Lightroom 3 query

[Pops]

Been doing some reading on lightroom and still unsure about a couple of things.
Some writeups refer to it working with Photoshop ... is it a stand alone programme or not?

32 bit v 64 bit .. is there a vast difference. I am currently running Vista but if/when I change computer it will most likely have win 7. Which way to go with this?

Can you print directly from lightroom and if so are there templates for different sized printing paper. i.e. 5 x 7 .. 10 x 8 etc

Over the years I have always used Paint Shop pro and don't really fancy the expense or steep learning curve of Photoshop but am definately interested in Lightroom.
All advice/suggestions welcome
Thanks

 

[smooth]

Paul,

Lightroom for me is a fantastic library tool that enables a decent amount of workflow processing. I now only use PS for advanced editing such as cloning and manipulation - Lightroom covers most areas for me in terms of basic processing as a workflow - from importing right through to exporting with automatic scripts and printing, plus it has exporting to websites etc built in.

It allows you fairly advanced printing in different sizes, and can make slideshows etc. The TP Day Slideshow was made in LR with the slideshow pro plugin.

Awesome bit of kit.

I am afraid I cant comment on the 32/64 versions as I only have the 64 running on a mac.

Any others questions, then fire away

 

[Musicman]

Been doing some reading on lightroom and still unsure about a couple of things.
Some writeups refer to it working with Photoshop ... is it a stand alone programme or not?

It is a stand alone application. It does integrate nicely with Photoshop. I probably use PS for one shot in 100 with digital capture.

32 bit v 64 bit .. is there a vast difference. I am currently running Vista but if/when I change computer it will most likely have win 7. Which way to go with this?

You get both versions in the box.

Can you print directly from lightroom and if so are there templates for different sized printing paper. i.e. 5 x 7 .. 10 x 8 etc

Yes. There are some built-in templates (for 6x4 and contact sheets, for example). You can make your own templates for other sizes.

 

[Pops]

Thanks very much smoothedit (slideshow is very impressive) and Musicman ..
You covered everything I needed to know

Gonna take a look at the trial version for a while starting today

 

[smooth]

Paul,

Worth a look at Lightroom Mogrify2 - superb plugin for exporting with watermarks and advanced features. All my images are watermarked using it, and once setup all you do, is right click on a picture and click an export preset and your image will be set!

Check out www.smoothedit.com for examples of the watermark

 

[Pops]

Thanks smoothedit...have bookmarked that for later perusal

 

[Chappers]

Have a look at some of the Lightroom tutorials on the web.

Adobe have some good ones,

http://tv.adobe.com/product/lightroom/

plus try the NAPP web site, or simply Google Lightroom Tutorials

 

[Pops]

Have a look at some of the Lightroom tutorials on the web.

Adobe have some good ones,

http://tv.adobe.com/product/lightroom/

plus try the NAPP web site, or simply Google Lightroom Tutorials

Thanks Chappers but I ran into a silly problem with the trial version of Lightroom.
Downloaded...had a quick look, Next time I went to open it I first got the usual buy or try screen then I got a error message box...
('Adobe Photoshop Lightroom has stopped working' a problem cause the prog to stop working. Windows will close the prog and notify you if a solution is available)
Cleared my cache and tried again with the same result. Tried a repair from the exe, that didn't work. Uninstalled --- re downloaded and still got the same message. Gave up and went and made a cuppa

 

[Byker28i]

Paul,

Worth a look at Lightroom Mogrify2 - superb plugin for exporting with watermarks and advanced features. All my images are watermarked using it, and once setup all you do, is right click on a picture and click an export preset and your image will be set!

Check out www.smoothedit.com for examples of the watermark

The watermark feature in LR3 is brilliant now. A tip is to use an image for your watermark stored as a PNG file, then you can use opacity. If you use a jpg then it's a solid colour.

 

[smooth]

The watermark feature in LR3 is brilliant now. A tip is to use an image for your watermark stored as a PNG file, then you can use opacity. If you use a jpg then it's a solid colour.

Yip. Still prefer mogrify for its one stop shop capability for export - from sharpening to meta and all inbetween.

Love the blending option for the watermark - it ensures that my watermark changes colour dependent on the BG it is on - therefore should be viewable and not lost on any pic:

EG:

 

[Byker28i]

Ah now that's a neat feature. I have a white copyright pic and a black one, depending on colour of background.

 

[smooth]

Ah now that's a neat feature. I have a white copyright pic and a black one, depending on colour of background.

Aye - a good option that I might switch to. The current one above works well it most cases but can sometimes be lost if you shoot and put in on a colour similar to that of your 'base' ie the original watermark - mine is purple.

 

[Byker28i]

Only problem with my method is you have to remember to pick the appropriate watermark on export. OK when say in a studio shoot with just white background, but a pain when swapping backgrounds etc.