Single or Multiple Catalogs in Lightroom ?


Adobe Evangelist Julieanne Kost answers one of the most commonly asked questions “If should you use a single catalog for all of your photographs or if you should you use multiple catalogs?”. As a general rule, she recommends that you use as few as possible, but discusses when using multiple could be beneficial.
Find more Adobe online training here.
Learn from Julianne live before our 2011 Iceland workshops.
Learn more in my digital photography workshops.

D65's Lightroom Workbook – Now Shipping

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Seth Resnick and Jamie Spritzer, the Co-Founders of D65 announce their new book, D65’s Lightroom Workbook, Workflow, Not Workslow in Lightroom 3. D-65’s workflow is accomplished by using Adobe Lightroom. D65’s Lightroom Workbook, Workflow Not Workslow details everything you ever wanted or needed to know about the five modules in Lightroom, including setting up preferences for optimal results and organizing catalogs. Included is an entire chapter which details the D-65 legendary workflow; an advanced, yet simple workflow from capture through editing, tweaking, processing and exporting. The book also covers many digital concepts such as color space, shooting raw, file naming and archiving. D-65 was one of the first and foremost companies teaching Lightroom workflow, and the incredibly successful program has taught thousands of photographers worldwide. Seth Resnick and Jamie Spritzer are the perfect guides to lead you through the maze of technical problems and practical challenges that stand between you and a seamless digital workflow with Lightroom at the core.
•    The essential guide to setting up an efficient workflow with Photoshop Lightroom from two of the industry’s most respected photography trainers
•    Insider tips and tricks explain not only how to use Lightroom but also how best to work pre-capture to ensure you get the best out of Lightroom post-capture
•    Over 500 pages packed with essential advice and stunning images to illustrate and inspire, Seth and Jamie explain technical concepts with ease in a way only pro trainers can–buy the book and see why their workshops sell out in a flash!
“Seth and Jamie have laid the chapters out in a quick read style that follows Lightroom’s architecture from beginning to end. And you can fit their guidelines to your own style of shooting and your own way of organizing your digital image archive. It doesn’t matter how expensive your camera is, or how many megapixels are on its sensor, because this book gives you the knowledge and the discipline to make the most of the tremendous possibilities of digital photography.” – Eric Meola, Photographer

“No one knows more about keywording than Seth and Jamie. As an English major and a writer, I thought I knew a thing or two about words, but I learn new words and new ways to use words all the time from Seth and Jamie. What’s that mean to you? It means if you learn to use words like they do, everyone will be able to find your pictures easily – including you.” – John Paul Caponigro
Get your copy here today!
Find more of the best Photoshop and Lightroom books here.

NAPP Lightroom 3 Learning Center Updated

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NAPP’s Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Learning Center has been updated.
New content highlights the latest features in the version shipping now.
Whether you’re using Lightroom for the first time or simply upgrading, this fabulous resource will help you make the transition smoothly.
Free online videos include …
1    The New Import
2    Tethered Shooting
3    Flickr Publishing
4    Watermarking
5    Better Noise Reduction
6    Lens Correction
7    Improved Vignettes
8    New Process Version
9    Overall Develop
10    New Grain Effect
11    Slideshow Improvements
Plus you’ll find lots of links to other great resources.
Visit NAPP’s Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Learning Center here.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Ships

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Adobe announced Lightroom 3 today !
It’s a major upgrade. If you’re using Lightroom 2 don’t even think about not upgrading. If you’re not using Lightroom, think about it – seriously.
The shipping version has new features not available in the public beta version. (Automated Lens Correction is the big one.)
Price $299 new / $99 upgrade.
Learn more in a free webinar by Julianne Kost – Thursday, July 15, 2010 10:00 am PDT. Professional Photographer Workflow – Adobe Photoshop CS5 and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.
Learn more at Adobe.com here.
Read Adobe’s press release here … Read More

Using Star Ratings


It’s important to think about how you use star Ratings (in Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom). Not everyone uses them the same way. However you decide to use them, you should use them consistently. Otherwise, when you browse multiple folders, you’ll have to interpret the same symbols differently in different contexts. That gets confusing fast!
I like the 5 star rating system. It helps make useful distinctions with only a touch more granularity than 3 levels of distinction – typically high, medium and low. It doesn’t get as granular at 10 levels of distinction, so you can cut to the chase fast. It’s used in other venues like restaurants and hotels so it’s familiar. Still, I don’t find using 1 and 2 star ratings useful for ranking the quality of images; I have no use for images that are below average. The images use are either good – 3, better – 4, or excellent – 5. So, I use 1 and 2 stars for something else. I use 1 star to identify a good idea in a substandard exposure or composition; I’ll try and use the idea later with better material. I use 2 stars to identify images that are good for composites; the exposures are fine but the composition is unfinished.
How do you use star ratings?
Comment here.
We discuss this and many other subjects in my field workshops.
Learn more about composition in my field workshops.
Upcoming dates include …
8/9-15 – Iceland … 10% discount ends June 20.

10/16-19 – Fall Foliage … 15% discount ends August 15.

Lightroom & Photoshop


During the Epson Print Academy today, Jeff Schewe does a great job detailing how to set up an optimum relationship between Lightroom and Photoshop.
Use LR (or ACR) for parametric edits.
Use Photoshop for processing pixels.
The lion’s share of image processing happens during Raw conversion,
So, what kinds of things should you favor doing in Photoshop?
Here’s Schewe’s list.
Retouching
Industrial Strength Noise Reduction
Creative Sharpening / Blurring
FX
Compositing
Proofing
Text
Check out the Epson Print Academy here.
Only two more dates scheduled!
Check out my Fine Digital Print Workshops here.

New Adobe Updates


Adobe has recently released a number of updates to their core photographic imaging products – Lightroom, Photoshop, and Camera Raw.
Adobe Photoshop CS4 11.0.1 update – February 24, 2009
* A number of issues that could cause slow performance have been addressed.
* Pen barrel rotation with Wacom tablets now works correctly.
* Photoshop now correctly recognizes 3D textures edited by a plug-in.
* The quality of the results of Auto-Blend Layers (Stack Images) has been improved.
* A problem that could result in a crash when pasting formatted text has been fixed.
* A crash that could result from a corrupt font no longer occurs.
Camera Raw 5.3 update – March 3, 2009
This new version of the Camera Raw plug-in replaces the original one that was installed with Adobe® Photoshop® CS4; Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0; and Adobe Premiere® Elements 7.0 software. Visit the Camera Raw page for a complete list of supported cameras.
Lightroom 2.3 update – March 3, 2009
* Additional camera support for the Nikon D3X and Olympus E-30
* Includes several corrections for issues introduced by previous Lightroom 2 releases
Get all the updates here.
Learn about them in my workshops.

Adobe's New Innovation in Raw Technology – Camera Profiles

This new Raw technology gives photographers access to flexible camera profiles. Camera profiles provide a visual starting point for a raw processing workflow. Adobe is supplying default camera profiles that closely emulate the look that photographers are used to seeing from their favorite camera, while also providing the ability to customize profiles to an individual’s taste. Camera profiles  for use with Lightroom 2 and Camera Raw 4.5, are available for immediate download on Adobe Labs.