What I’d Love To See Next in Lightroom — Part 3
Before we roll on to #3 on my wish list, I just wanted to thank everybody who has posted their wish list favorites as comments here. I’m going to compile a list of my favorites from your favorites once we reach the 10th on my list, so keep ’em coming — there’s some great stuff in there, including some things I didn’t realize i wanted until I read your comments.
OK, onto #3 on my wish list which is…
#3: I’d love to have a preview of Output Sharpening
You get three choices for the amount: Low, Normal, High, and I-d like to see a preview of now each looks before I hit Print (or Export in the case of saving out a JPEG or TIFF). Of course, while I’m here I’d probably prefer a slider, instead of just the three pre-set choices, but that’s not high enough on my list— I’m OK with just the three — I just want to see a preview of how each is actually going to look before I make the print.
Though, while I’m asking for sharpening previews, how about a soft-proofing preview that shows sharpening as well? OK, I’d better cut it off there.
Alrighty then, — that’s #3.
See ya on Monday, and keep those ideas coming.
Best,
-Scott
P.S. Today at 12:00 Noon ET we’re doing a free Photoshop World Conference Preview live webcast and you’re invited. It’s hosted by our own Larry Becker, and he’ll give you an insider’s view of the event and we’ll be sharing some cool tips as he introduces you to a few of the instructors and previews some of the content from their classes. Whether you have been to Photoshop World before or this is new to you, you’ll want to check out the webcast TODAY at 12 pm ET (New York time). Get all the details at KelbyOne.com/pswpreview.
I would really like content aware in lightroom the same as it is in photoshop I really don’t like the set up in lightroom Thank you
1: I like being able to paint away part of a gradient, but I would like the ability to paint it back in (in case of mistakes) at the original gradient instead of 100 percent.
2: Support for networks and multiple users. The data base is fantastic, but I work where there are many photographers working on their own computers and having the same collections, plugins is very important. All photos are on a server, but the Lightroom catalog is unique to each user.
3: This one is tricky, but drag and drop metadata. I have smart collections and sometimes I find a photo that should be in a smart collection but isn’t. If I could just drag that photo to the smart collection and have Lightroom apply the metadata to the photo that meets the collection criteria, well I would like that a lot.
4: And finally, test strips. Lightroom has a brightness slider in the print module, which I love but knowing how much to use is tough. I want to print a test strip like the good old dark room days with maybe 10 percent brightness increments so I could pick which one works best with a particular photos/paper/printer combination. Same could be done with print sharpness. I do this now in Photoshop myself but it seems like I should be able to just do this in the print module of Lightroom.
#4 – one way to do this in LR as a workaround:
http://lightroomktips.wpengine.com/setting-print-proof-test-brightness-slider/
I’d like to see a localized tone curve. Why can’t we have the tone curve on the brush, instead of having to go to Ps.
amen to that!
I’m sure somebody has said this before but… content aware for the spot removal brush!
1. holding Alt while brushing should use the current brush in erase mode (same size, feather, etc). Right now it switches to the separate “Erase†brush which is always the wrong size/feathering. I find that I have to change several of the Erase brush’s settings almost every time before erasing and find this to be one of the biggest annoyances.
2. delete photos from disk while in collection/smart collection. Right now it’s inconvenient and time-consuming to switch to the containing folder(s) or to All Photographs view. And when photographs are not next to each after you switch, you cross your fingers hoping that you delete the correct ones.
3. it is mainly history states that make Lightroom catalogs so huge. There’s currently an option to clear the entire history for a photo, however this is very limiting in many ways, so it’s not an option for me. It would really help to be able to merge multiple consecutive history states into one. For example, I would leave the initial import state and the final export state. Everything else in between I would manually select and merge into one history state that might be called “multiple editsâ€.
4. remember panel positions for each view – make it a preference. I find that I always hide side panels when in C (compare) mode, hide all panels and a toolbar in N (survey) mode, and show all panels in G (grid) mode. Right now this constant panel showing/hiding takes a lot of time.
5. change Tab and Shift+Tab behavior to “hide currently visible panelsâ€/â€show previously visible panels†– as opposed to showing ALL panels. For example, I never use the top panel, so I have to hide it separately over and over again.
6. open a JPEG/TIFF photo as a linked smart objects in Photoshop and sync (Camera Raw) development settings between Lightroom and Photoshop for non-destructive workflow. I also found this issue posted by someone else
7. when I re-edit a photo I first check what adjustments have been done previously. Basic edits are easy to see, but if there were local adjustments made I have to click on each tool in turn (Graduated Filter, Radial Filter, Adjustment Brush), then hover over an image to see if there any pins that might contribute to the current edits. It would be so much easier if the tools were highlighted in some way when there’s at least one adjustment of the kind for the current image.
8. to check if there were any adjustments made to R/G/B channels in Tone Curve panel one has to switch to each channel separately. It would be very helpful to see an overlay of all curves on the main point curve screen, like it’s currently done in Photoshop.
9. need shortcuts for zoom levels “Fit to Screen†(Ctrl+0) and “1:1†(Ctrl+1)
10. show total file size when several photos are selected. Right now it says (see “Exif and IPTC†view in Metadata panel), which is not useful.
Olga, I think on your #2 – CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+Backspace will do what you want, but there’s no confirmation provided. Test it out in your scenario, but sounds like it’s what you’re looking for functionally. (?)
Here’s a simple one that I haven’t seen mentioned:
A shortcut to toggle between current and previous adjustment brush (i.e. dodge and burn)
The presets for the brush – for burn and dodge etc.
Might be handy to some that you can change between 2 brush sizes (A and B) using the / character.
1. X/Y in Develop module
2. Personal customizable sub-panels
3. Personal workspaces
4. Changeable shortcuts
5. Manual Pan-Zoom
The biggest thing for me as a switching aperture user is that it doesn’t show you the size of the image as you’re cropping. It’d be super easy just to show the megapixel amount so I have some kind of idea.
I agree on this one. You can turn on the Info display, and choose to show the cropped dimensions in one of the 3 fields. Sadly, the megapixel count doesn’t seem to change if you change the crop – but on the plus side you don’t have to commit the crop, just let go of a corner of it. Not optimal by any measure…
This would be excellent, Scott as I usually find myself turning the output up to max as it is so subtle. Does it modify the output sharpening to accommodate the paper or monitor ICC-profile, etc? If so, how would the preview differentiate? I like your suggestion of a slider, too.
On the topic of sharpening… do you find you have to adjust sharpening for different portfolios, Exposure, etc? Those that re-sample the images for a range of devices must have some impact on quality but few ever mention sharpening.
Great series of posts, I hope Adobe are watching!
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I would LOVE a shortcut key when you want to pull a still frame from a video clip in Lightroom!
It would be nice when opening the copy dialog box, that you could see right away where changes have been made so you could decide what you wanted to copy. They could be in a different color, or bold etc.
Jeff — that is an AWESOME idea!!! Sometimes I sit in front of that window and think, “OK, which things did I apply?” and sometimes I forget one or two. This is brilliant! 🙂
My wish: Better performance in spot removal tool (I don’t understand why it’s so slow, comparing to Photoshop).
i would LOVE a duplicate image finder that compares the image, date and metadata so it finds duplicates even if they’re different sizes, names, or file types. That alone would clear up half my hard drive.
I used to make Jpegs for clients in sub folders, now I put them on my desktop so I can delete them, wish I did that years ago.
Three wishes for Lightroom: 1) Lightroom Mobile to be able to show slideshows on mobile devices with exact same setting as on the desktop, including transitions and sound track, 2) Manual -not automatic- “Pan and Zoom” effects on Slideshows, 3) Keyboard Shortcuts mapper tool as in Photoshop.