It’s been a busy few months around here, but I’ve finally managed to make some time to post the free excerpts from my book, Adobe Lightroom 3 – The Missing FAQ.

When I get a little more time, some of the more detailed questions such as

“The previews are slightly different between Library and Develop and Fit and 1:1 views—why is that?”

“What happens if I’m still using an older version of ACR and Photoshop?”

“What’s the difference between ‘Render Using Lightroom’ and ‘Open Anyway’ in the ACR mismatch dialog?”

will also be posted as blog posts, but if you haven’t purchased the book yet, feel free to download the PDF excerpts.

The book is also now showing up on Amazon and other online bookstores.  My wholehearted thanks go out to all those who have reviewed the book on both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.  It makes all the work worthwhile, and I’m so pleased you’re finding it so useful.

We’ll get back to ‘normal’ blog posts shortly… just need to catch up with myself first!

I’ve been rumbled!   News of the final release of my book spread on Twitter before I could even finish updating the website!

It’s true, Adobe Lightroom 3 – The Missing FAQ has graduated from its rough cut status and is now up-to-date for the Lightroom 3 final release.

The new Table of Contents is now live for you to browse and discover all of the topics covered in the final release.  The updated excerpts will be uploaded within the next day or so, but the LR3 rough cut excerpts are still available in the meantime.

The PDF version is available for download right now and the paperback is off to the printers and should start shipping shortly.  Emails have gone out to the pre-orders with their download links, so if you haven’t received your email, check your spam folder or let me know and I’ll resend it.

If you bought my LR1 or LR2 book, drop me an email for a special upgrade discount code.  I’ve been busy!  It’s had a massive overhaul since the beta rough cut.  It’s been completely rearranged into a more logical order and I’ve added a lot more information for newer users as well as rewriting the more technical questions.  It’s grown from 65,000 words to 105,000, so it’s well worth upgrading.

Pre-orders have already had the book for a day or so, and the response has been brilliant.  Here are a few of the comments which make all the hard work, grey hairs and lack of sleep worthwhile:

“The final edition looks wonderful and I look forward to spending many hours pouring through it.”

“Just wanted to say that I love the final version. You did a great job. Thanks!”

“Awesome diagram there on page 364. I bet even the guys at Adobe will print it out poster sized and put it on their desks because I don’t know if even they fully understand the complexity of the workflow”

“I am a dedicated reader of manuals.  Most of the time I wind up rewriting a manual into a more logical, concise and clear format.  But your manual requires no such rewriting.  It’s just perfect.”

So what are you waiting for?  Get your copy right now!

There will be another free update in a couple of weeks for all LR3 book purchasers, which will add the full index from the paperback version – hyperlinking that is quite a job!  If you’re planning on reading the PDF on your iPad, it works particularly well with the GoodReader app.  Kindle and ePub formats are still on agenda, also as free updates, but will take time to reformat properly due to the number of screenshots.

Enjoy!

It’s coming!

Thank you everyone for your emails.  I’ve had stacks of brilliant feedback since the beta 2 rough cut book was released a couple of months ago, and some really good suggestions to make the book even better, so I decided to go back and make significant changes for the final release.

Don’t worry, all of the information is still there, and it’s still in its FAQ format, but here’s a quick summary of the changes…

• I’ve added many of the questions that you’ve emailed, and a load of other new questions too, particularly around the new features.  If you’ve emailed me a suggestion or a question that didn’t make the cut this time, then it is still on the list for the next release.  I have plans…..
• I’ve been back through and rearranged all of the questions and chapters into a more logical workflow order, for those who are reading it cover to cover instead of using it as a reference.  It works well both ways now.
• I’ve added quick-start information for newer users, in addition to the more technical questions, so there’s something for everyone.
• Most questions have been revised and rewritten to make the answers even easier to understand.
• There’s now an index in the back, which will be really useful in the paperback version.
• And you’ll be pleased to know it’s been professionally proof-read, so the typos are gone now too!

More formats are also planned – the paperback will be available a few days after the PDF, and Kindle and ePub formats will follow.  The new iBooks app update for iPad will read PDF’s later this month, which should retain the formatting better than its native ePub format.  Anyone buying the existing formats (PDF/Paperback) will have free access to other digital formats too.

All of that work put me a few days behind schedule, and I seem to have given up eating and sleeping for the last couple of months but it’ll be worth it. The final release is with the designers at the moment, having the final formatting finished off, so it won’t be long.

In the meantime, you can pre-order from http://www.lightroomqueen.com/lrqebook3.php and download the beta rough cut version today. Almost all of the information and instructions in the rough cut is still correct for the final release, as mainly just the lens corrections were added after beta 2.

If you bought my LR1 or LR2 book, drop me an email at victoria@victoriabampton.com for a upgrade discount code.

UPDATE 07 July 2010 – It’s DONE!!!

It’s grown somewhat!  The 2nd beta rough cut book was around 65,000 words, and the final release comes in at just under 105,000 words!

I’m sorry I was slightly overly optimistic about how much I could get done in the time available.  I had hoped to coincide with LR3′s release date, but the final design stages took much longer than I’d anticipated, so thank you for being patient, and I hope you agree it was worth the wait!

Emails have gone out to all pre-orders with your download links, so if you haven’t received it, check your spam folder or email me, and if you haven’t ordered it yet, why not?

If you’ve pre-ordered the paperback version, that’s off to the printers and should ship within the next 2-3 weeks, depending on their turnaround times.  If you’ve moved since you placed your order, please let me know so I send your book to the correct address.

The paperback version also has a full index in the back.  That’s not needed in the PDF version as PDF software can search for specific words in the text, however at the request of a few readers, I am working on a hyperlinked copy of the index.  That updated download, just with the addition of the hyperlinked index, will be available soon but I didn’t want to keep you waiting any longer.

Hope you enjoy it!  I’m sure you will!

It’s up!  The beta 2 update for Adobe Lightroom 3 – The Missing FAQ is now available for download.

The full table of contents is available here, and if you find a question I haven’t covered, email me at victoria@victoriabampton.com and I’ll not only try to answer it for you, but I’ll also consider adding the question into the final release.

Everyone who has already pre-ordered should find a download link in their email inbox any time now, and if it doesn’t appear and it’s not hiding in SPAM, send me an email and I’ll get a new link sent out to you.

And if you haven’t pre-ordered, what are you waiting for?  If you pre-order today, you not only get the final release version when Lightroom 3 is released, but you also get early access to the rough cut PDF version today.  Here’s the shopping cart link.

If you bought one of the previous releases of the book and you’d like the new improved Lightroom 3 version, I’m working on setting up an “upgrade” discount code, so drop me an email and I’ll set that up for you.

Just a quick post – the free PDF extracts and full table of contents for Adobe Lightroom 3 Beta – The Missing FAQ are now online at http://www.lightroomqueen.com/lrqebook3.php.

You can download the beta book today, and get the final release included in the price when version 3 is finally released.  The book’s had a great reception so far!

To coincide with the release of Lightroom 3 Beta, I am proud to announce the release of my new book – Adobe Lightroom 3 – The Missing FAQ – and the rough cut is available for immediate download.

The Lightroom 2 version of the book’s had such great reviews, I had to update it for version 3!

You can pre-order the final Lightroom 3 PDF or paperback, which are due for release at the same time as Lightroom 3 final, and anyone pre-ordering gets immediate access to the PDF rough cut free of charge.

What’s a rough cut?
A rough cut of a book is like a beta version – it’s not finished, but it’s in pretty good shape. I’ve still got lots more to add yet, but just like the beta of the program itself, I’d love to hear your feedback, whether you come across a question that I’ve missed, or something that’s not clear, or you just want to tell me how much you love the book, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

What’s in this new release so far?

• Questions about the new Lightroom 3 features
• Lots of general new Lightroom questions that have appeared on the forums in the last 15 months since Lightroom 2′s release.
• Existing questions have been updated for the changes in Lightroom 3 beta.
• A new page layout which is easier to read, with space in the sidebars for notes.

What’s yet to come?

• No doubt lots more Lightroom 3 questions – I’ll be watching the forums carefully during the beta period to pick up the new questions, and depending on how many there are and the length of the beta period, there may be a rough cut update or two along the way.
• The new Lightroom 3 features in the final release – the beta is far from feature-complete.
• Lots of other general questions – I have a database of 6000 interesting forum threads and complete email conversations I’m still sorting through!
• A full index in the back.
• Anything else you suggest – I’m open to suggestions.

So what are you waiting for?

Pre-order Lightroom 3 PDF version – and get access to the rough cut now – £14.95 (approx. $25 US)*

Pre-order Lightroom 3 Paperback & PDF version – and get access to the rough cut now – £24.95 plus £3.50 shipping (approx. $48 US total)*

* The boring legal blurb – exchange rates are approximate and will be charged by your PayPal or your credit card company.  Payment will be taken at the time of placing the order. Pre-orders can’t be cancelled – but you won’t want to anyway.

Photoshop User Magazine has just published its second set of Lightroom book reviews, and it gave Adobe Lightroom 2 – The Missing FAQ a 5 star review!

Rob Sylvan wrote:

“Being part of the NAPP Help Desk team, I’m very familiar with the types of questions frequently asked by Lightroom users, and I have to tell you that Victoria has solid answers for all of them.  If you’ve ever had a question about some Lightroom quirk, error message, or just how to do something that isn’t as intuitive as it could be, I’d wager it’s explained in a straightforward manner inside this book.  The real strength of this book though is the fact that it was originally developed as an eBook (PDF format) to facilitate quick-and-easy searches of its contents right from your workstation.  You can purchase the eBook alone (which is cheaper) or purchase the printed version and get the eBook for free.  Head over to lightroomqueen.com for the best price and all the answers to your questions.” – 5 stars – Photoshop User Magazine, April 2009

To read the rest of the reviews, head on over to the NAPP website and sign up now.

I’ve had a number of emails in the last couple of days asking if there’s a free update to my version 2 book as Lightroom is now at version 2.2, so let me take this opportunity to clarify…

So far, the Lightroom 2.1 and 2.2 program updates have only fixed bugs and added cameras, and there have been no exciting new features added to add to the book, and the rest of the information is still correct, so there is no update at the moment.

The only main things that have changed:

• The new camera profiles were in beta when the book was written, and are now final.  They’re automatically installed now, but all of the related questions are still correct.
• The resizing algorithm has improved and no longer uses the Lanczos algorithm mentioned in chapter 8, but uses an intelligent bicubic algorithm depending on the original and output sizes.
• CS4 is now out and a dialog has appeared for those still using CS3, which I’ve covered in this blog post: http://www.lightroomqueen.com/blog/2008/12/18/lightroom-22-compatibility-with-cs3/

If Adobe do start adding features, then I will update the version 2 book, and it will be a free update for anyone who already owns it.

An email should go out, but they have a habit of being caught in spam filters.  I’ll also post notification of any updates here on the blog, which you can subscribe to using this link: http://www.lightroomqueen.com/blog/feed/.  If you don’t fancy listening the rest of my ramblings, you can subscribe just to the Book Updates feed using this link: http://www.lightroomqueen.com/blog/category/book-updates/feed/

Obviously version 3 will be a new book, which I’m already busy planning.  If you have any suggestions on improvements, I’d love to hear from you at victoria@victoriabampton.com