PhotoshopCS3, the images seem to load but right after ‘align images” all the images will disappear from the screen and the layers panel and I have just a blank photoshop screen. I been to the Adobe Forums and other people have had this issue, but do not say how to fix it. My images are shot on AEB mode 2 stop bracket, all Photoshop programs (Windows Vista 32bit) are installed in the default locations, cache is 60% memory, and scratch disk is from the internal hard drive. Images loaded to the Photomatix Pro Standalone all work with no problems. Can you tell me what may be wrong as to why the images won’t load to Photoshop CS3’s HDR? Maybe I should just buy the Photomatix Pro Stand Alone software and skip the plug-in.
Thanks
Tom
Hi Matt – thanks for the Q&A again. Do you know when the ACR update for LR2 will be out that supports the new Canon 5D Mk II. The CS4 one has been out a little while – just waiting for the LR one now….
Many Thanks
Kevin
There is a work around for the JPEG Camera profile thingy, If you have a preset that only changes the camera profile you can apply the preset to the JPEG. However in my expirience (Very Little) the results are inconsistent.
A nice alternative to using iTunes for playing .M4V is the free VLC media player: http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/14738
.02
yeah this seem a right time for q & a session.
fabiopb,
The confusion came from the fact that those profiles were part of the new camera raw 5.2 (if you unzip it, you’ll find the file “CameraProfiles.exe”, which I installed and they appeared without the beta in their names), they normally only work in LR2 and PSCS4, so now I’m not sure any more if they are beta or not…
http://www.adobe.com/downloads/updates/
fabiopb,
Sorry for the confusion, I double-checked and they are indeed still beta2
I want to print a single 4X6 image with no border from Lightroom 2. There’s lots of ways to print multiple prints with matts, but I want a single print like I get at Walmart.
Rovabre,
They still look beta to me.
http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/entitlement/index.cfm?e=labs_cameraprofiles
Did you find non-beta profiles at which link ?
Thank you.
This maybe a little off topic but Q&A seems the right time for this.
It seems you can control some aspects of the grad filter in LR 2. The first one I have found is that by alt-click and grabbing on the lines of your graduated lines you can change the spacing of them and bring them closer together or further apart. I think this affects the transition of the filter by making it closer and sharper or further apart and making the transition a little softer. Am I close? And are there other short cut and or tips for this grad filter?
I can’t seem to find much on this . I have been through most of the courses in the Kelby Training site and on here but maybe I missed something.
Another topic: My present lap top is very slow(HP,win xp, Intel 1.74 GH processor,4 GB memory) but today I am switching to my new one(HP,win vista,Intel 2.4 GH processor,4 GB memory and a 9600 M GT NAVIDIA graphics card and mostly whatever else that has been suggested to me ) It should be very interesting to run the two side by side with the same images. Especially the new LR 2 brush and graduated filter speed. Both have LR 2. The old CS 3 and the new CS 4.
I will try to give the results on one of the user forums. Guys I seldom have time to mess around with the forums so which is hte best one for this type pf stuff?
I am a photographer but pretty much computer illiterate having gotten my MS using a slide rule. A 60’s guy (hippie,civil rights anti-war) but I still have some brain cells so I have been hanging around Photoshop and NAPP a couple of years. .
Matt I have gotta thank you in particular for all the tips and training. Couldn’t have gotten this far without you . You da man!
Hi Mat,
What External Portable Drive will you recommend or personally use? I have a Desktop PC and a G4 powerbook so I want to use something that will work on both and can take with me on the go.. I was looking into the FREEAGENT GO 500GB.
let me know your thoughts..
Thanks
Hi Matt
LR user since the very beginning I ended up with lots of Develop presets. Isn’t there a way to create subfolders so they can be better organised ?
By the way, the camera profiles aren’t beta anymore and can be downloaded
The more I slide ‘Recovery’ to the right, the more grain I see. Besides not using said slider, how do I avoid such results? Thank you. Matt, I would be at a loss without your crusading of Lr. Thanks again!
ACE = Adobe Certified Expert
This is an exam you can pay to take and become an ACE in a given Adobe product.
http://www.adobe.com/support/certification/ace.html
Ditto — What is an ACE? Not everyone keeps up with — or even likes the over-use of — acronyms, whose roots should in any case always appear at least once in full text form: just good, basic communication practice.
Sorry to be stupid. What’s an ACE ?
Hi Matt,
Any news on the lightroom camera profile/raw converter for the new Canon 5D MK II? Sorry if this has already been covered and I missed it…
Thanks!
Tom
Matt,
I tend to work with multiple catalogs. Can copyright metadata presets be automatically incorporated with each new catalog? If so, HOW (details please)?
I find it necessary to manually move presets into appropriate Lightroom Settings folders, but believe there MUST be a better way.
Looks like Adobe updated their Camera profiles on Oct 22nd. They are now on beta 2. Just a friendly FYI 🙂
Great post as always matt. With your generous help with Lightroom tips, you’ve shorten my workflow by almost 75% or even more!!! Thanks!!
By the way, great post Matt. A lot of my questions on Lightroom 2 have been answered thanks to this post.
Thanks for all the helpful information you provide Matt! You have made many of our lives much easier!
Can someone out in Lightroom 2 world help me out with backing up Lightroom Files. I have a Seagate external hard drive. When I bring up Lightroom 2 it asks me to back up my files. I have set it up so the external hard drive is the back up file place. Unfortunately it keeps telling me it cant do it. Anyone know what I am doing wrong here? Thanks