5. Developing Basics

If you haven’t already done so, download the Lesson 5 folder from your Account page at www.peachpit.com to the LRCIB/Lessons folder, as detailed in the section “Accessing the Classroom in a Book files” in the chapter “Getting Started.”

1. Start Lightroom.

2. In the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom - Select Catalog dialog box, make sure that the file LRCIB Catalog.lrcat is selected under Select A Recent Catalog To Open, and then click Open.

3. Lightroom will open in the screen mode and workspace module that were active when you last quit. If necessary, switch to the Library module by clicking Library in the Module Picker at the top of the workspace.

1. In the Library module, click the Import button below the left panel group.

2. If the Import dialog box appears in compact mode, click the Show More Options button at the lower left of the dialog box to see all the options in the expanded Import dialog box.

3. Under Source at the left of the expanded Import dialog box, navigate to and select the LRCIB > Lessons > Lesson 5 folder. Ensure that all six photos and the video in the Lesson 5 folder are checked for import.

4. In the import options above the thumbnail previews, select Add so that the imported media will be added to your catalog without being moved or copied. Under File Handling at the right of the expanded Import dialog box, choose Minimal from the Build Previews menu and ensure that the Don’t Import Suspected Duplicates option is activated. Under Apply During Import, choose None from both the Develop Settings menu and the Metadata menu and type Lesson 5, Develop in the Keywords text box. Make sure that your import is set up as shown in the illustration below, and then click Import.

The seven media files are imported from the Lesson 5 folder and now appear in both the Grid view of the Library module and in the Filmstrip across the bottom of the Lightroom workspace.

1. In the Grid view, double-click the image DSC_8613.NEF (a photo of Dunnottar Castle in north-east Scotland). Expand the Quick Develop panel, if necessary.

Shot on the shaded side of a rocky headland in bright sunlight, this image is almost back-lit—notoriously difficult conditions for achieving a good overall exposure. The photo also has a slightly blue color cast, giving the sunlit grass a cool, dull look. You can correct this kind of color imbalance by adjusting an image’s white balance.

2. In the Quick Develop panel, expand the White Balance pane. Try each of the settings in the White Balance presets menu, noting the effects in the Loupe view. When you’re done, choose the Cloudy white balance preset.

Adjusting the white balance can mean making some very subjective choices. If you wish to stay fairly close to a photo’s original look, start with the As Shot preset, and then fine-tune the Temperature and Tint. If you feel that the white balance was set incorrectly at the time of capture—perhaps as a result of artificial lighting—or if you wish to achieve a specific effect, use an appropriate preset as a starting point.

3. Expand the Tone Control pane and click the Auto Tone button.

Next, you’ll use the controls below the Auto Tone button to fine-tune the tonal balance, enhancing detail in the shadows and recovering color in the overexposed sky.

4. If necessary, expand the Tone Control pane by clicking the triangle to the right of the Auto Tone button. Click once on the right-most button beside Contrast, three times on the first Highlights button, once each on the right-most buttons for Shadows and Clarity, and once on the third button beside Vibrance.

If you lose track of your adjustments, you can reset any control by simply clicking its name. Click the Reset All button to revert the image to its original state.

Increasing the Clarity emphasizes local contrast between adjacent areas of light and dark. For our photo, this is an ideal way to improve textural definition in the dimlylit stone of the cliffs. Increasing Vibrance boosts saturation selectively, having most effect on the muted colors in an image, which is also ideally suited to our example.

The Quick Develop panel also provides access to over fifty Develop presets, from emulated lens filters to creative effects. Develop presets apply different combinations of develop settings to an image with a single click. You can even save your own settings as custom presets that will be listed in the Saved Preset menu.

5. Experiment with one or two presets from each category in the menu at the top of the Quick Develop panel. Many presets are applied to the image in its original state, overriding your corrections; use the Shadows slider to quickly assess a preset that appears too dark. Undo each adjustment and preset before applying the next, so that you can return the image to its corrected state when you’re done.

Lightroom lets you import your videos, dust them off, catalog and organize them alongside your photos, make simple edits and grab still frames—even share them to Facebook or Flickr—and you can do it all without ever leaving the Library module.

You can import video in many common file formats used by digital still cameras, including AVI, MOV, MPG, MP4, and AVCHD, in exactly the same way that you import photos; in fact, you did just that at the beginning of this lesson.

1. Press the G key or click the Grid view button () in the Toolbar. If you’re working with very small thumbnails, use the Thumbnails slider in the Toolbar to make them a little larger.

2. Locate the video file TamilTemple.MPG; then, move the pointer slowly from left to right, and then back again over the thumbnail (or better still, just below it) to scrub forwards and backwards through the video.

The horizontal position of your pointer relative to the width of the thumbnail preview corresponds roughly to the location of the current frame in the video clip.

3. Double-click the thumbnail to see the video in Loupe view; drag the circular current time indicator along the playback control bar to scrub through the video. Click the Play button at the left of the control bar to play the clip.

1. Click the Trim Video button (). The playback control bar expands to display a series of key frames from the video, representing a time-line or film-strip view of the clip. You can lengthen the expanded control bar by dragging either end.

2. Watch the time count at the left end of the control bar as you drag the current time indicator to the last frame in the 19th second; then, drag the end marker in from the right end of the time-line to meet the current time indicator.

3. Click the Play button at the center of the control bar to view the trimmed clip.

1. Make sure that you can see the video clip’s thumbnail in the Filmstrip. In the Loupe view, move the current time indicator to the frame you want; then, click the Frame button () at the right end of the control bar. Watch the video thumbnail in the Filmstrip as you choose Set Poster Frame.

2. Find a frame that you like somewhere in the range between 00:05 and 00:13; then, click the Frame button and choose Capture Frame to capture and save the current frame as a JPEG image that will be stacked with the clip.

1. With the same frame still open in the Loupe view, choose the Video Color Pop preset from the Lightroom Video Presets category in the Saved Preset menu.

2. Choose Auto from the White Balance menu to make the colors warmer.

3. Click the right-most Contrast button and the left-most button for Whites, twice each. To see the effect in motion, scrub through the clip by dragging the current time indicator, or click the Play button in the control bar.

Lightroom 1 and 2 used the original process version, PV2003. Lightroom 3 applied the updated PV2010 by default, offering the option to either update images edited in Lightroom 1 or 2, or switch to the old process version to avoid modifying the existing adjustments. Process Version 2012 is applied by default to photos that are edited for the first time in Lightroom 4 or later. For images edited in an earlier version of Lightroom, you can switch to either of the old process versions if you wish.

PV2012 incorporates improved sharpening and noise-reduction routines, as well as new adaptive tone-mapping algorithms that help to protect edge detail and minimize processing artifacts, enabling you to adjust exposure without clipping the whites in your image and to recover more detail from shadows and highlights.

1. In the Grid view or the Filmstrip, select the raw image DSC_0209.NEF; then, click Develop in the module picker at the top of the workspace.

In the Develop module, a lightning-bolt marker in the lower right corner of the Histogram panel indicates that the image was not edited with the current process version. Hold the pointer over the marker to see which process version was used.

2. Click the lightning bolt marker. In the Update Process Version dialog box, activate the option Review Changes Via Before/After; then, click Update.

3. If necessary, expand the Basic panel in the right panel group. Watch the Histogram and the Basic panel settings as you undo and redo the update by pressing Ctrl+Z / Command+Z, and then Shift+Ctrl+Z / Shift+Command+Z.

The histogram curve shifts to the right, resulting in a more balanced tonal spread. In the Basic panel, the old develop settings are mapped to a new set of controls.

In PV2012, the Exposure setting combines elements of both the Exposure and Brightness settings from earlier process versions. The new Exposure control works more like camera exposure; shifting the midtones without clipping the highlights.

The Highlights and Shadows sliders replace Recovery and Fill Light, enabling you to bring out even more detail from the darkest and brightest parts of your photos. The improved processes in PV2012 target their respective tonal ranges more effectively, without affecting the rest of the image; your Highlights and Shadows adjustments won’t overlap, so there’s less chance of color shifts and other artifacts.

The Whites and Blacks controls correct clipping at the ends of the histogram; for PV2012, blacks are calculated automatically. The new Clarity process produces a different look, with less likelihood of halo effects; the upgraded setting is reduced.

4. Referring to the before and after views, tweak the upgraded settings in the Basic panel to restore the contrast and definition lost in upgrading the process version; increase the Contrast setting to +20, decrease the Highlights and Shadows values to -50 and -15, respectively, and then increase Clarity to +50 and Saturation to +30.

The Develop module offers two viewing modes: the Loupe view, where you can focus on a single image, and the Before/After view, which has several layout options that make it easy to compare the original and edited versions of a photo. The Toolbar across the bottom of the work area presents buttons for switching between the views and a slightly different suite of controls for each viewing mode.

The left panel group contains the Navigator panel, which can be collapsed but not hidden, and any combination of the Presets, Snapshots, History, and Collections panels, which can be shown or hidden to suit the way you prefer to work.

At the top of the left panel group, the Navigator panel helps you find your way around a zoomed image, and lets you preview the effects of developing presets before you apply them. You can also use the Navigator to review past stages in an image’s developing history. At the right of the Navigator’s header is a zoom picker for setting the magnification level in the working views.

The Navigator can be collapsed, but not hidden.

While the History panel keeps track of every modification made to the image, including Quick Edit adjustments made in the Library module, you can use the Snapshots panel to record important stages in a photo’s development, so you can return to a key state quickly and easily, without searching through the history list.

At the top of the right panel group is the Histogram panel. Immediately below the Histogram is an array of tools for cropping, removing image flaws, applying local adjustments through graduated or radial masks, and painting develop settings directly onto an image selectively. Clicking any of these tools expands a tool options pane with controls and settings for that tool.

Below these editing tools is the Basic panel: your starting point for color correction and tonal adjustments. In many cases this may be the only panel you need to achieve the result you want. The remaining panels offer specialized tools for various image enhancement tasks.

For example, you can use the Tone Curve panel to fine-tune the distribution of the tonal range and increase mid-tone contrast. Use the controls in the Detail panel to sharpen an image and reduce noise.

It’s not intended that you use every tool on every photo. In many circumstances you may make only a few slight adjustments to an image; however, when you wish to polish a special photo—or if you need to work with shots captured at less than ideal camera settings—the Develop module gives you all the control you need.

In the next exercise you’ll use the first of the tools in the strip below the Histogram.

1. You should still be in the Develop module (press the D key or choose View > Go To Develop) with the raw image DSC_0209.NEF selected.

2. Hide the Filmstrip and the left panel group to enlarge the work area; you’ll find keyboard shortcuts for showing and hiding any or all of the workspace panels listed beside the commands in the Window > Panels menu. If you’re not already in the Loupe view, press the D key, or click the Loupe view button () in the Toolbar. If you don’t see the Toolbar, press the T key.

3. Click the Crop Overlay tool ()button just below the Histogram panel, or press R. A crop overlay rectangle appears on the image in the Loupe view and a control pane for the Crop Overlay tool opens above the Basic panel.

4. From the Aspect menu, choose Original. If the lock button shows an open padlock icon, click to close the lock; this will constrain the aspect ratio.

The Crop & Straighten pane also contains the Straighten tool (), which lets you mark a horizontal or vertical element in a tilted photo as a reference around which the image will be straightened automatically. As there is no reliable straight-line reference in our lesson photo, we’ll rotate it manually instead.

5. In the Loupe view, drag outside the crop rectangle to rotate the image slightly counter-clockwise (we set the angle to -1.0 degrees). Release the mouse button when the gate near the center of the photo is aligned with the grid.

6. Drag the lower left handle of the crop overlay rectangle upwards and to the right. As you drag, the image moves so that the cropped portion is always centered in the Loupe view. Release the mouse button when the pathway and the distant gate are centered horizontally in the image frame, as shown below.

7. Click inside the crop overlay rectangle and drag the image. You’ll notice that you can’t drag the photo downwards or to the left because the image will move only within the border of the angled cropping rectangle. Position the photo so that a little less will be trimmed from the bottom of the image than from the top.

8. To exit cropping mode, press the R key or click the Crop Overlay tool button again. The cropped and straightened image is displayed in the Loupe view.

In this exercise, we’ll look at the latest enhancements to the Spot Removal tool, free-form brushed spots and connect-the-dots lines, which make it even easier to paint an extraneous element out of a photo.

1. Staying in the Develop module, click the white triangles at the left and bottom edges of the workspace window to show the left panel group and the Filmstrip. In the Filmstrip, select the image DSCN0909.jpg.

2. Choose 1:1 from the zoom picker in the header of the Navigator panel. Drag the white view area overlay in the Navigator preview, so that the Loupe view shows the TV antenna, the sky between the antenna and the bell, and a slice of the empty grey image canvas at the right. If you’re working on a small screen and are unable to arrange this view at 1:1, click the small white triangles to the right of the picker and choose from the menu to reduce the zoom level to 1:2.

3. Click to activate the Spot Removal tool—the second tool in the strip below the Histogram panel. In the tool options pane right below the tool strip, click Heal to set the Spot Removal tool to healing mode. Set the brush size to 70, the Feather value to 50, and Opacity to 100.

4. Position the cross-hairs at the center of the Spot Removal tool cursor over the point where the television antenna appears to touch the stone wall. Click and drag away from the wall along the arm of the antenna, making sure to paint over the lighter crosspieces on the underside. Drag your stroke outside the edge of the photo; then, double back to cover the crosspieces on the top side of the arm. Watch as you release the mouse button; Lightroom analyzes the detail around your brush stroke and automatically finds a likely source area to sample. The sample area chosen by the Spot Removal tool will vary depending on the placement, shape, and direction of your target stroke. Don’t worry, at this stage, if your result is misplaced or blurred.

As you can see in the illustration at the bottom of the last page, our brush spot produced a less than ideal result; the cloned sample is misaligned with the edge of the wall and has introduced another part of the antenna into the target area.

If you’re not satisfied with the automatic result, you can right-click / Control-click either of the brush spot marker pins and choose Select New Source from the context menu, or move either area by dragging its adjustment pin, as you’ll do in the following steps.

5. Press H, or move the pointer away from the preview image to hide the brush spot overlays while you examine the result of the preceding step. Press H again, or move the pointer back over the preview image, to show the overlays.

6. Drag the source area slowly along the edge of the wall until you find a sample that blends seamlessly into the target area. If you see blurring or strange color artefacts, try including more or less of the stone wall inside the source area’s outline.

7. Paint over the remainder of the antenna with a single “scribble” stroke, taking care to cover all the finer components of the antenna and include the image border. As you build up the target area, be sure to overlap the loops of your stroke so that the antenna doesn’t show through the feathered edges.

8. To change the automatically selected source, right-click / Control-click either marker pin and choose Select New Source from the context menu, or drag the source area by its pin.

9. Click the Spot Removal tool in the strip below the Histogram, or press Q to disable the tool and hide the spot overlays.

10. Reactivate the Spot Removal tool and move the pointer over the Loupe view; the target marker pin for your spot overlay becomes visible once more. Move the pointer over the pin to see the outlines of the brush spot; then, click the pin to select and activate the adjustment. Leave the Spot Removal tool active.

Thanks to Lightroom’s non-destructive editing, you can reactivate a Spot Removal adjustment at any time and tweak it by moving the target or source, changing the mode, or adjusting the opacity and feathering.

1. Staying in the Develop module, select the image DSC_0529.jpg in the Filmstrip.

2. Use the zoom picker in the header of the Navigator panel and the white view area overlay in the Navigator preview to set up the Loupe view so that you can focus on the power line between the tree and the right side of the photo. Make sure your view includes a little of the gray image canvas outside the right edge.

3. If it’s not already active, click to activate the Spot Removal tool in the tool strip below the Histogram panel. In the tool options pane right below the tool strip, make sure that the Spot Removal tool is set to healing mode. Set the brush size to 40, the Feather value to 25, and the Opacity level to 100 percent.

4. Position the cross-hairs of the Spot Removal tool cursor over the point where the wire intersects the right edge of the photo. Click once; then, hold down the Shift key and click again about one third of the way along the wire towards the tree, taking care to center the cross-hairs on the line. Keep your finger on the Shift key as you click at the two-thirds mark, and again at the point just before the wire enters the branches of the tree. Release the Shift key.

5. Check the left end of your stroke; if you’re not satisfied with the automatic results, right-click / Control-click either of the marker pins and choose Select New Source from the context menu, or drag the source area by its pin.

In situations like this, where it’s difficult to see the white borders of your linear spot adjustments against a light background, you can toggle the Visualize Spots view in the Toolbar for a clearer view as you reposition the source area manually.

6. Pan the view so that you can see the left edge of the photo. Set the Spot Removal tool to Clone mode; then, work from left to right over the wire as it passes through the branches of the tree, making four or five short freehand strokes.

1. If necessary, press F6 or use the Window > Panels menu to show the Filmstrip. Click to select the image DSC_0069.NEF; then, hide the Filmstrip. Press T if you don’t see the Toolbar across the bottom of the Loupe view. In the header of the Navigator panel, make sure that the zoom level is set to 1:1 or 1:2; then, hide the left panel group.

2. Hold down the space bar on your keyboard and drag the photo in the work area to center the Loupe view on the young girl’s face.

3. The Spot Removal tool should still be active from the previous exercise; set the tool to Heal mode. Set the Size, Feather, and Opacity values to 75, 0, and 100.

In Clone mode, the Spot Removal tool replaces the target area with an exact copy of the source—ideal for dealing with regular patterns or textures. Use the Heal mode for areas with smooth color transitions such as skin or sky, and for fine, random textures like sand or lawn. In Heal mode, the Spot Removal tool matches color and tone to blend the sample into the target area, rather than replacing it.

4. Center the cross-hairs just below and to the right of the darkest part of the red blemish on the girl’s cheek; then click—but don’t drag. Lightroom automatically locates a sample source. Keep the pointer over the image. On your screen you should see something similar to the illustration at the right, below; the bolder circle marks the sample area, linked by an arrow to the target area—the lighter white circle with the central cross-hairs.

5. The automatically selected sample may sometimes include unwanted detail or create repetition in the target area. To try a different source, press the forward slash ( / ) key or right-click / Control-click either of the circles and choose Select New Source. If the source circle doesn’t move far, repeat the command.

6. Click inside the target circle to select it. Move the pointer over the edge of the circle and drag outwards from the target circle’s center to enlarge both circles together. Release the mouse button to see the target area’s outline; then, tweak the circle until it’s the same size as that in the illustration at the left, below. Drag the source circle to touch the target area as shown below at the right.

7. To blend the source sample more subtly with the target, use the slider in the tool options pane to reduce the opacity for the selected spot to 60%. Press H to hide the circle overlays while you assess the blend; then, show the overlays again and drag either of the circles as needed to improve the results. Press Q to deselect the current adjustment; then press Q again to reactivate the Spot Removal tool.

Although this young lady’s skin really needs no further retouching, we have one more circle spot technique to try; this time, rather than let Lightroom select the sample automatically, you’ll specify the target and source in one stroke.

8. Position the cross-hairs over the tiny spot on the girl’s chin. Press the left bracket key ( [ ) repeatedly to reduce the brush size until the Size value in the tool options pane is approximately 50. Hold the Ctrl / Command key and drag from the target to find a source that blends well; then, release the mouse button.

9. Examine the options in the Tool Overlay menu in the Toolbar below the Loupe view. The default setting, Auto, shows the Spot Removal tool overlays only while the pointer remains over the photo. Change the setting to Always.

10. The white Spot Removal tool overlays can be difficult to see against light-colored or “busy” areas in a photo, especially when they are not selected. In the Toolbar, activate the Visualize Spots check box; then, use the slider to reduce the image detail enough to see the white overlays clearly. A selected spot adjustment shows both source and target overlays; inactive spots show a source area only when you move the pointer over them.

11. Disable Visualize Spots, reset the Tool Overlay to Auto, and then click Done to deactivate the Spot Removal tool. Click the Before & After view button () in the Toolbar to admire your handiwork; then, return to the Loupe view.

1. In the Filmstrip, select the image Pet_Eye.jpg. Choose 1:1 from the zoom picker in the header of the Navigator panel; then, click to activate the Red Eye Correction tool—the third tool in the strip below the Histogram panel. In the tool options pane below the tool strip, set the tool to Pet Eye mode.

2. Drag from the center of either pupil until the cursor markers are just a little outside the outline of the eye; then release the mouse button. Lightroom fills the pupil with black, adding a catchlight (specular highlight) by default. Use the slider in the tool options pane to tweak the pupil size, if necessary. For the second eye, simply click at the center; the cursor size is already set.

3. Drag the outer border of the red eye adjustment area to make the correction more, or less, elliptical. Drag the inner circle to reposition the catchlight.

Lightroom mobile syncs high resolution Smart Previews—rather than the original, full-size image files—to your phone or tablet. At a small fraction of the original file size, these Smart Previews won’t take long to sync or use up all your storage space, which means that you can even work with raw images while you’re away from your desktop computer. Despite their small size, Smart Previews are to all intents and purposes, visually indistinguishable from the original images.

Edits you make on the mobile device are synced back to the full-size originals in your Lightroom catalog as needed. Photos captured on your handheld device and added to a synced Collection are downloaded to your desktop at their full file size.

1. On your desktop computer, choose File > Open Recent and launch the personal catalog for which you enabled Lightroom mobile in Lesson 4; then, check the upper left corner of the workspace to make sure that you are still signed in.

2. On your mobile device, tap the Lightroom app icon and sign in to Lightroom mobile with your Adobe ID.

3. In the Collection view, tap a Collection to open it in the Grid view. Tap a photo in the Grid view to see it enlarged in the single-image Loupe view. Tap with two fingers to cycle through views with and without metadata and histogram.

4. Tap each of the four icons at the bottom of the screen in turn to access (from left to right):

• The Filmstrip, which shows thumbnails of all the photos in the Collection across the bottom of the screen, providing easy access to your pictures.

• The Adjustments controls for editing your photos manually.

• The Presets menus, which show thumbnails of the image in the Loupe view as it would look with a wide range of different preset effects applied.

• The Cropping tool and related options.

5. To apply an adjustment in Loupe view, tap the Adjustments button (); then, choose from the adjustments in the sliding strip across the bottom of the screen. Swipe to the left or right, to view all the adjustments available. Tap to activate an adjustment control, and then drag the slider at the bottom of the enlarged photo to set the desired value. When you’re happy with the adjustment, tap the Adjustments button to apply the edit.

6. Tap the Filmstrip button () and select a different photo from the collection.

7. To apply a Lightroom preset, tap the Presets button (); then, choose from the categories across the bottom of the screen. Swipe to the left or right, to view all the available categories. Tap a category and choose a preset from the menu.

8. To crop the photo, tap the Cropping tool button (); then, choose from the crop aspect ratios across the bottom of the screen. Choose an aspect ratio, and then drag the edges and corners of the cropping guide to refine the crop.

9. Return to Lightroom on your desktop and check for the changes you made. When you’re done, choose File > Open Recent > LRCIB Catalog.lrcat.

2. What is the meaning of the term white balance?

3. How can you straighten a crooked photo?

4. What is the difference between the Clone and Heal modes for the Spot Removal tool?

5. How does a Spot Removal tool brush spot differ from a circle spot?

2. An image’s white balance reflects the light source when the picture was taken. Different types of artificial lighting and weather conditions can produce light that is dominated by one color or deficient in another, resulting in images with a color cast. White balance correction is the process of “re-calibrating” the spread of colors in an image in order to remove the color cast or tint.

3. You can straighten a tilted image by dragging to rotate the cropping rectangle, or use the Straighten tool (), which lets you mark a horizontal or vertical element in a tilted photo as a reference around which Lightroom then straightens the image. In many cases, the Straighten tool’s Auto button will successfully level a photo automatically, without the need to specify a reference with the tool.

4. In Clone mode, the Spot Removal tool replaces the target area with an exact copy of the source—ideal for dealing with regular patterns or textures. In Heal mode, the tool matches color and tone to blend the sample into the target area, instead of replacing it; best for areas with graduated color or fine, random textures.

5. A single click with the Spot Removal tool produces a circle spot. To create a brush spot you can either drag to “paint” an irregular-shaped spot freehand, or use the Shift key to connect two or more clicks to create a linear brush spot. All Spot Removal adjustments can be moved and made more or less soft-edged or opaque, but only circle spots can be scaled. Unlike brush spots, circle spots do not have marker pins.