Want to switch out the background color in Lightroom? It's easy. Select Lightroom CC > Preferences from the top toolbar (or on Windows, go to Edit > Preferences), and then click on the Interface tab. Once there, you'll see a Background area where you can switch the color for the main and secondary windows to one of six options — white, light gray, medium gray (default), dark gray, darker gray and black. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Change the Lightroom Classic background color
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Quick Tip: Create a new copyright preset every year
It’s a good idea to create a new copyright preset at the end of each year — but don’t just overwrite the previous year’s preset. Keeping all year’s presets will give you the option to go back in time and add a previous year’s copyright information to images. Want to learn more? Check out the article "Have you created your 2017 copyright preset?" … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Create a new copyright preset every year
Quick Tip: Use a single Lightroom catalog
A single Lightroom catalog makes managing Lightroom a lot easier. Having just one catalog will: Help you find images faster Keep track of backups Ensures you don’t lose track of images because you import images into the wrong catalog Quickly update the catalog when a new version of Lightroom is available Synchronizing Publish services such as Facebook, Zenfolio and Smugmug Hierarchy Want to learn more? Check out this article, "Should I have One or Many Lightroom Catalogs?" … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Use a single Lightroom catalog
Quick Tip: Share your Perfectly Clear presets to a new machine
Have a new machine, or want to share your Perfectly Clear presets with an editor or another photographer? Perfectly Clear 3.5 makes it really easy. To get started, click the gear icon next to the Presets heading, and then click Export Presets. It'll prompt you to select where you want to save the export file, and you're done! When you're ready to import the presets, click the gear icon next to Presets again, and click Import Presets. All your custom and previously added presets will now be available on your machine. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Share your Perfectly Clear presets to a new machine
Quick Tip: Lock your panels and workspace in Photoshop CC 2019
In the newest update of Photoshop CC 2019 (version 20.0.0), Adobe has made it easy to lock your panels so you can avoid accidentally dragging them off the interface. To do this, go to Window, Workspace, Lock Workspace. This locks your panels and the placement of them, but you can still resize them. Note that this does not impact your document tabs, so you can still easily move those around to manage your workspace. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Lock your panels and workspace in Photoshop CC 2019
Quick Tip: Use Photoshop’s Face-Aware Liquify to quickly slim a face
What to slim a subject's face? Use Photoshop's Face-Aware Liquify tool. Photoshop’s Liquify tool has been used by many photographers and retouchers to slim a subject or to accent their curves. It’s a very powerful tool that took a little getting used to. Adobe added Face-Aware Liquify in Photoshop CC 2015.5. This new addition to the Liquify family uses sliders; making it simple to cosmetically adjust a subject’s eyes, nose, mouth, and face shape. The key to retouching is not to go overboard. Want to learn more? Check out this article, "How … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Use Photoshop’s Face-Aware Liquify to quickly slim a face
Quick Tip: Use the LR/GMail plugin for Lightroom to send exported images from your Gmail account
LR/GMail is an export plugin for Lightroom 2 and higher developed by Arctic Whiteness, the creators of the Photographer’s Toolbox. The plugin allows you to send exported images via your GMail account. The free version allows you to attach a single image. If you decide you like it, you can make a donation in any amount to access advanced features that offer a number of important advantages over Lightroom’s built-in support for sending emails: The plugin accesses your contact list to provide auto-completion of your contacts as you add them … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Use the LR/GMail plugin for Lightroom to send exported images from your Gmail account
Quick Tip: Cycle through a layer’s blend mode to seamlessly blend two images together
Replacing a background of an image can be a challenge. The trick is to find the right background that has similar colors, tones, lighting and looks like it belongs to the main image. Once you find the right image, cycle through the layer’s blend mode selector to see which mode blends best. This applies to any image editing software that uses layers, including Photoshop and Luminar. Want to learn more? Check out this article, "Changing a Background with an Image Overlay in Luminar 2018" … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Cycle through a layer’s blend mode to seamlessly blend two images together
Quick Tip: Boost your creativity with LUTs
LUTs can give your creativity a boost. Trying different LUTs with your RAW photographs can quickly give you a cool, warm or "other-worldly look," that you fine tune from there. Not sure where to start? Check out this article here, on the basics of using LUTs with your photographs and some of the programs that use them. Here's an example of a panorama from one of my drone projects using an Alternative Process LUT from Lutify LUTS in Capture One Pro. Original With LUT applied … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Boost your creativity with LUTs
Quick Tip: Reset Lightroom Classic sliders
Sure, there's a big "Reset" button in Lightroom Classic, putting your edited photo back to its original state. But what if you need to reset just some of the adjustments you've made? Simply double click on the slider text (Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, etc.) and watch the slider move back to zero. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Reset Lightroom Classic sliders
Quick Tip: Search Lightroom Classic’s Metadata to Find an Image’s Copyright Status
Looking for a quick way to find images you haven't set as being copyrighted? To find all images with an unknown copyright status in Lightroom Classic, click Metadata on the Library filter. Change a column label to Copyright Status. Lightroom will quickly show how many images are copyrighted and how many are not. Click on "unknown" to filter the results. Want to read more? Check out more in the article, "Find Unknown Copyright Status in Lightroom and Fix it" … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Search Lightroom Classic’s Metadata to Find an Image’s Copyright Status
Quick Tip: Use Lightroom’s Flags to Temporarily Select an Image for Editing
Once images are imported into your Lightroom Classic catalog, quickly review each image and select your favorites. The trick is NOT to make this a time-consuming task. One option is to use the flagging system to temporarily select your favorite images. It's important not to get hung up on an image. If you have to ask, "Should I flag this?" you took too long. Flag the image and move on to the next. This doesn’t mean you are going to process every selected image or delete the non-selected images. It simply allows you to quickly scan your photos … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Use Lightroom’s Flags to Temporarily Select an Image for Editing
Quick Tip: Photographers, Choose the Sync Option When Backing Up a Hard Drive
When choosing a backup method, select the Sync option, here's why. We want two identical drives to be the same bit-for-bit. If the main drive fails, we simply swap and use the synced drive until we rebuild a new one. No downtime. To achieve this, choose the Sync option. Syncing creates two identical copies that are updated when either file changes. If a file or change is detected on drive A, drive B is updated. If a file or change is detected on drive B, drive A is updated. If a file is deleted on one drive, both are deleted immediately, so be … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Photographers, Choose the Sync Option When Backing Up a Hard Drive
Quick Tip: Creating Two Versions of an Image in Lightroom Classic
Remember how I showed you the power of snapshots in Adobe Lightroom Classic? Well, sometimes you need to produce multiple versions of the same image, whether it's to have two different styles to your photos, use in third-party plugins or otherwise. To do this, simply right-click on an image in your Lightroom catalog, and click "Create Virtual Copy" (or go to the Photo menu > Create Virtual Copy). This will create a "copy" of the master image. You can put these into stacks for better organization, or keep them separate. While it's … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Creating Two Versions of an Image in Lightroom Classic
Quick Tip: Photoshop Curves Made Drop Dead Easy
Find Curves a little confusing? Try this simple tip. Most users will either use Curves a lot or they won’t use it at all. The Curves interface is more complex than Levels, which scares away many users. A Curves adjustment allows for up to 16 control points. This can significantly open up more options when adjusting color and exposure. But where do you click? Step 1: Add a Curves Adjustment Layer. Step 2: Click the icon that looks like a pointing finger. Step 3: Now just click and drag in the image to modify the curve. The control … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Photoshop Curves Made Drop Dead Easy
Quick Tip: Visualize Sensor Spots in Lightroom
Sensor dust is bound to impact our photographs at some time. But there's a quick and easy way to visualize these spots — and get rid of them. Click the Spot Removal (Q) brush in Lightroom, and then underneath your photograph, you'll see a checkbox and slider with the words "Visualize Spots." Click this checkbox and drag the slider up to the necessary point where you'll begin to see spots on your photograph. Then just click away with the Spot Removal brush to get rid of the sensor spots. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Visualize Sensor Spots in Lightroom
Quick Tip: Open Almost Any Image in Adobe Camera Raw
Want to open almost any image in Camera Raw? It turns out that you can! You can, in fact, open TIFF and JPEG files using the Camera Raw plug-in. Here's how... In Photoshop, choose File > Browse in Bridge to switch to Adobe Bridge. Select the desired files. Choose select File > Open In Camera Raw. While you won't see any of the major benefits for image quality a raw file offers, you can use the Camera Raw dialog box to adjust the images. This is also a much easier way to open several photos and sync the same settings … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Open Almost Any Image in Adobe Camera Raw
Quick Tip: Saturation vs. Vibrance
There are two sliders in Lightroom and most other post-processors that can be handy for adjusting the intensity of your colors. Think of saturation like ISO, but for color — it bumps up the intensity of all of the colors in your photograph. On the other hand, vibrance is more selective, adjusting only the more muted colors in your photograph. This can help lead to a more evenly-saturated image. Both tools definitely have their usage — check out the three photos below to see how they can affect an image. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Saturation vs. Vibrance
Quick Tip: What happened to “Camera Calibration” in Lightroom Classic Creative Cloud?
I develop images in Adobe Lightroom Creative Cloud (LR CC) using a top-down approach, starting with "Basic". The one rule breaker was "Camera Calibration", the very last menu item. When working with RAW image files, I find starting with Camera Calibration can save time and energy. I shoot Nikon and Fuji and find that camera specific settings often outperform the generic Adobe presets in LR. I recently updated the LR Classic CC app (formerly called LR CC) to the latest 7.3 release and could not find "Camera Calibration". It seemed like a big … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: What happened to “Camera Calibration” in Lightroom Classic Creative Cloud?
Quick Tip: Dehaze Side Effects
The Dehaze adjustment in Lightroom is able to dramatically improve the appearance of haze in a photo, but not without some potential side effects. In this quick tip, you'll learn how to compensate for the most common issues caused by the application of the Dehaze adjustment. Want more tips like this? Check out my "Lightroom Quick Tips" course on GreyLearning, part of the "Mastering Lightroom" bundle of courses. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Dehaze Side Effects
Quick Tip: Import to this Folder
When it comes to keeping your Lightroom catalog tidy and organized, the import stage of your workflow is critically important. In this quick tip, you'll learn a great shortcut for importing new photos into an existing folder, enabling you to avoid confusion when importing multiple batches of photos. Want more tips like this? Check out my "Lightroom Quick Tips" course on GreyLearning, part of the "Mastering Lightroom" bundle of courses. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Import to this Folder
Quick Tip: Save the Quick Collection
The Quick Collection in Lightroom is designed to help you quickly group photos together for a short-term need. But what do when a quick collection suddenly needs to become permanent? You simply save the quick collection as a normal collection, as demonstrated in this quick tip. Want more tips like this? Check out my "Lightroom Quick Tips" course on GreyLearning, part of the "Mastering Lightroom" bundle of courses. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Save the Quick Collection
Quick Tip: Detailed Clipping Preview
If you want to set the white point and black point in your photos with precision, you'll want to take advantage of the detailed clipping preview option in Lightroom. Go beyond the clipping display you can enable from the histogram, with this quick tip that will help improve the accuracy of your tonal adjustments. Want more tips like this? Check out my "Lightroom Quick Tips" course on GreyLearning, part of the "Mastering Lightroom" bundle of courses. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Detailed Clipping Preview
Quick Tip: Locking the Attribute Filters
In some cases you may want to "lock" the filter criteria you've set in Lightroom when searching for a particular image, so the same filter criteria will remain in place even as you navigate among different folders. In this quick tip, you'll learn how easy it is to lock the criteria you've established when searching for photos in Lightroom. Want more tips like this? Check out my "Lightroom Quick Tips" course on GreyLearning, part of the "Mastering Lightroom" bundle of courses. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Locking the Attribute Filters
Quick Tip: Compare Before and After in Luminar and Aurora
In Skylum's Luminar 2018 and Aurora 2018 programs, you can easily compare the changes you've made to the original photos you've taken. Click the button with one square with the line in the middle, and you'll see your "before" on the left and "after" on the right. You can even click and drag the orange line that appears to see more of both versions. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Compare Before and After in Luminar and Aurora
Quick Tip: Reject Before Delete
If you prefer to delete your not-so-great photos so you only keep your best work, you may want to add an extra step to your workflow just to be safe. In this quick tip, I'll share how you can use the Reject flag in Lightroom as part of your workflow for deleting photos that didn't work out as intended. Want more tips like this? Check out my "Lightroom Quick Tips" course on GreyLearning, part of the "Mastering Lightroom" bundle of courses. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Reject Before Delete
Quick Tip: Browse Multiple Folders in Lightroom
Do you ever find yourself in a situation where you're not sure exactly which folder a particular image is contained in within your Lightroom catalog? In this quick tip, you'll learn how to browse the contents of multiple folders, including those scattered all over the Folders list, quickly and easily within Lightroom. Want more tips like this? Check out my "Lightroom Quick Tips" course on GreyLearning, part of the "Mastering Lightroom" bundle of courses. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Browse Multiple Folders in Lightroom
Quick Tip: Use the “Alt” or “Option” Key to Preview Lightroom Classic Adjustments
Ever wonder what your Lightroom adjustments will look like without applying them? Instead of applying and undoing, next time hold the "Alt" (Windows) or "Option" (Mac) key to get a preview of what adjustments will do to your photograph. In the Basic panel, it'll show problematic highlights and shadows so you can further edit, while the Split-Toning, Detail and Camera Calibration panels will show previews of what the adjustments will do to your image. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Use the “Alt” or “Option” Key to Preview Lightroom Classic Adjustments
Quick Tip: Stay Organized with Lightroom Solo Mode
Tired of scrolling up and down your Library or Develop adjustment panels in Lightroom? Right click on a panel heading, like "Basic" in the Develop mode, and turn on Solo Mode. Doing so will only allow you to have one section open at a time, meaning no more scrolling from the bottom to the top of the panel area. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Stay Organized with Lightroom Solo Mode
Quick Tip: Speed Up Lightroom Classic Culling Process with “Caps Lock”
Next time you're culling through photos, click the "Caps Lock" key. Doing so will activate Auto Advance (which can also be activated through Photo > Auto Advance), meaning you no longer have to hit the arrow key to go back and forth through photographs. Then you can just use the number keys to select ratings (1-5) or color labels (6-9) as necessary, or hit 0 to advance without marking a photograph. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Speed Up Lightroom Classic Culling Process with “Caps Lock”
