Adobe has released updates for Lightroom 2.6 and Camera Raw 5.6. These updates provide support for many new camera models along with fixing a couple of bugs.

More info and downloads at

http://www.adobe.com/downloads/updates/

Crazy great deals on Lightroom today http://bit.ly/8arWB3

Thursday Nov 5 I am giving a Lightroom presentation at the Denver Photographic Society meeting. Click here for more info.

A recent question from a client:

“I have prepared a few images for my winter publication, exported out of LR and sent them on to my designer. They need CMYK. So, at what point do I make that conversion. Would I do an edit into Photoshop, make the conversion and then save it from there?”

My answer:

“Conversion to CMYK needs to be done in Photoshop. When you’re done working on your master file (either in Lightroom or Photoshop), make sure to save it, then convert to CMYK as part of your process of generating the derivative file. You can do this my choosing Image > Color Mode > CMYK. (Be sure to retain your original RGB master!)

When you do this, the CMYK color space that will be used by Photoshop is determined by what’s set in Color Settings. You should use a CMYK profile that is as close as possible to the color space of the printing press being used; for example, if printing on a web press, use US Web Coated etc.. Try to get a custom profile from the printer, made specifically for their press. If you can’t get one, ask them what CMYK profile to use.

In Photoshop, You can also convert to any profile on your computer (CMYK or otherwise) under Edit > Convert to to Profile > and then select the profile from the menu. Sometimes this provides a better method than simply changing the mode due to the available options for choosing different rendering intents and a live preview.”

A recent question from a client:

“I have already confused myself in my own naming conventions and would like your advice. For FolioSnap (my website) I have been putting the state first, card name (for my named cards), or State, subject, year and number (if applicable). But then getting into it for my designer and GuestGuide site, I seem to be all over the board. I then put SM_season_year_what_number, so SM_winter_skiing_01 (if I had more details like family, kids, or location, I would put that in as well. No one way seems to be correct for all uses- yet I could be starting a real mess here. Any tips on this??”

My answer:

“It’s quite possible that your “internal” naming convention might not be suitable for all outside uses; other people might want you to use specific conventions. This is fine.

For your original, working or master files, do what makes sense to you. When saving your derivative files for specific usage you can use alternate naming schemes. Lightroom’s File Naming Template make this easy.

Also, if you rename files from within Lightroom, LR will keep track of the “original” file names, on the Metadata panel.

Keep in mind that you should use keywords to describe the specific subject matter of a photo. Don’t worry about making your file name too specific; usually date and location is plenty. For example, you can always find your winter skiing pictures later, using keywords.”

A question from a client:
“I have a slideshow on my desktop, and I’d like to be able to play it on my laptop. What’s the best way to transfer the file(s) over to the laptop?  None of the images are on the laptop at the moment.  If I save the desktop slideshow as a PDF, I don’t think the music will go, nor can I replace it when I play it on the laptop.  Is that correct?”

My answer:
“Correct, from Lightroom, Exported PDF slideshows cannot contain music.

The best way to do what you describe:

1. On your main machine (in your master catalog etc.) put the desired files into a Collection, if they’re not already.
2. Right-click/control-click on the Collection name and choose “Export Collection as Catalog”. Choose your desktop as the location and give it a descriptive name. Also enable the option to copy the original (master) files.
3. Copy that folder, with the catalog and all the image files, onto your laptop. It will be easiest if you just copy the folder to the desktop (Finder or Explorer). Using a USB jump drive would probably be easiest for this.
4. On the laptop, open the new folder, and double-click the exported catalog to open Lightroom with that catalog loaded.
5. Set up your slideshow and play it from there.

NOTE: You will also need to copy your music file(s) to the laptop.

ALSO NOTE: This is one of those cases involving multiple catalogs where you will need to check next time you open Lightroom that the correct catalog is loaded, before you continue working!”

A recent question from a client:
“I am still a bit confused on the whole ‘don’t save a jpeg to a jpeg thing’ when before I switched to RAW, my files are all jpegs, so if I want to save an image for the web, it will be a jpeg from a jpeg. Is this still OK? Can you help me with this?”

My answer:
“In this case, you have no choice, so don’t worry about it. After your editing is done, go ahead and resave your derivative JPGs from the original JPG captures.

Saving a new, derivative JPG from a JPG master probably won’t be a problem if you only do it once and use high quality settings on the re-save (quality 80 or higher). But you don’t want to keep saving a single JPG over and over, because each time data is lost.

So if you’re opening your original JPGs into Photoshop to work on them, immediately do a Save As first, and save the new master file as a TIF. Going forward, all work should be done to this TIF, and all derivatives saved from it. In this case the original JPG capture is no longer the working master and is only saved for archival purposes.

Save your new, final JPGs only after all your editing/processing work is done on the new master TIF, and when you need to generate JPG derivatives for specific purposes.

And of course, from now on, only capture RAW.”

A question from a friend: I accidentally did a sync settings and it affected everything in a library.  Is there a way to force an undo back to “as shot” on all the JPGs and DNGs in the library?

My response: This is easy to do, and you have a couple of options for how to approach it.

Option 1: Undo the Sync by pressing Cmd-Z or Ctrl-Z, or selecting the Undo command under the Edit menu. Read more…

A couple of days ago, I moved all my photos and Lightroom catalog to new hard drives. It was easier than I had anticipated; let me tell you how it all went.

First, some history. As outlined in my Lightroom book, I work from one main drive that contains all my image files as well as the master Lightroom catalog. This master drive is frequently synchronized with two identical drives; one which remains on my desktop and one that is stored securely in a fireproof box. (I am considering renting a safe deposit box for this, instead.)

Up to this point, I had been working with 500 GB drives. And I was running out of room; down to about 16 GB free space. Read more…

A question from a reader: Hello Nat, I hope you can help me out as I have a question regarding a LR issue.

When I load LR, it brings up the ‘Select Catalog’ option where I can choose a catalog to work from in LR.  I have 3 catalogs listed…my primary catalog, my wifes primary catalog then I have my backup catalog showing in the list.  How do I remove my backup catalog from the list?  I am afraid that I am going to select the backup catalog do some work then when the scheduled backup runs at night it will wipe out any work I do as my backup is set to mirror primary catalog to
backup catalog.

Any help is much appreciated.  I wish LR would make it easier to remove a catalog from the ‘Select Catalog’ option.

My answer: Hi Chris – Thanks for your email; I am glad to help. I understand your concern about making sure not to accidentally open your backup catalog.

Unfortunately, I don’t know of a way to manually remove a catalog from the suggestion list. However, I do know catalogs that have not been opened using that menu for a long period of time will eventually come off the list on their own.

Here’s what I’d recommend:
Under Preferences > General > Default Catalog, specify your main working catalog to open every time Lightroom starts, and turn off the option for Lightroom to prompt you. Read more…

A recent question from a student: Hi Nat, I just got back from a shoot and want to look at all photos that I took in a certain range of focal lengths.  (Yes, I know how to filter by lens type but I want to look at a range of focal lengths that span the boundaries of one of my zoom lenses.)  I was able to do this in in LR1.  I suspect I can do it in LR2.

You showed me a shortcut that gave me an advanced query panel in LR2 which is where I think I can do this.  However, I cannot find a reference or note that points me to this.  Can you refresh my memory?

My answer: In Lightroom 2, what you’re looking for is called the Filter Bar. It is activated in the Library Grid by using the \ key. (It’s also under the View menu > Show Filter Bar)

You can create complex sources using the filter bar, and you can combine different types of filters to produce the exact selection of photos that you want.

You can also save filters for later use.

Keep in mind that the settings on the filter bar are specific to the current source, so make sure you have clicked on the Folder or Collection etc. that you want to filter.

Also, you can use Smart Collections in similar ways but with even more power… we will cover this in future classes.

And there’s lots more about Filters and Smart Collections in my Lightroom 2 book.

Today Adobe released Lightroom 2.4 and Adobe Camera Raw 5.4. DNG Converter has also been updated.

These updates provide support for 31 new camera models plus a few bug fixes. They can be downloaded here

If you print your photos from Lightroom, you may notice that with different papers, the color and tonal output varies, even if printing on the same printer.

This is because all different printer/paper/ink combinations result in varying range of colors and tones that can be accurately reproduced.

In other words, if you print the same photo from Lightroom (or any other program, for that matter) on glossy photo paper, cotton rag art paper and canvas, each print will look different.

So what’s a photographer to do?

The answer is simple, but the implementation is not: you need to make adjustments to the photo for each substrate prior to printing. Read more…

In Lightroom there are a number of ways you can change the magnification [zoom ratio] of images on the screen.

The most basic controls are in the Library module, where you have Grid [thumbnails] and Loupe [full screen] views. Use G for Grid and E for Loupe. Easy, right? You can also double-click a thumbnail to open that photo in Loupe, or double click a Loupe preview to return to Grid.

Here’s more: when you’re in Loupe view, you have a number of ways to magnify the image even more. My favorite is the same shortcut as in Photoshop: Cmd= (Ctrl=) to zoom in, and Cmd– (Ctrl–) to zoom out.

Then there’s the space bar. Tapping the space bar will toggle your view between the two most recently used zoom ratios.

Last but not least, the Navigator panel (Library and Develop modules) contains a preview of the image in which you can "navigate", plus a list of zoom ratios at the top. Click the far right ratio for a dropdown menu where you can specify a zoom ratio.

I hope this gives you some new ways to zoom in and out of your images. Depending on where you are in Lightroom and what task you’re working to accomplish, a different zoom method may be more useful.

Feel free to post questions and comments!

Use the number keys to apply ratings
In my workflow, I edit folders of photos to determine the best ones. I start with one star, then filter so I am only seeing those with one star, then two stars, and so on. This way, within a relatively short period of time, I can narrow down the photos to just my favorite ones.

With one or more photos selected, it’s easy to apply and change ratings using the number keys on your keyboard. Simply press 1 for one star, 2 for two stars, etc. Pressing 0 (zero) removes the rating from the photo(s).

Use the arrow keys to move between images in the grid or filmstrip. With your right hand on the arrow keys, and your left hand on the numbers across the top of the keyboard, you can really fly through your rating process.

More about this is in my new book .