RSSNewsRobot
Senior Member
I’m on the plane to Indianapolis right now, heading to teach my Lightroom seminar tomorrow (well, today when you read this). As I’m reviewing my notes, I realized there’s a bunch of little random things that people will come up and ask about throughout the day. Things that throw people off, have them searching around needlessly for settings, or simply things/settings that were just accidentally clicked on. So I thought I’d recap the top 5 I hear about.
1) Info Display – By default, Lightroom wants to put your photo info over the photo. Personally I hate this. I dont want text over my photos as Im working on them. Beyond the point of capture, I rarely have a need to know what my aperture or ISO was. So, if you ever want to shut that info off, just press the I key (I for Info). If you want to turn it back on, press the I key again.
2) The Toolbar – Theres a little toolbar right below the photo. In each module it has different things listed in it. But theyre usually pretty important things. So you can imagine when somebody doesnt see that toolbar, it can be a problem. Well, its on by default so if you dont see it, it usually means you pressed the letter T by accident. Lightroom actually tells you when you press it, to press T again to show the toolbar, but its easy to miss. So, if you ever dont see the toolbar right below the photo just press the letter T.
3) Lightroom doesnt have an Image Size command – If you come from Photoshop, this can be confusing. Photoshop users are used to changing the size of their image BEFORE they ever save it. For example, in Photoshop you go to Image > Image Size and enter the physical size you want the photo to be (in pixels, inches, etc ). Then you go to File > Save and save it as a PSD or JPEG or whatever. But in Lightroom its different. In Lightroom, the only time you ever have to worry about image size is when you actually save the image as a JPEG (or other format), or print the photo. At that point under File > Export, or in the Print module you determine the actual size you want this image to be output. But at any time before that it simply doesnt matter. Theres really no settings that care what size the image is, so theres no choices to change the size of your image aside from output choices.
4) The Mysterious Missing Filter Bar – Theres a Filter Bar at the bottom of the screen (right above the filmstrip). Its really useful for filtering your view in Library mode just to see your Picks, or 5-star photos. Again, this is one of those tricky little things, but sometimes this accidentally gets hidden. How? By actually clicking the word Filter. So if you want to get it back, just click the word Filter again and youll see it.
5) H is for Hide – This is HUGE one. If youre working with any of the tools in the Develop module (the Adjustment Brush, Radial Filter, Graduated Filter, or Spot Healing), then each tool has a pin which indicates that youve placed an adjustment on the photo. Well, if you accidentally (or on purpose at some point), hit the letter H it hides those pins. And if theyre hidden, you have know way of knowing that theyre there or what theyre doing. Ive actually had people email me that theyre about to reinstall Lightroom if they cant find an answer. Anyway, just press the letter H if you think something is off. Also, if you go to the top menu to Tools > Tools Overlay, youll see theres some options there as well as the keyboard shortcuts that go along with them.
Im sure theres many more little things. Maybe things that confused you at some point. So if you have any please post em here in the comments and Ill do a follow up post.
By the way, I’m teaching in Indianapolis today so it’s probably too late for you to attend. However, I’m heading to Columbus to teach the same seminar on Wednesday. I’d love to see you, so if you can make it out grab a ticket over at KelbyOne.com.
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1) Info Display – By default, Lightroom wants to put your photo info over the photo. Personally I hate this. I dont want text over my photos as Im working on them. Beyond the point of capture, I rarely have a need to know what my aperture or ISO was. So, if you ever want to shut that info off, just press the I key (I for Info). If you want to turn it back on, press the I key again.
2) The Toolbar – Theres a little toolbar right below the photo. In each module it has different things listed in it. But theyre usually pretty important things. So you can imagine when somebody doesnt see that toolbar, it can be a problem. Well, its on by default so if you dont see it, it usually means you pressed the letter T by accident. Lightroom actually tells you when you press it, to press T again to show the toolbar, but its easy to miss. So, if you ever dont see the toolbar right below the photo just press the letter T.
3) Lightroom doesnt have an Image Size command – If you come from Photoshop, this can be confusing. Photoshop users are used to changing the size of their image BEFORE they ever save it. For example, in Photoshop you go to Image > Image Size and enter the physical size you want the photo to be (in pixels, inches, etc ). Then you go to File > Save and save it as a PSD or JPEG or whatever. But in Lightroom its different. In Lightroom, the only time you ever have to worry about image size is when you actually save the image as a JPEG (or other format), or print the photo. At that point under File > Export, or in the Print module you determine the actual size you want this image to be output. But at any time before that it simply doesnt matter. Theres really no settings that care what size the image is, so theres no choices to change the size of your image aside from output choices.
4) The Mysterious Missing Filter Bar – Theres a Filter Bar at the bottom of the screen (right above the filmstrip). Its really useful for filtering your view in Library mode just to see your Picks, or 5-star photos. Again, this is one of those tricky little things, but sometimes this accidentally gets hidden. How? By actually clicking the word Filter. So if you want to get it back, just click the word Filter again and youll see it.
5) H is for Hide – This is HUGE one. If youre working with any of the tools in the Develop module (the Adjustment Brush, Radial Filter, Graduated Filter, or Spot Healing), then each tool has a pin which indicates that youve placed an adjustment on the photo. Well, if you accidentally (or on purpose at some point), hit the letter H it hides those pins. And if theyre hidden, you have know way of knowing that theyre there or what theyre doing. Ive actually had people email me that theyre about to reinstall Lightroom if they cant find an answer. Anyway, just press the letter H if you think something is off. Also, if you go to the top menu to Tools > Tools Overlay, youll see theres some options there as well as the keyboard shortcuts that go along with them.
Im sure theres many more little things. Maybe things that confused you at some point. So if you have any please post em here in the comments and Ill do a follow up post.
By the way, I’m teaching in Indianapolis today so it’s probably too late for you to attend. However, I’m heading to Columbus to teach the same seminar on Wednesday. I’d love to see you, so if you can make it out grab a ticket over at KelbyOne.com.
More...
