dSLR Dad

Adobe has released Photoshop Lightroom version 2.  This latest iteration packs numerous feature and usability improvements to help any dSLR Dad quickly import, manage, process, and display your work.

Top new features

• Local adjustment brush — What Photoshop Guru Scott Kelby calls “painting with light”.  One of the most powerful new features I have used.
• Graduated Filter — Allows you to recreate the effect of a graduated neutral density filter.
• Enhanced organizational tools
• Volume management – Freely manage and organize your images across multiple drives, and continue to work with the high-resolution previews — even when your originals are offline.
• Extensible architecture — Allows you to take advantage of the wide range of plug-ins to help you quickly and easily transfer images to your favorite sharing sites and photo labs.
• Multiple monitor support
• Flexible print package functionality — You can now print multiple sizes on one or many pages.  Exporting your print as a JPEG to toss to an outside print service is also an option.
• Streamlined Photoshop CS3 integration — Enjoy tight integration with Adobe Photoshop software for streamlined use of Smart Objects, panorama stitching, high dynamic range (HDR) functionality, multiple layer workflow, and more.
• Enhanced output sharpening (meaning that it’s more than the on/off switch of Version 1)
• 64-bit support for Windows® and Mac OS — This is a great trend, allowing you to take advantage of more system memory (>3 GB) when working with larger files.  Photoshop CS4 will follow the same path (for Windows users at least).
• Adobe Camera RAW 4.5 is built in

You can buy new copies for $299 or upgrade for just$99 from Adobe.  You can also purchase the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 at Amazon.com, sometimes at a discount.

For those of you dSLR Dads who never used Lightroom before, you can still download a free 30-day trial and try it out.  I highly recommend this route, just be sure to give yourself a project to complete from import to print/post.  Read on to find out more information.

Where to Find Out More

All dSLR Dad Lightroom information can be found here.

Tom Hogarty, Senior Product Manager for Lightroom, Camera Raw and the DNG file format, has a massive post with all of the details on Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 on his blog.

If who would like something in audio form for you drive into work, you are in luck.  Tom Hogarty also joined Derrick Story to discuss Lightroom 2 on The Digital Story Podcast, Episode #137.

Ian Lyons, as always, has an excellent in-depth feature review of Lightroom 2 over at Computer Darkroom.

The National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) have their own Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Learning Center.

Adobe also has a series of videos entitled Getting started with Lightroom 2.0 at their Design Center Tutorial.

Resources That Will Help You Hit the Ground Running

Download your free 30-day trail from Adobe.com now and try it out.

Lightroom plug-ins at Adobe.com

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Forum at Adobe.com

Lightroom forums.net, dedicated to the support of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom

Develop Presets

onOne Software has a package of 85 Lightroom presets designed by Photoshop Guru Jack Davis.  You can download the entire set for free.

Web Templates

LightRoom Galleries

the Turning Gate

Books and Instructional Video

If you would like to pick up a book to help you get going with your workflow, a great place to start is Scott Kelby’s The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers.  This is the first book I purchased to how to get the most out of the latest version.  Mr. Kelby does a fantastic job of providing you very detailed step-by-step procedures of all modules inside of Lightroom 2.

One of my favorite books from the first launch has also been rewritten for version 2.  Mikkel Aaland’s Photoshop Lightroom 2 Adventure: Mastering Adobe’s Next-Generation Tool for Digital Photographers looks to be another great resource.  More than just a Photoshop book, it tells the story of a group of internationally renowned photographers that traveled to the remote island of Tasmania.  There they photographed during the day and then used Lightroom 2 to manage, process, post, and print their images.  It’s a great option for those who would love to see some excellent photography and story telling with the learning tutorials.

Michael Reichmann and Jeff Schewe have an instructional video available for download.  The Luminous Landscape Guide to Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 offers a 7.5 hour tutorial in High Definition (960 x 540 pixels, h264).  The content offered in this guide is normally what people pay hundreds of dollars for a workshop to hear it in person.

Martin Evening has released The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book: The Complete Guide for Photographers.  He provides another good viewpoint in understanding Lightroom’s vast workflow and development options.

Press Release

Adobe Releases Photoshop Lightroom Version 2

Major Software Upgrade Further Simplifies Photography Workflows

SAN JOSE, Calif. — July 29, 2008 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the immediate availability of Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® 2 software, the photographer’s essential toolbox for managing, adjusting and presenting large volumes of digital photographs. With new enhancements such as dual-monitor support, radical advances in non-destructive localized image correction, and streamlined search capabilities, Lightroom 2 is a compelling upgrade that simplifies photography from shoot to finish. As Adobe’s first application to support 64-bit for Mac OS X 10.5 Macintosh computers with Intel® processors and Microsoft® Windows® Vista® 64-bit operating systems, Lightroom 2 also provides improved memory performance for dealing with large scale images.

“A worldwide community of photographers provided valuable insight and feedback, as part of the Lightroom 2 public beta program, ultimately helping us deliver a better product,” said Tom Hogarty, senior product manager for Lightroom and Camera Raw at Adobe. “We’ve considered their requests which helped us develop useful features that make it easier than ever for our customers to quickly refine, enhance and present brilliant photographs.”

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 : Smarter, Faster and More Accurate

The enhanced Library module in Lightroom 2 helps streamline and accelerate photographers’ workflows. With the ability to visually organize images across multiple hard drives, Lightroom 2 and its powerful Library Filter Bar makes it easy for users to quickly find the images they need. The Suggested Keywords feature helps photographers keyword their images by making intelligent suggestions based on their own previous efforts. New dual-monitor support allows users to expand their workspace, giving them flexibility to edit and organize images in a way that maximizes an additional display.

In the Develop module, the new Local Adjustment Brush lets photographers fine-tune specific areas of an image to precisely adjust color, exposure and tonal range without affecting other areas of the image. The new Graduated Filter expands the toolbox in Lightroom, allowing for edits to larger areas by applying gradually diminishing or increasing adjustment effects such as exposure, clarity, and saturation, alone, or in any combination. Lightroom 2 also helps photographers print more efficiently by quickly arranging photos of multiple sizes on one or many pages with flexible and customizable templates to maximize paper and ink. Intelligent algorithms automatically determine optimal sharpening for screen or print, producing crisper images faster. Developers can further extend the Lightroom workflow with Web, Export and Metadata Software Development Kits available at the Adobe Developer Connection, http://www.adobe.com/devnet/ .

Ground-Breaking Innovation in Raw Technology

New raw technology gives photographers access to flexible camera profiles. Camera profiles are the visual starting point for the raw processing workflow, but image preferences vary for every photographer. To minimize surprises, Adobe is supplying default camera profiles that closely emulate the visual looks that photographers are used to seeing from their favorite camera, while also providing the ability to create highly customized profiles to suit different tastes. Camera profiles are available for immediate download on Adobe Labs (http://labs.adobe.com ) for use with Lightroom 2 and Camera Raw 4.5, along with the DNG Profile Editor for the community to test and create their own profiles.

The Adobe Camera Raw 4.5 plug-in and DNG Converter 4.5 are also now available on Adobe.com and support over 190 camera models including the Olympus E 420 and E 520 models.

“One of the big reasons why Lightroom has become such a phenomenon among serious photographers is that Adobe built it with the input of a very vocal user community,” said Scott Kelby, president of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP). “Adobe really listens to the issues and challenges today’s photographers face and they’ve built a complete solution that not only meets the needs of photographers; it really feels like it was made just for us. The enhancements to Lightroom 2, combined with the power of Photoshop, give photographers the ultimate freedom to produce professional images quickly.”

Pricing and Availability

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 is available now through the Adobe Store at www.adobe.com/store in English, French and German with the Japanese language version planned to be released at a future date. The estimated street price is USD$299 for new users with an upgrade price of USD$99 for registered users of qualifying Lightroom customers. Recommended system requirements are Macintosh OSX 10.4, 10.5 1 GHz PowerPC G4 or G5 or Intel® based processor, or Microsoft Windows® XP SP2 or Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise, Intel Pentium 4® processor, 1 GB RAM and a 1024×768 resolution screen. Additional information on product features, upgrade policies, pricing, and language versions is available on www.adobe.com/products/photoshoplightroom/ .

About Adobe Systems Incorporated

Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information – anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit www.adobe.com .

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 29th, 2008 at 8:01 PM and is filed under Adobe Lightroom, Digital Darkroom, News & Commentary, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.