Hi folks. Time for another one of those random Q&A days.

Q. Is it true that Bogen is giving a free Webinar called “Fashionable Wedding Photography: Roundtable with Claudio Basso” on Friday April 17th between 2pm-3pm EDT?
A. Actually, yes, it is indeed true 🙂 Sorry, my friends over at Bogen asked if we’d spread the word about the webinar and this was the only way I could think to get it in here without creating a separate post. If you want to attend you can register here. I promise the rest of the questions are really questions.

Q. Is there a way to include Crop information (like 5×7) into a preset?
A. You know, if I hadn’t researched this question I would have instinctively just said yes. But after trying it I realized there is no way to include your favorite crop info into the preset. You can always set one photo to the crop preset you want and then synchronize a bunch of them but there’s no way to embed the Crop info into the actual preset.

Q. I’ve seen you mention onOne and Nik Software’s plug-ins a few times lately. Am I better off using the Lightroom version of the plug-in or the Photoshop version?
A. It really depends. The one big difference between the Lightroom version of the plug-ins and the Photoshop version is that you get layers with Photoshop. So if you find yourself applying the effect of the plug-in on to a separate layer and using masks to blend the two together then you may want to go into Photoshop to run the plug-in. In cases like Silver Efex Pro, I rarely want to put the black and white on a separate layer. I either want color or black and white so I’m cool with just the Lightroom version. Really, when it comes to plug-ins, I always suggest people just download the free trials from the plug-in company’s website. They’re usually fully functional and you can truly test out whether (and how) you’d use them.

Q. Why doesn’t my Graduated Filter have those little horizontal guides that I’ve always seen when dragging one on to my photo?
A. I get this question a lot more then you’d think. I’ll also get asked “Where’d my Adjustment Brush pins go?” a lot too. Basically, this usually happens when you’ve accidentally hidden them by pressing the H key. Most of the time it’s inadvertent. Or, if you’re like me, you heard a tip somewhere about pressing H, so you did. But then you forgot to press H again to show the Graduated filter guides or pins. Then, if you’re really like me, the problem becomes compounded because you forget the tip (please tell me this happens to you too) 🙂
Anyway, to sum up, just press the H key if the guides or pins are gone. It’ll bring them back.

Q. How do I move my Lightroom catalog to a different computer (laptop, desktop)?
A. I’ve got a video that goes into moving a catalog between laptop and desktop. I recorded it a while ago but it still applies the same today.

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15 comments

  1. Richard W. 16 April, 2009 at 16:05 Reply

    I don’t know if anyone has already asked this but why is there no Preview when Exporting to .jpg in LR as there is in PS? It would be nice to see to what extent the compression changes/diminishes the quality of the final image before committing to the change.

  2. Jonathan 16 April, 2009 at 08:16 Reply

    Matt – This site is one of the most useful on the web in my opinion, I check it every day. I have a question though: I use the Title field in Metadata to add unique descriptors to filenames of virtual copies so they are not just whatever-2.jpg when I rename them. The problem I am having is I create the virtual copies and then tweak them in Develop module but of course I can not actually get to the Title Field in develop so I made Metadata presets for the develop presets I run the the virtual copies. You can right click on the image in develop and access your Metadata presets but for some reason they do not always work when I apply a metadata preset. Do you know what I am doing wrong? It seems that if I apply the preset then select another image it usually works but if I apply the preset and then go to the library module to check it it is usually blank.

    Have any ideas?

  3. Geoff 15 April, 2009 at 15:14 Reply

    I feel somewhat dumb asking this question, but I am new to LR and I’m 1/3 of the way through Scott Kelby’s LR2 book, and as I’m following along I noticed for some reason I can’t use the keyboard shortcut to Import images (CTRL+ALT+I). Other keyboard shortcuts work just fine, any reason why this particular one is giving me such a hard time? I checked the CAPS LOCK and it’s off, so I’m stumped. Any suggestions? Thanks.

  4. Vincent Iñaki 15 April, 2009 at 13:14 Reply

    Hy Matt,

    I have a question about the Web module in Lightroom. I don’t know anything about flash or html or anything like that, but is it possible the make a gallery in Lightroom and include that in a site made in iWeb?

    Thanks,
    Vince

  5. Larrytee 15 April, 2009 at 11:37 Reply

    To Frank Collman – on your problem printing in LR. I have Epson R1800 and understand your problem. If you will email me I will help you. I now print in LR all the time. One key is to download a profile for you photo paper.

    Larrytee@gmail.com

  6. Luca 15 April, 2009 at 09:58 Reply

    Is there a way to put a watermark in the middle of pics in the WEB module, like the feature available for the Print Module ?
    Thanks
    Luca

  7. Ron 15 April, 2009 at 02:19 Reply

    hi Matt,

    I have a PS question..

    I have been long wondering what the option in the “save as .jpeg dialog”
    that allows you to change from 56kb to 128kb ect.. its at the bottom.

    can you explain that please?

    is there a setting that gives a best quality with less compression?
    what is it for? and why would you change it and what is best?

    maybe you can share it as a tutorial on PSUTV so we can all learn.

    thank you for sharing your knowledge.

    Ron

  8. Jack 14 April, 2009 at 19:55 Reply

    Matt,

    First time post, long time lurker.

    Sara’s comments about preset for printing are good. I don’t print much, but I do export a lot of images to JPEG. I set an export preset that includes specific dimensions. Could that be why you can’t set the crop preset?

    jack

  9. mattk 14 April, 2009 at 17:06 Reply

    Yovko (and everyone for that matter) – Sorry folks, I misunderstood the pricing of the Nik Plug-ins. You can buy a separate Lightroom complete collection (available soon) but you don’t buy the products individually. For example, if you buy Silver Efex Pro then you get both LR and PS versions of the plug-in. However, if you opt to buy the complete collection for LR when it’s available (for a discounted price), then you only get the LR versions of the plug-ins and won’t be able to apply them from Photoshop.

    Hope that clears things up.

    Matt K

  10. Sara 14 April, 2009 at 14:25 Reply

    For #2, the 5×7 crop preset question: As an alternative approach, I keep all of my photos full frame in the library. If I crop a photo, it is a general composition crop and I keep the same full frame aspect ratio as the original.

    To crop for different print sizes, I use presets in the print module. There I have a 4×6, 5×7, etc. print presets. After applying a print preset to a group of photos, I make minor adjustments, like sliding the photo to cut more on the left side, directly in the print module.

    Hope this makes sense… Pros and cons to both ways.

  11. Jack 14 April, 2009 at 10:50 Reply

    I have found that the Nik plug-ins works seamlessly with LR. However, I have had all sorts of problems trying to use the onOne plug-ins through LR. If I simply send the file to PS and then apply the onOne plug-in and save it back, everything works fine.

  12. John 14 April, 2009 at 10:25 Reply

    Hi Matt, Love the site, has loads of useful info, thanks.

    I have a question, Can lightroom act as workflow software for an on-location kids sports shoot, I mean can it instantly capture photos and display in a gallery for parents to see? Then can I uploaded edited pictures to my personal site or a lab site where parents can choose pictures and have them printed/

    Thank you.

  13. Frank Kollman 14 April, 2009 at 10:00 Reply

    Matt:

    In Photoshop, you have a trick for lightening prints using layers and the screen mode at 20 to 40%. Is there a similar workaround for Lightroom. I have an Epson r2400 that prints about 40% darker than what appears on my calibrated monitor. I would like to print in Lightroom as well as Photoshop.

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