Lightroom Killer Tips

Upgrading Lightroom 3 Presets to Lightroom 4

Aaron Westgate — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:18:16 +0000

I've heard a lot of talk about what happens to presets that were created in Lightroom 3 (or LR2) and now used in Lightroom 4. I know a lot of people have presets that they absolutely loved in Lightroom 3 and they simply don't seem to look the same in Lightroom 4. So today's video goes over a few options you have if you had a preset in Lightroom 3 that you want to use in Lightroom 4.

A Quick Make-Your-Photo-Better Setting in Lightroom

Aaron Westgate — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:36:58 +0000

After the last few stops in my Lightroom 4 Live Tour I realize there was a lot of questions on the Camera Calibration settings that basically, let you make your photo better with just one click. So I thought I'd take a minute to, not only go over the settings but also show you a couple of ways that you can have Lightroom automatically apply those settings to your photos so that you're not left doing it manually each time. Also, here's the link to the Lightroom seminar page that I mentioned in the beginning of the video. If you're in Washington DC, Lansing, Richmond or San Francisco, I'd love to see you out at one of the seminars next month. Thanks!

Soft Proofing and Print Brightness in Lightroom 4

Aaron Westgate — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 14:35:05 +0000

Soft proofing has been a feature request that I've heard quite a bit over the years so you'll be happy to know it's included in Lightroom 4. This week we'll take a quick look at the Soft Proof feature, as well as one of my favorite new features for printing that solves the print is too dark problem that I (and plenty of other people I know) have.

Lightroom and Photoshop Before/After

Aaron Westgate — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:31:06 +0000

Ever since I first started using the new sliders in the Basic panel in Lightroom 4, I was hooked. So I started out to record a video on how I use them but realized I use them in different ways for different photos. Then I realized, there were more things I wanted to do to this photo. Before I knew it, I had a full before and after video using Photoshop and all. You gotta love it when your video starts taking over right? :) Anyway, my main goal here is to show you the Basic panel sliders in Lightroom 4 and just how powerful moving 4-5 sliders can be for your photo. In fact, you'll see that most of the work is done before we ever leave Lightroom to Photoshop. I hope you enjoy!

Making Selective White Balance Changes

Aaron Westgate — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:49:54 +0000

I always like it when new features come out in Photoshop or Lightroom and I end up using them in ways that I didn't originally think I would. Take for example the addition of Temperature and Tint to the Adjustment Brush and Graduated Filter in Lightroom 4 Beta. When I heard about this feature, I thought of specific examples where I'd use it. But none of those examples actually fit what I just noticed this past weekend on a recent trip. I realized I'm going to use them for a problem that I've usually gone to Photoshop to fix. But now since those adjustments are in Lightroom I can just do them there. Gotta love it when that happens right? :) Enjoy!

Before/After Video – Eiffel Tower and Plug-ins

Aaron Westgate — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:16:19 +0000

I haven't done one of those Before/After videos in a while so I thought it was time for another. The photo I'm using here was a photo I took in Paris last year. It was a rainy day which I actually find can help sometimes. I'd always seen a lot of the same photos of the Eiffel Tower, so I went looking for a different view. I remember seeing the movie, Inception, and noticed this really cool bridge (You know, the one that twisted on top of itself in the movie). It was the Pont de Bir-Hakeim, a bridge that crosses the Seine River in Paris. So I kinda set my sites on that being a good location to shoot from. The original photo itself definitely needed some work, as you'll see in the video. The Lightroom part of it was pretty easy actually and since Lightroom 4 Beta has been out, I find myself re-editing a lot of my photos using the new Develop module controls. There's a little Photoshop touchup work and lots of plug-in work that I used too. Enjoy!

Dynamic Watermarks

Aaron Westgate — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:16:17 +0000

I always like to do videos that answer questions I get, rather than just doing a video that I "think" everyone wants to know about. Well, this weeks video comes from a question that I've gotten in several forms over the last couple years. Recently, some one asked if they could add a watermark to their photos with the current year on them. So basically, Lightroom would have to figure out the year from the metadata (probably not hard) and dynamically add it to the photos when you export them into JPEGS (not so easy). So, there's really no way to do this, but there is an pretty decent workaround using the Filter Bar which is an area I think a lot of people miss out on. Enjoy!

Using External Drives

Aaron Westgate — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:41:49 +0000

I saw a great question on my Facebook page the other day (btw... here's my Google+ and Twitter pages too) and it's one that I get asked quite a bit whenever I'm out teaching Lightroom. The question was basically this: let's say you store all of your photos on an external drive (like I do). Eventually that drive gets full and you buy a larger drive. How do you get your photos to that new drive and make it so Lightroom can see them? Luckily it's really simple and it works the same with just about any version of Lightroom. Check out the video to see how.

Creating Calendars in the Print Module

Aaron Westgate — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:43:26 +0000

Hey everyone! I hope you've enjoyed the Lightroom Holiday template ideas that I've shared this week so far (and if you did, please share via Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc...). Sadly, today's the last day, but I'm sure I'll be covering other ideas next year as I come up with them. I did save one of my favorites for last though - creating calendars in the Print module. It's really simple to do and looks great for the new year. You can create one calendar each month or you can create a whole year's worth so it's pretty flexible too. Here's the link to the iStockphoto image(s) that I used, but as I showed you in the video, there's a ton of other ideas out there as well.

More Holiday Graphics

Aaron Westgate — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 19:10:26 +0000

Continuing on with the Lightroom template/tip-a-day theme this week, today's video builds on what we did on Monday. We used the Watermark window to give our photo a frame. In that example, though, the holiday graphic was pretty much the dominant graphic in the image. This time, I've got a few ideas for you to keep the photo as the center of attention and just use smaller graphics around it. Also, in case you're looking, here's the link to the red bow image that I used as well as the one with the holiday bell ornaments and swirlys in it. Have a great Thursday everyone!