Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Killer Tips

Lightroom 2 has been out for exactly 1 day now and the upgrade response here on the site yesterday was pretty outstanding. But there were also a lot of comments and questions. So I figured I'd answer as many of them as a I can here:

Will Lightroom 1 presets work with Lightroom 2?
You betcha. When you install Lightroom 2, those presets will automatically come over to the new version. I haven't come across any of my presets that don't work in the new version yet.

Will Lightroom 2 work with my Lightroom 1 catalogs?
Yes. When you first install and start Lightroom 2 it will ask you if you'd like to upgrade an existing catalog.

Will my settings, changes, and everything else I've done in LR 1 be in Lightroom 2?
Yes, when you upgrade your catalog it'll take over all of the settings and changes to your photos.

Will Adobe be releasing any of those dot (.1, .2, etc...) updates for Lightroom 2? I haven't heard any dates or specific plans but if I were a bettin' man, I'd bet black, 6, 8, the pass line, hard eight, double-down on 11... sorry, I got carried away. What I meant to say is that I'd bet yes - they will release 1 or more dot updates in the future.

Should I wait for an update before purchasing Lightroom 2? I don't want a Lightroom 1.4 debacle to happen again.I can't 100% say that you won't have a problem but I'll tell you this. I've been using the GM version of Lightroom (GM is a term meaning Gold Master which is essentially the shipping version of the software) for about 2 weeks now. Everything has worked fine for me. The sliders as just as responsive as they ever were. I will say that I have noticed using the Adjustment Brush to be a bit processor-heavy but that's a price I'll pay to have that kind of control in LR. I've adjusted my self to brush fairly slower then I would have in Photoshop. Also, I know brushing on a Mac has always been a bit odd in Photoshop (takes a second for it to render on screen) so maybe it's the same deal - maybe the PC is very responsive but I haven't tried it on one yet. Also, I have had one other little glitch in showing and hiding my panels but other people I know running the same version don't have this so I'm chalking it up to some mix ups with previous betas I've had installed. I plan on wiping out all of my Lightroom folders soon and starting from a brand new install again I think that should do it. So, other then the one small glitch, everything is working fine on my end.

Why is Adobe charging so much extra for international customers?
Folks, I'm gonna tell you the honest truth here - I have no idea. Because of what I do, I get to be on the beta testing team for Lightroom. That means I get to see the features and comment on them but mostly after the feature set is locked. From time to time I may actually get to give input on new features for Lightroom but Adobe, in NO way, comes and asks me or anyone I know, "Matt, what should we charge for Lightroom?". My main job is to train people on Photoshop and Lightroom and because of that, I really have no idea why they're charging so much more. I have to admit, it sounds odd to me too and I totally feel your pain. I would be ticked as well. Your best course of action is to go to Adobe's website and either a) email or mail your feedback to them, or b) call them and express your pissed-offness (sorry... anger). That's what I would do. :)

Any other price or purchase or license related questions?
See above. I simply just don't know.

How does the upgrade / installation of LR2 deal with the two separate catalogues (and photo folder structure) when both LR1 and LR2 beta (Silvertone) are installed on your system?Does it merge them automatically into a new catalogue or does the user have to import them separately?I haven't tried to import my Lightroom 2 beta catalog yet but I'd guess it imports them just fine. I can definitely tell you it won't merge catalogs though. You'd have to import each one separately and merge/change your folders after the fact.

In some form or another - Can I install Lightroom on 2 machines?
Yes. Even if one is 64-bit and one is 32-bit, you can install on both.

Matt, you mentioned something about PSD files and the way they automatically got created in version 1. Where can I find these PSD files and delete them?See this link from a previous video I created.

Why don't my PSD files appear back in Lightroom when I work on them in Photoshop?
That's actually one of the new features. Lightroom 2 doesn't save the PSD file right away anymore. You've got to hit File > Save in Photoshop to save the file so it appears back in Lightroom.

I'm a NAPP member. Where is the discount code?
Here's the link to the NAPP member website software discount page. You'll find it about halfway down. I just tried it and it saved $44 bucks on the full $299 version.

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Last night Adobe went public with the brand new version of Lightroom - Lightroom 2.0! If you recall, there was a public beta released back in April which caused quite a stir with it's new targeted localized adjustment tool. Well now Lightroom 2 is officially shipping and not only does it have all the cool features you remember from the beta, but its got some brand new stuff as well.

Over the course of the coming weeks I'll have lots of videos, news, and tips on taking advantage of Lightroom 2. To keep you busy today though, I figured I'd share some links I've come across as well as some of the videos that we've been working on:

• Tom Hogarty (Lightroom's Product Manager) has the inside track, so his blog is always a good place to start when a new version is released.

• Scott Kelby, RC, and I created the NAPP sponsored Lightroom 2 Learning Center. Of course you'll find out about all the new features there, but there's a few videos that Scott and I did that are worth some extra attention - even if you've seen all the new features. Once you go to the page, look at the list on the right and you'll see we did a Lightroom vs. Bridge (and Photoshop and ACR) comparison video. We get asked this all the time so we finally made a video to cover it.

• While you're on that NAPP Learning Center check out the "Other improvements and changes" video at the bottom of the list. We cover some of the smaller (but still really cool) stuff in there that may sneak by some people.

• Terry White shows that Lightroom 2 can be used for retouching too.

• Scott Kelby talks Lightroom 2 on his blog and announces that his Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers is available for pre-order. This will be THE Lightroom book of the year so get on the pre-order list now.

• I've created a 3-part training series at Kelby Training on Lightroom 2 called Lightroom 2 In Depth. Part 1 is all about importing and sorting your photos and where to store them. Part 2 is about developing and editing. Part 3 is about showing off your work and printing. Check it out here at Kelby Training's website.

• I've also created the Lightroom 2 Power Session. This one just dives into the new features of Lightroom 2 so if you've already used Lightroom before (and know it pretty well), and you just want the scoop on the new stuff, then it may be better for you.

Finally, I'd like to ask 2 favors from you:

1. Leave a comment here and share your thoughts about the new release.

2. Also, I've got a question for you. Are you upgrading? Why or why not? What's the big selling point(s) or what's holding you back?

Well folks, that's about it from here on launch day. I'll have lots more good stuff to come though so stay tuned to the website. Have fun!

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A few things to keep you busy over the weekend:

• Dave Cross was a guest-blogger on Scott's blog last week. There's some really interesting comments when it comes to shooting with Photoshop in mind.

• I love these fake online photo shoots. Yes, I know it's sad. They're fun though :) (warning: half naked sumo wrestler alert!)

• In case you hadn't heard, the Drobo backup device now supports firewire. I'm definitely thinking about getting one.

• Some really inspiring car photography.

• Lightroom tip: Start using DNG. It's easy and saves you 20% disk space. And if you have a lot of folders to convert from earlier shoots then start picking one or two away each day. Just select the folder and go to the Library module. Then choose Library > Convert to DNG. Here's a video with some more info.

Also, next week I'm probably going to start a new type of blog post. I get so many questions and comments that I want to answer, but I just never have time to email each person. So, I'm starting a "catch-all" post each week (assuming there's enough questions/comments to fill a post) and I'll answer them right here on the site. Sound good? Enjoy your weekend?

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Well gang, it's time for another round of presets. This time around I'm following up Matt's Deep Blue Sky presets with Matt's Dramatic Sky presets. Most of the presets I've used that dealt with enhancing skies usually just enhanced the color. But I've put a few other things in these presets that specialize in making the clouds look better too. You can use 'em in photos with no clouds, but you'll find they really do some cool stuff where there's a decent amount of clouds to be found. Or use them in photos with no sky at all. They probably won't work well but they're your presets now right?! Oh yeah, when I say clouds, I mean those big white puffy clouds - not an overcast cloudy day OK. Hey... I'm just sayin' :)

Anyway, let me know how they work and what you think in the comments area. Thanks and have a great Monday!

Click here to see a sample of the presets.
Click here to download Matt's Dramatic Sky Presets
Click here to see a video on how to install presets.

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In a post last week, I ran a contest for a free pre-conference session at Photoshop World. Well I'm happy to announce the winner is Becky Davis. Although the schmoozing about my classes was greatly appreciated and flattering, I put all the names in a hat and picked one. So congrats to Becky. I also wanted to thank everyone who added a comment. It's great to see what types of classes you guys are interested in. Make sure all of you stop by and say hi at the conference!

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