Automating Lightroom: Part One – Import & Export

Lightroomcanbesemi-automatedtomakefastworkofyourimagingworkflows.Lightroomcanmakeuseofcustom‘UserPresets’tofasttracktheImport,DevelopandExportaspectsofyourworkflow.IhavemadearangeofFreeLightroomPresetsavailabletodownloadfrommywebsite.Justgotohttp://www.markgaler.com/product-category/lightroom-presetsNew Default LightroomcanbesetupsothatimagesareautomaticallyoptimisedastheyareimportedintoyourCatalog.Lightroom’s‘DevelopDefaultSettings’canbemodifiedsothattheappearanceofyourimageissetupthewayyouwantthemtoappearfromthestart,i.e.imageswillbeimportedandhaveyourpreferredsettingsappliedbydefault.IfyouholddowntheAlt/OptionkeyintheDevelopModuleyouwillseetheResetbuttoninthebottomright-handcornerchangeto‘SetDefault’.BeforeyouchangeAdobe’sdefault,however,youshouldensurethattheimageyouhaveopenintheDevelopmodulehasbeen‘Reset’,sotherearenomodificationstothevisualappearanceatthisstage.IntheCameraCalibrationtabyoucannowselectanalterativecameraprofiletotheAdobeStandard.Changingtooneofyourcameraprofilesmayprovideyourimageswithalittlemore‘pop’.ItisalsopossibletocreateacustomcameraprofileusingtoolsprovidedbycompaniessuchasxRiteandSpyder(seelinksbelow).http://xritephoto.com/colorchecker-passport-photohttp://spyder.datacolor.com/portfolio-view/spydercheckr-24/

TryselectinganalternativeprofileintheCameraCalibrationpanelAswellasexploringalterativeProfilesintheCameraCalibrationpanel,IalsorecommendchoosingappropriatesettingsintheDetailandLensCorrectionspanelspriortocreatingaNewDefault.

AsaRawshooterIchoosetoselectthe‘EnableProfileCorrection’optionintheLensCorrectionsPanel.Itisworth,however,checkingthatyourcameraisnotmakingthesechangestotheRawfilesin-camera.NoticeintheillustrationabovethatmySonycameraiscorrectingthechromaticaberrationforme,sothereisnoneedformetochecktheRemoveChromaticAberrationcheckboxforthiscamerainLightroom.

IlikeaslightlyhigheramountofsharpeningappliedtomyimagesthancurrentlyappliedbyAdobe’sdefault,soIhaveraisedtheSharpeningandMaskingslidersto65.TheMaskingwillshieldanyareasofsmoothcontinuoustonefromthesharpeningprocess.IalsochoosetoraisetheLuminancesliderintheNoiseReductionsectionto15.Thiswillensureareasofsmoothtonearefreefromnoisewhenimagesarezoomedto100%orprintedverylarge.IhavefoundthisbeneficialforevenlowISOimages.

Note>Ipersonallydonotrecommendthis,butyouarefreetomodifysettingsintheBasicorToneCurvepanel,e.g.addVibranceand/orClarity.Justrememberthatallimages,however,willhavethesesettingsappliedonimportsoconsidertheseoptionscarefully.

NowthatyouhaveconsideredallofthesettingthatyouwanttobecomeyourNewDefaultsettings,simplyholddowntheAltkey(PC)orOptionkey(Mac)andclickontheSetDefaultinthebottomright-handcorneroftheLightroomwindow.YouwillnoticeinthedialogboxthatopensthatthenewDefaultfortheDevelopSettingsisonlyforthiscamera.Youmayalsonoticeasentencethatreads‘Pleasenotethatthesechangesarenotundoable’.Thisisnotasalarmingasitsounds.ItsimplymeansthatwhenyouhittheresetbuttonintheDeveloporLibrarymodulestheimagewilldefaulttothesenewsettings.YoucanhoweverrestoreAdobe’sDefaultsettingsatanytime.IfyoudecidetoreverttoAdobe’sDefaultSettingsjustreturntothisdialogandclickontheRestoreAdobeDefaultSettingsbutton.NowwhenyouhittheResetbuttontheimagewillreturntoAdobe’sdefaultsratherthantheoneyouhadcreated.

MetadatatemplatescanbeaccessedfromtheMetadatapanelintheLibraryModuleortheApplyDuringImportpanelintheImportDialogAnotherwayofmodifyingimagesonimportistocreateanewMetadataPreset.MetadataPresetscanbeusedtoaddarangeofusefulmetadatatoyourimagesonImport,includingyourcopyrightinformation.ThiswillensurethatanyimagesyoulaterexportoruploadtothewebwillcontainyourcopyrightinformationandpersonalURL(webpage).YoucancreateanewMetadataPresetbyselectingtheoptioninthe‘ApplyDuringImport’panelintheImportDialog.Note>SomeSocialMediasites,includingFacebook,willstripthismetadatafromtheimage.OtherservicesincludingGoogle+,Flickr,500pxetc.willretainthisinformation.

IPTCCopyright–embedyourcopyrightdetailsonImportTherearemanysectionsintheNewMetadataPresetdialogwhereyoucanchoosetoaddmetadata.ThemostimportantistheIPTCCopyrightsection.Itypicallywrite‘AllRightsReserved’inthe‘RightsUsageTerms’todifferentiateitfromthe‘Attribution’and‘PublicDomain’copyrightvariationsthatallowotheruserslimiteduse.HolddowntheOptionkeyonaMacwhileyoutypetheletter‘G’toaddthecopyrightsymbol.HolddowntheALTkeyandtypethenumbers0169onaPCtoaddthecopyrightsymbol.Import Presets OneofthemostdauntingdialogsinLightroomistheImportDialog.Onceyouhavechosenallofyoursettings,however,youcanrecordalloftheseasanImportPreset.MakesureyouhaveselectedyourcopyrightPresetintheApplyDuringImportanddonotaddanykeywordspriortomakingaNewImportPreset.OncethePresethasbeenmadeyoucanclickthearrowinthebottomleft-handcornerofthedialogandcollapsethedialogtoamuchmore‘sensible’size–safeintheknowledgethatallofyourpreferredimportsettingsarebeinghonoured.Thereisevenawindowwhereyoucanaddkeywordsonimport.

Theuser-friendlyversionoftheImportDialog(courtesyofusinganImportPreset)HereisatutorialmoviethatlooksatmyImportsettings:https://youtu.be/Omxd-B5U9O0

ThereisasupportingmovietoshowyouhowtocreateoptimalExportPresetsthatcanbeviewedhere:https://youtu.be/zzYPH44HspYExport Presets TheExportDialogisalmostasintimidatingastheImportDialog,butonceyouhavesavedyourmostusedsettingsasPresets,itisasimplematterofclickingonthenameofthePresetandthenselectingExport.Youdon’tevenhavetoenterthisdialogbecausewhenyouright-clickonanimageintheLibraryorDevelopmodulesyouwillfindyourExportPresetsinthecontextmenuthatopens.IfyournextExportisthesameasthepreviousoneyoucanusethefollowingkeyboardshortcut:Command+Option+Shift+E(Mac)orCtrl+Alt+Shift+E(PC).IfyouhavemanyvariedexportcriteriasettingsyouneedtomeetyoucangroupExportPresetsintofolderstomaketheinterfacemanageable.Irecommendthatyoucheckthe‘SharpenFor’optionforallPresetsexceptexportfullsize.ItisalsoimportanttonotthatimagesdestinedforscreenviewingdonotneedavaluetobeenterediontheResolutionfield.IhavemademyfavouriteSocialMediaExportPresetsavailableforfreeonmywebsite.Goto:http://www.markgaler.com/product/social-media-lr-presets

GreetingCardtemplatescanbedownloadedfrom:http://www.markgaler.com/product/free-lightroom-print-templatesPrint Templates AdobeshipsabroadrangeofPrintTemplatesinthePrintModulebutyoumaywanttofine-tunesomeforyourownprintingneeds.AlthoughthereisalreadyaGreetingsCardtemplateIhavechosentomakemyownUserTemplatesforbothUSLetterandA4papersizes.TheseallowmetoprintanimageontherighthalfofthepapersothatallIneedtodoisfoldtheprintingpaperinhalfandpopitintoanappropriatelysizedenvelope.IalsofounditusefultosetupaPrintingTemplateforPrintingContactsheetstoPDF.ThetemplateremembersthatIwanttoprinttoPDFratherthanpaperandrememberstousethePhotoQualitysettingtoensuretheviewercanzoomintoasmallthumbnailimageandnothavetheimagepixelateprematurely.

PrintTemplatescanbeusedtoprinttoPDFaswellaspaper

Lightroom’sPublishServicesprovideafastandefficientwayofuploadinganimagetosocialmediaPublish Services ItispossibletopublishdirectlytoyourSocialMediaplatformswithoutfirstexportingtheimage.Theadvantagetothisisthatthereisnointermediaryfilethatneedstobedisposedoflater,youdonotneedtoopenyourwebbrowsertouploadthefile,anycommentsrelatingtheimagecanbereadandrespondedtoviatheCommentspanelinLightroom.Lightroomcomespre-installedwithFacebookandFlickrbutispossibletoadd‘plugins’thatwillincreasethenumberofPublishingservicesavailable.Beforeyoucanusetheserviceyouwillneedtosetuptheuploadsettingsandclickonthe‘AuthorizeonFacebook’button.

IntheSetupdialogIhaveaskedLightroomtousetheimage’s‘Title’ratherthanitsfilenumberfortheimagenamethatwillappearonFacebook.ImagescanthenbedraggedtothePublishServiceandwhenyouclickonthePublishbuttonatthetopofthescreentheimagewillbeuploadedtoFacebook.AURL/Linkwillappearnexttothepublishbuttonwhentheimagehasbeenpublished.

ItispossibletocreatemultiplePublishingServicesforthesameSocialMediaplatform,e.g.youcancreatedifferentpublishservicestouploadyourimagestoyourTimeline,aPageoraFolderofimages.

ItisnowpossibletopublishimagesdirectlytoInstagramfromLightoomusingaDesktopcomputer.YoucanevenaddhashtagsinLightroomthatwillappearintheInstagrampostafterthefilehasbeenuploaded

Plugins LightroomPluginsareusedforavarietyoffunctionsinLightroom.TheycanenableyourcameratoshoottetheredtoLightroom(sothatimagesaredirectlyimportedintheLightroomCatalogratherthansavetothememorycardinthecamera).Ihavepluginsthatsupportmytime-lapseworkflowsandalsoforadditionalpublishingservicessuchasInstagram.TodownloadtheLR/Instagramplugingoto:https://www.lrinstagram.com

TheInstagrampluginwillworkwithoutpaymentbutitissuggestedyougivethedeveloperUS$10.00fortheireffort

AfterdownloadingthepluginitisrecommendedthatyouplaceitsomewherememorablebeforeaddingittoLightroom.LightroomkeepsitspluginsinaFoldercalledModulesthatlivesinthePresetsFolder.AfteryouhavefoundahomeforplugingotoFile>PluginManager.

Clickonthe‘Add’buttonandbrowsetothelocationofyournewplugin.Somepluginsmayaskyoutoregisteroractivatethepluginbeforeyoucanproceed.___________________________________________________________________________________________________MarkGalerisanAdobeImagingAmbassadorfortheAsiaPacificregion(APAC)andhehasawealthofknowledgeandskillstoshare.AfullrangeofMark’sLightroomTutorialmoviescanbeviewedhere:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWC-IgKORdDEeu0ywKmpomkf86UtOzeeDMark’sblogcanbeviewedhere:http://www.markgaler.com/blogMarkgivesfreeliveeSeminarsforAdobe(APAC)thatcanbeaccessedhere:https://apacevents.adobe.com/photography