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The Lightroom team is proud to introduce the third public beta program of our application designed by and for digital photographers. We've come a long way since our very first public beta on January 9th 2006 at MacWorld.(We didn't even have a crop tool in the first release!) For this latest release we went back to the drawing board and revisited what we believe are the fundamental priorities of our customers: Performance and Image Quality. Lightroom has been stripped down to the "engine block" in order to rebuild a performance architecture that meets the needs of photographers with growing image collections and increasing megapixels. The raw processing engine has also received an overhaul right down to the fundamental demosaic algorithms that now allows unprecedented sharpening and noise reduction results.

Revisiting the success of the first Lightroom public beta, we want to provide photographers with early access to this new technology so that we have adequate time to respond to feedback. While we're not going all the way back to a 14 month, 4 version public beta like we did for Lightroom 1, we do want more flexibility than we had in our public beta for Lightroom 2. Here are a few key details on what we're looking for feedback on:

Import
We've redesigned the Lightroom import experience to make it much easier to visualize how Lightroom allows you to manage your files. You'll be able to see exactly where you've asked Lightroom to copy your files off your card and then use import presets in compact mode to get fast repeatable results every time. You can also quickly browse your hard drive to find exactly the right file you need to work on.

Publish Collections
We live in a connected world so you need direct access to publish your photos on your favorite sharing site from directly within the Lightroom Library. In the Lightroom 3 public beta we're providing direct access to the Flickr photo sharing site so that adding images to your Photostream is as simple as a drag and drop. You can see all of your uploaded images and if you make any changes to those images you can have them updated on Flickr automatically.(Pro accounts only) When a visitor comments on your images, Lightroom can pull that comment right back into the Library so that you can see feedback on your files where it belongs, next to the image in your Lightroom library. We've built this functionality with the same extensibility designed for our Export Plug-ins so if Flickr isn't your cup of tea we're working hard to support developers who can create connections to any of the popular photo sharing sites. Publish collections can do more than just publish to a photo sharing site. You can have a publish collection that allows you to publish images to my iPhone sync folder with drag and drop simplicity.

Image Quality
Sharpening and Noise Reduction
In the Develop module we've focused on tuning our raw processing algorithms to extract incredible detail and quality from your images. Capture sharpening and Color Noise Reduction improvements work together to give you incredible noise reduction results without losing that fine detail. We're only halfway through our noise reduction efforts but believe that you will be very pleased with the results so far. We've actually disabled the previous Luminance Noise Reduction so that you can focus on evaluating the Color Noise reduction implementation.

Grain
While Lightroom's improved noise reduction will give you incredibly smooth images, sometimes you want a little texture or grain in your images. We've added a grain tool that can add a natural film-style grain to your images to get that perfect look for your photo.

Vignette
The Lightroom team received quite a bit of feedback on our post-crop vignette tool in Lightroom 2 that allows photographers to apply beautifully styled vignettes after cropping is applied. While the tool was received quite well, we found that photographers wanted a more natural vignette that utilized an exposure or brightness effect rather than just painting black and white on the edges of images. We've added two vignette modes in Lightroom 3 beta, Color Priority and Highlight Priority that attempt to provide the natural vignette that photographers have requested. Let's not get hung up on the technical details of these models but rather focus on which you prefer for your images and why.

Process Version
The changes above are so significant that for the first time since the Camera Raw plug-in was introduced in 2003, we've needed to add the concept of a process version. The process version specifies which version of certain Camera Raw image processing elements should be used when rendering and editing files. Process version can affect raw, DNG, TIFF, JPEG, and PSD files. The process version is incremented only when major changes to the raw processing or features are changed. In Lightroom 3, the demosaicing, noise reduction, sharpening, and post crop vignette were all updated. Depending on what is applied to the image, different image characteristics will change more dramatically than others (i.e. sharpening should change sharpening characteristics etc.), but the demosaic changes apply across the board, so there will always be some change. By default, we'll leave your images just as they were but if you want to take advantage of the latest processing technology, just update to the current process version. You can update to the latest process version by selecting the notification triangle that includes an exclamation point above the left hand side of the histogram. (Or from the Settings -> Process Version file menu available in the Develop module) By default, all new files in Lightroom 3 beta will receive the latest process version.

Slideshow Export
One of the most elegant ways to present your images is in a slideshow accompanied by music. But until now, you could only share that slideshow with music when playing it directly from within the Lightroom application. But with Lightroom 3 we've added the ability to export high quality movie files that include your detailed layout and the music track you've selected. By utilizing the popular H.264 movie format you can share these movies on many popular video sharing sites or optimize it for mobile media!

Custom Print Package
Lightroom 3 adds a new custom layout option for photographers who need complete control over their print layouts. Add as many different images in whatever configuration you desire on a single or multiple pages.

Watermarking
Lightroom 3's new watermarking function lets you embed your identity or other information in your images themselves. You can apply text or graphic watermarks to a photograph with adjustable size, position, and opacity. Available in the Print and Web modules as well as the Export dialog, your identity can now travel with all of your images.

What's Next?
We're not even close to finished in terms of features, performance or image quality but we want early feedback on our improvements so that we have time to make sure Lightroom 3 is your ideal workflow assistant.

Additional Details
General

• On Mac, the 'hit zone' for the right scroll bar in the grid view has been expanded so that a closed right hand panel doesn't automatically open too easily. The automatic panel opening experience has been modified so that it takes a longer amount of time for the panel to open in cases of overshooting the scrollbar. (Mouse towards the white triangle for instant opening) Please provide feedback on this new behavior so that it can be modified or added to the Windows version of Lightroom.
• Images can be sorted by aspect ratio
• The catalog selection dialog has been expanded and improved

Library

• You can backup your catalog when you quit Lightroom instead of on launch
• A volume can be ejected or un-mounted from your system directly from the volume browser in the Library module.
• Collections can be created directly within a collection set by right-clicking on the collection set
• Images can be sorted by aspect ratio
• The name of a collection is displayed when an image is added to a target collection
• Stack badges can now be toggled on or off independently in the filmstrip via an interface preference
• Erasing with the spray paint tool now requires the use of the Alt key
• Select a folder in the Library module and choose a new option "Import to here" to launch the import dialog with that folder preselected as the destination
• The import dialog provides source folder and destination volume capacity information
• The option to include items from subfolders has been included in the primary Folder panel drop down menu
• Choose Library -> Show Missing Images to locate offline or missing files
• A lock icon has been added to the metadata filter bar in the Library module to make filter selections "global" across folders or collections
• An icon has been added to grid thumbnails to indicate that an image is part of a collection. Click on that icon to view and/or visit the collection
• Favorite sources can be added to the filmstrip source pop-up menu for quick access to specific collections or folders
• Flash state is now included as part of the smart collection filter criteria
• When the 'spray can' is used to add an image to a collection, the collection name is now displayed upon application
• The optimize catalog feature is now available in the File menu
• Lightroom now imports CMYK files. Any output, with the exception of export original, or adjustments to these images will take place in an RGB color space
• Filters are now longer automatically "sticky" on folders or collections

Develop

• Crop presets choices have been edited for clarity
• A checkbox has been added to the toolbar to turn on/off overlay visibility
• All adjustment brush and graduated filter sliders can be reset by holding down Option/Alt and clicking on Amount
• The color setting for the adjustment brush and graduated filter clearly display an 'x' overlay when no color is selected
• The Collections panel is now available in the Develop Module
• The targeted adjustment tool is deactivated when switching to a new Develop panel
• The local adjustment brush and graduated filter panel have been simplified to a single mode (Previously there was a button and slider 'mode')

Slideshow

• The music selection in the Slideshow module has been decoupled from iTunes on the Mac
• Click the track duration to sync the length of the slideshow to the length of the music track

Print

• Black or a custom color can be selected for a print layout background
• The Identity Plate can be moved in small increments by selecting it and using the arrow keys
• Match photo aspect ratio is now a persistent option in the Cell panel

Export

• The file extension case(UPPER/lower) can be selected in the export dialog

Full release notes are located here:
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom3/releasenotes.pdf

Last year Lightroom's lead engineer, Troy Gaul(@tgaul) presented at the C4 Mac Developer conference in Chicago. Over the course of the hour long presentation Troy provided a background on the project, dove into the details of Lightroom's technology platform, provided a demonstration of the development environment, discussed the plug-in APIs and explained Lightroom's path to 64-bit. The presentation is clearly targeted at developers but if you ever wanted to peek behind the curtain it's a great opportunity. The presentation is available here: http://www.viddler.com/explore/rentzsch/videos/37

Continuing our series that introduces the Lightroom team here's a short video profiling Craig Marble, Lightroom senior quality engineer.

Have you ever wanted to meet the folks whose names appear on the Lightroom splash screen?

Well, here's your chance. Up first is Andrew Rahn.(@paddlefish) We'll be posting more in the future so it would be good to get your feedback on what you would like included.

The DNG Specification has been revised and the version number incremented from 1.1.0.0 to 1.2.0.0. This is not an area of frequent change given that the format has done a good job of addressing the progress of raw formats over the last three years.(The last update was finalized in February of 2005)  This update addresses several industry requirements for the DNG format including the formalization of the concept of a "camera profile" and a metadata tag to validate your image data. 
The definition of a camera profile for the DNG format as well as the allowance for multiple camera profiles to be embedded in a single DNG file will provide the industry with the ability to characterize raw data in an efficient and standardized format.(Think ICC profiles but for raw data)  
Additional metadata tags have been defined for the DNG format including a field to indicate a 'hash' or the integrity of the raw data within the file, providing a valuable tool for validating the safety of your image data.  A DNG file is comprised of three components: raw data from the sensor, metadata to describe the raw data and an embedded preview to represent your interpretation of the raw data. (See my earlier blog post on DNG if you need more background) Writing metadata back to a standardized file format like DNG is a common operation but many are concerned about the sanctity of the image data from the sensor.  The opportunity to 'fingerprint' that block of data and check it from time to time to ensure that there hasn't been any disk corruption or I/O errors is a significant step forward in ensuring the archival safety of your images.  For the developer crowd, the DNG SDK has also been updated to reflect the changes to the specification.

The DNG Codec for Windows Vista users is also now available as a free download from Adobe Labs.   This is our first release for the Windows Codec platform and before finalizing the release we're offering it as a 'Release Candidate' on Adobe Labs.  A release candidate is a version of the technology that is nearly complete but we would like the community's help in ensuring compatibility across a wide variety of hardware and software configurations. 

On a final note, If you missed it earlier, you'll want to check out John Nack's blog post on the DNG format submission to the ISO.

The entire Lightroom team is extremely sorry for any problems we've caused our loyal customers with the March 14th 1.4 update. In our eagerness to get new camera support into customers' hands as promptly as possible, we let some bugs slip past our testing that were frankly unacceptable. Compared to other Adobe applications, we've taken a much more aggressive approach to releasing frequent new versions with new features, but it's clear we need to take a hard look at our release process to make sure that this aggressive approach doesn't sacrifice quality. One thing that we may consider is continuing the community approach we've taken in the past by releasing betas of our updates, so that they can get the broadest testing possible before they are certified as final. The timing for what will need to be a Lightroom 1.4.1 release has not been determined but updated information will be posted to this blog when available. 

One year ago this morning at 12:01 AM Eastern Time, Lightroom 1.0 hit the streets, or Adobe.com at least, for the first time.  Lightroom isn't the only Adobe product that shipped on February 19th. The Camera Raw plug-in was first released as a plug-in for Photoshop 7.0.1 on February 19th 2003.  And to the best of Thomas Knoll's recollection, Photoshop 1.0 shipped on February 19th, 1990.  Jeff Schewe over at Photoshop News has compiled a great list of "Where were you?" on the launch dates of Photoshop 1.0 and Lightroom 1.0.  It's a fun read and Jeff is encouraging readers to add their own whereabouts on those dates. I also looked back at some of the articles surrounding the launch of the Camera Raw plug-in in 2003 and Uwe Steinmueller's February 19th review is still available on www.outbackphoto.com.  I had to chuckle when I read Uwe's reference to "...the impressive list of cameras supported right now." That list only highlights about a dozen cameras of the close to 30 cameras supported with the first version of the plug-in but it's worth noting that 5 years later we're supporting over 180 camera raw file formats.  How's that for impressive? (Insert shameless plug for DNG here given the rapid growth in proprietary file formats.)  
It's been an incredible year for the Lightroom team with significant adoption and several updates to address the needs of our customers. As noted on this blog earlier, we're excited about the future even if it doesn't necessarily take place on a February 19th.

Recent weeks have seen a number of DNG related announcements:

• Casio EX-F1: A 6 megapixel camera that captures 60 full resolution DNG files per second!(John Nack scooped me on this one)
• Pentax K20D and K200D: These new 14.6 and 10.2 megapixel cameras from Pentax can capture directly to the DNG raw format.
• Samsung GX-20:  The new DNG-capable Samsung 14.6 megapixel model is similar to the Pentax K20D but DPreview also looks at how it is different.
• Noritsu Koki has announced their intention to support raw workflows at the photo retail level by utilizing the DNG format. 

For those not familiar with DNG, it's the archival raw format that Adobe created to address the proliferation of proprietary raw formats.  With hundreds of undocumented formats introduced since the advent of raw capture, it's no wonder that the concept of a raw standard has elicited quite a bit of discussion.   Much of the discussion revolves around the topic of file format obsolescence: Will I be able to open my raw files in 50 to 75 years from now?  This is a good question and a valid reason why photographers choose to use the openly documented DNG format but there are other more immediate benefits to using a DNG workflow:

• Lossless compression of the raw data can reduce file size anywhere from 10 to 40% or more.  In a completely unscientific test I converted a small folder of Nikon D300 raw files to DNG and the folder went from 243MB to 125MB!  You could almost double the number of photos stored on a single drive.  I know 'storage is cheap' these days but it's not free!  
• It provides a documented file structure that can support writing metadata back to the file.  (No need for XMP sidecar files)
• You can store an updated preview of the image in the DNG file that accurately represents your latest non-destructive rendering settings.  I think of it as a job jacket for my images.  I have the negative, the processing instructions and a ‘work print’ of how I last processed the image all within a single file.

With all of those benefits it's no surprise that 40% of Lightroom users who aren't shooting with a DNG-native camera have already decided to utilize the Convert To DNG option while importing their photos.

Mark Hamburg

I've covered much of this in some of George Jardine's Lightroom podcasts, but I decided it was worth writing something down for more general consumption and reference.

The Lightroom (née Shadowland) project had at its core the following goals. Some of them existed from the start. Others evolved as we went along. Interestingly, none of them are about photography. Photography proved, however, a good space in which to explore them.

Personality as a conscious part of software design

All products have a personality of one sort or another. That personality is at the heart of how the product works, what it feels like to use, etc. Sometimes that personality is relatively muted and/or buried behind other conventions. Sometimes it is directly in one's face. Very often it is something that happens more or less by accident, but that accidental nature doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.

One of the goals in Lightroom was to consciously think about the product personality we were trying to create with the expectation that a less accidental personality would induce a stronger emotional reaction in users. That stronger reaction can be both positive and negative. We knew that going in. The second part of this goal was to have enough passionate users to outweigh the detractors.

Elegance, Grace, and Style

We wanted Lightroom to seem elegant. To exhibit grace. To show an attention to style beyond the utilitarian aspect that dominated Adobe's products up to that time. We wanted a richer UI experience.

We've been successful in many ways. At the same time, we are painfully aware that there are places where we could be yet more graceful or elegant.

Style is one of the key factors in revealing personality, and as with personality in general, a rich experience will appeal to some and alienate others. Given the number of Lightroom emulations, I see popping up, there's evidently something appealing about the choices we've made.

Maximizing Power v Complexity

While traditional professional applications like Photoshop generally make some effort at coherency in their interfaces, they also tend to be completely ready to add complexity if that will lead to more power. On the other hand, consumer applications frequently throw out power to arrive at simplicity.

On Lightroom, we sought to maximize the power to complexity ratio. If a small bit of additional complexity opened up a lot more power for users, we would go for it. On the other hand, if the complexity was high and the increase in power was low, we would avoid it.

Have we always struck the right balance? No. There are places in the application where the feature set is more complex than the power it delivers merits. Sometimes this happened because we were seeking compatibility with other software. Sometimes this happened because we didn't come up with an appropriately simple idea. As a demonstration, however, that power need not be complex and that relatively simple software need not be weak, I think Lightroom has generally been a success.

These goals will continue to guide us and photography continues to provide a good space in which to explore them.