Q&A Day
Hey folks! Here’s another Q&A day for ya. Keep the questions coming.
Q. Why does it take so long for Lightroom to export JPEGs? Is there any way to optimize or speed this up?
A. You know, if I were asked this a couple months ago, I would have said you were outtaluck. But I read about a cool tip on Scott Kelby’s blog that Lloyd L. Chambers (Macintosh Performance Guide) found. Here’s a direct link to what Lloyd has to say and his time-saving tip for exporting lots of JPEGs.
Q. Every time I import my photos into lightroom and watch them in the Library-Module, Lightroom is always adjusting the brightness or color of my photos, without me doing anything. Is my Lightroom broken?
A. When you Import your photos, Lightroom is first showing the embedded JPEG that comes with it. Sometimes that embedded JPEG has been slightly processed by the camera and that’s what you’re seeing first. But if you’re shooting Raw, then Lightroom renders the file for a moment and reverts the preview to the raw data once its done rendering. Kinda weird I know, but that’s what is going on. And no, your Lightroom is not broken.
Q. Matt, I LOVE your presets. You rock and are the coolest, best looking, most awesomest guy on the planet. OK, you got me! The actual question didn’t say that 🙂 Real Question: Is there a way to decrease the opacity of a preset you apply in the Develop module. Almost like applying a filter in Photoshop on a separate layer and decreasing the opacity to lessen the effect?
A. No, there’s no Opacity slider for a preset. The only thing you can really do is figure out what is too strong about the preset that you’re applying and lower that setting. For example, let’s say the preset you apply significantly warms the photo. If you knew that, you could go to the temperature slider and reduce the warming. But that’s really about it and it does entail you knowing specifically what it is you don’t like about the preset. Cool idea though! Sounds like a great feature request 🙂
Q. When I export to JPEG from Lightroom, it is a 16-bit JPEG File. MPIX (or any lab) requires an 8-bit JPEG. I can’t figure out how to export as a JPEG and to change from 16 bit to 8 bit in the same export.
A. Actually, JPEGs don’t support 16-bit so when you export as a JPEG you’re automatically converting your photo into an 8-bit image. You don’t have to change any settings to do it.
That’s it for today. Have a good one!
In response to the opacity question, if i’m reading it right, I find that increasing my “Fill Light” tends to give the desired effect a lot of the time. Of course it depends on the photo and the preset.
great tips!
Hey I got a Q too: So let’s face it, sometime some touch up just can’t be done in LR.. When choosing “Edit in Photoshop CS4” from LR, there usually got two options. “Render with Lightroom” (which will convert to TIFF and open in CS4), or use “Open directly” (which will open by Adobe Camera Raw in CS4). Which one you prefer?
Matt, I have followed the instruction to a tee in the LR book (yours & Scott’s) for saving the slideshows. I can not for the life of me get the slideshow to burn to cd: the photos and opening page, etc burn but it doesn’t “slideshow” — just still photos. Is there any way around this at all? I would think LR should be the best for simply burning a slideshow to DVD/CD.
Haven’t seen many lightroom killer tips podcasts uploaded lately. Just watched episode 175 where you said you loved me. Awe. Ok. so gaus is what stuff full the mouth of someone who doesn’t pronounce the guys name correctly ;P
But I forgive you cause you’re the sexiest guy on Photoshop User TV.
Wish you were picked on less and brought up Scott’s miniature ponies more.
Great lightroom presets, insights and tutorials. I look forward to seeing more.
Keep up the good work.
Folks,
Depending on what you’ve changed you can sometimes use photoshop to reduce the opacity of your lightroom changes. Just export both a copy of your changes and a copy of the original and work with the layers in photoshop. I have done this a few times to avoid trying to figure out the ratios.
Cheers…
Hi Matt
Just a quick one: What’s happened to the earlier videos? I’ve tried to re-visit a couple but get a message saying that they’re not on the server, both from the Killer Tips site and iTunes.
Bill
When we shot in two or more we sync the cameras, so we can sort by capture time and see the sequence. But during the selection workflow it would be cool to sort by CAMERA+CAPTURE TIME so that we select that sequence of images taken by that camera only in the right time sorting.
so the question is: is there a way to sort by multiple keys ?
thanks
FYI
There’s a whole bunch of (older) video’s no longer accessible on this site.
Great tips… I always look forward to your Q&A blog days… =)
But now I have a question of my own… is there a way to preserve the EXIF data when printing to JPEG using the Print Module? I’d like it to function pretty much like Export which preserves the EXIF data in the generated image.
Thanks in advance!
/jay/
Thx for everything Matt!
Thanx Ron! 🙂 Space bar! Just like in PS and I didn’t think about it for LR! Duh.
Yanik’s Photo School ,
yes there is a way to move around your image. in fact there are 2. 3 if you count the navigation window 🙂
you can use the space bar that temp changes to the hand and move around that way. or you can use page up/ page down. page up.down is great for dust spotting as well.
Ron
Thx for everything Matt!
My Q is: Is there a way to move the image around when zoomed at 100% while using the adjustment brushes?
DAVE,
THATS WHAT ITS SUPPOSED TO SHOW YOU THERE.
IF YOU GET THE CAMERA PROFILES FROM ADOBE (FREE) THEN YOU CAN CHANGE THAT IN THE CALIBRATION. NOW IF YOU WANT THE WB THAT U CAN SET YOUR CAMERA TO, WHICH IS ONLY A SETTING THATS APPLIED TO YOUR JPEG IN CAMERA PROCESSING THE RAW, IN OTHER WORDS WHEN YOUR SHOOTING JPEG AND THE CAMERA DOES ALL THE PROCESSING, THEN I WOULD SUGGEST DOWNLOADING MATTS WB PRESETS. IF YOU SET YOUR WB IN CAMERA TO SAY CLOUDY (OR ANY OTHER), THEN THATS THE AS SHOT IN LR AND IF YOU WOULD HAVE TO TWEEK IT THAT WOULD BE THEN CUSTOM, AUTO IS ALLOWING LR TO CHOOSE THE SETTINGS BASED ON TEMP IT SEES AND CORRECTING FOR THAT BY ITS SELF. WHAT YOU CAN DO IS TO SET UR CAMERA AT K IN WB MODE AND CHOOSE 5800K IN THE MENU AND APPLY IT, SHOOT A GRAY CARD AND SET UP EXPOSURE SO HISTOGRAM IS DEAD IN MIDDLE UNDER THE DIFFERENT LIGHTING CONDITIONS ( DAYLIGHT,TUNGSTEN,FLORESENT ECT..) AND THEN USE LIGHTROOMS EYE DROPPER TO WB EACH CARD AND SAVE THE SETTINGS FOR EACH CARD AS THE LIGHTING YOU WISH TO CORRECT FOR. YOU WOULD THEN HAVE A PRESET (ONLY INCLUDE THE WB SETTING IN IT) FOR DAYLIGHT,TUNGSTEN,FLORESENT,ECT..) LIGHTROOM WILL CORRECT FOR THE COLOR TO MAKE THE CARD GRAY AND YOU WILL HAVE ADJUSTMENTS THAT WILL WORK IN MOST SHOTS FOR THAT LIGHTING. GETS YOU AT A GOOD STARTING POINT. BUT THERE IS ALWAYS SOME TWEEKING INVOLVED, UNLESS YOU SHOOT A GRAY CARD EACH TIME YOU CHANGE LIGHTING CONDITIONS, THEN YOU CAN JUST WB THAT AND SYNC ALL THAT FALL UNDER THAT LIGHTING. I SOMETIMES SHOOT 10 GRAY CARDS AT A WEDDING JUST TO HAVE A GOOD STARTING POINT THROUGH OUT THE LR PROCESS.
RON
Help me Obi one your my only hope.
I just upgraded to 10.5.7 from 10.4, I did a firmware update to my epson 3800 to bring it up to date. But now when I print from LR say an 8×10 I get a 3×5 cut off at the top. I have no problems printing in PS with the same config. Am I missing some update for LR?
Thanks Doug
My comment is a question. Do you know if Lightroom will run on the new netbooks with a somewhat reduced capability processor? I haven’t been able to get a straight answer from anyone.
hey, i have a small issue, i have 2.4 and in the develop section, under WB: where you can choose light settings, i only have auto, as shot, and custom. where are all the others????
any help is greatly appreciated.
Hello !
More questions about presets :
– it’s not possible to decrease a preset, but is it possible to change the preset (parametrs etc) ?
– i want to create my own preset, how to include an automatic leveling (or exposure or luminosity/contrast) like you do in your presets ?
thanks a lot !
PS : i hope my english is quite good to understand ! 😉
Hi Matt,
If you export the original image and the edited version as layers in photoshop, you can then proceed to change its opacity in PS
Thanks
Jacob
Hi Matt,
If you export the original image and the edited version as layers in photoshop, you can then proceed to change its opacity in PS
Thanks
Jacob
Jan – in the toolbar at the bottom (T to toggle on/off) there is a Sort option. You have it set to Filename, but you can change that to Capture Time.
Matt,
I love your presets, but I was wondering if it would be possible for you to create a package containing all of them (like Vol.1, Vol. 2 etc.). I’ve had to redownload them from your site a couple times and it would be a welcomed time-saver.
Thanks! Love the blog and the tips!
Regarding response to question one: there is one problem running Lightroom in 64 bit mode. My HP Photosmart 8750 print drive doesn’t work normal as in 32 bit mode, options such as Paper & Quality is missing and is where also the printer color management can be eliminated.
Can you find out if Adobe is addressing the problem of importing with CF Cards. I have had numerous crashes while trying to import from CF and if thats not bad enough it locks up the whole computer and I have to shut down by pressing the on button (Force Quit does not even work) When I restart LR the catalog is always corrupt and can not be repaired. So I have to replace the cat with the back up.
ANDY,
IN THE IMPORT DIALOG NEAR BOTTOM THERE IS AN OPTION TO SELECT A PRESET TO BE APPLIED ON IMPORT. IT IS TOTALLY UNDOABLE BY USING THE RESET BUTTON. I HAVE CERTAIN ADJUSTMENTS THAT HAVE TO DO WITH EXPOSURE,RECOVERY,CLARITY,VIBERANCE AND CONTRAST..
I MADE A PRESET WITH THE SETTINGS I ALWAYS APPLY TO CERTAIN TYPES OF STUDIO WORK (NEVER INCLUDE WHITE BAL OR ANYTHING THAT CHANGES FROM SHOOT TO SHOOT) I CAN IMPORT 200 IMAGES LETS SAY AND HAVE ALL MY SETTING DONE EXCEPT WB (I SHOOT A GREY CARD FOR THAT) AND ALL I HAVE TO DO IS APPLY WB TO ONE IMAGE, THEN SYNC THEM ALL TO ONLY THE WB ( ONLY CHECK THAT BOX TO HAVE SYNC ) AND ITS DONE.
YOU CAN CHOOSE ANY OF YOUR DEVELOP PRESETS TO DO THIS AND OR IF ALL YOU DO IS ONE KIND OF SHOOTING AND ITS ALWAYS CONSISTANT IN LIGHTING AND ALL YOU HAVE LIGHTROOM IMPORT THAT SETTING ALL THE TIME. DONT FORGET YOU CAN TWEEK EACH IMAGE AS NEEDED FOR OVER/UNDEREXPOSEURE ECT.
AS BERT MONROY ALWAYS SAY’S “JUST PLAY” ITS HOW YOUR GONNA LEARN AND DISCOVER MORE.
RON
Hi Matt. I wanted to ask you about sorting photos and folders in libary module. In default it sorts by name. But is there any way I could change it to sort by date?
Thanks
I have to ask, given the comment about a cool new feature. Shouldn;t we be hearing about some Lightroom 3.0 plans by now ? Has there been any information about adobe’s plans for future enhancements that has been made public knowledge ?
Great tips! My Q for you: is there are way to have IMPORT presets similar to the customizable EXPORT options? e.g., Save To locations, filter/develop settings, file names, etc.? I love exporting client images using my presets – uniform output month to month – and I would really love having the same import options. If not, hey … pass it along for the next vers. Thx!