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lIghTroom BASICS

TrAInIng & produCTIon SupporT

About Abobe Lightroom


Adobe Lightroom is designed for your digital photography workflow. Lightroom helps you organize, manage, process, print, and show digital photographs and can create web sites using your selected images. Lightroom keeps track of your photographs through the creating of Catalogs which are controlled in the Lightroom Library. These catalogs keep track of files, image data, metadata, image ratings and other such information. NOTE: Though you can view photos in both Lightroom and Adobe Bridge, the two applications behave differently. To view photos in Adobe Bridge, your computers hard drive must contain the photos or your computer must be connected to a storage media containing photos. This is because Adobe Bridge is a file browser that only displays readily accessible photos. The Lightroom catalog is a database that keeps track of the photos you import, so you can view photo previews and data whether your hard drive contains the actual photos or not.

Getting started
To Import images into Lightroom, you have several options: Choose File>Import Photos from Disk - this allows you to choose a folder to load the images from Choose File>Import from Device - this will allow you to hook up a camera or scanner and import directly from that device File>Import from Catalog allows you to import from an existing Lightroom Catalog File>Auto Import - allow you to set a Watched Folder that will look for any images placed in that folder to be imported Or just drag an image into the open Lightroom window. When importing images, you can select to copy the images or move them from the location you are importing them from. You can also add metadata and keywords, apply a naming convention and apply preset color adjustments. You can click on the preview icon in the Import window to choose which images to import or leave out. You must import photos into the Lightroom library to begin working with them. When importing, you can choose to move or just copy the photo files to a specific location, or reference the photo files in their current location. After they are imported, Lightroom adds the photos to the Lightroom library and builds previews and catalogs metadata. Lightroom only works with previews so even if you move the imported photos off your computer, the preview and information still resides in Lightroom.

How Lightroom is laid out


Lightroom has 5 different Modules. Library Module - is where you view, sort, manage, organize, compare, and rate your photos. COMMAND + CONTROL + 1 Develop Module - is where you adjust the color and tonal range of your photos. All the adjustments you make in Lightroom are nondestructive and do not affect your original file. COMMAND + CONTROL + 2 Slideshow Module - Lets you create a layout of your photos to make into a slideshow presentation. Slideshows are made into an Acrobat PDF presentation. COMMAND + CONTROL + 3 Print Module - lets you set up the page layout and print options for printing photos and contact sheets to your printer. COMMAND + CONTROL + 4 Web Module - lets you create the look of your website. COMMAND + CONTROL + 5

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Lightroom Overview
Supported File Formats
Lightroom can support these 5 image formats - Camera raw formats, Digital Negative format, TIFF format, JPEG format, or Photoshop format (PSD) - (Layered PSD files must be saved with the Maximize PSD and PSB File Compatibility preference on.)

Keyboard Shortcuts
These is no list of shortcuts that Lightroom allows you to print, BUT they do have a great way to bring up all the short cuts depending on what module you are in. COMMAND + ? will bring an overlay of the shortcuts up on screen; click on the shortcuts and they will go away.

Setting Up Preferences
There are a few preferences that can be set before you begin. Choose Lightroom>Preferences to access these. General Preferences: Default Library - This allows you to choose a different library (if necessary), but keeping it on Load Most Recent Library will keep you from going crazy finding which library you used. Import: Sets preferences for importing files, extensions and file preview External Editors: Allows you to edit photos in Photoshop rather than in Lightroom File Handling: An important preference that helps keep file naming clean and consistent especially if the end use is for something outside your computer, like in a database where nonconforming characters can be an issue. Interface: Set the look and feel of Lightroom as well as some helpful Filmstrip preferences. Identity Plate Set up: Setting up your Indentity Plate is done under the Lightroom menu. Choose Identity Plate Set up and define the parameters and click OK. This will allow you to personalize the interface by choosing the font and size of some of the interface.

Lightroom Icons
There are 3 Lightroom icons that appear on images if edits have been made: Keyword Icon Crop Icon Develop Icon if any keywords have been applied to the image. if any images are cropped. if any adjustments have been applied.

Creating Catalogs
In Lightroom, you can create catalogs of images for a project or an event that can be kept separate from all the other images you work on. To create a new catalog, choose File>New Catalog. Only one catalog can be open at a time. Lightroom can back up Catalogs once a week onto your hard drive (this is optional).

Collections
Collections are a way to gather photos for performing a variety of tasks without having to make a separate catalog of images. Create a Collection in Library Mode - select images in the Filmstrip and right-click on the images and choose Add to Quick Collection. This will show a circle icon in the upper right of all the images in that collection. You can also create a Quick Collection by hovering over an image and simply clicking on the circle icon in the upper right of the image. To save the collections choose File>Save Quick Collection and it will save the collection in the Collections Panel on the left side of the Library. You can create a slide show or web site from this Quick Collection and when done, you can delete the Collection (but this doesnt delete the images from Lightroom).

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Lightroom Library
The Library module is where you can view, sort, manage, organize, compare, and rate your photos using the Lightroom Tools. The panels on the left side are for searching, zooming in, comparing and viewing specific photos. You can search for photos by keyword tags, metadata, file type or by date. The main viewing options are located at the bottom of the Library Module above the FilmStrip area. They are: Grid view (G)- Displays photos as thumbnails in cells, which can be viewed in different sizes by using the thumbnail slider. The panels on the right side let you view the histogram of a selected photo, add metadata and keywords photos. The Quick Develop does just that, it lets you apply simple adjustments to photo(s) within the Library module.

View Options
Painter - (available in Grid view only) lets you apply keywords or other attributes quickly by spraying the Painter tool across photos.

Loupe view (E)- Displays a single photo. Controls let you view the entire photo or zoom in to see part of it. Zoom levels up to 11:1 are available in the upper left corner of the Library Module under the Navigator Panel. Double-Click, press Return, or press Space Bar to enter in and get out of Loupe View.

Sorting - (available in Grid view only) Specifies the sort direction or sorting criteria for displaying the photo thumbnails. Rating - Applies or removes rating stars for selected photos. Pick - Applies or removes a Pick or Rejected flag for selected photos. Color Label - Applies or removes color labels for selected photos. Rotate - Rotates selected photos clockwise or counterclockwise. Navigate - Selects the previous or next image. Slideshow - Plays an impromptu slideshow of the photos. Zoom - (available in Loupe view only) Zooms the view in or out. Info - Displays the selected photos filename in the information panel.

Compare view (C) - Displays photos side-by-side so that you can evaluate them. Select 2 or more images and go into compare mode to compare. These can be Linked to zoom together.

Filter Options
Survey view - Displays the active photo with selected photos so that you can evaluate them. The active photo has a Selected Photo icon and the other photos have a Deselect Photo icon. Below the thumbnail view is a Filter Bar that allows you to click on Accept or Reject Flags, Rating Stars and Color Highlights as a way of searching through your images. These Filter icons do not apply these settings to the images, it simply filters them if these settings are applied. The switch on the end shuts the filter off.

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Lightroom Develop
The Develop module lets you adjust the color and tonal range of your images without having to exit to Photoshop. Any adjustments you make in Lightroom are done in a nondestructive way, which means your original file is not altered you just see the result of the adjustments. The panels on the left side are for navigating (on all panels), accessing color adjustment presets, taking snapshots in history as well as a history panel. The History Panel shows a history of all options performed on the image but it doesnt allow you to scroll through a list like you can in Photoshop. To access all these items in history, choose COMMAND + Z to undo and SHIFT + COMMAND + Z to redo. The panels on the right side let you view the histogram of a selected photo, perform Basic color correction, adjust the tonal curve, adjust HSL, Color and Grayscale mix, perform Split Toning, control the amount of noise reduction and sharpening and perform Lens Corrections (chromatic abberations)

Presets
Presets are a list of preset image adjustments that are in Lightroom as a default. To create your own preset adjustment, use the adjustment panels on the left side of the window, then click on the + next to the Preset Title and a dialoge box will appear, name the Preset and select the options and click OK. This will capture the settings of the adjustments you have applied. Once the preset is created it can be applied to images and edited by clicking on the name of the preset and changing the adjustments.

Crop - Allows you to crop the photo free form or constrained and also to straighten a photo that is crooked.

Red Eye Removal - A simple way to remove red-eye from an image by drawing over the area to be adjusted.

Clone/Heal Tool - Allows cloning or healing of an area. - To Clone or Heal, click on the area you want the clone (or heal) and drag the circle to the area you want to sample from. - To Erase the clone/heal areas, click on the area (defined by the circles and DELETE.

Image fixes and clean-up


Under the image window is a set of options that can be accessed to crop and image, get rid of red-eye, see a before and after comparison of the image editing and simple cloning and healing options. Before and After - Displays photos in a split view (vertically or horizontally) or split in half on top of each other. To enlarge or reduce the brush size of the clone/heal tool, use the cursor slider or (right bracket) ] to enlarge, (left bracket) [ to reduce. To exit from any of these clean up operations you can click the Reset button at the bottom of the Panel or undo these in the History Panel or use COMMAND + Z.

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Lightroom Slideshow
The Slideshow module lets you create a slideshow that can viewed in Lightroom or exported as an Acrobat PDF that can be viewed as presentation with transitions. The panels on the left side are for previewing the options that are applied and accessing default templates and create your own. The Slideshow module contains these panels: Preview - Displays the layout of a template with a thumbnail preview. Moving the pointer over the template name displays its page layout in the Preview. Template Browser - Selects or previews the slide layout for photos. Options - Determines how the photos appear in the slide layout, and whether they have a border or cast shadow. Layout - Customizes the page layout by specifying the size of the image cell in the slide template. You can adjust the margins to change the size of the image on the page. Overlays - Specifies the text and other objects that are displayed in the slide with the photo. - The identity plate is for your own bit of flair on the slide. It can be edited by clicking on drop down arrow on the identity to set the font and size. - Ratings can be applied to the slide as viewing options set - Simple text overlays such as page numbers or user-generated text can be added to each slide and the options for how that text will appear can be adjusted. Font and size can be specified here. Backdrop - Specifies the colors or image behind the photo on each slide. You can apply a color wash (a gradient) or apply a background image and fade it back as a backdrop for all the slides The panels on the right side let you control the options for laying out the slide, image sizes, colors, drop shadows, text, and apply music or a sound track.

Playback - Specifies how long each slide is displayed in the presentation, the duration of the transition between slides, whether music plays with the slideshow, and whether to present the photos in random order. - Audio files can be MP3s and can added directly from iTunes - Slideshows with audio when exported as a PDF no longer contain the music or audio files Slide duration can be set for how long the slide is shown and how long or short the fade between slides is. Slides can also be played in random order.

Slide commands
Under the Play menu are a list of commands for playing a slide show. You can select specific photos to make a slide show or include all the images in the collection

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Lightroom Print
The Print module lets you specify the page layout and print options for printing photos and contact sheets printing settings. The panels on the left side let you use default templates and preview page layouts. The panels on the right side lets you modify the printing template, set image settings, control the page layout, page look and feel and printing management.

The Print module contains these panels: Preview - Displays the layout of a template. Moving the pointer over a template name in the Template Browser displays that templates page layout in the Preview panel. Template Browser - Selects or previews the layout for printing photos. Templates are organized into folders that include Lightroom presets and user-defined templates. - To create a new user defined template, set the page set up and style the way you would like, click the Add button, and save the template. That newly created template will reside under the User Templates Image Settings - Determines how the photos fill the cells in a page layout. Layout - Lets you customize the page layout by specifying the size and distribution of cells within the page margins. Overlays - Specifies the text and other items that get printed with the photos. Print Job - Specifies the print resolution, color management, and sharpening. To add images to a Template, choose the template or define your own, and click on the image thumbnails in the Filmstrip section at the bottom of the main window. This will add any images you select to the layout you have created. You can create multiple pages with a layout by choosing multiple images, the layout will automatically accommodate all the images. NOTE: Once you create a user-defined template, any additional edits you make DO NOT apply to that template, you must right click on the template and choose Update with Current Settings in order for that template to mirror your current changes!

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Lightroom Web
The Web module lets you specify the page layout of the web site. The panels on the left side let you use and create templates and preview the page layouts The panels on the right side let you modify existing templates, adding text to web pages, setting up the web gallery.

The Web module contains these panels: Preview - Displays the layout of a template. An icon on the lower-left side of the panel indicates whether the template is for a Lightroom HTML gallery or Lightroom Flash gallery . Template Browser - Displays a list of web photo gallery templates. Moving the pointer over the template names displays its page layout in the Preview. Gallery - Selects the default Lightroom Flash Gallery or Lightroom HTML Gallery templates. Galleries done in Flash will have a ghost Flash Icon on the Main Window to let you know it is done using Flash. Site Info - Specifies the title of your web photo gallery, the collection title and description, contact information, and the Web or mail link. Color Palette - Specifies the colors for text, web-page background, cells, rollover, grid lines, and index numbers. Appearance - Specifies the image cell layout (for a Lightroom HTML gallery), page layout (for a Lightroom Flash gallery), and whether an identity plate appears on the web pages. You can also add drop shadows and define section borders. Image Info - Specifies the text displayed with the image previews.

Output Settings - Specifies the maximum pixel dimension of the photos and JPEG quality, and whether to add a copyright watermark. Upload Settings - Specifies upload settings to send your web gallery to a server. Preview In Browser - Exports your web gallery for viewing in your default browser.

Upload or Export your Site


Once your site is created you can export your site to a folder on your computer or click on the Upload button to upload to your web host. To Set your FTP Upload settings, choose the Custom Settings>Edit from the Upload Panel on the right side. Enter in the server name, user name and password to access the web server that it will be hosted on.

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Lightroom Preferences

COMMAND + ?

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Lightroom Menus
File Edit Library

View

Window

Slide Show

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Photo

Metadata

Web

Print

Develop

Settings

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Lightroom Notes

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