Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Killer Tips

Here's a few things worth checking out as you surf around today or this weekend.

• Adobe has released a beta of Lightroom 2.6 (and Camera Raw 5.6). The major thing I can see is that it now supports the Canon 7D, G11, and Nikon D3s. You can get it over at Adobe Labs if you're dying for support for those new cameras.

• My brand new Photoshop Elements 8 Book for Digital Photographers (co-authored with Scott Kelby) is out in stores and online. Since Adobe released the Mac and PC version this time around we changed things to cover both.

• If you're a photographer (of any level) and looking for an online presence then you've got to check out RC Concepcion's new Wordpress for Photographers class at KelbyTraining.com. Folks, I see ALL of the feedback that comes in through Kelby Training and I've got to tell you, this class is one of the hottest to hit in a long time. RC really struck a chord with photographers who want to get online with their work, so I encourage you to take a look. He makes it really simple to get a wordpress blog/website up and running so you can show off your stuff and let people know what you're up to.

• Check out the "31 Women in Photography Exhibition". Its actually not until March but I mention now because the deadline to submit is today with the late deadline being in December.

• As you may have heard, onOne Software announced Plug-in Suite 5 with new versions of some of the key products. What's really cool for us is that some of the in-house NAPP guys have presets that will be included in the suite. Here's the link to find out more.

• Check out Timothy Armes' new PLUS plug-in for Lightroom. PLUS is an international standard for clearly communicating usage rights for digital images. You can find out more here.

Have a great weekend everyone!

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Over the last few months, I've done a few of those Before/After videos that involve sharpening as one of the steps. Each time I've done it, I go into Photoshop and do the sharpening there. I've noticed a number of good comment/questions asking about why I don't use the Adjustment Brush in Lightroom to sharpen instead. So it got me thinking about why. I mean, I knew sharpening was there in Lightroom and that I could selectively do it with the Adjustment Brush but I never really find myself using it. So here's the answer(s) that I've come up with:

1) Old mentality of sharpening last
I've had a habit throughout the years, like many, of sharpening last. Its one of those "workflow" steps that lots of people are taught and I've followed it for years. So when I work in Lightroom and then go over to Photoshop I consider that my final step so it just seems logical to sharpen there. I do, however, pay less attention to WHEN I sharpen so this isn't as much a factor anymore. I sharpen when its convenient. Usually after retouching and all that stuff but again, that's not a steadfast rule for me anymore.

2) The Adjustment Brush is still a little quirky to me
First, let me say that I LOVE the Adjustment brush. I use it all the time and it works great for larger changes that don't require a lot of detailed work. However, I find it tedious to work with when I have to do constant resizing of the brush as well has opacity and size control. In Photoshop, my brush and my Wacom tablet just seem like a natural fit for doing more detailed work. So if I'm selective sharpening something Photoshop still feels right for the task.

3) I hate the whole only-view-your-sharpening-at-100% thing.
In Lightroom 2 you need to be zoomed into 100% to view your sharpening. Do you know how big these digital images are getting today? Sometimes 100% is way closer than I want to be. That said, Lightroom 3 Beta has changed this and now you can view your sharpening at other zoom levels. So we'll see if that changes anything for me as I start using it more.

4) The Adjustment Brush Sharpening isn't any good myth
I stayed away from sharpening with the Adjustment Brush for a while because I didn't think it was that good. Its only got one slider so I thought "How good can it be?". I want control right? Turns out, I've done some tests. Sharpening with the Adjustment Brush is pretty darn good compared to Photoshop. So that myth is busted and I can't use it as a reason anymore, but it did affect my use of the Brush for a while.

5) Old habits die hard
This one almost leads us right back to #1 above. I've been sharpening in Photoshop for many years. Its what I'm comfortable with. Sharpening in Lightroom with a brush has only been around for about a year.

So what's the end result of this story? I probably won't change anything just yet. I do find myself using the Adjustment Brush for sharpening more and more lately when I don't take a photo into Photoshop. But that's rare since I take just about everything into Photoshop for some minor retouching. I figure while I'm there I might as well do my sharpening since I like the tools and brushes better.

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the topic so feel free to chime in with a comment and let us know your favorite way (and place) to sharpen.

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I've got a big article due for Photoshop User magazine this week so I'm gonna make this one short. In fact, I'm being so lazy today that I'm stealing a tip from some one else. See, for a while now I'd have to say the most common preset-related question I get is how to fade a preset. Say the effect is just too strong and you don't feel like going through each slider and lessening the amount it applies. Instead you basically want a volume control for the preset. Well the other day Piet (one of the blog readers) posted a comment pointing me to a video he's done on fading Lightroom presets. Now before you get your hopes up, there is no "Fade Preset" feature in LR that you're missing. The tip that's been out there for a while involves going to Photoshop and Piet's tip is no exception. But I thought he had a really slick way to do it and one that I hadn't seen before. Here's a link to Piet's video. Enjoy and thanks Piet! :)

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First off, thanks for all the great feedback on the Before/After video the other day. For those of you who watched it (and commented on it), the grayish pumpkin that I darkened was brought up a few times. I thought about trying to do something more with it, but then I showed the photo to several people including the mom in the photo. I asked about the pumpkin and the resounding answer was "What pumpkin?" - mission accomplished in my book :-) But I'll probably try to tweak it as a personal mission to see if I can add just a little color back in without looking to fakey.

Tip #1: Anyway, I thought of a couple more tips while doing that video that had to do with the Graduated Filter that I used in the video. The first grad filter tip is to hold down the Shift key when you're creating a gradient with it. In the video, I wanted my gradient to be slightly tilted. But if you don't you'll go crazy so just hold the Shift key down while dragging to keep it straight.

Tip #2: The second one is to hold down Option (Alt: PC) while dragging. This moves the faded edges of the gradient closer to, or further away from, the center of the gradient depending on which way you drag.

Hope you guys had a great week and an even better weekend ahead. See ya.

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Here's another one of those before and after videos for you folks. I know these are popular because they really show the workflow and the link between the two programs we tend to use most - Lightroom and Photoshop. I thought this particular photo made a great candidate because I was able to do some very neat things in Lightroom (more than a lot of people think is possible) but I also needed to move into Photoshop for some quick retouching. Hope you enjoy it. I'm actually taking the day off to spend with the family since they're off from school, but have a great Veterans Day / Wednesday.

Click here to download the video to your computer. [Right-click and choose the "Save As" option]

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