In last week’s Digital Tutorial I discussed exposure and gave you some guidelines for setting your camera. This week I would like to answer a reader’s question about post-processing.
I’m new to photography and really love the whole use of presets, but don’t know how to use them. I am looking for post-processing software that isn’t too pricey and allows me to use presets. I have Photoshop Elements 6 too, but so don’t know how to work it just yet. Any suggestions on where to look and what to buy for spicing up my pics?
Thank you! – Nicole
I recommended Adobe Lightroom to Nicole. Lightroom is more than a digital darkroom. To begin with, Lightroom can help you get your photographs organized. If your like me, I have thousands of photographs just on my hard drive alone. I also have many more archived onto discs but those thumbnail images are still available to me via Lightroom as you can see here in this screenshot.
I think the best feature about Adobe Lightroom is the ability to post-process your photos in a non-destructive way without creating masks and layers as you would in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. Instead of altering the photograph with your changes in Photoshop (or just about every other editing program), Lightroom saves your changes as metadata. Those changes are not permanent until you export your photo for printing or share online and even then those changes can be kept separate from the original photograph.
You can quickly adjust the exposure, enhance colors, crop, correct red eye and remove spots while in the “Develop” mode of the program. If you really like the changes you apply to one photo and want to apply it to others, you can do that by saving those metadata changes as a Preset. Lightroom also comes with 18 Presets for creating an Aged Photo, converting to Black and White, or making landscapes pop to name a few. And I have been able to find many more Presets online for free just by searching for them.
Another cool feature in Lightroom is the ability to apply a Watermark to your photos. You can apply a Watermark when you first import your photos into Lightroom or when you export them for printing or sharing online. I can not tell you how many times I have seen people ask how to create a Watermark in Photoshop. Let me show you how easy it is in Lightroom.
Text Instructions:
From your toolbar, click on “Edit” then scroll down to “Identity Plate Setup”. A dialogue box will appear. You can then type in your Watermark. Once you as satisfied with the font and the size, click on the “Custom” button and choose the “Save As” option. You can also add an image as your watermark and apply it to your photos before printing or sharing online. That is all there is to it. Your photos will now be watermarked either upon importing or exporting your images. The choice is yours.
Another plus to using Adobe Lightroom for you post-processing needs is that Lightroom supports Camera RAW files. If you are not familiar with Camera RAW, think of it as the original “negative” of your photos. Before I had Lightroom, I would have to upload my photographs using the software that came with my camera, convert them to jpg’s and then I could use Photoshop Elements to edit my photos. These steps are not necessary anymore in Lightroom.
I do still use Photoshop Elements for the things you can not do in Lightroom. Pse is great for cutting out people and dropping them into new digital backgrounds. I also use it for cutting out objects and placing them on transparent background and saving them as png files for digital scrapbooking. Oh and when you are exporting your photographs in Lightroom, you can have it open Photoshop automatically for further editing.
Ok, I think I may have overwhelmed you with this Digital Tutorial of Lightroom. One thing before you go, if you are interested in getting to know Lightroom, Adobe recently released a beta download of the upcoming version 3.0. From now until March or April you can use this downloaded version to get your feet wet and try some of what I discussed here today and future tutorials I have planned. Here is the link: Adobe Lightroom 3.0 beta download
I almost forgot my FTC disclosure. I am not in any way affiliated with Adobe nor have I been compensated in any way for sharing my love of their software. I am doing this out of the kindness of my heart. I do hope that you have enjoyed today’s tutorial. I am looking forward to your feedback this week.
Wishing you a picture perfect day!
Patty