Lightroom Videos

Video – Lightroom Custom Print Template

Hey everyone. A friend of mine, Dawn Camp over at MyHomeSweetHomeOnline.net sent me a graphic the other week and asked if we could create something similar in Lightroom. After working with it for a while, I realized that (with some Photoshop help of course) we definitely could. There’s some cool little tricks for the Print module along the way as well. Hope you enjoy!

Share:

27 comments

  1. Jay Paul 21 May, 2011 at 01:22 Reply

    Is there a way to save the actual photos with the layout as a template so you can come back to it if the client wants to reorder more.

  2. Per Andersen 16 December, 2010 at 17:00 Reply

    Hi Matt,

    Thanks for showing.

    You probably already know that there is another way of duplicating a frame from one photo to another in LR print module.

    Just select the photo which frame you want to duplicate, press the ALT key (PC) and drag the photo to the target position. This will then be a copy of that photo, but as you know, you can just drag the photo you want to the new frame, and you’re done.

    Cheers, Per

  3. Dennis Zito 16 December, 2010 at 13:34 Reply

    Hey Matt, Great Tutorial! I have a question. Before you drag the images and color swatches into the print module, wouldn’t you need to set up a blank sheet in the module for a certain size? For example, if I wanted a 8 x 10, wouldn’t I need a blank 8 x 10 paper size in the print module first before I start dragging?

    Thanks again!

    Dennis

    • RON 16 December, 2010 at 15:46 Reply

      Yes Dennis,

      you need to choose your page size first for everything you do in the print module.

      Check out the past tutorials on here, a lot of times you may find answers to questions or discover features that make the whole LR experience that much more.

      Matt Rocks with the tips!

      Ron

  4. Dawn Camp 16 December, 2010 at 10:21 Reply

    Matt, you’re the greatest! I’m so glad I asked you about this. When I saw those rounded corners, I thought you could come up with a way to do this in the print module. This is great for an interesting layout for images for a blog post, too. Thanks so much!

  5. Harald 16 December, 2010 at 08:54 Reply

    For some reason I can’t watch the videos from this side anymore.
    Mac 10.6.5 with Firefox 3.6.13 and Flash 10,1,102,64
    Other Flash videos on other sites like youtube work…

    Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

    • RON 16 December, 2010 at 12:14 Reply

      do you have no script? if you do, you must allow it in no script. or any other add on for firefox you may have that blocks scripts.

      • Harald 17 December, 2010 at 03:42 Reply

        No Ron, I have no script-disabling add-on installed.
        I have also checked all the settings, if I block something from this site.
        And the videos don’t work in Safari either…

        But thanks for your help!

        Harald

  6. Magnus 16 December, 2010 at 04:04 Reply

    Nice tutorial, Matt!

    There’s only one thing I don’t understand, and I’ve noticed it in some other videos you’ve made. Why do you refer to the ppi setting when you create a new document with fixed pixel size?

    In this video you create a 6000*6000 pixels document. Above that you say that 240 ppi is enough. Why? You’ve already set the document dimensions in pixels. The ppi value has no meaning. It’s only confusing people. You can set the ppi to 40000 – it has no effect on the file.

  7. Peter 15 December, 2010 at 18:21 Reply

    Neat idea Matt,
    As Ron mentioned the same can be accomplished by creating a background in PS and using the identity plate. This does have some advantages over PS in that now any image in your catalog can be placed easily by just picking from the image bar.

    Since Lr 1.0, I have been using and creating these templates for my use in visualizing how an image may looked framed or matted in various sizes and colors. I also use this feature to create calendars and recently I have been developing templates to aid in the sizing and selecting of an image for canvas printing.
    Anyone can check out what I have done on my site by clicking my name and selecting Lr templates and presets from my main menu bar.

    • RON 16 December, 2010 at 12:10 Reply

      You know it Peter,

      Ever since Matt did the “hacked the print layout” tutorial I have too done some things
      that quite frankly was easier and faster than PS. But that was because when I created something interesting in PS, that would work as a background, I would save it in a folder with the idea of future possibilities in LR.

      Nice stuff Peter!

      Ron

  8. Kimberly Fetrow 15 December, 2010 at 16:37 Reply

    Why would you ever design any kind of print in Lightroom? It is a pain in the rear to design a new template and then figure out how to export said template to print. Just use Photoshop in the first place. As far as I’m concerned, the PRINT tab in LR is worthless.

  9. RON 15 December, 2010 at 15:46 Reply

    Great tip,

    you can also create the backgound as its own file ( in matts example using a doc with half one color and half the other flattened as jpeg ) and use it as a identity plate graphical placed behind. go a step further and create a print template as a preset with that graphic identity plate and print layout and you can go back to it any time by choosing the print preset. this works as well for many other things like laying out books and albums. just choose print to jpeg 300dpi as your method of printing and send to your favorite lab, like MPIX PRO 🙂

    Ron

  10. Bill Webb 15 December, 2010 at 14:22 Reply

    Matt,

    Great tip. Thanks for continuing to help me explore and exploit the features, functions and flexibility of Lightroom.

    Merry Christmas.

    Bill

  11. Javet M. Kimble 15 December, 2010 at 11:54 Reply

    A few years ago you posted sets of printer templates i.e. 3up vertical and horizontal. I had downloaded installed and then lost is it possible to get your old templates I can not seem to find them here. I know if I go by this post I can make them but yours were neat and no work 🙂

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *