Julieanne Kost's Blog

Often I have found that I want to apply perspective correction to multiple files at once using the Upright feature in Lightroom 5. But depending on the results I want to achieve, it’s best to know that there are two different ways of accomplishing this.

In the first situation, you might have a series of unrelated images that all need to have their own set of perspective corrections made to them. In this case, the easiest way to apply Upright would be to:

• Select all of the desired files in the Develop Module.

• Enable the Auto Sync feature (by toggling the switch to the left of the Sync… button).

•In the Lens Correction Basic panel, click the desired Upright mode (Auto, Level, Vertical, or Full) in order to apply the perspective correction to all selected files

With this method, each image is analyzed individually and the perspective corrected.

If you prefer not to use Auto Sync, you can select the first file and apply the desired Upright mode. Then, use the shortcut Command + C (Mac) | Control + C (Win) and check Upright Mode. Note: if the Upright Mode option is grayed out, that’s because the Upright transformations option is checked. Uncheck Upright Transformation and check Upright Mode instead. Then, select the other files to which you want the perspective correction applied and press Command + V (Mac) | Control + V (Win) to paste the corrections.

Or, if this is something you do all of the time, you can create a preset by selecting Develop > New Preset and enabling the “Upright Mode” option. 

In the second situation, you might have a series of related images – such as a sequence of bracketed exposures or a set of time lapse images for which you need the same exact numeric perspective corrections made to each image. In this scenario, you don’t want to run the upright analysis on each individual image because, due to robustness issues, Upright is very likely to return a slightly different result on each of the images in the selection. Instead, what you really want to do is have the upright analysis be performed on one of the images, and then have the result of that analysis (the numeric transformation) copied and applied  to the other images in the set. In order to do this,  copy the settings with Command + C (Mac) | Control + C (Win) and in the Copy Setting dialog, choose “Upright Transforms”. Then, select the other files that you want the perspective correction applied to and choose Command + V (Mac) | Control + V (Win) to paste the corrections.

You could choose to create a preset by selecting Develop > New Preset and selecting the “Upright Transforms” option but I’m not sure that this preset would be as useful (when applied to additional images in the future)  because the numeric values are locked into it.

In past versions of Lightroom, it was not possible to make edits in the Develop module (nor the Quick Develop panel) to files that were off-line. In Lightroom 5, it is now possible to make these types of edits by creating Smart Previews for the images. Smart Previews are a new type of “preview” (not to be confused with the previews generated to view images in the Library module). They are significantly smaller than the original raw files and are stored in the same folder as your catalog (Smart Preview.lrdata”).

In order to create Smart Previews, the original files must be on-line. Therefore, you will want to make the Smart Previews before taking the images off-line. There are several ways to create Smart Previews in Lightroom:

• On Import – in the File Handling panel, check the option to “Build Smart Previews”.

• In the Library module – selecting your photos (or folders of photos) and select Library > Previews > Build Smart Previews (use this method to create Smart Previews for images that have already been imported into Lightroom).

• In Preferences – choose Preferences > General > Build Smart Previews on Import.

• When exporting as a Catalog – select File > Export as Catalog and check the option to “Build Smart Previews”.

If you have created Smart Previews for files, in the Develop module, the Histogram will notify you as to what you are working with:

• “Original” if there is not a smart preview built for the file and the original is on-line.

• “Original + Smart Preview” if there is a Smart Preview and the original is online.

• “Smart Preview” if there is a Smart Preview and the original is off-line.

When you make changes to a file that is off-line and has a Smart Preview, when the originals become available (are on-line), any changes there were made to the Smart Preview are automatically applied to the original. There is no action that you need to do – Lightroom will automatically apply all changes made to the Smart Preview to the original file. Basically, the rule is that if there is an original, then Lightroom will use the original, if the originals are not on-line, then Lightroom will use the Smart Preview. And of course if the original file is online, both the original and the Smart Preview are both updated as changes are made.

Keep in mind that these smart previews are smaller version of the original files (there are several reasons for this, the most obvious is to reduce the amount of space they take on the hard drive). With that said, since they are only 2540 pixels on the long edge, when applying Sharpening and Noise Reduction settings in the Details panel, the Smart Preview view at 100% will be a different magnification than the original. Therefore, for the most accuracy, you might need to confirm the setting when the files are on-line and you are able to view the original at 100%.

Finally, not only can use Smart Previews to Develop images when they’re off-line, you are also able to use them in the Publish Services panel (in case, for example, you want to publish your off-line files to Facebook or Flickr) and Export them as JPEG. You can even use them to layout a book (although you will not be able to print the book until the original images are on-line as the quality of the Smart Previews will not be high enough to print), and create and output a video slideshow (although again, they can not be used to output a slideshow to PDF because of quality concerns) and create and export web galleries. The best rule of thumb; for the highest quality, you’ll most likely want your original files when outputting files.

Tapping the “F” key in Lightroom 5  will go to a “true” full screen mode where the image is displayed full screen and the panels, filmstrip, modular picker and tool bar are all hidden – all with one keystroke.

Note: if you prefer the legacy behavior, use Shift + F.

Command + Option (Mac) | Control + Alt (Win)-drag will duplicate local adjustments made with the Radial Filter, Gradient Filter and the Adjustment Brush.

Note: since local adjustment pins made with the Adjustment Brush cannot be moved, the dragging gesture is treated the same as clicking, which means both gestures (dragging or clicking) will duplicate the selected correction in place.

In this Quick Tip (Displaying a Photograph within a Shape in Photoshop), Julieanne demonstrates three different ways to display an image within a shape in Photoshop including vector masks, clipping masks, and layer groups.

I can’t believe that MAX- The Creativity Conference is right around the corner! I hope you can join us May 4-8th in Los Angeles, CA where you will have the opportunity to hear from some of the top names in digital imaging (including Greg Gorman and Cory Rich), as they share what inspires them, how they keep evolving, and how they make the most of every project. In addition, there are over 300 seminars and hands-on labs to attend and participate in.

AND a one year Creative Cloud membership is included with your conference pass!

View the entire MAX session catalog here.

In the Lightroom 5 beta, you can choose to display guides in the Library (while in Loupe view), the Develop module and during Tethered Capture by selecting View >  Loupe Overlay > Guides. To toggle the display of the overlay, select Guides from the menu (or use Command + Option + O (Mac) | Control + Alt + O (Win).

To reposition the guides, Command  (Mac) | Control (Win) -drag the intersection of the guides.

Grid overlays aren’t limited to cropping anymore! In Lightroom 5 , you can choose to display a grid in the Library (while in Loupe view), the Develop module and during Tethered Capture by selecting View >  Loupe Overlay > Grid. Note: by default the Grid menu option displays a dash (not a check) before its name because the overlay is not visible by default. To toggle the display of the overlay, select Grid from the menu (or use Command + Option + O (Mac) | Control + Alt + O (Win).

While the grid is visible, Command  (Mac) | Control (Win) displays options for Size and Opacity. Click-drag left/right on Size to decrease/increase the grid size. Likewise, Click -drag left/right on Opacity to decrease/increase the grid opacity.

• Shift + M selects the Radial Filter

• When you drag in the image area, the Radial Filter is scaled from center, Shift -drag will constrain to a circle

• Command (Mac) | Control (Win) -double-click in the image area to expand the Radial Filter to the visible image area.

• Command (Mac) | Control (Win) -double-click on an existing Radial Filter will expand it to the visible image area.

• Command + Option -drag (Mac) | Control + Alt -drag (Win) an existing Radial Filter will duplicate it.

• H” hides the interface

• Tap the Apostrophe key ( ‘ ) to toggle the Invert Mask option

• Double-click on an existing Radial Filter will apply the Radial filter and dismiss the tool.

In Lightroom, we can now click-drag to create a Brush Spot.  As in previous versions a single click will create a circle spot and auto-find a source.

• Tap “Q” to access the Spot Removal tool.  Shift + Q toggles between Clone and Heal modes.

• Command -drag (Mac) | Control -drag (Win) creates a circle spot and allows you to drag to define the source.

• Command + Option -drag (Mac) | Control + Alt -drag  (Win) creates a circle spot that scales from the center.

• Command + Shift -drag(Mac) | Control  + Shift -drag (Win) creates a circle spot that scales from anchor.

• Holding down Shift (before starting to paint with the Spot Removal tool) constrains the brush stroke to horizontal or vertical.

• If you click to set a circle spot and then Shift + click in a different area Lightroom will connect the first spot with the new spot via a straight brush stroke (a great way to remove telephone lines).

• To enlarge a brush spot after drawing, use the Size slider in the Spot Removal  options panel.

• Backslash (/) – select new source for existing circle or brush spot.

• Tap “H” to hide the interface.

• Option -click  (Mac) | Alt  + (Win) -click  deletes a spot (the icon displays as a pair of scissors).

• Option -click  (Mac) | Alt  + (Win) -drag over multiple spots will batch-delete spots.

• Tap “A” to toggle the Visualize Spots feature (manual controls are found in the Toolbar)

Here are links to my top 3 features in the Lightroom 5 Beta!

Upright (Automatic perspective correction) - Discover how to automatically fix common problems such as tilted horizons as well as converging verticals in buildings using Lightroom’s new Upright controls for perspective correction.

The Advanced Healing Brush - Discover the new enhancements to Lightroom’s advanced Healing Brush including the ability to heal and clone non-circular brush spots as well as remove easy to miss sensor dust using the new Visualization slider.

The Radial Filter - Learn how easy it is to apply any and all of Lightroom’s existing local adjustments including dodging and burning, adding vignettes, selectively sharpening and more to one or more completely customizable, nondestructive, circular Radial filters – anywhere in  your image.

For additional information, check out the Lightroom Journal and the photoshop.com blog.

In Lightroom’s Develop module, when you choose Settings > Copy Settings or use the shortcut Command + Shift + C (Mac) | Control  + Shift + C (Win), Lightroom copies the setting that you select (in the subsequent Copy Settings dialog), to the clipboard and holds on to them. Therefore, as you move through your photo shoot, you can easily paste those setting to any additional image(s). This might be a great way, for example,  to paste a subset of attributes such as a vignette or color toning to images while moving through a shoot, and still be able to use Sync (or Auto Sync) to apply other modifications.

For the past 5 years, Kevin Kubota has been hosting “Photographer’s Ignite” at WPPI. The format is such that each speaker is given 5 minutes to present a topic using 20 slides – which automatically advance every 15 seconds. I can tell you, it was an educational and informative experience! In case you weren’t able to attend in person, Kevin has posted video of all of the speakers here.

Did you know that when you’re transforming a Smart Object in Photoshop, the transformation’s anchor points are reversed out at the corners and displayed as light grey but when transforming a regular pixel based layer, the transformation’s anchor points are solid dark grey?

Transforming a Smart Object in Photoshop.

Transforming a regular (raster) layer in Photoshop.

And that concludes today’s nerdy Photoshop trivia!  : )

When working in Bridge, select your file and choose File > Place > In Photoshop. If you have no other documents open, the document will be placed into a new document as a Smart Object in Photoshop (with transformation handles so that you can resize if necessary – tap the Return or Enter key to apply any transformation).

If you already have a file open in Photoshop, selecting File > Place > in Photoshop will open your document into the currently active document  and resize it to fit within the image (with transformation handles so that you can resize if necessary – tap the Return or Enter key to apply any transformation).