lightroom

Get a book on how to use it and don't expect everything to fall into place for a few weeks. Once you are used to it, it really is easy. I wouldn't use anything else.

That said the basics are not that hard. I showed my wife how to use it in 10 minutes or so. Depends how much you want to do.
 
scottthehat said:
Hi all not used lightroom before, but now have lightroom 3 and its so hard to use, evenjust opening a photo is a task and a half, am i doing something wrong. no wonder my friend sold it to me cheap he said he couldnt get on with it.
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Are you sure you are talking about LR? :)
What do you mean "hard to even just opening a photo"? Surely you must be doing something wrong Scott. Even double clicking the thumbnail should bring it up, in either module, Library or Develop clicking the image should really open it
 
Try Scott Kelbys lightroom 3 book from Amazon HERE his books are really easy to understand and follow, also take a look at these videos HERE if you scroll down the page you will see one called "Adobe Lightroom 3 from input to output" it's aimed at beginners and intermediates so that should hopefully give you an idea of the sort of things you can do in Lightroom :)
 
TG. said:
Try Scott Kelbys lightroom 3 book from Amazon HERE his books are really easy to understand and follow, also take a look at these videos HERE if you scroll down the page you will see one called "Adobe Lightroom 3 from input to output" it's aimed at beginners and intermediates so that should hopefully give you an idea of the sort of things you can do in Lightroom :)
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Yes indeed. Once you get into it its fantastic and i use it for 99% of all my editing.
 
When you say opening an image, what exactly are you doing? It sounds like you may be double clicking on the file. If so instead of doing that, you need to open lightroom itself and add your photos to its library. Once a photo has been imported you open lightroom to browse and edit your photos. Google lightroom tutorials, theres plenty of video guides out there on how to get started
 
Have your folder of images, open LR and click the import button. It'll bring up a dialogue window where you can find the said folder. Add keywords and copyright info if you want then press import. It'll then link through to the images, bringing up thumbnails. Click on a thumbnail and the image will fill the screen. Click the develop tab at the top of the page to do tweaks. To export the image just go file > export and the image will download to the desired destination. I do it to my desktop.

Remember, LR just applies settings and exports copies of the image, bot the actual original image file. That original file is never altered.

Go to www.thelightroomlab.com for some good info :)
 
Scott, believe me when I say it is THE best imaging program I've used. I was a staunch PhotoShop user and would never have parted ways with it if you'd paid me. However, for cataloguing and adjustments, it really is versatile. Things like layers will come in time but for now it is still very, very good.

A mate is in the same position as you and every time I see him he's clicked onto another function. In two weeks he's now tweaking and outputting great work
 
scottthehat said:
Well it just seems a minefield. Gotta see if my plugins work with it now. As for layer ain't got a clue. Ha ha, Im just used to elements 10 and cs4 and the other i have which all work very similar. But lightroom is different.
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Scott
it seems to me that you are trying to use LR for a purpose that it might not really be designed specifically for. Yes it edits, does quite a few post processing work but its not designed for heavy processing work like CS4 for example. That's why it has a module that lets you export to any of your favourite programs and imports back and stacks it if you program it that way.
But that's the beauty of LR, it lets you do most things (processing) that are common and more importantly its non-destructive feature really shines, and one of its fantastic features is really cataloguing. It sits on top of all the other editing programs sending and getting it back and you can keep track from there to all your files.

You really need to have a different approach to LR, definitely not the same way you do to your other editing programs
 
zulupentax said:
Scott
it seems to me that you are trying to use LR for a purpose that it might not really be designed specifically for. Yes it edits, does quite a few post processing work but its not designed for heavy processing work like CS4 for example. That's why it has a module that lets you export to any of your favourite programs and imports back and stacks it if you program it that way.
But that's the beauty of LR, it lets you do most things (processing) that are common and more importantly its non-destructive feature really shines, and one of its fantastic features is really cataloguing. It sits on top of all the other editing programs sending and getting it back and you can keep track from there to all your files.

You really need to have a different approach to LR, definitely not the same way you do to your other editing programs
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Hi amin, i think your right now looking at it, for basic editing it seems pritty quick but its just working around loading files in and saving them where you want and that.
 
Scott - the key thing for me is once the files are loaded in, they stay there and I can alter to ky hearts content. It's only when I want to say, upload to Flickr or print, that I go anywhere near the export function.

LR is all about setting up your filing system logically in the first place but the fact you can sort via folder, keywords, ratings, and exif data means images ate really easy to find.

Also, clicking on an image while holding ALT brings up a menu option where you can crested a virtual copy do you can have the same image but processed many different ways without the original file ever having to be moved or altered.
 
scottthehat said:
Cheers pat, Im sure i will overcome it and Im sure as said its very handy, its only because Im used to the photoshop side of things and that's all i have used since editing.
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Scott, you missing the point again, I think.
LR doesn't store your files, it stores the location in its database. You can use it to move or relocate or add or delete etc but its not a program like other editors that you copy and save it in a folder in a conventional way.
Its kind of a bit difficult to explain, you just got to try and learn it. When you force it to save it it will ask you where you want to save and how. Want to copy and save it in another location, or move it completely, or save it while leaving the file exactly where it is etc, and it will catalogue that file with that path.

Hey I could be wrong here because I am a newbie as you can tell so you wil have to excuse me if I am wrong but someone more experienced will surely come along and correct me and lead you to the right path.

Me thinks soon Scott going to drop LR as a dead weight and go back to CS4 :thinking:
 
Hi amin understand that its not photoshop. And that once i load the photos i want to edit. Edit it and then to save the edited version i have to export them to a folder of my choice. I also understand its better for batch editing then photoshop. And if it can speed things up its good. I won't give up Im just used to element 10 cs4 and nx2 and capture one pro which all work along the same lines.
 
;)
scottthehat said:
Hi amin understand that its not photoshop. And that once i load the photos i want to edit. Edit it and then to save the edited version i have to export them to a folder of my choice. I also understand its better for batch editing then photoshop. And if it can speed things up its good. I won't give up Im just used to element 10 cs4 and nx2 and capture one pro which all work along the same lines.
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Here is something it might help. Don't move the files, just leave them exactly where they are, where you usually keep and edit them using your other editors. Run LR and point it to those folders so it will catalogue them. Then you just do whatever you want. Saves you having to have double files. When you want to edit using another program use LR to export it and program it to get it back so it will keep track. That way you edit using your favourite program when its finished it will be saved in the same folder and you will see both the copies in the LR and you can choose to have it stacked too. Simple and easy.

I ran LR to identify and catalogue all my images, everywhere, local HD, external and even on my Network drive, found a way to get a system to organise it all and now I don't move any file from anywhere except using LR. Well, once you are acquainted with all the features you can do something if you want directly in the folder (if you know exactly what you are up to) and then go into LR hierarchy folder and just synch it, it will delete any catalogued empty thumbnails and will import the new files existent in the folder.

See? Simple isn't it? :)

Just drop any question and I am sure we all will help you in whatever we can.
Now off to do some smoke ;) Haven't done one since my Pentax days so I think its about time
 
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Theres no need to save files. As you make adjustments, lightroom saves that adjustment as a setting that it applied to an image. The image itself isn't altered, just the settings particulr to that file. Lightroom just puts all these individual image settings in one place, the catalogue. Think of it like a giant .xmp file that instead of there being one for each file, there is one big .xmp for every single image you've imported into lightroom.

The only time you need to save an edited version of the image is if you export to print or take elsewhere (such as into illustrator).
 
specialman said:
The only time you need to save an edited version of the image is if you export to print or take elsewhere (such as into illustrator).
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Hmm, curious now, this topic is getting much more interesting.
Tell us about illustrator please :), or better still can you exemplify with an image please?

Thank you

Amin
 
zulupentax said:
Hmm, curious now, this topic is getting much more interesting.
Tell us about illustrator please :), or better still can you exemplify with an image please?

Thank you

Amin
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Illustrator was just an example of an outside program - it could be anything that isn't directly linked to LR.

To be honest, I have only ever used the link from lightroom to PhotoShop when pixel level editing has been required. For illustrator and indesign I've always exported out of lightroom as a tiff (or whatever) and loaded that file into these programs so I can be mobile between machines.

I use the livetrace function in illustrator to create line drawings from photographs. It's a nice technique for jazzing graphic design work up. This is the kind of thing I use illustrator (along with photoshop) to create:

227777_6483254611_722704611_362188_2981_n.jpg


228502_6483249611_722704611_362187_2636_n.jpg


Apologies about the low-res images - grabs from facebook, as I can find the originals at the moment :)
 
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specialman said:
Illustrator was just an example of an outside program - it could be anything that isn't directly linked to LR.

To be honest, I have only ever used the link from lightroom to PhotoShop when pixel level editing has been required. For illustrator and indesign I've always exported out of lightroom as a tiff (or whatever) and loaded that file into these programs so I can be mobile between machines.

I use the livetrace function in illustrator to create line drawings from photographs. It's a nice technique for jazzing graphic design work up. This is the kind of thing I use illustrator (along with photoshop) to create:

227777_6483254611_722704611_362188_2981_n.jpg


228502_6483249611_722704611_362187_2636_n.jpg


Apologies about the low-res images - grabs from facebook, as I can find the originals at the moment :)
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Nice :)
and thanks for the explanation.
 
I struggled at first, until I realised that LR is a complete workflow application and that normal concepts of working with microsoft files should be put to one side.

For example, files are not opened, but are available as photos as soon as you import them into LR. Similarly they're not saved but the changes are always there. The equivalent of saving is to export them out of LR and treat them like any other computer file.

Do persevere, LR is an excellent tool that does make your workflow management easier

David
http://vintageman.zenfolio.com/
 
Here are a set of tutorials for beginning with Lightroom, I found them extremely useful when I started using LR3, click here.

I also concur with the previous post regarding Scott Kelby's book(s), a good resource, and again covers initial setup.
 
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