If you are a photographer who uses Lightroom to organize your photos you can benefit from using the web tools in Lightroom to create galleries for display and proofing. Just by using the options and tweaking a bit in other applications you can get a very good display gallery.

Join us for a webinar on how to use Lightroom and the Web on September 2, 2010 at 7 p.m GMT time (more time info below).

The webinar is free for everyone to attend online (with a link being available on the webinar page). We do not require a registration for this webinar, just come and attend if you are available on September 2.

webinar times across the world

• Syndey, Australia: 5:00 a.m
• India: 12:30 a.m
• Sweden: 9:00 p.m
• United Kingdom: 7 p.m
• New York, USA: 3:00 p.m
• Chicago, USA: 2:00 p.m
• Denver, USA: 1:00 p.m
• Los Angeles, USA: 12:00 p.m

You can get more info about this free webinar on the specific webinar page, where you will also be able to get the link to the online classroom.

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Style and Layout

Information-wise, the book is like an encyclopedia. In terms of how I would say you best read the book, it is the same. The idea to have a book filled with questions and their answers appeals to me as it makes it quick and easy to find what I want, when I want it.

Looking at the title, this is not a book I would want to read from cover to cover, but instead like to have a look at when I face a problem in Lightroom and want a reply to a specific question.

Contents

Victoria Bampton, the author, has done a magnificent job at coming up with good questions in this book and answering them in such a way that you truly understand afterwards.

In the book you will find frequently asked questions on everything from the import module through to the web module, all sections rich with juicy content to read.

Design

Since the last edition, The Missing FAQ book has been reworked in terms of design, both on the front and the inside. A disclaimer is in order here however since I did do the cover design of this book. Because of that, it is not my place to comment on the cover.

The design of the inside (which I had nothing to do with) makes for a very good reading experience, though I would wish for a slightly nicer header, footer and note design for the next edition to match with the good-looking general body.

Conclusion

I do not hesitate a minute to recommend this book to any Lightroom user that has questions popping up a little now and then.

By all means, this is not the book where you learn Lightroom from start to finish, but it fills a huge gap answering all of our questions that will appear once we start using the application.

• Author: Victoria Bampton
• Price: £14.95
• Website: www.lightroomqueen.com
• Rating: 5/5

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1. Adobe Lightroom 2 – The Missing FAQ
2. Adobe Lightroom 2 – The Missing FAQ
3. Book Tip: Adobe Lightroom – The missing F.A.Q

This week, I want to bring your attention to an often forgotten site from the folks over at NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals), more specifically authored by Matt Kloskowski.

The website, is called Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Killer Tips and features weekly videos as well as news and downloadables throughout the weeks. In other words, it is filled with goodies.

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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.

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2. Adobe announces Public Lightroom 3 Beta!
3. Lightroom 2.0 Beta Released!

Lightroom Forums

This week, I would like to recommend a forum to you, that is Lightroom Forums, a site that is a dedicated site for Lightroom discussions.

If you are a Lightroom user, I am sure you are going to find the forums a great resource, discussing the various features in Lightroom, get help with troubleshooting, or learn new tips and tricks.

Registration there is fully free and you can start participating right away when you sign up, a very quick and easy process.

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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.

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The update, includes bug fixes (full release notes after the break) and new camera support, but do not work with the Lightroom 3 beta, which has not been updated with the new camera raw. If you have a camera that is first supported now in 5.6, you can always use the DNG converter that comes with it and convert to DNG before importing into Lightroom.

Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, Canon EOS 7D, Canon PowerShot G11, Canon PowerShot S90, Leaf Aptus-II 5, Mamiya DM22, Mamiya DM28, Mamiya DM33, Mamiya DM56, Mamiya M18, Mamiya M22, Mamiya M31, Nikon D3s, Olympus E-P2, Panasonic DMC-FZ38, Pentax K-x, Sigma DP1s, Sony A500, Sony A550, Sony A850

Lightroom 2.6 Download: Mac or Win

Camera RAW 5.6 Download: Mac or Win

Release Notes

• Camera Raw 5.6 and Lightroom 2.6 provide a fix for an issue affecting PowerPC customers using the final Lightroom 2.5, Camera Raw 5.5 and DNG Converter 5.5 updates on the Mac. The issue, introduced in the demosaic change to address sensors with unequal green response, has the potential to create artifacts in highlight areas when processing raw files from Sony, Olympus, Panasonic and various medium format digital camera backs.
• The Lightroom 3 beta has not been updated with this new camera support. If you’re working with one of these newer cameras and the Lightroom 3 beta, please use the DNG Converter 5.6 to convert proprietary formats to DNG files that can be used in the Lightroom 3 beta.
• This release includes improved camera profiles for the Leica M9 and Ricoh GXR.

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Canon EOS 7D, Canon PowerShot G11, Canon PowerShot S90, Leaf Aptus II 5, Mamiya DM22, DM28, DM33, DM56, M18, M22, M31, Nikon D3s, Olympus E-P2, Pentax K-x, Panasonic FZ38, Sigma DP1s, Sony A500, Sony A550 and Sony A850.

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2. Camera Raw 5.5 and Lightroom 2.5 now available!
3. Lightroom 2.1 Release Candidate is out!

• Brand new performance architecture, building for the future of growing image librarie
• State-of-the-art noise reduction to help you perfect your high ISO shots
• Watermarking tool that helps you customize and protect your images with ease
• Portable sharable slideshows with audio—designed to give you more flexibility and impact on how you choose to share your images, you can now save and export your slideshows as videos and include audio
• Flexible customizable print package creation so your print package layouts are all your own
• Film grain simulation tool for enhancing your images to look as gritty as you wan
• New import handling designed to make importing streamlined and easy
• More flexible online publishing options so you can post your images online to certain online photo sharing sites directly from inside Lightroom 3 beta (may require third-party plug-ins)

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2. Three CS4 beta products available in Adobe Labs!
3. Lightroom 3 Is Here

• Nikon D300s
• Nikon D3000
• Olympus E-P1 (Pen)
• Panasonic DMC-FZ35*
• Panasonic DMC-GF1

The other release notes can be read by clicking the read more link. The update can be gotten form the Adobe download section, or by going to Help > Update within either Photoshop CS4 or Lightroom 2 (depending on which you want to upgrade).

Release Notes

• Camera Raw 5.5 and Lightroom 2.5 include a correction to the demosaic algorithms for Bayer sensor cameras with unequal green response. Olympus, Panasonic and Sony are among the more popular camera manufacturers affected by this change. The demosaic correction provides a subtle visual improvement to the processing of those raw files.

• Lightroom 2.5 corrects for the following problem in Lightroom 2.4. Lightroom 2.4 on Windows continued to display the import dialog when a memory card was detected regardless of the preference setting "Show import dialog when a memory card is detected."

* Note that in Europe and Japan this model is marketed as the DMC-FZ38. Unfortunately, due to a metadata difference between these cameras, files from the DMC-FZ38 will not be supported until the next Camera Raw and Lightroom updates.

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1. Lightroom 2.6 and Camera RAW 5.6 Final Releases
2. Lightroom 2.6 and Camera RAW 5.6 in Adobe Labs
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