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Lightroom 3 Is Here

Erik Bernskiold — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 06:23:11 +0000

After a long time in beta, Lightroom 3 is finally here. Let us take a look at some of the new feature they have added in the release. Many features, those who have been in the beta, is already covered on video in the Lightroom section.

Performance

A big welcome for everyone is that Lightroom 3 has rewritten much of the architecture under the hood. This allows for much improved performance with large catalogs and a better preview system with sharper thumbnails as you scroll through them.

It is also worth to note here that these upgrades also provide a base that they can improve on in future upgrades.

Importing

The import dialog is brand new, making it a lot easier for you to import your photos. It is now panel based and works in a workflow from right to left of the screen, in a logical fashion.

A big improvement is that your destination folders will be shown in italic in the destination panel so that you will see how you are affecting the folder structure and where your files will end up.

Library Module

Tethering capture is now built into Lightroom 3, eliminating the need for extra capture software or watched folders. Here are the currently supported cameras:

Canon 1D Mk2 (firewire only, not Windows x64), 1Ds Mk2 (firewire only, not Windows x64), 1D Mk3, 1Ds Mk3, 1D Mk4, 5D (not Windows x64), 5D Mark II, 7D, 20D (Mac only), 30D, 40D, 50D, 350D / Digital Rebel XT / Kiss Digital N, 400D / Digital Rebel XTi / Kiss Digital X, 450D / Digital Rebel XSi / Kiss X2, 500D / Digital Rebel T1i / Kiss X3 Digital, 1000D / Digital Rebel XS / Kiss F
Nikon D3, D3s, D3x, D200 (Mac only), D300, D300s, D700, D90, D5000

If you work with video, you will be happy to know that videos can be imported, tagged, rated, filtered and yes you can do pretty much every management aspect with video too. If you double click the video, it will open in the editor of your choice.

To export your photos out of Lightroom, there is a new publish services section, integrating Lightroom with a number of online sharing websites.

Develop Module

Much work has been done with noise reduction and sharpening, resulting in a vastly improved tool for this, comparable to the third-party noise reduction software available.

The big thing is lens correction, where you can now pick a lens profile and have Lightroom 3 correct based on the specific lens. If you want to manually adjust, you can do that too.

Lightroom 3 is gaining many features that we saw in the Camera Raw 6 release together with CS5. Naturally this means that we now get grain controls and a more natural post-crop vignette.

Slideshow Module

Some fixes have been made to the slideshow module too such as the ability to export them to MP4 video.

For audio, on the Mac you are no longer tied to iTunes (meaning that you can select a track from any folder) and in general, you can sync the length of the slides to the music track length.

Print Module

The print module now includes a custom print package, letting you do custom layouts for different images in different sizes, neatly. You are now also able to change the background color of the page.

Other Updates

The web module has had little attention in this upgrade except for the addition of ActionScript 3 for web developers.

A big thing to mention here is the much improved watermarking, allowing for simple text or graphics to be applied on export, publish, web, slideshow or print.

These are just some of the new additions, with more, little ones, being in the new release.

Availability

If you own a previous copy of Lightroom, you will be pleased to know that Lightroom 3 can upgrade Lightroom 1, 2 and 3 beta catalogs as well as Photoshop Elements 6, 7 or 8 catalogs.

As a previous owner, you can upgrade Lightroom for $99, while as a new user, you can pick it up, right now, for $299.

If you like to try it before you decide, a trial is available for you to download.

Download Adobe Configurator 2.0 in Adobe Labs

Erik Bernskiold — Mon, 24 May 2010 13:04:00 +0000

Photoshop product manager, John Nack, writes on his blog that Configurator 2.0 has now been released as a download in Adobe Labs.

Configurator is basically an application that allows you to design custom panels for both Photoshop CS5 and now also InDesign CS5 as well, with the custom tools and features that you want to show in the panel.

What’s new?

One of the biggest new thing is support for HTML content. Because they have added WebKit as embedded in CS5, you can now create a panel which has HTML content, like guides or tutorials, right from within Photoshop or InDesign CS5! I cannot even begin to tell you how exciting that is as a trainer.

For more advanced panels, you can also have containers, or groups that can be switched through tabs, menus and accordions. It also adds support for popup windows that can contain HTML, video or even other panels.

As if these additions are not enough, they have added localization support, meaning that the panel (if created in English) can automatically switch to translated text when using Photoshop or InDesign defaults.

Where can I see more?

Tomorrow I will be posting a tutorial here on Bernskiold Learning, highlighting some of the new features in Configurator 2.0. Shortly, you will also see some other cool panels emerging here from Bernskiold Learning.

If you want some extended notes, you can have a look at the blog post by John Nack.

Thursday News Update

Erik Bernskiold — Thu, 06 May 2010 12:58:33 +0000

It is another Thursday and here are some news from this week in the design, developer and gadget community!

First off, my good friend Janine Smith, a killer restoration artist, has published her very first video tutorial on digital restoration. I have already told you that she is amazing at what she does, so go ahead and learn something cool by watching the tutorial.
The Photoshop.com iPhone app has now added better sharing abilities, now able to share to both Twitter and Facebook, a feature that could potentially do away with a second up, just for the sharing purpose.
Heard about Corey Barker? If you have, good, if not, you need to! Corey is a very talented illustrator and artist who works as an instructor at NAPP. My friend Firgs just caught up with him in an interview, where you can see a bit of what is going on inside of Corey’s head.

That is some of the news for this week, don’t forget that the Creatively Using the Creative Suite podcast is now back and going live tomorrow, a weekday that will change. Starting next week the podcast episodes will go live every Thursday, for you to watch.

CS5 Is Now Shipping

Erik Bernskiold — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 04:43:28 +0000

Adobe has just announced the all suites and products in the Creative Suite 5 is now shipping! If you haven’t ordered it yet, you can now jump over to the Adobe store and place your order. If you opt for the digital download, you can begin downloading it right away too!

Now, here is a cool deal. As a NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) member, you get a 15% discount on any purchase in the Adobe stores, now in most stores around the world too! Their membership is only $99 for such a vast resource of videos and written tutorials, but also their community forum which is just the best.

Look at it this way, if you become a NAPP member, just for the Adobe discount (and there are more discounts), you will still have saved more than the membership cost, plus you’ll get just a great deal!

Adobe also has some special deals right now with more savings you can get when buying the suite, right from their store.

Adobe Creative Suite 5 is here!

Erik Bernskiold — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 12:59:25 +0000

It is now released. Adobe has on time announced its brand new Creative Suite 5, filled with new and exciting features. I don’t want to reinvent the wheel, trying to outline the new features when my buddies are doing the job.

My buddy Terry White (who is Worldwide Design Evangelist at Adobe) has a first look on his tech blog, showcasing his top five new features in Photoshop CS5, InDesign CS5, Illustrator CS5, Flash Catalyst CS5, Dreamweaver CS5 and Flash CS5! Definitely check it out.

All of my buddies at NAPP have been working very, very hard to create their free CS5 Learning Center, this year strengthened by a series of free webinars this week on the new features in the suite. If you miss the webinars (at which they will give away Photoshop CS5 upgrades), they will release them as free downloads too. Amazing deal isn’t it! Look for that later today after the official announcement.

Speaking about the official announcement, don’t forget to tune in and watch it at 11a.m EDT today, April 12th. It is mere hours away!

NAPP Announcing Incredible CS5 Learning Center

Erik Bernskiold — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:37:32 +0000

The great folks over at NAPP are working seriously hard now with the CS5 announcement just around the corner. Coming up on Monday is one of the most incredible resources that I have yet to hear about when it comes to a new launch.

With the CS5 announcement on Monday, NAPP will open up its usual CS5 learning center which is always filled with knowledge on the new features. However, this time, that isn’t enough, there is more, and you are going to want to know about it.

I don’t want to spoil it for you by telling you all about it before the NAPP guys do it, so watch the video embedded above and have a look at Scott Kelby’s blog to have it all explained to you!

Starry World Wallpaper

Erik Bernskiold — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:00:50 +0000

I love to spark up my desktop with new wallpapers a little now and then and thought some of you might like to do the same. Having some free time this weekend, I decided to work a bit on a couple of different wallpapers, to release and use. One of these is Starry World, a wallpaper made up of stars in a colorful universe.

Download for Desktop or iPhone

Wacom Cintiq 21UX is Released

Erik Bernskiold — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:40:50 +0000

Wacom has long been the premiere maker of touch sensitive tablets and following the Intous 4 launch last year, they are upgrading their touch sensitive display series, the Cintiq 21UX display, now compatible with Intous 4 system.

The updated display has almost the same specifications as the previous version had, but now offers a number of updated features such as:

Better sensitivity now with 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity, doubling it from the previous model, a real benefit when making fine-grain adjustments or drawings, relying on the touch.
Updated design that is more ergonomic with the express keys located on both sides of the screen. There is also a new top ExpressKey that will bring up on on-screen display with the settings of the keys and touch strips. These new buttons are all iconized by the LED display as in the Intous 4 line, indicating their present action.
The stand lets you set the display at any angle between a minimum 10 degrees and a maximum 65 degrees. It can also be rotated 180 degrees in either direction, all to help your position while drawing.

The new Wacom Cintiq 21UX, now in full black, costs $1,999 and will be shipping by early April.

Hydra 2.2 for Lightroom 2 Released

Erik Bernskiold — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:41:23 +0000

Hydra 2.2 from Creaceed is an HDR application that is now available in a new version and as a Lightroom 2 plugin.

The news in the new feature is plenty, with the most important one being the Lightroom 2 plugin (for both 32 and 64 bit) that makes all the features from the standalone version available in the Lightroom plugin.

Hydra supports up to 10 input images, 2 image alignment techniques and 3 tone mappers to help make the HDR image. It has a 1:1 preview loupe, allowing you to see the image in full resolution. Apart from the Lightroom 2 plugin, there are plugins available for Aperture 2 and 3 as well.

Hydra 2.2 requires Mac OS X 10.5 or later on a computer with at least 64 MB of VRAM. It is available for $79.95 and this license can be used for both the stand-alone and plugin versions. If you currently have a 2.x license, this upgrade is free, while the upgrade from Hydra 1.x costs $19.95. There is a time-unlimited trial version available, which generates watermarked image files.

Photoshop 20 Years: Watch Celebration Party on Live Webcast Tonight

Erik Bernskiold — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 09:07:38 +0000

It has been 20 years since Photoshop first was introduced (that makes it two years older than I) and in these years, it has come a long way. Expect not that this occasion simply passes. NAPP (the National Association of Photoshop Professionals) and Adobe are together hosting a special party to celebrate the 20th Anniversary and you can watch the event live.

It starts at 7:30 p.m Pacific Time, which sadly means 3:30 a.m for my fellow Europeans (GMT time). Luckily, if you miss it, I have gotten confirmations that it will be rebroadcast.

Some of the guests there, showing live Photoshop tricks are: Dave Cross, Matt Kloskowski, RC Concepcion, Corey Barker, Julieanne Kost, Terry White, Russell Brown, Johnny L and of course Scott Kelby who is also promising some surprise guests.

It is also being mentioned that we will be seeing some sneak peeks at Photoshop things that nobody has seen before, which makes it of course, a very good reason to tune in.

You can see the broadcast as it starts 7:30 p.m Pacific Standards Time, right on the Photoshop 20th Anniversary page.