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MASTERING

LIGHTROOM
A PHOTOGRAPHER’S GUIDE TO LIGHTROOM 4 & 5

Book One: The Librar y Module

ANDREW S GIBSON
CONTENTS
Introduction 3 Using the Library module 38 The right hand panels 98
Notes 5 The power of the Lightroom Catalog 39 The Histogram 99
Lightroom shortcuts 40 Quick Develop panel 100
What is Lightroom? 6 The purpose of the Library module 41 Keywording and Keyword List panels 101
The transition to Lightroom 7 Viewing images 43 The Metadata panel 104
The Toolbar 44
Advice to new Lightroom users 9 View modes 45 The Lightroom Publish Services 106
Lights out 53 Hard Drive Publish Service 108
The workflow advantage 12 The ‘most selected’ image 54 Flickr Publish Service 111
Organising Raw files 15 Searching images 55 Facebook, Behance and 500px 113
Selecting folders or Collections 57 Koken 114
Introducing the Lightroom Library module 17 Library filters 58
The Lightroom modules 18 Rating images 61 What’s new in the Library module? 116
Customising the Identity Plate 23
The left hand panels 70 Conclusion 121
Getting started: Importing images 24 Working with panels 71 Photography ebooks 122
How Lightroom works: a brief overview 25 Solo mode 72
Beginning the import 26 The Navigator 73
The Folders panel 74
The Collections panel 75
Putting it together: Importing Raw files 78
Collections and virtual copies 90
Smart Collections 92
The Catalog panel 96

2
INTRODUC TION

There’s no doubt that digital photography is a revolution that


has changed the nature of photography as both a hobby and a
profession. As digital cameras have come down in price, and the
image quality has improved, more and more photographers have
made the transition. Now digital photography is mainstream, and
film photography is, depending on your viewpoint, either a memory
or a niche.

One of the benefits that digital photography has brought is ease of processing.
Computers, like digital cameras, have become both more powerful and less
expensive as the years go by. Now just about anybody can buy a relatively
inexpensive computer and software for processing images. For most of us the
question has become not ‘Should I post-process my photos?’ but ‘What software is
best for processing my images?’

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For many years the answer was simple – Adobe Photoshop. It was the best image Lightroom also addresses the issue of workflow. It is much easier and quicker to
editing software out there and most photographers either bought it or (let’s be organise and process your Raw files in Lightroom than it is in Photoshop with
honest) used a pirated copy. Adobe Bridge. I genuinely believe that buying Lightroom is one of the easiest and
most cost-effective ways to improve your photography. It will help you realise
Photoshop was, and still is, great software, but it has two weaknesses. The first your vision by letting you process your Raw files in a way that gets the most out
is price. The cost is off-putting for many hobbyists who would like to use good of them. But first, you need to get your images organised. This ebook will help
software, but find the price of Photoshop prohibitive (or don’t like the licensing you understand how Lightroom’s Library module works and how you can use it to
model of Photoshop CC). organise and search your images.

The second is related to workflow. Photoshop was designed from the start as photo Believe me there’s plenty to get excited about as you delve into the workings of the
editing (and graphic design) software. The first versions were created before Raw Library module. For instance, if you shoot plenty of photos you are probably aware
files were invented, when hardly anybody owned a digital camera. The need to edit that it takes time to edit them down to the best ones that you want to process.
Raw files didn’t exist, and no-one prioritised the task of organising images. Now Lightroom has tools to help you do that quickly.
any photographer who values image quality uses Raw. Adobe Camera Raw, the
Raw converter built in to Adobe Photoshop, is very good at what it does. But when Or perhaps you’d like to upload photos directly to Flickr, 500px or Facebook
it comes to organising and searching images, Photoshop (and Adobe Bridge) are from Lightroom? It’s easy – and I will show you how. Maybe you would like to
clumsy tools. build a website to display your best photos, and push updates to it directly from
Lightroom? The Library module lets you do that too.
Software makers have realised there is a better way. They are creating software
that is designed from the ground up to organise, search and process Raw files, and I’ve written this ebook for two types of reader. The first is the complete newcomer
is built for photographers not designers. Adobe hasn’t been left behind, and has to Lightroom. If you’ve never used it before, you can use this ebook to get started.
produced what is probably the most popular program out there – Lightroom.
The second type is the one who has used Lightroom, but wants to learn how to get
The main benefit of Lightroom is that it addresses the twin weaknesses of the best out of it. This ebook is a little different from most others because I will tell
Photoshop: price and workflow. Lightroom is relatively inexpensive. Indeed, for all you why you should do certain things as well as how. The aim is to streamline your
that you can do with it I don’t hesitate to say that it’s the best value software you workflow so you spend no more time than necessary in the Library module, freeing
can possibly buy. you up to get on with the creative task of processing your Raw files.

4
Notes
Screen shots are taken from a MacBook Pro using OS X. If you are a option (i.e Photo > Add to Target Collection). If a shortcut exists, it will be listed
PC user your screen will look different. Most of the differences are next to the relevant option in the menu (in this case, the shortcut is ‘B’). You can
minor, and down to the operating system not the program – on the also bring up a list of keyboard shortcuts relevant to the module you’re in by
whole Lightroom looks the same most of the time in both Windows pressing Cmd-’/’ (PC: Ctrl-’/’) at any time.
and Mac OS X.
Terminology: Photoshop comes in several versions: Photoshop Elements,
I would also like to clarify the way shortcuts are used in this ebook: Photoshop CS, Photoshop CC and Photoshop Lightroom. For the sake of simplicity,
I will use the term Photoshop to refer interchangeably to Photoshop Elements,
Right-clicking: On a PC you can right-click just about anywhere in Lightroom to Photoshop CS and Photoshop CC, and Lightroom to refer to Photoshop Lightroom.
bring up a contextual menu. If you’re a Mac user and you use an Apple mouse
right-click is disabled. You can access the contextual menu by holding the Control
key down when you click. Or, you can enable right-clicking (System Preferences Left: Right-click on a PC
> Mouse) even with a single-button Apple mouse. The easiest solution is to use a or Ctrl-click on a Mac to
Windows mouse – the Mac OS X recognises it and enables right-clicking. I find the bring up a contextual
right-click invaluable, and will mention it frequently in the ebook. So please don’t menu like this. Contextual
get confused if you also use a Mac and right-clicking doesn’t work. menus act as a shortcut to
commonly used functions
Option/Control keys: Keyboard shortcuts on the Mac often use the Option key, in the Lightroom menus.
also known as the Command key. Windows keyboards use the Control key instead. The options presented are
I will list the Mac shortcut in the ebook with the PC shortcut in brackets, like this: unique to the part of the
Cmd-S (PC: Ctrl-S). program you click on.

Keyboard shortcuts: Although I will mention the most useful keyboard shortcuts,
I won’t use them all. Most of the time I will guide you to the appropriate menu

5
What is
Lightroom?

Lightroom is designed to manage and process your photo files. It is


part Raw converter, part photo processor (yes, you can edit JPEG and
TIFF files in Lightroom too) and part photo organiser. The latter task
is often referred to as digital asset management (or DAM for short).

Why use Lightroom instead of Photoshop? For one, it’s as powerful as Photoshop
when it comes to Raw processing, but much less expensive. Second, it lets you take
charge of your growing photo collection and get it organised. That’s something
Photoshop can’t do. Third, Lightroom saves you a lot of hard drive space, especially
compared to using TIFF or PSD files. Fourth, it saves time.

Is there anything Lightroom can’t do? Well, it can’t help you directly with tasks
such as compositing, layer blending, adding texture layers or any similar tasks that
Photoshop excels at. You can, however, export your images to a suitable plug-in
when you want to do something that isn’t possible in Lightroom. In this world view,
Photoshop counts as a plug-in.

6
The transition to Lightroom
My view is this. The way photographers use photo editing software is going carry out some processing tasks on JPEG and TIFF files. If you need to use other
through a transitional stage. Not so long ago, most used Photoshop as their main software to carry out a specific task that Lightroom can’t handle, then there is
editing tool. It was more or less the only serious contender for this task. There have probably a plug-in or standalone program to do that. The benefit of plug-ins is
always been competitors, but none of them ever managed to achieve the power, a seamless transition from your main software (i.e Lightroom) to the peripheral
ease of use or ubiquity of Photoshop. programs (Photoshop, Silver Efex Pro and so on).

Then, as more photographers made the switch to digital, we realised that And yes, Photoshop is viewed as a plug-in. That’s because it carries out a single
processing images is only part of the equation. It’s as important to organise, task – editing JPEG or TIFF files (albeit with a lot of power). And consider that even
search and back up photos as it is to process them. When you have tens, or even photographers who edit the majority of their images in Photoshop can still use
hundreds, of thousands of images a good system for organising them is essential. Lightroom to organise their images and carry out some processing tasks before
Photoshop doesn’t do that. Hence a demand for software that does so (and is switching to Photoshop. In this workflow example, you are using Lightroom and
simple to use) has been created. Photoshop in conjunction.

At the same time, external hard drives have grown in capacity and dropped in It is like the transition from film to digital photography. Eventually so many
price to the point where they are the only realistic option for saving and backing photographers switched to digital that it became mainstream, the accepted way
up large amounts of Raw files. Other media, like DVDs, don’t have sufficient of doing things. Film is now used by a minority. I predict the same will happen to
capacity and are too unreliable. Now, hard drives are affordable enough that most Photoshop. The day is coming when workflow based software like Lightroom is the
photographers can store their entire collection of Raw images on a single unit. That centre of most photographers’ post-processing set-up.
makes it easy to use software like Lightroom to organise them.

Now, many of those photographers are switching to Lightroom (or alternatives


such as Apple’s Aperture or Phase One’s Capture One Pro). The benefit of these
programs is that they let you manage your entire workflow from within one
interface. You can import, view, search and organise photos, process Raw files and

7
Lightroom Other software

This diagram shows how Lightroom sits at the heart of a software ecosystem. • Importing and backing up Raw or Plug-ins for editing JPEG or
For any task that Lightroom itself can’t do, there is bound to be a plug-in that photo files. TIFF files (powerful editors)
• Photoshop CS/CC
can. The list here isn’t intended to be exhaustive – software comes and goes • Photoshop Elements
and I’m sure that there are many I haven’t heard of or used. • GIMP
• Digital asset management
• Processing Raw files
The arrows show the way photos flow through the ecosystem. Lightroom can • Editing JPEG or TIFF files Plug-ins for editing JPEG
take care of your photo collection from the initial import to the final export, or TIFF files (specialised
effects)
storing every edit you make in its Catalog so that you can come back and see • Perfect Effects
what you did in years to come. Lightroom is designed so that everybody’s • FocalPoint
• Color Efex Pro
needs are catered for, from beginner through to seasoned professional.
• Viveza
• Topaz Adjust
• Topaz Clarity
• Exporting photo files to display on • Topaz Lens Effects
a website, tablet or smartphone. • Alien Skin Exposure
• Preparing photos for print. • Alien Skin Bokeh
• Exporting photo files for a client. • DxO Film Pack

Plug-ins for editing JPEG


or TIFF files (black & white
conversion)
• Perfect B&W
• Silver Efex Pro
• Topaz B&W Effects

Plug-ins for editing JPEG


or TIFF files (portrait
retouching)
• Perfect Portrait

8
Advice to new
Lightroom users

These are the things that I wish someone had told me before I used
Lightroom for the first time. These concepts will save you a lot of
effort and wasted time in the long run. If this is the first time you
have used Lightroom, you have a huge advantage as it means you
can establish a consistent workflow from the start. That makes life
easier as your photo collection grows.

Before we get onto the advice I’d like to give you a tip. Whatever you want to do
with Lightroom, keep things as simple as possible. It’s easy to over complicate
matters. You’ll save yourself a lot of work by looking for the simplest way to get
where you want to go.

Above all, have fun! Lightroom is there to make processing and organising your
photos a simple and enjoyable process. It will give you the freedom to do that
thing we all love the most – being creative and producing beautiful photos.

9
Understand what Lightroom is for.
Hopefully you’re beginning to understand by now, but just in case let’s recap. this is that the total hard drive space occupied by Raw files and the Catalog is much
Lightroom helps you organise and back up your images, process your Raw files and less than the hard drive space required for TIFF and PSD files created in Photoshop.
export them as photo files as quickly and painlessly as possible. It is the heart of That greatly simplifies the task of making copies.
your workflow and the first program that you open when you want to organise or
edit photo files. Use a single Catalog.
Earlier versions of Lightroom slowed down as the number of photos in the Catalog
Put all your Raw files in a single folder on an external hard drive. grew, but that’s no longer an issue. Lightroom is for organising and searching
Doing so makes it easy to back them up at any time. I will explain how I organise your Raw files as well as processing them, so it makes sense to keep your entire
folders and back up my Raw files later on in the ebook. You don’t have to do things image collection together. You can only have one Catalog open at a time, so if your
the same way; there are many ways to organise files and ultimately you need to do images are spread across multiple Catalogs you can’t search your entire photo
what suits you best. But sticking to the principle of creating a master folder to hold collection at a time.
your Raw files (and Raw files only – no TIFFs or JPEGs) will help you a lot.
Keep a copy of your Raw files and your Catalog off-site.
Set Lightroom to backup your Catalog to the same hard drive that If the worst happens, you’ll be glad you did. It’s also a good idea to regularly back
you store your Raw files on. your Catalog up to Dropbox.
With Lightroom, all you need for a successful backup is a copy of your Raw files and
your Catalog (minus preview files). There’s no need to back up JPEG and TIFF photo Decide how you are going to use star ratings, colour labels and
files, unless you have edited them further in another program. Any JPEG or TIFF metadata from the outset and then stick to it.
files created by exporting from Lightroom can be created again. You can think of This isn’t easy, as you’ll probably think of different ways you can use these features
Raw files as being like negatives – you will never suffer an irrevocable loss as long as you become more proficient with Lightroom. But the more consistent you are,
as they are safely backed up. the simpler it is to use these tools to organise and search your photo collection.
Later on I’ll give you lots of tips for using these features, and keeping your
This leads to another benefit of Lightroom that becomes apparent as your photo approach to using star ratings, flags, keywords and colour labels as straightforward
collection grows. Lightroom makes it easier to back your photos up. One reason for as possible.

10
Use Collections and Collection Sets to organise your images. Undo is your friend.
They are the heart of Lightroom and free you from the physical constraints set by Just about anything you do can be undone by pressing Cmd-’Z’ (PC: Ctrl-’Z’). If
the folders containing your Raw files. you’re not sure what effect doing something will have on your photos, just try it.
The Undo shortcut is there to help if it doesn’t work out. On the rare occasions you
You may have noticed that you can only browse photos by folder in the Library are about to do something that cannot be undone, Lightroom will warn you.
module. In the others, you only have access to images contained in a Collection.
Adobe wants you to use Collections (and Collection Sets) as they are the easiest Do as much work in Lightroom as possible.
way to organise and collate your images. I will show you how in this ebook. When processing images, do as much as you can in Lightroom. You should only
export a photo to Photoshop or another plug-in if you need to do something that
Use Smart Collections sparingly. Lightroom can’t handle.
There are many ways to use Smart Collections. While they may seem useful
because they are automated, it’s easy to over-complicate things. Only use them Processing images solely in Lightroom whenever you can helps keep your
when they will genuinely save you time, or as a way of storing search results. workflow quick and simple. Exporting to other programs or plug-ins uses more
hard drive space and means that you end up with additional JPEG or TIFF files to
Convert your Raw files to DNG. keep track of and back up.
There are two main benefits of converting your Raw files to the DNG format. The
first is that DNG files are smaller than your regular Raw files. You’ll save ten to Lightroom will change your life.
twenty percent of hard drive space – that adds up over time. I’m not exaggerating – you’ll be amazed at how much time having an organised
photo collection will save you. You’ll also be pleasantly surprised at how fast you
But the main benefit is that using DNG files speeds up Lightroom. DNG files can process your Raw files once you get up to speed with Lightroom’s Develop
contain a preview in a form called fast load data that enables Lightroom to render module. If you’re the type that’s always behind on processing, Lightroom will help
previews up to eight times faster. This saves you time when viewing and processing you catch up. You can wave goodbye to folders of unprocessed photos and say
images. There’s nothing more frustrating than zooming into an image then having hello to being a well-organised photographer.
to wait several seconds for the preview to render. Using DNG helps prevent that.

11
The wor k flow
advantage

In the introduction I wrote about Lightroom and workflow. It’s time


to take a deeper look at the benefits of working with Lightroom
has – especially compared to the ‘old way’ of using Photoshop for
processing your Raw files.

But first, let’s consider what workflow was like in the days of film. If you’ve never
used film this may seem strange to you. Compared to digital, there were so many
laborious steps involved in processing film and printing images in the darkroom
that it’s a wonder anyone bothered.

The diagrams on the next page show you how workflow has progressed. The
advent of Lightroom is merely the latest development in a process that has been
refined over the years by the major camera manufacturers and (more recently)
software engineers.

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Film If the photographer Photoshop
used colour or black
Photographer takes & white negative film, Photographer takes Photographer selects Photographer
photos on film, and If the photographer he then makes prints photos with a digital favourite images finishes processing
either sends it away used slide film, the in the darkroom. camera and saves and processes them images in Photoshop.
to be developed or process stops here. Once a print is made, them in the Raw one by one in Adobe
develops it himself. the only way to make format. Camera Raw.
another one is to
repeat the process.

This is the workflow used by photographers before the digital age. It was time This diagram shows how your workflow looks if you process your Raw files using
consuming – it takes much longer to develop film, or have it developed, than it Photoshop. It’s much quicker than using film and making prints in the darkroom.
does to import images from a memory card to your hard drive. It also takes longer You also get to spend your time sitting at your computer in a nicely lit room
to make a good quality print in a darkroom than it does in Lightroom or even rather than shut away in a darkroom. That’s even if you had a darkroom – many
Photoshop. Worst of all, once you’ve made a print (or a slide) there’s no way of photographers never did. Darkrooms require space, and money to buy the
duplicating it without losing image quality. If you wanted to make ten copies of a equipment to put in them, and not everybody could do so (which probably helps
print, you would have to carry out the physical steps required ten times. explain why digital photography became so popular so fast).

In the digital world, the film photographer has an extra choice. He can scan Compared with using film and a darkroom, this workflow is paradise. Then the
the negatives, save them to his computer and work on them in a program like day comes when you realise that creating 16 bit TIFF files and multi-layer PSD
Photoshop. Many film photographers worked using this hybrid system until they documents from Raw files made by cameras with 18 to 24 megapixel sensors
completed the digital transition by buying a digital camera. With film experiencing takes up a ridiculous amount of hard drive space. Not to mention those tens of
something of a renaissance in popularity, there still are photographers that choose thousands of Raw files scattered around hundreds of disorganised folders. There
to work this way. must be a better way, right? Luckily there is, thanks to those clever software
engineers at Adobe who were thinking about these things way before most
photographers.

13
Lightroom
Photographer
Photographer processes Raw files
Photographer takes imports images in Lightroom. The
photos with a digital using Lightroom and final images can be
camera and saves selects best ones exported in different
them in the Raw to process. He uses file formats and sizes
format. batch processing to according to the
save time. required purpose.

This diagram shows the modern photographer’s workflow in Lightroom. The asset management programs around, but none of them seemed to do the job well
differences between this and what you get with Photoshop are profound. At last enough and simply enough to capture the public imagination or challenge the
we have software that is designed for photographers and helps us organise our dominance of Photoshop.
images as well as process our Raw files.
Until, that is, Lightroom came along.
The biggest limitation to film and darkroom users, in terms of time, is that you
could only process your images one at a time. You have more options if you use Here’s a simple example to show you the benefits of the Lightroom way of doing
Photoshop and Adobe Camera Raw (ACR), as it is possible to batch process Raw things. Imagine that you have taken two hundred or so portraits of one of your
files. However, Photoshop’s capabilities for batch processing are limited compared favourite models. You’ve used the Library module to narrow them down to the
to Lightroom. best. Now, once you’ve processed the first image, you can copy all of the settings
you used, right down to the minutest edit, and apply them to any of the others. As
The ability to organise and edit (as in choose which photos to process and which they are completely non-destructive, you can use the copied settings as a starting
ones to reject) is also very primitive. This is something that photographers lived point and work from there. It really does save you a tremendous amount of time.
with for many years, as it was the only way of doing things. Yes, there were digital

14
Organising Raw files
Now I’m going to show you how I organise my Raw files. I realise everyone has their
own preference for this sort of thing, but this system works well for me so it’s worth
sharing with you. Feel free to use, adapt or ignore it.

The main benefit of this system is that it is easy to back up your Raw files.
Organising folders by date makes sense to me because you can see at a glance
whether the most recent folders have been backed up. Backups are important, and
I recommend that you keep your Raw files backed up to at least three different hard
drives, with one of those kept off-site in case of theft or fire at home. It’s easy to do
with external hard drives, there’s no need to invest in a RAID system or anything
complicated unless you absolutely want to.

Whatever your folder structure, it’s a good idea to store your RAW files in a master
folder. Keep JPEGs and TIFFs in a separate folder.

As you learn how to use the Library module, you will realise that your folder
structure is relatively unimportant. That’s because you will start to use Collections,
a kind of virtual folder that you can organise any way you like. You can create
Collections based on any criteria you like, and add any photo to any Collection
regardless of which physical folder it resides in.
Above: Here’s my system. I keep all my Raw files in a folder called RAW. The
You might like to read the section on using Collections and Collection Sets before first level in the RAW folder contains a folder for each year that I have owned a
deciding on a folder structure for your Raw files. digital camera.

15
Above: Each monthly folder contains one folder for each shoot that I shot that
month. This file structure lets me see right away which folders are yet to be
backed up.

Above: Each year folder contains 12 folders, one for each month.

16
introducing
The Lightroom
Library module

Most of a photographer’s work is carried out in the Library and


Develop modules. This ebook concentrates on the Library module.
It will teach you how to import your images and organise them into
Collections so that you can use the Develop module efficiently.

If you are new to Lightroom, you will discover it looks very different from Adobe
Bridge, Photoshop or any other image editing software you may use. Remember,
Lightroom is a tool for both organising and processing photo files. It is a workflow
tool as well as an image editing program, and the interface reflects that.

17
The Lightroom modules
Before we go any further, I’d like to explain the function of each of the seven an earlier version of Lightroom you will be pleasantly surprised at the advances
Lightroom modules. The Library and Develop modules will be of primary interest made in Lightroom 5. It is now possible to process most of your Raw files here
to most photographers. You can use the Maps module to geotag your images, and without going into Photoshop.
the rest are there to help you do various things with your photos after you have
processed them. Map module
If your camera has GPS Lightroom can map the location where your photos were
To be honest, you might never even go into most of these for anything other than taken if the information is embedded in the metadata. You can also use the track
the sake of curiosity. The heart and soul of Lightroom resides in the Library and log from a synchronised GPS device or add location information to your photos
Develop modules. The others are there to assist or encourage you to do some manually by dropping images onto a map. Lightroom lets you add GPS co-
interesting things with your images after you have processed them. But don’t ordinates to the metadata and organise your images by location. In this sense it
ignore them – they are well worth a look once you have got to grips with the initial extends the search criteria of the Library module. The Maps module uses Google
tasks of organising and developing your images. Maps and you must be online to use it.

Library module Book module


This is where you import, organise and search your Raw files. Yes, you can also Enables you to select and lay out photos to produce a photo book. It is designed
import JPEG or TIFF files, but for the moment I’m going to assume that your to work with Blurb books and lets you upload your completed book to its website.
main interest is in processing Raw files, otherwise you would probably be using You can also export it as a PDF file (ideal for ebooks) or a JPEG file. The Book
Photoshop. You can view your images here, make comparisons, and select the ones module doesn’t give you the same functionality and flexibility as using software
that you would like to process in the Develop module. like InDesign, but it does simplify the process of creating a book.

Develop module Slideshow module


This is where you process your Raw files, and export them as JPEG or TIFF files as The Slideshow module is for creating slideshows with your photos. You can add
required. For many photographers it’s the most important part of Lightroom and text and transition effects. Portrait or wedding photographers may find it useful for
the reason they bought the program in the first place. If you have upgraded from creating presentations for clients.

18
Print module
The Print module helps you prepare your images for printing. There are a number
of options to help you do so including the ability to choose paper type, border size
and print resolution.

Web module
The Web module helps you organise selected images into galleries. There are
several design options to choose from, and more are available online. Once you
have created a gallery you can upload it your website from within Lightroom or
with FTP (File Transfer Protocol) software.

The Web module is probably most helpful to photographers who need to put a
gallery of photos online for a client or for friends. It doesn’t take the place of using
software like WordPress or Koken (discussed later in this ebook) for creating a fully-
fledged website.

Above: You can create photo galleries quickly and easily with Lightroom’s Web
module .

19
Library interface
This is the Lightroom Library
module interface. This is what you
see when you open Lightroom and
go to the Library module if have
already imported some images. It
will look a little different to this if
you have yet to do so.

The Lightroom Interface is divided


into five sections. This design is used
throughout all seven modules. The
top panels and the filmstrip stay the
same. The content of the side panels
changes according to which module
you’re in.

The diagram on the next page


shows the name of each section.

20
Identity Plate & Module picker buttons panel
The default Identity Plate displays the Lightroom logo and version (above). You can
customise the Identity Plate to display text or a logo that you have created yourself.
I’ll show you how to do that in a couple of pages.

The Module Picker buttons let you move around between the seven modules
available in both Lightroom 4 and Lightroom 5. When you start Lightroom it goes
to the last module that you used.

Identity Plate & Module picker buttons panel You can click on the white arrow above the top panel to remove it from the display
(circled). You can also use the Shift + Tab shortcut to remove all four side panels.
Left panels

Content window

Right panels

Filmstrip

21
Left and right panels
The panels grouped on the left and right hand side of the display (right) contain
the controls required to carry out tasks within each module. The side panels shown
on this page are from the Library module.

You can remove the side panels from the display by clicking on the white arrows at
the edge of the screen. Remove both together by pressing the Tab button.

Content window
This is where you view photos. The photos may be contained in folders (Library
module only), Collections or Collection Sets, or organised according to a search.
You can view multiple images together (Grid view and Survey view), compare
two images (Compare view) or view your photos one at a time (Loupe view). I will
explore how this works in more depth later in the ebook.

Filmstrip
Displays the photos that you are viewing within the content windows in film-strip
style (below). There are options to filter the photos displayed according to ranking,
EXIF data or other criteria. Just like the other panels, you can hide the filmstrip by
clicking the white arrow at the edge of the screen.

22
Customising the Identity Plate
If you have any read many Lightroom tutorials you may have noticed a customised
Identity Plate in the illustrations. A lot of photographers like to do this so that you
can see their name or website address. It’s easy enough, and you can replace the
default Lightroom logo with customised text or a graphic file you created. The file
may come in useful for displaying a logo.

Right: The default Lightroom 5


Identity Plate. To create a text-based custom Identity Plate, tick the Enable Identity Plate
box and select Use a styled text identity plate. Enter your text in the box
underneath. Use the drop down menus underneath to select font type, size
and colour. You can customise the font in the module picker buttons to match.
Right: To customise
the Identity Plate
and replace it with
a text or graphical
alternative start by
going to Lightroom >
Identity Plate Setup
(PC: Edit > Identity
Plate).

Alternatively, select Use a graphical identity plate and click the Locate File
button to upload an image (dimensions 400 x 57 pixels).

23
Getting started:
Importing images

Naturally, once you have installed Lightroom you will want to import
some images. This adds them to your Catalog: the database that
Lightroom uses to store information about your photo files, and
details of any changes you have made to them, such as altering
metadata or editing images in the Develop module.

To get the most out of Lightroom it is crucial to understand how the


Catalog works. This section will help get you started by explaining its
relationship with your images and the metadata they contain.

24
How Lightroom works: a brief overview default location for the backup is in a folder called Backups, contained within your
Lightroom folder. If you open it, you may find several backups of your Catalog.
If you have used Photoshop to process Raw files, you are probably aware that it You can delete some of the old copies (but not the most recent backup) to free up
doesn’t make any changes to the Raw file. Instead, your alterations are recorded in hard drive space. You will be offered the opportunity to change the location of the
a text file (extension .xmp) that is saved in the same folder. backup in the Back Up Catalog box when you exit Lightroom.

Lightroom works in a similar way, except that it stores information about your files If you click the Show button, your computer will open the folder containing your
in your Catalog. A benefit of this system is that it keeps the editing information Lightroom Catalog. The Catalog is actually split into two files. One has the format
separate from the Raw files themselves. This makes it easy to back both up. catalogname.lrcat and the other catalogname previews.lrdata. The previews
Another advantage of this method of working is that it enables far more file contains previews that Lightroom has built of your images, and is much bigger
sophisticated ways of organising and searching images. That’s why we refer to than the Catalog. They are what you see when you view images in Lightroom.
Lightroom as a workflow tool. You can use it to keep your photos organised from It isn’t necessary to back the previews folder up, and Lightroom doesn’t do it
the moment you import them. when it backs up your Catalog. Previews can be generated again. The important
information is contained in the .lrcat file. As long as your Raw files and the .lrcat
The Catalog does not contain any of your original Raw files. It only contains file are intact, your photo collection is safe.
information about those files.
The Catalog takes up so little space because Lightroom is a metadata editor. The
The Catalog is saved on your computer’s hard drive. To see where, go to Lightroom changes you make to your Raw files are stored as text commands in the Catalog.
> Catalog Settings (PC: Edit > Catalog Settings) and look under the General tab. Photoshop, by contrast, is a pixel editor. Changes are made at pixel level, and once
The first line shows the location of your Catalog, and the second line its name. The the file is saved they are permanent. The only way to avoid that is to use layers,
default location for the Lightroom Catalog is Pictures > Lightroom (Mac) or My which add to the file size.
Documents > My Pictures > Lightroom (PC).
Adobe Camera Raw is also a metadata editor. If you open an .xmp file with a text
While you have the Catalog Settings open, it’s a good idea to go to the Back up editor you will see a list of edits made in text form. If you import a Raw file into
Catalog setting at the bottom and select Every time Lightroom exits. With this Lightroom that you have edited in ACR, Lightroom adds the metadata in the .xmp
option selected, Lightroom will backup your Catalog every time you close it. The file. That way any edits you have already made are not lost.

25
These are the hard drives
Beginning the import containing images that have
been imported into your Catalog.
Before you import your Raw files into Lightroom, you need to decide which folder Each hard drive has a separate
you are going to copy them to from your camera’s memory card. You could follow heading. If the Catalog contains
my suggestion and organise your Raw files in date order, or do it differently in a files from hard drives not
way that suits you. Whatever you decide, once your Raw files are in the designated connected to the computer, they
folder, leave them there. After the import, you can use Collections and Collection are displayed but greyed out to
Sets to organise them. indicate they are not connected.

The illustration on the right shows the Folders panel, part of the left hand set of
panels in the Library module. The folders displayed here mirror the folder structure
on your hard drive. Click on the arrow next to any folder name to reveal or conceal Important: If you move folders or
subfolders. The contents of the selected folder or folders are displayed in the centre files, or change their names after
of the screen. importing into Lightroom, then
Lightroom won’t know where to
Click the Import button at the bottom of the left-hand panel to begin importing find your images. You can avoid
Raw files. This opens the Import window – shown on the next page. After the this by renaming files or moving
import, your photos will appear in the Folders panel. folders within Lightroom. Moving
folders is easy – just click on the
TIFF and JPEG files folder you want to move and drag
You can also use Lightroom to import and edit TIFF and JPEG files. It’s useful to it to the new location. Get in the
know that you can use the Library module to organise your TIFF and JPEG files, habit of moving or renaming files
as well as your Raw files, if you wish. Any edits you make to a JPEG or TIFF file are and folders in Lightroom – it will
saved in the Catalog, the same way as edits made to Raw files. The original always save you a lot of frustration and
remains intact and you can revert back to it any time. wasted time.

26
Importing Raw files from
a memory card
This is Lightroom’s import panel.
There are three steps in import
process, each controlled by a
different part of the Import window:

1. Tell Lightroom where to


import Raw files from.

2. Select which Raw files to


import.

3. Decide where the Raw


files are to be saved, and
which settings to apply
to the images as they are
imported.
1. 2. 3.

27
The location The destination
from which you where the Raw files
are importing will be moved or
Raw files. In this copied to.
example it is a
memory card with Select quality of
the title EOS_ image previews.
DIGITAL.

Other potential Indicates which


locations on your Lightroom preset,
computer for if any, is used to
importing photos process the Raw
from. Most of these files.
are hard drives.
Indicates which
additional
metadata, if any,
is added to the
Minimise Import images upon
window button. import.
Shrinks import
window down to The destination of
smaller size. the imported files.

Number of photos in current import, Toggle between thumbnail Indicates if an Import Thumbnail size When the settings are finalised, click the
plus approximate size of import. and single image view. Preset is selected. slider. Import button to commence importing.

28
Importing photos from
an external hard drive
If you’re not moving your imported
files to a new folder, you will see
less options in the right hand
panels. This may happen if you are
importing JPEG or TIFF files into
Lightroom. In this example, the
source is a folder (or folders) on an
external hard drive.

29
Import window options Benefits of DNG:
Let’s look at some of the import options in greater detail. These are the main When you convert Raw files to DNG Lightroom gives you the option of embedding
settings you will use. The idea is to let Lightroom do as much work as possible Fast Load Data (set this up under the File Handling tab in Preferences). This is a
upon import, so that you don’t have to do it later. preview that enables the Develop module to work faster and can also speed up the
rate at which Lightroom creates previews. If you ever feel that Lightroom is running
too slow, then switching to DNG could be beneficial. According to Adobe, including
Fast Load Data adds around 200Kb to the image size and gives a speed increase of
up to eight times. DNG files also take up less hard drive space. The overall saving
can be as much as 20%.

Copy as DNG With DNG files you can save editing data in the file itself rather than in a sidecar
Use this setting to copy your Raw files from your camera’s memory card, convert (.xmp) file that sits alongside the file in the same folder. This is useful if you use
them to the DNG format, save them in a new location and add them to the Catalog. Photoshop’s Adobe Camera Raw to process your images, but is not important in
Lightroom as the data is saved in the Catalog instead.
What is DNG?
DNG stands for Digital Negative and is a Raw file format created by Adobe. There Note: You can set Lightroom to save editing information in a sidecar file, or within
are very few cameras that use the DNG format (Hasselblad and Leica are two). Most a DNG file, by going to Metadata > Save Metadata to File. This is useful if you
manufacturers have their own Raw file format. One benefit often touted of the intend to open the file in Adobe Camera Raw, but there is not much point if you
DNG format is that converting your Raw files to DNG ensures that they are saved in only ever edit the file in Lightroom. You select this option on an image by image
a format that Adobe software can read for many years or decades into the future. basis.
While this seems logical, I’m sure that Canon, Nikon, Sony etc. will support their
Raw formats for just as long. And if any of these companies are to fold in the future,
who knows which it will be? Maybe Adobe will be the first to go and DNG will no
longer be supported. Regardless, if there is ever a need to convert Raw files to DNG
in the future for archival purposes, you can do it at any time, either with Lightroom
or Adobe’s free DNG converter program (download links: Mac | PC).

30
Tick this box to include Fast
Load Data in DNG files.

Disadvantages of DNG:
Longer import times. It takes longer for Lightroom to convert your Raw files to
DNG than it does to simply copy them. However, you can always let your computer
import Raw files while you are busy doing something else, or even let it do it
overnight so your files are ready for you in the morning. The increase in speed
gained from including Fast Load Data is worth the effort.

Some software, such as Canon’s DPP, Nikon’s Capture NX and DxO Optics Pro
cannot read DNG files.

31
File Handling
The File Handling panel is where
you tell Lightroom which size
previews you would like to create
Copy when you import photos, and
Copies your Raw files, saves them in a new location and adds them to the Catalog. whether you want it to build Smart
Select this option if you are importing images from a memory card, but don’t want Previews or make duplicate copies
to convert them to DNG. of your files.

Render Previews
Set to 1:1 for the highest quality previews. They take longer to render, but make
previewing and processing images much faster.

Build Smart Previews


Move Smart Previews are new in Lightroom 5. They let you edit images in the Develop
Moves your Raw files from their current location to a new one and adds them to module when the hard drive your Raw files are stored on isn’t connected.
the Catalog. Select this option if you want to move files from one folder on a hard Potentially useful if you use a laptop and would like to take it away somewhere
drive to another and import them to the Catalog at the same time. with you. You can leave the external hard drive containing your Raw files safely at
home and edit any images with Smart Previews while on the road.

Don’t Import Suspected Duplicates


Keeping this box ticked prevents you accidentally importing the same set of
images twice.

Add Make a Second Copy To


Add photos from the selected folder or folders to the Catalog. Use this option if Tick this box if you are importing files from a memory card and would like
you have already moved or copied Raw files from a memory card to a hard drive. Lightroom to make a second copy of the Raw files to another external hard drive.

32
Tick this box to enable file
File Renaming renaming.
Lightroom gives you the option of renaming your photo files during the import.
You don’t have to do this, but it may come in useful as your photo collection grows. Select one of Lightroom’s file
Here are some reasons why: renaming templates from this
drop-down menu (below). The
• Your camera uses a sequential file naming sequence that repeats when you Custom Text, Shoot Name and
reach the end. For example, on my Canon EOS cameras the first photo taken Start Number fields become
with the camera is given a file name of IMG_0001.cr2. This cycles through until available if you need to enter
it reaches IMG_9999.cr2, then it starts again. This means that file names repeat more information to complete the
themselves as the years go by. A search of my Raw files reveals that I have six file naming template. File name
files that share the same name: IMG_0001.cr2. There’s nothing wrong with that templates you create yourself (see
– it doesn’t affect the way Lightroom works. But you may prefer to use the File next page) also appear here.
Renaming panel to give each photo a unique name.

• It may be useful to give your photos a name that tells you something about Use this menu
the photo. For example, you could include the date the photo was taken, or to set the file
something relevant to the shoot (such as the name of a place or person). extension to
uppercase or
• Professional photographers may like to rename photo files to according to a lowercase.
system that works for them. Wedding photographers could include the client’s
name and the shoot date in the file name. Stock photographers may prefer to
assign filenames according to the system they use for submitting photos to their
photo libraries.
A sample filename, using the
The File Renaming panel makes assigning new file names easy. It’s simple to criteria you have selected, is
customise – all you have to do is decide how to use it. displayed here.

33
You can select one of these
presets to use as the basis of your
new file name template (below).
You also come here when you
are ready to save your filename
template. Select Save Current
Settings as New Preset when you
If you click the Edit option in the are ready.
Template menu you will bring
up the Filename Template Editor
window (right). Use it to create
your own customised file naming
system.

The blue tokens show what will


appear in the file name. Click on
a token and press the delete key
(PC: backspace key) to delete
it. You can enter a dash (-) or an
underscores (_) between tokens
but not a space. Click on the white Use these drop-down menus
arrow in the token to change your to select file naming options.
selection. Lightroom displays an Selecting a new option from a
example name above the tokens menu inserts it into the file name
so you can see how the file name template, as does clicking the
will turn out. Insert button.

34
Without Develop preset With Develop preset
Right: These images show
the difference that using a
Develop preset on import
makes. The photo on the
right was processed with
a Develop preset I created
to apply to portraits. The
differences are subtle, and
include important settings
such as Lens Corrections
and Camera Calibration.
The preset saves me time as
I don’t have to make these
adjustments in the Develop
module.

Apply During Import Keywords


Apply Develop Settings and add Metadata and Keywords at the import stage. Add keywords to the imported images. Use them wisely to help you manage and
organise your growing collection of images.
Develop Settings
One of Lightroom’s features is that you can save some or all of the settings that you Here’s an example. Let’s say you’ve just taken some portraits of a friend or model.
use to process a photo into a Develop Preset. You can then apply that Develop At the import stage you can add that person’s name to the Keywords field. Then,
Preset to other images in the Develop module, the Library module or the Import at a later date, you could bring every photo you’ve taken (and keyworded) of that
window. An advantage of presets is their potential for automating mundane person together into a Smart Collection.
processing tasks to save you time. You can also buy presets created by other
photographers designed to give your photos a certain look. Some photographers The same applies to photos of any subject. A few minutes thinking about how you
and software companies give presets away for free. use keywords will pay dividends as your confidence with Lightroom grows.

35
Metadata
Any images you import already contain metadata inserted into the photo by
the camera. Metadata is information such as the camera settings used (aperture,
shutter speed, ISO, focal length and so on) and the model, make and serial
numbers of the camera and lens.

You can add or amend metadata in Lightroom. One of the places you can do
this is in the Library module. Another is the Import window, and you do so by
creating a Metadata preset to apply to imported images. It’s a good way to ensure
that important information such as copyright, your name and contact details are
embedded into every one of your images. Here’s how to set it up:

• Go to Metadata > Edit Metadata Presets.

• Scroll down to the IPTC Copyright and IPTC Creator headings and fill in the
appropriate fields with your personal information. Use or Option + ‘G’ (Mac) or
Alt + ‘0169’ (PC) to enter the Copyright symbol.

• Repeat with any other fields that you want to include. Note that if you leave a
field blank, Lightroom will clear that metadata field in your Raw files even if it
contains information. Press the Check Filled button to avoid that.

• Click Done, then Save As to give the Metadata Preset a name.

• Select the Metadata Preset name you have just created in the Metadata field
of the Apply During Import panel.

36
Destination
Select the destination for Lightroom
to save the imported files if you
have selected the Copy as DNG,
Copy or Move options.

• The large white arrow indicates


the destination folder.
Import Preset
• Tick the Into Subfolder box to When you import images, Lightroom remembers the settings that you selected for
create a new folder to save the the next time. If you follow the same pattern whenever you import new images
imported files in. you probably don’t need to create any Import presets, as you will only ever make
minor changes (such as choosing a different destination).
• The Organise setting lets you
choose whether to save all However, it’s possible that you change your settings regularly according to the
imported files in a single folder, requirements of each particular shoot. One example I can think of is where two
or whether to save them in people or more photographers share the same Lightroom Catalog. In this case, you
subfolders according to date. could create two Import presets, one for each person. It’s an easy way to ensure
that the correct settings, including the Metadata preset, are used for each import.

To set up an Import Preset, go to the Import Preset menu at the bottom of the
Import window. Click the double-arrow icon on the right and select Save Current
Settings as New Preset. You will be prompted to give the Preset a name. You can
switch between presets or restore the default presets at any time.

37
Using the Library
Module

The time required to import your images depends on the number


and size of your Raw files plus the settings you selected. Large
shoots may take several hours.

When the import is complete, Lightroom returns you to the Library module. Now
you can view your images and start the process of editing them down to the
best few to process in the Develop module. There are a number of tools to make
viewing and editing (as in selecting the best) of your Raw files quick and simple.
Once you have a good system in place, you will be surprised at how easy it is to
keep your photos organised. The benefit becomes clear right away as you find
yourself with more time to take and to process your images.

38
The power of the Lightroom Catalog
Let’s take a closer look at the Lightroom Catalog, and why it is such a good way of • You open the edited Raw file in Photoshop, where you make some more
organising your images. adjustments, then save the edited image as a TIFF or JPEG file.

At first it may seem problematic to store every edit you have ever made to your Do you see what just happened here? If your Raw files and sidecar files get
photos, including Raw processing, in a central location. What if the Catalog is lost or separated, the edits are lost (one exception: if you use the DNG format you can
the file corrupted – is the potential there to lose all your edits in one go? save the sidecar file information within the DNG file itself ). You also have an edited
TIFF or JPEG file, most likely saved in a different folder (which needs backing up,
Thankfully, the answer is no. Lightroom makes regular backups of your Catalog creating more hassle). You’ve just ended up with two versions of the same photo
(providing you haven’t disabled this in the Catalog settings). Furthermore, (Raw file plus sidecar file and a TIFF or JPEG file).
Lightroom saves each backup in a new folder. So, worse case scenario: both your
Catalog and the most recent backup become corrupted or somehow get lost (an In Lightroom, you have just one Raw file, and the edits are stored in the Catalog.
event that is highly unlikely in itself ). You can then go back to the previous backup, As long as you have a copy of the Catalog, you will never lose any of the edits. You
and you will only lose the edits you made since that backup was made. If you make don’t even need to ‘finish’ the editing process by converting the Raw file to a TIFF or
an off-site backup of your Raw files (which you should), you can also include a copy a JPEG file until you actually have need of that file. This will save a lot of hard drive
of the most recent Lightroom Catalog for extra security. Not to mention backing up space in the long run. My Catalog and previews folder together occupy the same
the Catalog to Dropbox every now and then. Take care of your backups, and you hard drive space as 66 16 bit TIFF files created from my EOS 5D Mark II’s Raw files.
have nothing to fear from a corrupted Catalog or hard drive failure. The total number of images in my Catalog? A little over 50,000. Only the best of
those have been processed, but 50,000 is still way more efficient than 66.
Compare this to the way it used to be with Photoshop:
Furthermore, all the edits are non-destructive. I can go back to any file and change
• You open your Raw file in Adobe Camera Raw and edit it. any of the settings, or make a virtual copy and a new interpretation of the image.

• You save the file. Edits are stored in a sidecar file (extension .xmp) in the same This is all down to the power of the Lightroom Catalog.
folder as the Raw file.

39
Lightroom shortcuts
Can’t remember your shortcuts? You can view a list at any time by pressing Cmd +
‘/’ (PC: Ctrl + ‘/’). Lightroom displays the shortcuts relevant to the module you’re
using. They stay on the screen until you click on the overlay.

Library module shortcuts Develop module shortcuts

40
The purpose
of the Library
module

The illustration on this page


shows the Library module after an
image import. The screen is a little
crowded, but don’t forget you can
hide any of the four edge panels
by clicking on the white arrows at
the edge of the screen. You can also
press the Tab key to hide the side
panels or Shift + Tab to hide all four.

By the way, when you see your


photos laid out in a grid like this
you are in the Grid view. If you see
a different layout, press ‘G’ to get to
the Grid view.

41
The purpose of the Library module
is to view, search, organise, rate,
keyword and edit (as in select the
best photos for processing) images.
You can also carry out rudimentary
developing in the Quick Develop
panel.

At this stage, straight after the


import, Lightroom opens the
Folders panel (one of the left hand
panels). The folder containing the
imported photos should be selected
(right).

Tip: If there are any images in laying on their side, you can rotate them by
hovering over the thumbnail and clicking on one of the rotate arrows that
appear in the bottom corners. If the auto-rotate feature on your camera is
enabled, Lightroom rotates the images automatically for you.

42
Viewing images
Soon, I will show you how to
organise your photos in Collections.
This makes it easier to edit them
down to the best ones that you
are going to process. But first, let’s
take a look at the tools Lightroom
gives you for viewing, comparing
and searching your images. They
work regardless of whether you are
looking at photos stored in a folder
or in a Collection.

If you are like most photographers


one of the first things you will want
to do after import is view your
photos to see if they look as exciting
as they did on the camera’s LCD
screen. Lightroom 5 (but not earlier
versions) gives you an easy way
to do that. Just press the ‘F’ key to
enter full-screen mode. Your photos
will fill the screen (right), and you
can use the arrow keys to move
through them.

43
The Toolbar
The Toolbar is located at the bottom of the Content window (below). The icons Tip: Click on the white arrow
represent the different functions available in the Library module. They are there to on the right-hand side of the
help you navigate through and organise the images in the folder or Collection that toolbar to select which icons are
you are viewing. The Toolbar appears in every module, and changes accordingly. displayed (right). The settings
change according to the module
you are working in.

Shortcut: Press ‘T’ to hide and


reveal the Toolbar. This shortcut
works in every module.

Toolbar (T)

44
White flag Image size File name This number indicates the Click this circular icon to add
icon indicates in pixels. and type. image is the fourth in the or remove photo to Quick
View Modes image is selected folders or Collections. Collection or Target Collection.
flagged as a Can also use the letter ‘B’.
There are four view modes in the pick.
Library module:

Grid View (G)


Displays thumbnails of Unselected
selected images. Use the image (dark
Thumbnail Size slider grey border).
in the Toolbar (press ‘T’ to hide/ The style of the
reveal) to adjust size of thumbnails. coloured frame
indicating the
The diagram opposite shows the colour label is
information about the photo also different.
contained in the Grid View with Selected
the Expanded Cells option image
activated (View > Grid View Style > (light grey
Expanded Cells). border).

Shortcut: Use the ‘G’ key shortcut


to enter Grid View from anywhere
in Lightroom.

Image star rating Image colour label (also These two small icons indicate that the image
indicated by coloured has been added to at least one Collection (left)
frame around thumbnail). and that it has develop adjustments (right).

45
Grid View styles
You can customise the appearance of the Grid View cells by going to View > Grid
View Style > Expanded Cells (below). Alternatively, use the ‘J’ key shortcut to
cycle through the styles.

You can customise the Grid View cells even further by going to View > View
Options (right). Here you can decide what information you would like to see
displayed alongside the image thumbnails.

46
Loupe View (E)
Loupe View is for viewing one photo at a time. It differs from Full-screen
mode in that you can access the Toolbar, and apply a grid overlay to
help you see whether the horizon, or any other lines such as the sides of
buildings, are straight.

• Use the Zoom slider in the Toolbar to enlarge the image. The left-most setting
of the Zoom slider (Fit) makes it fit your screen size. The next setting (Fill)
expands the image so that it matches the dimensions of your monitor. The next
settings are size related and range from 1:16 to 11:1.

• Click the left-mouse button to zoom between the ‘Fit’ and the last zoom setting
used. This also works if you press the ‘F’ key shortcut (Lightroom 5 only) to enter
full-screen mode.

Shortcuts: In Loupe view, hit the ‘Escape’ or ‘G’ keys to return to Grid view. If the
image is zoomed, the first touch of the Escape key will return it to the Fit setting.
Press Escape again to return to the Grid view.

47
Tick the Show Grid box to reveal the grid overlay. Use the slider underneath to set Go to View > Loupe Overlay and tick the Guides option. This turns the central
the size of the squares. If you hold the Cmd key (PC: Ctrl) down you can alter the horizontal and vertical grid lines into guides that you can move by holding down
size of the grid and the opacity of the lines by mousing over the Size and Opacity the Cmd (PC: Ctrl) key. They may come in useful for checking the straightness of
settings that appear at the top. horizons and buildings.

48
Customising Loupe View
In both Loupe View and Compare View, you can use the ‘I’ keyboard shortcut to
display an overlay containing information about the selected file or files (below).
Press the ‘I’ key again to see new information, and a third time to make it disappear.

You can customise the appearance of the Info overlay by going to View > View
Options (right). Here you can select which information you would like to see
displayed when you press the ‘I’ key by changing the settings in Loupe Info1 and
Loupe Info 2.

Tick the Show Info Overlay box to see the Info Overlay whenever you enter
Loupe view or Compare view.

49
Compare View (C)
The Compare View lets you view two images together in order to, well,
compare them. There are many reasons why you might do this, not
least is that it lets you chose between two similar images.

To compare two images, do the following in Grid View:

• Select an image by clicking on the thumbnail. The border turns light grey to
indicate it is selected. In Compare View, Lightroom calls this image the Select.

• Select a second image to compare it to by clicking on the thumbnail. The border


turns a slightly darker shade of grey to indicate the selection. In Lightroom this
image is called the Candidate.

• Press the ‘C’ key shortcut to go to the Compare View.

The Compare view lets you compare two images. Use Survey View to compare
more than two photos.

50
Select image. Candidate image.

Use these keys to


navigate through
the images in the
selected folder
or Collection.
The Select
stays the same,
the Candidate
changes.

Set colour label.

Set star rating.


Deselect photo.

Reject image.

Flag or unflag
image as a pick. Press Done to leave
the Compare View.
Lightroom takes you
Link Focus: Click the lock to When the Link Focus lock icon is in the Swap the Select Make the to the Loupe View
zoom both images in tandem. unlocked position you can zoom into and Candidate Candidate and displays the
either image independently. Click the images. image become Select image.
Sync button to bring the second image the Select
back into tandem. image.

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Survey View (N)
Use Survey View to
compare three or more
images. Click on one of
the images to select it. The selected
image has a white border. You can
flag, reject or change the rating of
the selected photo.

52
Lights out It’s an ideal way of examining your images without distractions. If you go to the
Interface tab in Preferences you can also change the screen colour and the dim
There are times when you will find everything going on in the background around level from their defaults. You can activate Lights Out from anywhere in Lightroom.
your photos distracting. When that happens, press the ‘L’ key to highlight the Use the ‘L’ key to cycle through the Lights On (below left), Lights Dim (below
selected image (or images) by fading out the rest of the Lightroom interface. middle) and Lights Off (below right) display modes.

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The ‘most selected’ image
Did you notice that in the screen shots on the previous page one of the selected
images is surrounded by a lighter grey panel than the other? That means that it is
the ‘most selected’ image:

• The first image you select has the lightest border and is the ‘most selected’
image.

• The next images you select have a light border.

• Unselected images have a dark grey border.

• You can use the ‘/’ key shortcut to deselect the ‘most selected’ image. The
second image you selected then becomes the ‘most selected’ image.

Keep in mind the following principles as we work our way through the ebook. They
will help you understand the way selecting images works in Lightroom:

• In Grid view (G), any changes you make will be applied to all selected images.

• In Loupe view (E), any changes you make are applied to the ‘most selected’
image only.

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Searching images Filter bar

One of the benefits of Lightroom is that it is very easy to search through your
images. The precise reasons you might do this depend on your needs. For example,
you may have owned a 50mm prime lens for a number of years, and be curious to
see photos taken with that lens. That’s simple to achieve in the Library module.

You can also refine the search. You might choose to limit it to certain folders or
Collections, to a specific date range, or even to photos taken using an aperture of
f2.8 or greater. All these, or any combination, are possible.

Incidentally, you could also carry out this search using a Smart Collection. I will
show you how later in the ebook.

Filter Bar
Use the Filter bar to make a search. It’s positioned above your photos in the centre
panel of the Library module. If you don’t see it, use the ‘\’ key shortcut to reveal it.
Use Cmd + ‘L’ (PC: Ctrl + ‘L’) to turn the filters on and off.

55
Tip: Use the Sort menu in the Toolbar to set the criteria determining the display
order of images. The default is Capture Time, which displays images in the order
they were taken. There are 11 more criteria to choose from (right). Click the Sort
Direction icon (AZ icon) to reverse the display order.

This simple search technique may be all you need to find the photos you are
looking for in a folder or Collection. For example, let’s say you want to find all the
photos in folder or Collection with the colour label green. Go to the Sort menu and
select the Label Color option. Lightroom displays the images with colour labels
first, and groups photos with the same colour label together.

Sort menu

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Selecting folders or Collections
Your first task is to choose which folders (or Collections) to search. You do that by Tip: Use the Lock Icon on the right-hand side of the Filters bar to retain the current
going to the appropriate panel and clicking on the relevant folders or Collections. search settings when you go to another folder or Collection after performing a
Select more than one by holding down the Cmd (PC: Ctrl) key while you click: search. If it is in the unlocked position the filters will be turned off when you switch.

Example 1: Search the folder Hawkes Bay and all Example 2: Search the folder 2013 and all Example 3: Search the folders 01. January, 02.
subfolders. subfolders. February, 03. March and all subfolders.

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Searching by text

Library Filters
The filters accessed through the Filter bar are called Library filters. They fall
into three categories: Text, Attribute and Metadata. Selecting None turns the
filters off. The double arrow icon on the right hand side of the filter bar provides a
shortcut to commonly used search criteria.

Text
The Text filter is for searching metadata for specific text, or combinations of text.
The most useful searchable field here is keywords, assuming that you apply to
keywords to your photos upon import.

Example use: With landscape photos you could add the keywords ‘landscape’ plus
the name of the country they were taken in to the images upon import. This makes
it easy to search for landscape images taken in a specific country (enter the terms in
the Keywords field) and bring them together in a single virtual folder.

58
Attribute
Lets you search according to pick status, star rating or colour label. You can also
limit the search to include master photos, virtual copies or movie files.

Metadata
This is the most powerful of the three filters. The default setup is shown on the
right. You can add or remove columns (hover over the column heading and click
on the arrow that appears on the right) and you can also change the search criteria
in each column by hovering over the column heading and clicking the double-
arrow icon that appears on the left. There are 26 search criteria to choose from
in Lightroom 5, including some you won’t find in earlier versions such as Smart
Preview Status.

Note that each column is dependent on the results from the previous column to
its left. For example, the first column in the example here includes all the images in
my Raw folder. The second column lists all the cameras I have used in that nine year
period, and the third all the lenses.

If I limit the search to the year 2013 (bottom right) the second and third columns
change to include only the cameras and lenses used during that year.

Tip: You can combine any two search types search by clicking on both to activate
them. You can even use all three for the ultimate customised search.

59
Finally, there is one more way to search photos. If the Filmstrip is visible at the
bottom of the screen you can enable Library filters by selecting one of the options
from the menu on the far right (see below). The selected setting activates the
relevant Text, Attribute or Metadata filters in the Filter Bar. The search is carried
out in the selected folders or Collections.

Tip: Click the flag, rating or colour Show Flagged images only.
label icons in the Filmstrip to filter
the displayed images by those
criteria (right). You can combine Show images with a rating of five stars only.
filters: for instance, you could
choose to display flagged images
with a star rating of five and a colour Show images with a red colour label only.
label of red.

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Rating images Flagged as pick.

Now, there seems to be as many ways of rating images as there are photographers,
so I’m going to share the method that works for me here and then leave it up to
you to decide what to do. My approach is based on the idea that I don’t want to
spend too much time rating images – my aim is to narrow down the selection to
the best images and the ones that I’m interested in processing.

Whichever way you prefer to work, Lightroom gives you plenty of options for
rating and grading images. That’s a good thing as some photographers have
more complex rating and sorting criteria than others. Wedding photographers, for
example, have different requirements to say, occasional landscape shooters.

My approach differs according to the subject. If it’s a landscape shoot I may only
take five or ten images. It’s easy to use flags to mark the ones that I want to process
as it isn’t difficult to pick the best photos from such a small selection.

Portraits, however, are different. I’ve had shoots where I’ve taken over 500 images.
My aim is to get that number down to the thirty or so best that I will process
properly. It takes time, so I want to simplify the process. I use Collections and Picks
to do so. Adopting the system I will show you here has been one of the best things
I’ve ever done. I’m much more organised in Lightroom because of it, and I spend a
lot less time in the Library module than I used to.

Lightroom provides three rating tools for you to use: flags, star ratings and colour
labels. I’ll explain how they work over the next few pages.
Star rating. Colour label.

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Tip: One benefit of rejecting images is that Lightroom gives you the option of
deleting them from your Catalog. You can do this by going to Photo > Delete
Rejected Photos in the Library or Develop modules. Selecting this option deletes
rejected photos from the currently active folder or Collection.

Flagging images In the Folders panel (it doesn’t work with Collections) Lightroom gives you a
The flag tool is very useful and is the basis of my method (which I explain fully in choice between deleting rejected photos from the Catalog (which means they
the section about Collections). The default status of imported images is unflagged. remain on your hard drive and can be re-imported) or deleting them from the hard
Press the ‘P’ key to flag an image as a pick. Lightroom displays a white flag next to drive as well. Deleting rejected files from your hard drive will save on disk space.
the image (see above) and in the Toolbar. If you change your mind, just press the But unless you have copies elsewhere, the files are gone forever.
‘U’ key to remove it.
Whether you do that or not is down to you. The risk is that you may delete files that
Press the ‘X’ key to mark a photo as rejected. Lightroom displays a black flag and have emotional or documentary significance in the future. But it may be a useful
greys out the image in Grid view. Use the ‘U’ key to remove it, or ‘P’ to flag it as a way of saving hard drive space by deleting images that are poorly exposed or not
pick. Rejected images can still be selected and viewed in Compare or Survey Views. focused properly.

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Star ratings
Star ratings assign images a value from one to five. The general approach seems to
be to give the best images a five star rating and use the other star ratings for the
rest. Imported images have a zero star rating by default. You can assign a rating by
using the keyboard shortcuts ‘1’ to ‘5’ or by clicking on the star icons in the Toolbar.
Lightroom displays the star rating next to an image and in the Toolbar (see right).

Star ratings have a use in searches. For example, if you wanted to find your best
portraits, you could search for images that have a five star rating and contain the
keyword ‘portrait’. Naturally, this will only work if you adopt a consistent approach
to keywords and star ratings from the beginning.

My aim is to spend as little time in the Library module as possible, and decide
which images to process in the Develop module as quickly as I can. For this reason I
don’t use star ratings. An image either makes the cut or it doesn’t. I have no interest
in wasting time trying to decide how many stars an image that I am not going to
process deserves. Five star rating. Three star rating.

Three star rating.

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Colour labels
The final way of rating an image is to assign a colour label. There are five to choose
from: red, yellow, green, blue and purple. You can use these for any purpose you
like. Lightroom gives you some options to get you started, or you can customise
the settings to suit yourself.

Suggestions I’ve come across include marking images for conversion to black
and white, uploading to Flickr or for printing or uploading to a website. Another
use is to help you keep track of images that you are processing. You could assign
one colour to images that you want to process, another to images that are partly
processed, and another to images that are finished.

Go to Metadata > Color Label Set (while in the Library module) to view the
colour label options (see right). From here you can select one of Lightroom’s Colour
label sets or create your own. The colour label is displayed in the Toolbar and as a
coloured frame around the photo in Grid view.

The selected image has a thin Unselected images have a thick


coloured frame around it to coloured frame to indicate the
indicate the colour label. colour label.

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Colour label settings

These are the


This is a user
Colour Label Sets
created preset. The
that come with
tick shows that it is These are the Lightroom default Colour label settings. You can leave them as they
Select Edit to alter, Lightroom.
the active Colour are, but it makes more sense to enter new values to remind you of their purpose.
Label Set. delete or rename
an existing preset,
You can change any of the labels in any of Lightroom’s Colour label sets. Enter the
or to create a new
preset. new values, and click Change to finalise them. Alternatively, you can go to the
Preset menu at the top and select Save Current Settings as New Preset to create
a new custom colour label set.

65
The Bridge Default Colour label set uses the same settings as Adobe Bridge. It The Review Status Colour label set gives you another way to use the colour labels.
may be useful if you are accustomed to those colour label settings.

The numbers on the right side of each field are keyboard shortcuts. The fifth colour
label (purple) doesn’t have a keyboard shortcut; assign it a function that you don’t
use as often as the others.

66
If you forget what the Colour labels mean, you can quickly check by going to
Photo > Set Color Label (Library, Develop and Map modules only). You can use
this menu option to apply a colour label to the selected photo as an alternative to
using the shortcut keys.

These are my colour labels. I don’t use the red and yellow labels much, but I do
find the green and blue ones useful. You may like to read the section on Smart
Collections before deciding how you will use Colour labels, as you can use both
together to help organise and search your images.

67
The Painter
Activate the Painter by clicking on the spray paint can icon in the Toolbar (or go to
Metadata > Enable Painting). It gives you a quick way of carrying out tasks such
as flagging, adding keywords, rotating images or applying colour labels while you
are in the Grid view of the Library module.
The Painter icon.
You need to click on the double arrow icon to select which criteria you want to
‘paint’. The options in the Toolbar change according to the function selected (see
right). Here’s what each allows you to do:

Keywords: Add one or more keywords


Label: Add a colour label
Flag: Set to flagged, unflagged or rejected
Rating: Apply a star rating
Metadata: Select a metadata preset to apply
Settings: Select a Lightroom preset to apply
Rotation: Rotate images
Target collection: Add images to the Target Collection (this function is
covered in more detail in the section about Collections).

Select the setting you want to apply. Lightroom displays the paint can icon when
you hover over an image thumbnail. Click on the thumbnail itself (not the frame) to
apply the change. Keep the mouse button held down to spray over several images.
Use Cmd + ‘Z’ (PC: Ctrl + ‘Z’) to undo if you make a mistake.

68
You can think of the Painter is as an alternate way of selecting images. Rather than Other buttons
using the Ctrl or Shift keys to select multiple images and then make an adjustment There are five more buttons in the Toolbar in the Library module that you may find
(such as adding a keyword) that affects them all, the Painter lets you modify one useful:
image at a time.

Here are some practical uses:

• Adding keywords to images. It’s quicker to use the Painter to add keywords
than it is to access each image individually.

• Send images to a Target Collection.

• Apply a specific Lightroom Develop preset to certain images.

• Apply a colour label. For example, if you have a colour label for photos that you Scroll left or right
want to convert to black and white, you can apply it while in Grid view using through images.
the Painter to the appropriate images.
Rotate clockwise (r) Play a slideshow of
or anti-clockwise (l). selected images.

69
the lef t hand
panels

Now it’s time to take a look at the left and right hand panels in the
Library module. Let’s start with the left. These five panels are there
to assist you with viewing and organising photos. The Navigator
panel at the top helps you view images, and displays a thumbnail of
the most selected image. The other four assist you in dealing with
groups of images.

One of those four panels, the Publish Services panel, is so useful that I’ve given it its
own section. The others, the Catalog, Folders and Collections panels, all help you
view, search and organise your photos. Let’s take a look at how you can use them.

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Working with panels
These tips will help you control the four panels that surround the Content Manual
window. Each one contains useful information or functions, but there are times The panel is only hidden or revealed
when you may want to move them aside to help you see the photos in the middle. when you click on the white arrow. This
is the setting to use if you find panels
Here are the keyboard shortcuts I showed you earlier. They work in every module: that automatically appear or disappear
annoying.
Tab key: Show or hide the left and right hand panels.
Shift+Tab keys: Show or hide all four panels. Sync with Opposite Panel
Enabling this setting has a different effect depending on which of the preceding
You can also click on the white arrows at the edges of the screen to hide or reveal three options you have selected:
individual panels. Right-clicking on the same arrows brings up more options:
Auto Hide & Show
Auto Hide & Show The panel opens when you move the cursor to the edge of the screen. Click the
Enable this setting to make the panel appear when you move the cursor close to white arrow to make the opposite panel come out as well. Both disappear together
the edge of the monitor with the mouse, and disappear when you move the cursor when you click the white arrow again.
away. If you click on the white arrow when you see the panel, the panel won’t
disappear when you move the mouse away. Click on the white arrow again to Auto Hide
make the panel disappear. This is the default setting. Click on the white arrow once to make the panel appear, and twice to make the
opposite panel appear as well. Both disappear together when you click the white
Auto Hide arrow again.
The panel disappears when you move the cursor from it. You have to click the white
arrow once to make it reappear, and twice to stop the panel disappearing when Manual
you move the mouse away. The panel and its opposite number open and close together when you click on the
white arrow.

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Solo Mode
As you move through the modules you will see that there is anything between four
and nine subpanels in each of the left and right hand side panels. If you have more
than one subpanel open at a time, the screen becomes crowded and it can be
difficult to find the option you are looking for.

You can avoid this by enabling Solo mode. In Solo mode, Lightroom opens just
one subpanel at a time. The only exceptions are the Navigator, Preview and
Histogram subpanels. They sit at the top of their respective side panels and will
stay open when you click on another subpanel.

Right-click on a blank space in any side panel to bring up a contextual menu:

The contextual menu varies depending


on the module. At the top is a list of
available subpanels. You can disable any
of these if you don’t use them.
With Solo mode enabled,
When Solo Mode is enabled, Lightroom Lightroom only opens one
only opens one subpanel (other than subpanel at a time other than
the Navigator, Preview or Histogram the Navigator (above), making it
subpanels) at a time. easier to find your way through
the subpanels. The screen shot
Use this option to hide or conceal the on the right shows the side panel
flourish underneath the subpanels. with Solo mode disabled.

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The Navigator
The Navigator subpanel displays a thumbnail of the most selected photo.

In Loupe view, click on any


of these ratios to magnify
the image. More ratios are
revealed when you click
the double arrow icon. In
Grid view or Survey view,
clicking on any of the zoom
settings takes you straight to
Loupe view with the image In Loupe view, click on Fit to show the entire image, or on one of the zoom
magnified to that setting. ratio settings to magnify the image. Alternatively, click on the thumbnail once
to go to the last used zoom setting. The white square indicates which part of
the image you have magnified. Drag the square around to view different parts
In Grid View or Survey view, of the image.
click anywhere on the
thumbnail to go straight to
Loupe view.

73
This heading shows your
computer’s internal hard
drive.
The Folders panel
Use the Folders panel to browse through the folders containing the Raw and This heading shows an
photo files that you have imported to the Catalog. It mirrors the physical folder external hard drive. The
structure on your hard drive (or drives). numbers tell you the capacity
of the hard drive and the
amount of spare space in this
format : spare space/capacity
(figures rounded to one
decimal point).

This figure tells you how


many imported images are
contained in each folder. It
includes files contained in
subfolders.

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Click this icon to create a
The Collections panel new Collection, Collection
Set or Smart Collection.
Perhaps the most difficult thing to get used to when you make the transition to
Lightroom is using the Catalog to organise your images. It takes a while to see the
advantages, and to learn how it can save you time. These are Collection
Sets. They contain
The limitations of organising images by folder are obvious. The date system I Collections or more
suggested earlier is convenient for the purposes of making back-ups. But it’s not Collection Sets. You
so good for organising by subject or place. With Collections, however, you can cannot add photos
organise your images any way you want. They sit at the heart of the Catalog and to a Collection Set.
give you the freedom you need to arrange your images in a way that works for you.

Collections are virtual folders. You can add any of the photos in your Catalog to any These are
Collection. When you do so, the physical location of the photo is unchanged. It is Collections. The
still in its original folder on your hard drive. only thing you can
put in a Collection is
There is no limit to the number of photos you can add to a Collection, or to the a photo.
number of Collections you can add a single photo to. You can also remove photos
from a Collection. When you do so, the photo remains in the Catalog and isn’t
deleted from the hard drive. These are Smart
Collections. The
Collections take up very little room in the Catalog. You can add or delete them as ones pictured
you need them. If you decide to change the structure of your Collections, you can here are present in
do so easily. You can’t do the same with the physical folders where you keep your Lightroom when
photo files, at least not without a great deal of inconvenience. They can also help you install it.
you with your workflow – I will show you how shortly.

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There are many ways in which you can utilise Collections. The only limit is your
imagination and ingenuity. That’s the beauty of the system – it adapts to your
requirements. Whether they are simple or complex, there’s a way that Lightroom
can help you.

Collections, Collection Sets and Smart Collections


When it comes to the physical folders on your hard drive, a folder is just a folder.
Each behaves the same way, according to the restrictions of your operating system.
Collections are different. You can have a regular Collection, a Collection Set or
even a Smart Collection. Each one behaves differently.

Collection Smart Collection


A Collection is a virtual folder that contains photos. The file stays in its A Smart Collection is one that Lightroom fills with photos determined
original physical folder – the Collection merely points to it. Collections by rules that you create. You cannot add or remove photos from a Smart
differ from physical folders in that you cannot store another Collection Collection – it is populated only by the criteria you put in place.
inside a Collection. The only thing you can keep in a Collection is a photo
(or video) file. Smart Collections are an extension of the search functions available in the
Filter bar. A Smart collection enables you to gather the images found by
Collection Set the search in one convenient place that you can return to in the future.
A Collection Set is a virtual folder that contains Collections or other Smart
Collections. You can’t store photos in a Collection Set. Note that you cannot change a Collection from one type to another once
it has been created.

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If you right-click on any photo in your Catalog, regardless of whether it is in a
Folder or a Collection, you will see a contextual menu similar to the one above.
There are three options of interest:

Show in Finder (PC: Windows Explorer)


Reveals the location of the photo on your hard drive. This is useful if you want to
know where the photo is stored, for example if you want to copy it or open it in
another program.

Go to Folder in Library
Choose this option to open the Folders panel and go to the folder containing the
photo.

Go to Collection
Click here to reveal to which Collections, if any, you have added the photo. Click on
This icon indicates that the photo has been added to at least one Collection. a name to open the Collections panel and go to that Collection.

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Putting it together: 1. Import images
The aim is import your Raw files into the appropriate folder on your hard drive,
Importing Raw files & Collections optimising the Images for speed in Lightroom. For this, you need the DNG format.

Now it’s time to look at an example of how you can use Collections to simplify the
process of selecting the best images from a shoot to edit. There are lots of ways of
doing things in Lightroom, so don’t feel that you have to follow this system exactly.
Follow it if it suits you, or adapt it to your own needs. The main benefit is that it
keeps things simple, something I always like. Simplicity saves time, and that’s good
for me.

The approach you take depends as much on the number of photos you take during
a single shoot as much as anything else. If you tend to take a hundred or more
photos, then this system will save you a lot of time. If you only tend to take a few,
then you can create less Collections than I do as you narrow down your photos to
the best.

This example takes you through the entire process from importing images to
sorting them into Collections.

1. Connect the camera’s memory card to your computer and click the Import
button at the bottom of the left-hand panels in the Library module. Select the
Copy as DNG option at the top of the Import window.

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2. Open the File Handling panel 3. Select the Develop and 4. Choose where to save the 5. When the import is complete
in the Import window and set Metadata presets to apply to the imported Raw files. Click the go to the Folders panel in the
Render Previews to 1:1. Tick images upon import. Import button when you’re Library module and click on the
the Build Smart Previews box ready to start importing. folder containing the imported
(Lightroom 5 only) if required. files. Go to Library > Validate
DNG files to verify that the
imported Raw files are okay. The
import is complete.

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2. Create Collections
To get the most out of Lightroom you need to move away from using folders
and start using Collections instead. In this section I will show you how to use
Collections to speed up your workflow.

This is a real example from a recent shoot where I took 304 photos.

1. Click on the New Collection icon to create a new Collection or Collection Set.
Use the Create Collection window (above) to give it a name. Tick the Inside a
Collection Set box to place the new Collection or Collection Set inside it.

2. To start I created a Collection


Set using the name of the model. 3. I created another Collection Set
Any future Collections featuring and gave it a name that included
this model will also go into this the model’s name, the shoot
Collection Set. location and the month and year
it was shot.

4. I created four new Collections within the Collection set. You can see how I
use them on the next few pages.

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5. Right-click on the Full Selection Collection and choose Set as Target
Collection. Alternatively, you could set it as the Target Collection when you
create it by ticking the Set as Target Collection box.

Setting up a Target Collection gives you a quick way of adding images. All
you have to do is select the photo or photos you want to add and use the ‘B’ 6. Go back to the folder containing your imported Raw images and go to
keyboard shortcut. The first press sends the selected image or images to the Edit > Select All. Press the ‘B’ key to add them to the Collection named Full
Target Collection. If the image is already in it, pressing ‘B’ removes it. Selection. All the images in the folder have been added to the Collection.

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7. Now it’s time to take a good look at the photos in Full Selection Collection 8. Click on the Full Selection Collection. Lightroom displays the photos in that
to see which ones are worth processing. In this example, I would like to Collection in the Content window. Press the ‘F’ key to go into true full-screen
narrow down the selection from the 304 originals to the best 30 or so I’d like mode. You’ll see the most selected photo enlarged on your monitor without
to process in the Develop module. any distractions (above).

Start by right-clicking on the Picks Collection and choose Set as Target This feature works in Lightroom 5 only. It’s a bit more long-winded in
Collection. Then go to Photo menu and click on the Auto Advance option Lightroom 4: press ‘E’ to go to Loupe view, ‘F’ to enter full screen (removes
to enable it, if it isn’t already. You’ll see a tick in the menu when it’s active menu bar), ‘Shift-Tab’ to hide the side panels, and ‘T’ to hide the Toolbar.
(above).

82
Tip: Right-click anywhere in
full screen mode to change the
background colour (above and
right). The default colour is black. 10. Delete rejected images. This is up to you. I’m happy to delete most poorly
exposed or out of focused images. I’m never going to use those images
anyway, and they take up valuable hard drive space. Just be careful not to
9. Now, you’re ready to go. Press the ‘P’ key to flag an image as a pick, the ‘X’ delete any images that may have documentary or emotional value to you in
key to mark it as rejected, the ‘U’ key to change your mind or the right arrow the future.
key to move onto the next one. With Auto Advance enabled, Lightroom
displays the next image in the Collection whenever you use the ‘P’, ‘X’ or To delete images from your hard drive, go back to the Folders panel and select
‘U’ keys. You can also click on the image to zoom. This is useful for checking the folder containing the image from your shoot. Then go to Photo > Delete
details. Lightroom zooms in to the last setting used in Loupe view. Rejected Photos. Lightroom gives you the option of removing the images
from the Catalog, or deleting from the hard drive as well (above).
With this method you can move quickly through the images in the Collection.
The aim is to select the images that have the most potential, and to reject any You can also go to Photo > Delete Rejected Photos from the Collections panel,
that are out of focus or poorly exposed. It doesn’t matter how many photos but Lightroom will only remove the photos from the Catalog. It won’t delete
you flag as a pick – we will narrow them down shortly. them from your hard drive.

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11. Back up your Raw files. Now you should back up your Raw files to two 12. Right-click on the Picks Collection and choose Set as Target Collection. Go
different external hard drives, preferably one of which is kept off-site. If you back to the Full Selection Collection and enable the Filter bar (press the ’\’ key
perform the back-up after deleting rejected photos, you will save hard drive if you don’t see it). Click on the Attributes heading then on the white flag icon
space. If you don’t want to delete any Raw files, you can perform the backup to group all the picks together. Select the picked images and press ‘B’ to send
after you have completed the import. the to the Picks Collection.

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13. Right-click on the Selects Collection and choose Set as Target Collection.
Go back to the Picks Collection, select all the images (Edit > Select All) and
press the ‘U’ key to remove the flag. Now you can narrow down the initial
selection of picks to the images that you really want to process. Lightroom
gives you several tools to help you make the decision. You can use full-screen
(or Loupe view) to look at your images individually, or Compare or Survey
view to see them in pairs or groups (covered in more detail on the next page).
The latter options let you compare similar images to pick the best one.

Finally, when you have made your selection, you can use the Filter bar to
group the picked photos together and select them, and the ‘B’ shortcut to
send them to the Selects Collection.

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Using Compare view
If, as many photographers do, you have been ‘working the subject’ you will
probably end up with many similar images. You presumably want to choose and
process the best photo in a sequence, not all of them. Lightroom’s Compare and
Survey views let you compare photos so you can select your favourites. They help
you hone your selection so that it contains your highest quality images.

To use Compare view, simply select two images (right) and hit the ‘C’ keyboard
shortcut. You will see both images together, making it easy to decide which is best
(see next page).

Lightroom has its own terminology for the two images. The one on the left is the
Select. This is the best photo – the one you intend to flag as a pick and eventually
process.

The other is the Candidate. This is the photo you are comparing the Select to.
Use the arrow keys to scroll through the images in the Collection – the Candidate
changes each time you press one. If you like the Candidate better than the Select,
click the icon to turn it into a new Select. You can flag or unflag either image at Select any two images (they don’t
any time. have to be adjacent) and press ‘C’
to go to the Compare view.
You can also click the ‘X’ icon to deselect an image, assuming that it is selected
in the first place. It may not be, as using the arrow keys to scroll through images
includes both unselected and selected photos.

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This image is the Select. This This image is the Candidate.
should be your favourite out The idea is to compare it
of the sequence. with the Select. Use the left
and right arrow keys on the
keyboard to scroll through
the images in the Collection.

Click this icon to make


the Candidate become the
Select.

Click this icon to go to Click this icon to


Compare view. If this icon is in the lock If the images are ‘unlocked’ swap the images.
position, both images will you can zoom into one without
zoom in and pan around zooming into the other. Press
together when you zoom the Sync button to zoom into
into one. the other image too.

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Tip: In Grid view, you can go to the drop down menu in the Filter bar and
select Flagged at any time to show the images you have flagged as a pick in
the Centre window.

Wondering how many photos have made it to your final selection? The
answer lies in the Filmstrip. With Flagged selected in the Filter bar, I can see
that I have picked 65 out of the 205 images in the Collection, and that one is
currently selected.

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Using Survey view
There are times when it may be helpful to compare more than two images at a Click this icon to go to Survey view. When you hover over an image, an X
time. That’s where Survey view comes in useful. The easiest way to use it is to start appears in the bottom right-hand corner. Click the X to remove the photo
in the Grid view and select the images that you want to compare. Then click the from the display. You can use this technique to reduce the selection to your
Survey view icon, or use the ‘N’ keyboard shortcut to go to the Survey view. The favourites. Click on the flag icons underneath the images to flag the selected
option to flag or unflag each image, or apply a rating or colour code, is provided at photo as a pick, or to remove the flag. Use the Toolbar icons to apply ratings
the bottom. and colour labels.

You can compare as many images as you like in the Survey view.

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Collections and virtual copies
One of the advantages of Lightroom is that it allows you to make a Virtual copy of
any of your images. Virtual copies are identical to the original – the idea is that once
you have made a Virtual copy you can then process it any way you like without
affecting the original. This lets you have several versions of the same image (there
is no limit to the number of virtual copies you can make).

The main benefit of Virtual copies is that the copies take up very little space in your
Catalog. Compare this way of working to Photoshop. If you want to make multiple
copies of a TIFF or JPEG file in Photoshop, each copy you make occupies the same
amount of hard drive space as the original. That quickly adds up.

As Virtual copies use so little hard drive space, you are free to experiment with
different ways of processing your images. A good example of this is working in
black and white. Let’s say you have processed in image in colour, and you realise
that it would also work well in monochrome. Just make a Virtual copy, and convert
it to black and white. Now let’s say that you would like to tone the monochrome 1. Go to the Selects Collection and mark the photos that you would like to
version, but are not sure exactly what colours you would like to use. You can create convert to black and white. My method is to use the Painter to apply a green
as many Virtual copies of the new black and white image as you like, toning each a Colour label. You can do the same, or use an alternative such as keywords.
different colour. It’s easy to compare the results and select your favourite.
2. Click on the Attribute heading in the Filter bar and click the green square
You can make things even easier by creating a new Collection specifically for to filter the images. You will only see images with a green Colour label in the
photos that you want to convert to monochrome, and adding it to the Full Content window (above).
Selection, Picks and Selects Collections. Even better, you can set the new
Collection up so that it just contains Virtual copies, ready to work on. Here’s how: 3. Go to Edit > Select all to select all the images.

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4. Click on the New Collection icon in the Collections panel and choose Create 5. Your Collections for the shoot should now look something like those above,
Collection. Call it something like ‘B&W’ and tick the Inside a Collection Set, if you are using my suggested method for organising your images. The photos
Include selected photos and Make new virtual copies boxes (above). contained in the B&W Collection are Virtual copies. You can change them
in any way you like without affecting the originals. You can also make more
Virtual copies if required.

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Smart Collections
A Collection is similar to a folder in that you get to decide what photos should
be included or removed. It’s up to you which photos are contained in a specific
Collection.

Smart Collections are different. They work on the basis that you can set rules to
determine which photos should be included. Lightroom populates the Smart
Collection automatically by searching through the Catalog and adding photos
according to the criteria you set.

Lightroom already comes with several Smart Collections. They are listed at the Right-click on one of the Smart Collections and select Edit Smart Collection. The
bottom of the Collections panel (above). They are there as examples of how to Edit Smart Collection window opens. Here you can see the rule (or rules) used to
use Smart Collections. They also may be of practical use to you, not only as a way of create the Smart Collection, and amend them if you wish to do so.
seeing which images you have added in the past month or have recently modified,
but as a way of learning how Smart Collections work. From the illustration above you can see that the Recently Modified Smart
Collection is set up to contain all images edited within the last two days. Feel free
to change the value to whatever suits you.

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Using Smart Collections: an example
In general, I recommend that you use Collections rather than Smart Collections.
They are easier to manage as they are not automated.

But there are times when Smart Collections come in useful. One potential
application is to use one to gather together images that you wish to upload to your
website, or to photo sharing websites like Flickr and 500px. This lets you see all the
photos that are either online, or that you are considering uploading, together.

There’s an easy way to do this. Start by adding the keyword ‘website’ to any
images that you would like to add to your website (or photo sharing site). This is
easy to do while you are processing images – if you develop an image that you are
particularly keen to share, it only takes a few seconds to add a keyword.

Go to the New Collections icon in the Collections panel and select Create Smart
Collection.

The next thing you’ll see is the Create Smart Collection window. Give the Smart
Collection a name (something like ‘Website images’).
Go to the left-hand column and select the option Other metadata > Keywords.
The bottom half of the Create Smart Collection window is where you get to set Set Match to All, and complete the rule by setting the middle column to Contains
the rules that determine which images will be added. You can add as many rules as and typing website in the right-hand column (above). Click the Create button
you like, but for this example we only need one. when you are ready to go. Lightroom creates the new Smart Collection.

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Smart Collections – more uses
Smart Collections have many uses. Another that I can think of, related to the
previous example, is to add the keyword ‘portfolio’ to any image you think is
worthy of addition to your portfolio. It’s then a simple matter to create a Smart
Collection to bring all your portfolio images together.

As you get proficient at searching images, you may think of ways to use Smart
Collections to speed up your workflow. You have probably also noticed that the
search criteria in Smart Collections are similar to those in the Filter bar. This means
that instead of using the Filter bar to search for images, you could create a Smart
Collection instead.

Let’s say you have a 50mm prime lens – a common addition to many
photographer’s gear collection. You may be curious, after you have owned such
a lens for a while, to see all the photos you have taken with its maximum aperture
together in one place. Here’s how to set up a Smart Collection that does this:

1. Click on the New Collection icon and select Create Smart Collection. Give it an
appropriate name, such as ‘50mm f1.4’.
3. Click the ‘+’ icon to add a new rule. Go to Camera Info > Aperture. Set ‘is’ and
2. In the first column, select Camera Info > Focal length. Complete the rule by enter f1.4 (or the maximum aperture of your lens) in the final column. Click the
selecting ‘is’ and entering ‘50’ in the final column. ‘Create’ button when you are done.

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This brings every photo in your Catalog taken with a 50mm lens and an aperture of Smart Collections and workflow
f1.4 together in a single Smart Collection. It is possible to use Smart Collections in a sophisticated way to assist with
your workflow. If you would like to learn more about this, photographer John
The benefit of using a Smart Collection rather than searching with the Filter bar is Beardsworth outlines an interesting system on his website. You can read the article
that the Smart Collection is permanent. You can return to it at any time. You can by clicking this link:
also modify the search criteria if you wish, or delete it when you no longer need it.
www.beardsworth.co.uk/lightroom/workflow-smart-collections/
Smart Collections add great flexibility to Lightroom’s search functions. For instance,
with the above example, you could: Limitations of Smart Collections
Before you plunge into creating Smart Collections to handle all sorts of tasks, there
• Widen the search to include all images taken with an aperture of f2.8 or greater. are a couple of things you should bear in mind:

• Limit the search to photos taken with a specific camera. • Smart Collections work best when you use ratings, colour labels, keywords and
other metadata consistently throughout your entire Catalog.
• If you use keywords, you could limit the results to those that include the
keyword ‘portraits’. • Smart Collections don’t work well with Virtual copies. If you make a Virtual copy
of an image in a Smart Collection, it isn’t added to the Smart Collection. Instead,
• Limit the result by date, so that you only see the photos taken in the last year. you will find it in the folder (not the Collection) on your hard drive containing
the original image.
The possibilities are endless. I recommend spending some time playing with Smart
Collections and familiarising yourself with the way the rules work. I’m sure you will
find some interesting applications for them.

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Temporary Collections
The other two are a new type of Collection – the Temporary Collection. The
terminology is a little confusing, as these Collections will last until you either clear
or delete them, which is potentially forever. They are called Temporary Collections
because they are not designed to become a permanent part of your Collections
structure. They are located in the Catalog panel so you don’t confuse them with
your permanent Collections.

The Catalog panel Missing Photographs


If you go to Library > Find All Missing Photos Lightroom creates a Temporary
The Catalog panel lies underneath the Navigator, but I’ve left it until the last part Collection called Missing Photographs in the Catalog panel (if you haven’t done
of this section as it contains a couple of temporary Collections that you may find this before, you won’t see the Missing Photos Temporary Collection).
useful.
Missing photos have been imported into the Catalog but are no longer in the
There are four category headings in the Catalog panel. You can think of all of these location where Lightroom expects to find them. There are a number of reasons that
as Collections. Click on any one of them to display the photos contained inside in could happen:
the Content window.
• The photos are saved on a hard drive that isn’t currently connected to your
All Photographs computer. In this case, the location is accurate, but Lightroom automatically
This ‘Collection’ is straightforward – it contains all the photos (and virtual copies) flags the photos as missing as it can’t find them.
in the current Catalog.
• The photos (or the folders containing them) have been moved, renamed or
Previous Import deleted from within Finder (Mac) or Windows Explorer (PC).
The photos added to the Catalog during the last import. You may find it useful to
come here, rather than go to the Folders panel, when you organise your imported In the latter case, Lightroom no longer knows where those files are stored and
photos into Collections. needs your help to find them again.

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The way to do it is to select the photo or folder you want to find, go to Photo > then send the images that Lightroom finds to the Quick Collection. The Quick
Show in Finder (PC: Show in Windows Explorer) and click the Locate button Collection is permanent until you decide to clear or delete it, which means you can
in the window that pops up. You can then navigate to the folder where the file is then go away and do other things, and return to it when you wish.
located, or search for it on your hard drive. Make sure you tick the Find nearby
missing photos box at the bottom of the search window. That way if the new The benefit of doing this is that it saves you the trouble of creating a Smart
folder contains other missing photos, Lightroom will update those as well. Collection, and then deleting it when you’re finished with it. The only disadvantage
is that you can’t change the search criteria afterwards – you can only begin again
Previous Process Photos and Invalid DNGs and perform another search.
There are two more Temporary Collections that behave in a similar way to the
Missing Photos Temporary Collection. In both cases, the results are placed in a
Temporary Collection in the Catalog panel.

Go to Library > Find Previous Process Photos to find and group all photos
processed with any Lightroom process older than the current one. Lightroom
searches the entire Catalog.

Go to Library > Validate DNG Files to find and group any DNG files that fail the
validation test. You can search specified folders or the entire Catalog. You can only have one Quick Collection. The easiest way to use it is to right-click
on the Quick Collection heading in the Catalog panel and select Set as Target
Quick Collection Collection. You can then add photos to it (or remove them) using the keyboard
The Quick Collection is a Temporary Collection where you can store photos shortcut ‘B’.
you need for a one-off purpose. The idea is that it saves you having to create a
permanent collection, then delete it afterwards if it is no longer needed. You can also clear the Quick Collection by right-clicking and choosing Clear Quick
Collection. If you decide that you want to turn it into a permanent Collection, you
For example, in the previous section I showed how to use Smart Collections can do so by right-clicking and selecting Save Quick Collection. Lightroom saves
to search your images. There is often more than one way of doing things in it as a Collection titled ‘Quick Collection’. You can then go to the Collections
Lightroom, and another way of performing a search is to use the Filter bar and panel and change the name to something more appropriate.

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The R ight Hand
panels

If the left hand panels in the Library module are for organising and
publishing your images, the six panels on the right help you apply
metadata changes (such as adding keywords or contact details) or
get a head start on developing by applying Develop presets.

There’s also a histogram to help you assess the tonal distribution of the active
image without having to move over to the Develop module. One of the benefits
of using the Library module for these tasks is that you can select entire folders or
Collections (or select groups of images in Grid view) and modify all the photos in
the selection in one go. It helps you save time by enabling you to carry out as much
work on a group of images as possible before moving over to the Develop module.

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The hard drive containing the
The Histogram selected file is connected, and no
Smart Preview of the image exists.
This panel displays a luminance histogram (grey) in front of three colour
histograms (red, green and blue). The ISO, focal length, aperture and shutter speed
used to create the selected image are displayed underneath. And at the bottom of The hard drive containing the
the Histogram panel Lightroom tells you whether you are looking at the Original selected file is connected, and a
photo or a Smart Preview, or both. Smart Preview of the image exists.

Unlike in the Develop module, you cannot use the ‘J’ keyboard shortcut to reveal
shadow or highlight clipping. The hard drive containing the
selected file is not connected,
and a Smart Preview of the image
exists.

The hard drive containing the


selected file is not connected, and
no Smart Preview of the image
exists.

If more than one image is selected, Lightroom displays the histogram and
camera settings from the most selected image. Four icons are displayed under
the histogram. From left to right they are: Originals without Smart Previews,
Originals + Smart Previews, Smart Previews, Missing. The numbers tell you
how many of the selected images are in each category.

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Quick Develop panel
Use the Quick Develop panel to apply a Develop preset, or
make global adjustments including white balance, contrast,
exposure and aspect ratio. If you select more than one photo,
the adjustments are applied to every image in the selection.
The Quick Develop panel enables you to process your images
roughly, or view the results of changing settings, without leaving
the Library module.

The arrows next to each setting


let you adjust the values of that
setting by 1/3 stop (single arrow
icon) or 1 stop (double arrow
icon) in either direction. With
settings that aren’t measured in
stops, such as Temperature, you
can think of the single arrow as a
small increment and the double
arrow as a large one.

Note: The Clarity setting


changes to Sharpening and
Vibrance to Saturation when you
press the Alt key.

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Keywording and Keyword List panels
How much attention you pay to keywords is up to you. I don’t use keywords much,
but I’m gradually finding uses for them as I get more organised within Lightroom. If the selected photo is already
In the interests of saving time, I suggest you spend as little time with keywords as tagged with keywords Lightroom
you can. Only use them if you really need to. Here are some situations where they displays them here. You can enter
come in useful: keywords here.

• You supply images to a stock library. You can also type new keywords
here.
• You export images to photo sharing websites like Flickr or 500px using
Lightroom’s Publish Services (see next section). Click on any of these suggested
keywords to add it to your photo.
• You use Smart Collections to organise images by keyword. A good example of
this is using the keyword ‘website’ to mark images that you would like to upload Choose one of Lightroom’s
to your website. keyword sets here. The keywords
in the set appear underneath, and
Whatever your approach to keywords, try and keep their use as simple as possible. you can click on them to add them
If you can establish a methodology and stick to it from the outset, that will help to the photo.
you in years to come as your photo collection grows.
Tip: Keyword sets are a good way
Lightroom recognises keywords embedded into JPEG or TIFF files, or that of ensuring a consistent approach
have been added to Raw images with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) in Photoshop. to using keywords. You can edit a
Embedded keywords appear in the Keywording and Keyword List panels. keyword set or create your own by
selecting the appropriate option
from the drop down menu.

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Hierarchical keywords
The more keywords you add to your photos, the more difficult it becomes to keep
your keywords organised. The use of hierarchical keywords is one way around that.

For example, let’s you have some photos taken in popular tourist attraction:
Dongtai Road antiques market in Shanghai, China. You could enter hierarchical You can enter hierarchical
keywords like this: keywords in either of these
spaces.
Asia > China > Shanghai > Dongtai Road antiques market

In this hierarchy the keyword ‘Asia’ is the most important, and ‘Dongtai Road
antiques market’ the least important.

The benefit of hierarchical keywords becomes apparent when you look at the
Keywords List panel. The more keywords you add, the longer and more confusing
it becomes. Hierarchical keywords help you retain control over that.

Note: This example is relevant for Lightroom 5 only. In earlier versions, you use the
‘<’ rather than the ‘>’ symbol to denote hierarchy. In Lightroom 4 (or earlier) the
keyword sequence would look like this:

Asia < China < Shanghai < Dongtai Road antiques market

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The Keyword list panel displays all
the keywords used in the photos in
your Catalog in alphabetical order.
The number to the right of each
keyword tells you how many photos
in the Catalog use it. Can’t find a
keyword? There’s a search field at
the top of the panel to help you.

Move the mouse over a keyword


and a white arrow appears. Click
the white arrow to display every
photo in the Catalog with that
keyword. The search is performed
by Lightroom in the Filter bar.

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The Metadata panel
One of the reasons you may come to the Metadata
panel is to look up the technical details of your
images. If you are wondering what settings
you used, or whether the flash fired during the
exposure, then the answers are here.

Another reason is to add your personal details.


The easiest way to do this is to create a Metadata
preset containing your name, contact details and
copyright status and apply it to your images at the
import stage. But, if you forget to apply it, or you
need to change or add something, you can do that
here.

Lightroom displays the metadata for the most


selected photo in the Metadata panel.

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Click on the double arrow icon to
reveal a list of Metadata settings.
It is worth spending some time
going through the options to
see what information each one
contains. The usefulness of
each depends on your needs.
Metadata is of more importance
to photographers who prepare
images for clients than it is for
hobbyists.

The Copyright status of your


image is shown here. Even if you
never intend to sell or even share
your photos, it’s still a good idea The technical details of your
to include your personal and photo are here. You can refer to
copyright details. You just never these if you want to know which
know what you might do with settings you used. You can also
your photos in the future. use some of these settings as a
basis for a search by clicking on
the white arrows to the right. If
you’re in Grid view, Lightroom
will use the Filter bar to search
for other images with the same
setting in the selected folders or
Collections.

105
THE LIGHTROOM
PUBLISH SERVICEs

Imagine if you could export processed photos to a folder on your


hard drive at the click of a button. Then that Lightroom will know if
the photo has been updated, and tell you so that you can export the
photo again. And what if you could do this with online photo sharing
sites such as Flickr, 500px, Google +, Facebook and Behance?

Well, you don’t have to use your imagination because the engineers at Adobe
are way ahead of you. All this and more is made possible by Lightroom’s Publish
Services. It’s even possible to set up your own cutting edge portfolio website and
upload images to it directly from Lightroom. I will show you how in this chapter.

106
You are probably aware that you export as many photos as you like to your hard If you use Publish Services then Lightroom does the hard work for you. If you make
drive (or to any of the other options supported by Lightroom’s Publish Services) any changes to an image contained within a Publishing Collection, Lightroom lets
by selecting them and going to File > Export. The Export window gives you all you know the next time you go to that Collection. You can see at a glance which
the options you need for choosing destination, image size, sharpening and adding images have been amended, and export them again with a single click.
watermarks.
The potential for professional photographers to save time is enormous. The Publish
So, why are the Publish Services here? One reason is that they save you time. Services make the task of setting up folders for deliverables (i.e. JPEG or TIFF files)
Once you have set up a Publish Service, you can use it any time, without having to for a client straightforward. It is also easy to see whether the latest version of an
reconfigure the Export window. image is indeed the one in the client’s folder.

But the main benefit is that the Publish Services use another type of Collection Hobbyists can make use of this feature too. Let’s say you have a folder on your
(Adobe calls them Publishing Collections). These are like Collections except that hard drive where you keep photos to share with your family. Any time you decide
they have just one purpose – to export the photos they contain to your hard drive that you’d like to share an image, you just add it to the appropriate Publishing
(or another service like Flickr, 500px or Behance). Collection. You can update the folder on your hard drive any time you like.

Publishing Collections are a little like Smart Collections in that they have some
dynamic features. In fact, they are quite clever. Let me explain.

Imagine that you use the Publish Services to export photos to a folder on your
hard drive where you store photos that you wish to upload to a stock photography
website like Alamy. One way of doing this, in Lightroom, is to process the images
and then export them to the appropriate folder. That works well if you never touch
them again. But, in real life, sometimes you want to make changes. You may decide
to process the image in a different way, or realise that you missed some dust spots,
or add some keywords. Then you need to export the photos again, and find a way
of keeping track of which images are modified.

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Hard Drive Publish Service
The Hard Drive Publish Service lets you export photos to a specific hard drive on
your computer. You can set up as many Hard Drive Publish Services as you wish.

Click the New Published Collection icon (below) and select Go to Publishing
Manager to get started. You’ll see a window like the one on the right, where you
can set up the Publish Service. Just like the Export window, you can select criteria
such the destination, the file type, image size, sharpening and watermarks.

Get started by clicking the Add button and selecting the Hard Drive service.

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The name of the folder you have You can add another Publishing Collection by right-clicking on the Hard Drive
set as the destination appears Publishing Service heading and selecting Create Published Folder from the
under the Hard Drive Publish menu. The name you give the new Publishing Collection is also the name of
Service. This is a Publishing the subfolder the Publish Service will export images to. You can add as many
Collection. Right-click and choose new Published Folders as you like.
Set as a Target Collection to
send photos to this Publishing You can also create a Published Smart Folder or a Published Folder Set. These
Collection using the ‘B’ keyboard behave in the same way as Smart Collections and Collection Sets.
shortcut.

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When you add photos to a Publish Folder, Published photos appear under the heading If you amend a photo that has already been
Lightroom places them under the heading New Published Photos. You can see at a glance which exported, Lightroom places it under the heading
Photos to Publish. Click the Publish button to photos have been exported, and which ones Modified Photos to Re-Publish. Any change,
begin the export. haven’t. Click the Publish button to export any however minor (even the addition of a single
unpublished images. keyword), is enough to trigger this action.
Click the Publish button to republish modified
images.

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Flickr Publish Service
If you have a Flickr account you can set up a Lightroom Publish Service to export
photos directly to your account. It works the same way as the Hard Drive Publish
Service. Each time you go to the Flickr Publish Collection you can see which photos
have been published, if there are any new images waiting to be exported, or any
modified images.

These are the benefits of using the Flickr Publish Service:

• Simplifies the export process. There is no need to store photos destined for Flickr
on your hard drive, or to go to the Flickr website or use the Flickr Uploadr app.

• You can set the export size within the Publish Service, and it stays consistent for To set up the Flickr Publish Service start by going to the Lightroom Publishing
all exported images. You can set it to export small photos that are of limited use Manager and clicking the Add button. Select Flickr in the Create New Publish
if they are stolen. Connection window and give the new service a name (above).

• You can add a watermark, or change it, at any time and republish all your images Click the Authorize button in the Lightroom Publishing Manager to connect to
with the new watermark. Flickr and give Lightroom permission to upload photos to your account.

• You can manage multiple Flickr accounts.

• You can enter a title, caption and keywords in Lightroom. You can use Keyword
Sets to keep your keywords consistent.

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You can change or deauthorise your Flickr account here.

Tells Flickr where to read the title of the photo from. Leave on IPTC Title to get
it from the title field in the metadata.

If you want to rename the files when you export them to Flickr, you can do so
here.

Tick this box if you want to export video as well as stills. Use the menus
underneath to set video quality.

Set file type and quality here.

Set file size here.

Adjust the sharpening settings if you wish here. Flickr automatically sharpens
uploaded images so it may not be necessary.

Decide which metadata to keep in uploaded images. Tick Remove Location


Info if your photos contain GPS data that you don’t want people to see.

Set Privacy settings here.

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Facebook, Behance and 500px
The Facebook and Behance publish services work in a similar way to Flickr.

You can also set up a Publish Service for 500px, but you need to download the
500px Lightroom plug-in first. You can do so from this link:

http://500px.com/lightroom

After you have downloaded the plug-in, you need to go to the Lightroom Plug-in
Manager (File > Plug-in Manager) to configure the plug-in (right).

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Koken
Lightroom comes with Publish Services already set up for Flickr, Behance and Benefits of Koken
Facebook. All you need to do is enter your account details and set them up. The Koken Lightroom Publish Services plug-in allows you to upload photos directly
from Lightroom (version 3 and higher) to your website. If you use Lightroom’s
We’ve already seen that the Publish Services can be extended using third-party Publish Services already you have probably begun to see the possibilities. Here are
plug-ins. This system allows other people to build plug-ins that let you take some of the benefits:
advantage of Lightroom’s Publish Services. 500px is a good example. Another that
you will find useful if you’d like to create your own portfolio website is Koken. • You can tag any photo that you want to upload to your website with a keyword
like ‘website’ or ‘Koken’ and create a Smart Collection or Smart Published Folder
Koken is free content management software (CMS). All you need to set up a Koken to bring them all together.
based website is your own domain name, hosting plan and a little technical know
how. The best thing about Koken, from a photographer’s point of view, is that it • You can create Published Collections within the Koken Publish Service. Each
has been designed specifically for photographers, artists, designers and other automatically becomes an album in Koken (i.e if you create a Published
professionals who need to display a showcase of their work online. The software Collection called ‘Portraits’ it becomes an album called ‘Portraits’ on your
has been designed with the end user in mind and has a lot of features that makes it Koken website). This lets you organise photos and albums for your website in
more attractive to use than other CMS solutions like WordPress. Lightroom. As with the other Publish Services, you can see at a glance which
photos are waiting to be exported, or which have been modified.
If you’d like to learn more about Koken and how it works, or to download the
software and the Lightroom plug-in, you can do so at the official Koken website: • If you update a photo contained in a Koken Publishing Service Collection
Lightroom lets you know so that you can update it on your website as well.
http://koken.me/ When you republish it, the latest version is uploaded. It overwrites the earlier
one and the website updates automatically.

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• You can enter the title, description and tags in Lightroom, and Koken will
recognise them. This means you can carry out your metadata updates in one
place. It saves you having to type those details in again when you upload
images to your website.

• What happens if you want to add a copyright watermark to the images on your
website, or change the watermark you use? With any other system you would
have to add the watermark manually and upload the photos again. With the
Koken Publish Service, you can add (or change) the watermark with a few clicks
of your mouse and upload the new photos automatically.

• Are you a professional photographer who needs to upload photos to a private


album on your website for clients to view? If you use Lightroom to process your
images, then Koken’s integration with Lightroom’s Publish Service makes it easy.
And when you’re done with the album, you can just delete it from within Koken.

• Koken comes with a number of built-in themes. You can customise them to suit
your needs or even design your own theme if you have the skill.

The illustration on the right is a screen shot from a portfolio I set up on my website
using Koken. You can visit it at this link:

www.andrewsgibson.com/portfolio/

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What’s new in the
library module?

While this ebook is written for users of both Lightroom 4 and 5,


Lightroom 5 does have some new functions you won’t find in earlier
versions.

The most exciting of these are in the Develop module, but there have been some
improvements to the Library module too. This section lists the most important new
features. Some are major, some are minor, and their importance to you will depend
on how you use Lightroom to organise your photos.

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Press the ‘F’ key in
Lightroom 5 to get from
this – to this.

Smart Previews True full-screen


In earlier versions of Lightroom, the hard drive containing your Raw files has to Press the ‘F’ key to enter a true full-screen mode. Lightroom displays your photo
be connected to your computer in order to use the Develop module. With Smart along on a plain background. There is nothing else on the screen to distract you.
Previews, that’s no longer the case. This feature benefits laptop users who store
their Raw files on an external hard drive the most. Now, if you go away from home, In older versions of Lightroom the ‘F’ key cycles through two full-screen modes.
you can take your laptop and leave the external hard drive containing your Raw That feature is still available in Lightroom 5, use Shift + ‘F’ to activate it.
files behind, yet still use Lightroom to edit your images.

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Smart Collections
The Smart Collection criteria are grouped differently in Lightroom 5. There are
also some additional search options. Examples include Smart Preview status, bit
depth, number of colour channels, colour mode, colour profile and file type
(including PNG, a format not supported in earlier versions of Lightroom).

Above: There are more options for Above: There are also more options for Above: You can now create a
searching by image size in Lightroom 5. searching by colour. This could be helpful Smart Collection containing
for organising JPEG or TIFF images. images that have Smart Previews.

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Metadata search
There are two new search options in the Metadata attribute in the Filter bar. You
can now search by Smart Preview status, and PNG recognition has been added to
the File type criteria.

Set as Target Collection box


When you create a new Collection, the option to set it as the Target Collection
has been added to the Create Collection window. As in earlier versions, when a
Target Collection is activated, the ‘B’ keyboard shortcut sends the selected photo
or photos to the Target Collection.

Lock zoom position


Go to View > Lock Zoom Position to retain the zoom settings when you move
between photos in the Library. Lightroom remembers the zoom ratio and the
position that you have zoomed into. This is useful for checking details like accurate
focus on a set of similar images.

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Hierarchical keywords Validate DNG files
Hierarchical keywords are entered differently. Go to Library > Validate DNG files to let Lightroom check your DNG files. Invalid
DNG files are placed in a Collection. This feature helps you verify that imported files
For example, typing Country > New Zealand into the Keyword Tags field adds are not corrupted before you delete the originals from your camera’s memory card.
both keywords to the photo’s metadata. In this example, New Zealand is a child
keyword of country. The Hierarchy is repeated in the Keyword List panel, making
it easier to see which keywords you have used.

Older versions of Lightroom the ‘<’ key instead to denote the hierarchical
relationship between keywords. So, in this example you would enter Country <
New Zealand. This may catch you out in Lightroom 5 if you are accustomed to the
way earlier versions work.

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Conclusion

If you are new to Lightroom, or you have familiarised yourself with


the Develop module but neglected the Library, then I hope this
ebook has opened your eyes to the possibilities presented by using
Lightroom as the basis of a complete workflow system.

Adobe has handed photographers the ability to work in a way that makes
organising, viewing and searching photos easy. The end result is that you can
spend more time in the Develop module, or taking photos – the areas where the
truly creative stuff happens.

If you have any questions about the content of this ebook, then feel free to email
me at andrewsgibsonwriter@gmail.com. I will answer as quickly as I can.

Happy shooting.
Andrew S Gibson

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Photography ebooks Mastering LIGHTROOM
The rest of my photography ebooks are listed on the next few pages. Click the links Andrew S Gibson
or the ebook covers to learn more.
About the author
My interest in photography began when my
parents bought me a Ricoh KR-10m camera
over 20 years ago. Since then I’ve taken photos
in over 60 countries, studied for a degree in
photography and worked as Technical Editor for
EOS magazine. Now I’m a freelance writer and
I make a living writing about photography. In
recent years I’ve lived in the UK, China and New
Zealand, which is now my home.

Mastering Photography Square andrewsgibsonwriter@gmail.com


Your digital camera has so many In Square, I delve deep into the
controls and buttons. How do mysteries of the square format. AndrewSGibson.com
you know which ones to use? You Digital cameras have opened up
don’t have to – you just need an the square format to everybody. But Design & layout: Andrew S Gibson
understanding of the fundamentals, using the square format isn’t simply Copyright © 2013 Andrew S Gibson
and an eye for a good picture. a matter of cropping. It demands
Mastering Photography is the a new approach to composition Notice of rights
simple guide you’ve been looking and relies on aspects like shape, All rights reserved. No part of this ebook may be
for that teaches you how to use your simplicity and balance. This ebook reproduced or transmitted in any form by any
digital camera. explores these concepts in detail. means without the permission of the author.

122
Understanding EOS Understanding Lenses: Part II Understanding Lenses: Part I Understanding Exposure Understanding DPP
Are you new to photography? This ebook is the follow up to Buying a new lens can be one Understanding Exposure explains Understanding DPP is written
Are you wondering what all Understanding Lenses: Part I of the most difficult choices you the principles of exposure so for anybody who uses a Canon
the buttons and dials on your and explores Canon’s range of make as a photographer. How that you understand why your EOS camera and wants to learn
camera are for? Do you want to normal, short telephoto and do you know which lenses are a camera doesn’t always get the how to get the best out of their
know how to use the potential super telephoto lenses. The first good buy if you can’t try them exposure correct. Once you Raw files with DPP (the free
of your EOS camera to take section looks at the artistic side out beforehand? Why do some understand these you will know but powerful Raw processing
creative photos? Understanding of using normal and telephoto Canon lenses cost so much and why your camera gets exposure software that comes with
EOS teaches you how to use lenses. It’s a guide to using them others so little? Should you wrong, and what to do to put the camera). It will appeal to
your EOS camera to take to help you create beautiful buy a zoom lens or a prime? Is it right. This ebook explores photographers who would like
beautiful photos by exploring portraits, landscape, travel and that superzoom a good a deal advanced concepts in simple to use Raw, but are put off by
the settings that you need to close-up images. The second as it seems? Photography is a terms and gives you the tools the complexity or expense of
know how to use to get started. part is a buying guide. It gives creative endeavour, and lenses you need to get the perfect more advanced software. It’s
You’ll learn about exposure you an overview of Canon’s are the ‘eyes’ of your camera exposure every time. You’ll be written for photographers who
modes, Picture Style and white current lens range, and explains system. Once you understand walked through both basic and want to use the functions within
balance, plus the importance of the differences between the how lenses ‘see’ you can harness advanced principles of exposure DPP to make creative images,
composition, lighting and post- various models, so you can their creative potential to create and shown how to arrive at the and explains why as well as how
processing. choose wisely. eye-catching images. optimum settings every time. to use DPP’s functions.

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These ebooks are all available at Craft & Vision as downloadable PDF
files for just $5US. Click on the graphics or the links to go straight to
the Craft & Vision website for full details.

Slow Up Close Beyond Thirds The Evocative Image


Slow takes you through the creative A guidebook for photographers This captivating and inspiring ebook How do you create images that
possibilities of using slow shutter who want to create fresh and is about taking composition past capture the atmosphere or show
speeds, from blurring motion with stunning close-up photographs. the so-called rules. It’s a thoughtful the beauty of something that you
a shutter speed of 1/30 second to Enthusiasts of every level will but practical look at the way we perceived at a particular time and
long exposure techniques using thoroughly enjoy the discussion of build our photographs. It explores place? This ebook explores three key
shutter speeds of five minutes or the advantages and disadvantages important subjects like the creative concepts that will help you create
longer. It explores the creative side of working with the best tools. I use of balance and focal points, evocative images – light, colour and
of the slow end of your shutter cover crop factor and magnification, insights into how to shape a subject, composition. Another concept that
speed dial including slow-sync focusing techniques, depth-of-field, and using aspect ratio to establish I tackle is that evocative photos are
flash, panning, intentional camera lighting, single/double-element an ideal foundation for making created on the edges – for example,
movement and long exposure lenses, reverse lens macro, extension photographs, and so much more. twilight is the edge between night
photography. Case studies with tubes and more. Included are two The diagrams will provide you with and day. The topics explored in
Doug Chinnery and Joel Tjintjelaar case studies that will inspire you to the insights you need to compose will help you create truly moody,
complete the work. explore smaller worlds. more engaging photographs. captivating images.

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The Magic of Black & White: Part The Magic of Black & White: Part The Magic of Black & White: Part Andes
I – Vision is written for anyone II – Craft III – Nine Photos High in the Andes are wonders
who would like to learn to work I explain how I process my digital I take you through nine black and such as the world’s highest city,
in monochrome. The first step black & white photos step-by-step white images with the intention deserts above the clouds and
is learning to see in black and using Photoshop CS and Photoshop of explaining the more advanced remote villages where the local
white. The ebook is split into three Elements. I guide you through the Photoshop techniques behind people hold traditional celebrations
sections: composition, lighting and transformation process that starts them. To be anything more than whose origins stretch back to the
subject. You’ll learn how to compose with a colour photo and ends with a technical exercise Photoshop years before the Spanish conquest.
a black and white photo, how to a beautiful, toned monochrome technique needs to be aligned with This ebook has over forty black
work in different types of light and image. Craft and vision go together creative vision. The thoughts and and white photos created during
about subjects that work well in – black and white photography emotions that drive our vision are my travels to the Andes over a six
black and white. This ebook will becomes truly magical when just as important as the Photoshop year period. Part monograph, part
give you an understanding of what the two meet, and you have the techniques required to achieve travelogue, it tells of my journeys to
black and white photography is all technical skills to bring your creative them. This ebook helps you think the Andes and my parallel journey
about, and why it’s such a beautiful vision alive. about how you see the world and through photography as I made the
medium for creative self-expression. how you can express your vision. transition from film to digital.

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