In last month’s post about the Library Module in Lightroom Classic,
we’ve imported our photos, added keywords and ratings if we chose and
deleted any photos we didn’t want to keep. We can scrapbook one of these
new photos OR we can search to find another one. Here’s where that
filter bar at the top shines! You can sort by text (like in a caption),
attribute (like # of stars) and/or multiple choices of metadata
(keyword, camera used….) You can use one of them OR all three options to
make your search. You can clear the choices by using “none”. Let’s take
a look at the different options.
But before we get started, the first step in sorting through your images
is determining the size of your search pool. You can limit your search
only to your most recent import, to all of your photos or to individual
folders all based on your folder tree structure. You’ll just click the
appropriate folder or section on the left hand side
before using the filter bar at the top.
You can sort your photos by Text. The program will include keywords as
text but more importantly it will search through your captions if you’ve
added them. In this example, I’ve used “wings” as a sort and I’ve
picked up chicken wings, earning flight wings and photos taken at
#delandwings. You’ll notice I have photos with stars and ones without.
If I wanted to see only photos with star ratings, I would choose both a
Text AND Attribute search.
Another sort choice is by Attribute. You can sort by pick/white flag,
reject/black flag or the center choice of any flag at all if you utilize
flags in your organization structure. The next section to the right
will allow you to search for edited photos or non-edited ones. This
would allow you to easily check a folder of photos to see if you’ve
edited any for scrapping.
My most used attribute sort is by number of
stars. I can click the greater than or equal to sign and one star and
get all the photos that are one star and above, or click two/three stars
and only get my highest rated photos.
Another option is to sort
by color. Imagine importing your holiday photos, selecting pics that go
together that you’d like to scrap on one page and highlighting them a
certain color. You could sort/gather several layouts worth of photos
very easily and then when you’ve scrapped them, just remove the color
tag. Let’s say you don’t want to keyword your photos extensively, you
could just use color tags to identify members of your family.
The
far right attribute search is photo type. The options are master photos
(your originals), virtual copies and videos. Obviously, this could make
finding your video files a snap!
A virtual copy is pretty much what it says, a copy but only of the
thumbnail and not the original photo so it doesn’t use double the space.
Maybe you have an amazing photo that you’d like to edit in color, a
retro preset and black-and-white but you want to see all three easily.
You can right click on the photo on the center grid OR in the filmstrip
and click Create Virtual Copy. This will create a copy that can stack
together with the original image if you choose. You can recognize the
copy by the name Copy and the small number (i.e. 2) identifies that
copies exist.
Sorting by Metadata is where the magic happens! See that pull-down menu?
You can sort by ANY OF THOSE CRITERIA as a main sort. Then, you can add
a secondary sort, tertiary etc to really fine-tune your selection.
So I could sort by keyword for my dog, then add a secondary keyword sort
for ones that include me as well, then narrow it to photos from
December of 2016 which were taken with my “big camera”. Imagine the
possibilities! So this is where you can see that the time and effort you
put into keywording and rating your photos will pay off when it’s time
to scrapbook. Once you’ve identified the photos you want to use, it
might be time to tweak them a little in the Develop Module.
In the upper left hand quarter you’ll see the Navigator. Fit, fill, 1:1
etc. are ratios to quickly zoom in closer on the photo selected. Below
that you’ll see the develop presets that you have installed. I have
several of my favorites designated as such so they are at the top and
easier to access. You can scroll down to see all your presets.
A
quick fix for many photos is white balance. As with most photo editors,
you click the black and white wand and then click on your photo in a
space where the color values are very close together like white, black
or a medium gray. Then the photo’s color cast will change. Click reset
in the lower right if it’s not correct. You can also change the photo’s
temperature (cool vs warm tones) below that.
Scroll down the screen to access exposure, contrast, saturation and
many more
sliders. You’ll also find the Detail section where you can adjust the
sharpening slider and see the changes in real time up close.
Curve adjustments are preferred by some as compared to adjusting sliders so those are also accessible along the right side.
Under the histogram, you’ll see the red-eye correction tool and the spot
removal tool along with the crop overlay, radial and gradient filters
and the adjustment brush. Crop overlay will come in handy when prepping
photos for print or perhaps wall canvasses. We’ll focus on more editing
specifics in a later post.
You might have noticed the copy and paste buttons below the presets
section on the left. These come in handy when you have several photos
taken at the same time in the same conditions. For example, I have a
bunch of photos of the pupster taken in the yard all in a row. So I can
select one and spend a few moments tweaking the white balance, exposure,
contrast etc until it’s just right. Then, I’ll hit the Copy button.
This selection box appears. I can check as many of these as are
appropriate for the situation. I won’t select choices that I don’t want
to apply to other photos.
Then, I can select other photos in the filmstrip at the bottom from the
same photo session and click paste and my edits will transfer. If I
don’t like the edits, I can select reset and the photos will revert to
their original state.
I should also mention that you don’t have to use the Develop module
in Lightroom Classic if you’re more comfortable editing your photos
with Adobe Photoshop tools or photo actions or other photo editors like
RadLab or Topaz to name a few.
If I’m not using a new photo on a
scrapbook page, I’ll search for one from my collection using multiple
keywords, star ratings and date taken. Then, I tend to make a few tweaks
for white balance, contrast, saturation etc for pet and everyday
photos. For people pictures, I’ll use one of the many Lightroom presets
I’ve purchased or I’ll pull them into RadLab for editing.
Now that I’ve shared how I use Lightroom Classic in my digital scrapping process, next month we’ll focus on Lightroom CC.
_________________
Stacia
No comments:
Post a Comment