Q&A Day
Hi everyone. Been getting lots of good questions lately so here’s another Q&A day for you.
Q. Hi Matt. In your Sharpening Workflow video, why didn’t you open in Photoshop as a smart object. You could still apply your filter as a smart filter right?
A. Actually that’s a great question and I don’t really have a good answer for it other then smart objects just aren’t ingrained in my workflow yet. Once smart object layers become regular layers and that’s the default layer then I’ll probably get it right. But for now, I’ve got 15+ years of Photoshop experience working against me and smart object layers just don’t come natural (as evidenced by the video because it never even crossed my mind).
Q. Speaking of that video Matt, why didn’t you just use the Adjustment Brush in Lightroom (with some sharpening) instead of going to Photoshop to do it?
A. Man, what’s with the ‘tude? 🙂 I’ve got a blog post where I’ll talk more about that. But for the most part, I just don’t like sharpening in Lightroom. Mainly because I have to zoom in to 100% to even see it. It just bugs me. Also when it comes to the brush, I only get one setting so I feel like I have more control in Photoshop. More on this later though because I have seen some decent results with the Adjustment Brush sharpening (it was actually better then I thought).
Q. I export and rename my Lightroom files as JPEGs for upload to my website. Is there a way to link back to the photo in Lightroom? As it is now I “hope” I am looking at the same photo I uploaded when I go to print for sale.
A. The short answer is no. There is an option in the Export dialog that re-imports the JPEGs (I did a video on it a while back) but that doesn’t create any sort of link to the original. So if you rename them when you export you’re kinda on your own.
Q. Could someone please tell me how I can print an 8.5 x 11 (borderless) from the LR print module? There isn’t a template for even an 8×10!
A. Click on your Page Setup button (lower left side of the screen). Then choose the Custom option to create a custom page size if the printer you’ve chosen doesn’t already have an 8.5×11 preset.
Q. HELP!! I accidentally deleted a picture from Lightroom. I was able to recover it from the trash, but I lost the hours worth of editingÂ…can I recover that also?
A. If you actually deleted from Lightroom (selected the photo and pressed Delete) then you’re pretty much outta luck. Lightroom doesn’t manage the photo anymore so even if you re-import the photo after you found it in the trash its not going to bring back your work. Now for the more pertinent question. How did you spend “hours” of work on 1 photo in LR? Does LR really have that much functionality that 1 photo could take hours? I’m just sayin’ 🙂
That’s it for today. Have a good one!
IÂ’m not sure if something is wrong in LR3 when I go to to the “Page Setup” I just get the “Print Setup” dialog box. I have checked the options and I can’t figure out the problem.
Thanks,
Tommy
I have this real nasty problem.
I take a ton of photos and I use lightroom to manage them and I just started to use lightroom not to long ago and not sure what to do.
So, heres my problem.
When ever I work on a photo, say I crop it, sharp it, sat, etc and then export it (save it) and when I want to view my photos in lightroom, everything that I had done to the image are now repeated, like it crop it again, sharped it again, sat it again, added more contrast and it makes it look like crap.
I don’t wants going on, but when I go look at the photos that lightroom saved, they are all good and all have the changes that I made, but when I view them in lightroom, they are all messed up.
Why is that? If it can’t be fixed then I guess I gotta find another program and I really liked how Lightroom worked just not this stupid set back.
Please help me!!
Regards to Linking back. I don’t have a complicated or the perfect solution to his problem just some advice that I use. I have to do the same thing for weddings and Sports Team pics. what I do is this when I create my jpgs and rename them I only rename the 1st half and allow lightroom to add the original file name become part of the whole file name. This does not create a link but it makes it much easier to find the original file.
Hope this helps it’s simple and works for sometimes I will have 2 or 3 copies in different crops so they are a kept in a sub catalog of the original
Photographically Yours
Steve
Reading the question on tracking online resources on a former Q&A brought up an old one for me – I’m using several gallery sites (e.g. Google’s Picasa) to exchange digital photograhps with friends and colleagues. Problem: I’m only using these services occasionally, so I’ve got to dig for passwords, get re-acquainted with the interface and so on.
Any chance that LR 2 is able to interface with web services via plug-in or by any other means?
Cheers,
Michael
Hi Matt,
thanks for sharing your killer tips – I love to watch your weekly podcasts.
I’m wondering whether you can answer my question as I didn’t find an answer elsewhere:
I have a lot of virtual copies and I would like to define a smart collection which includes all the virtual copies. Do you know how to do this?
Thanks and regards from Switzerland,
Marco
Hi Matt,
I have always been perplexed by the “Custom Label” filter on the bottom toolbar. I have been unable to find how to create a custom label (if you even can) or what this filter would be used for if you can’t. Any enlightening info would be much appreciated!
Thanks-
Dana
Hi Matt, Nice Blog Love it! Keep goin!
Lr Printmodule:
Ok here is what I like to do without jumping to PS.
I would love to print two images on one sheet ( 8by11 or so ), and both images have a custom text on it, same text!
Thanks a lot,
Jakob
@Geoff: Custom paper sizes are available in Win LR. With the 4 printers (HP and Epson) I checked it is in the print drivers, listed as “user defined” under paper “size”. A dialog box pops up and allows you to enter custom paper dimensions.
Oops, that should be Bullzip PDF, not Bull PDF
@Geoff: one way I’ve found to use custom print sizes is to install a PDF printer such as BullPDF, then “print” to that printer (I only ever print to a jpeg file, so that works for me). Within that printer driver you have the option to change the page size to any dimension you wish.
Hope that helps.
Gavin
Matt – again you reference custom print sizes or print sizes that just don’t seem to be available on the Windows version of Lightroom. The only options I have are:
1. Choose the printer
2. Choose the paper. The paper sizes are set by the printer driver, and there is no “custom” option that I see. None of the predefined options are common photographic sizes.
3. Source (paper tray, manual feed, etc.)
4. Orientation.
What is this custom size you mention and where can I find it? I can’t setup proper print templates without it (page size and orientation).
Thank you,
Geoff Faulkner
Matt,
First off let me say how much of a blessing you are. Honestly, you’ve taught me so much. Thank you.
Next, I hope this is the right forum for posting a question to you. If not, perhaps someone could point me in the right direction.
Question:
Matt, what’s the best way to export photos from Lightroom for exporting to clients online? I wish to be able to put my name on the photo and keep the metadata so that my copyright is attached to the photo. I appreciate any help you can give me.
Stef
I’m learning Lightroom 2 through your great videos at Kelby Training. I have Vista 64 and when I got Photoshop CS4 it loaded both the 64 and 32 bit versions. I use the 32 since it works with things like Nik Software. When I set up Lightroom 2, it found Vista 64 and would only load the 64 bit version. I’m not sure why Adobe didn’t do the same thing as they did with CS and load both versions. Do you know if it is possible to load the 32 bit version in my computer or is there some reason why they didn’t do it? It would all work better and I could use the Nik software either within Photoshop or with Lightroom 2. Now both programs are set up as External Editors.
Regarding Printing :: I’m not sure if something is wrong with my version of LR or if there is a fundamental flaw with the PC version of LR or if i’m just misunderstanding something, but when I go to to the “Page Setup” I just get the “Print Setup” dialog box. Now, when I go onto someone else’s Mac, the button works as it should. Is there another way to get to where I can actually set up the page on the PC version like the Mac version, or is there just something off with my version? Or am I just suppose to set up my printing to what i’d like and let it go on it’s own and hope for the best…?
Regarding linking back to a photo – I always slect and then edit my pics in a Quick Collection – once done, I then add these to an appropriate collection – so all the images that have appeared on my blog are all in a collection named nhblog – just create suitable collections – this is one of the great advantages of virtual editing!!
Help!!!
I have 4 podcasts listed in itunes and only 2 will sync onto my ipod. I dont get a chance to watch them on the big screen. Why wont they sync????
Hi Matt,
please keep in mind that there are a LOT of LR users like me out threre who simply don’t own PS or don’t use it any longer. Therefore, a sharpening workflow inside LR is the way to go.
Thanks for you great tips, it has enabled me to use LR to its full potential!
Regards,
Herwig
Regarding linking back to a photo there is several ways to do this as I see it:
1. You could create a Virtual Copy
2. You could make use of the “snapshot” feature
3. You could create the web exports from within the Print module (which automatically writes a dated “history” entry)
Making use of any of these features one could successfully control a system that easily would confirm if the picture you are printing for sale is the same as the customer has seen on the web.
Good luck!
Hi Matt,
this is totally not a LR thing,
a while back on psutv you showed an aluminum print.
I found a site that does the same thing at a more reasonable cost,
check it out..
http://www.magnachrome.com/
Ron
I spent hours because I kept changing my mind on how it should look. I used your adjustment brush presets and spent 1/2 an hour on the eyes, teeth, etc. The rest of the time was spent tweaking…closing…coming back later…tweaking some more…un-tweaking. But when I redid the photo, really it only took 10-15 minutes to get it back to where it was.
Hi Matt,
Hey, I liked your sharpening video. You explained the basics pretty well. Regarding sharpening, I seem to recall that on PSUTV you had a tip on using the high pass filter as a sharpening tool, changing the blend mode to overlay and adjusting opacity for strength of effect etc… (please correct me if it wasn’t you). Either way, it would be great if you could discuss this as a sharpening tool compared to using USM and when would someone use one over the other.
Cheers!
Regarding the deletion of photos from Lightroom I’ve been wondering if all the keywords I’ve used to catalog my photos are actually written to the actual photo file? I recently deleted a photo by accident and after restoring the photo from the recycling bin, the keywords were missing. I’m troubled because I’ve spent a great amount of time cataloging photos in Lightroom for easy retrieval. Any suggestions on how I can ensure my keywords are not last?
Matt,
I just watched your video on reimporting photos into Lightroom. You asked for suggestions as to why one would need to do this. Here’s my answer: I like Lightroom’s web module, but I want to add my logo to the photos before I make the web gallery. Since I haven’t found a way to add my logo to my images in Lightroom, I’ve created an action in Photoshop that does it, and using an action droplet, I export smaller jpgs for the web from Lightroom, which launches the Photoshop action. I then bring those exported jpgs back into Lightroom and use the Web module to create a photo gallery.
Again, back to the last question, if you go to Edit/Catalog Settings, then select the Metadata tab, there’s an option there to Automatically Write changes to XMP. Lightroom then creates an XMP sidecar file which accompanies the image, and contains all the editing information, keywords, metadata etc. If you delete an image you also delete the XMP, but if you restore both from the recycle bin and reimport/synchronise, all your edits will be retained.
Compared to the size of the images, XMPs are small, so don’t worry about space.
Regarding the lost photo: if the user had a backup of his LR catalog from after the editing but before the deletion, he could open this catalog, search for the picture, export it to a new catalog, reopen the current catalog (the one where the picture was deleted) and import the picture from the exported catalog. That way everything should be back.