Adobe have just announced the release of Adobe Lightroom 3.0 Public Beta!

Here’s the official announcement: http://blogs.adobe.com/lightroomjournal/

And the download link, of course! http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom3/

So what’s new so far…?

Image Quality

One of the primary improvements in 3.0 beta is image quality. Lightroom’s been taken back to its bare bones and the raw processing engine has been given a complete overhaul. Even the demosaic algorithms have been substantially improved to give a cleaner file which will respond better to subsequent noise reduction and sharpening.

Performance

While Lightroom was back on the drawing board, the underlying architecture has been completely reworked to improve the performance, particularly with large catalogs. It’s still in early stages at the moment, but the basis is there for a great final release.

The preview system has also been redeveloped, so the thumbnail grid won’t keep going fuzzy as you scroll!

Import

• Entirely new Import dialog, with compact and expanded views, depending on the level of control you need.
• It has panels like the main modules, including Source and Destination.
• Destination folders that will be created by the import as shown in italics so you can see exactly what will happen.
• Import presets can now be saved and reused in both compact and expanded views.
• There’s a new Loupe view within the Import dialog for viewing embedded previews.
• The import backup now backs up with the new filenames if you’re renaming while importing.
• CMYK files can now be imported, although all editing and output will still be RGB.
• If you right-click on a folder in Library module, there’s an ‘Import into this Folder’ option which opens the Import dialog and automatically sets the Destination folder.

Library Module

• Publish Services
  • Publish Services provides integration with photo sharing websites, keeping them up to date with the changes you make in your Lightroom catalog.
  • Sync runs 2-way, so comments made on your Flickr account appear back in Lightroom.
  • Flickr is the first to be available and more are sure to follow.
  • Sync to hard drive is also available, and useful for syncing photos to your iPhone, screensaver, other networked computers, etc.
• Filters are no longer sticky – they reset as you switch folders unless you click the padlock icon on the Filter bar.
• There’s a new badge on the thumbnails showing photos that are in a standard or Publish collection.

Develop Module

• Process Version
  
  • Because so much work has been done on the base ACR engine, a ‘process version’ has been introduced to differentiate between the old process and new processes.
  • Any images with existing settings will be set to the old process version to get an almost identical rendering as previous versions. Any new images imported into 3.0 beta will be assigned the new process version.
  • There’s a warning triangle in the histogram if an image is on the old process version – click it if you want to update (also found under Tools menu).
  • Need to update to the new process version in order to use the new noise reduction, grain and vignette tools.
  • 3.0 beta will not be fully compatible with any ACR version at this point in time. Rendering may vary depending on the settings used – vignette and noise reduction would render very differently using ACR 5.5 and LR 3.0 beta.
• Noise Reduction & Sharpening
  • Lots of work has been done on improving the noise reduction without losing fine detail.
  • Color noise reduction is already vastly improved.
  • Luminance noise reduction (new process) is disabled for the beta but will be back in the final release.
  • There’s a new Edge Detail slider which refines the edges on extremely noisy images at very high ISO.
  • Any old settings updated to the new process version will probably be too strong.
  • There have also been subtle changes to the capture sharpening.
  • The preview now shows sharpening & noise reduction at less than 1:1 view when using the new process version, although it still needs a little work.

• Grain
  • Film-style grain sliders added give a very natural looking grain.
  • It shares a new Effects panel with Post-Crop Vignette.

• Post-Crop Vignette
  • New more natural vignette instead of just painting white or black on the edges.
  • Color Priority mode retains more natural colours under the vignette with softer shadow transitions.
  • Highlight Priority remains heavily saturated under the vignette.
  • Contrast slider brightens the highlights under a dark vignette.
• Adjustment Brush
  • The buttons are gone, so it’s now either a single drop-down and amount slider, or the range of sliders.
  • New icon shows when no color tint is being applied.
  • Show/hide pins and overlays are now in the toolbar when the Brush/Gradient are active, so no more having to remember the shortcuts.
• Crop – the list of crop ratios has been tidied up to combine identical ratios like 2×3 and 4×6.
• Greyscale has been changed to Black & White throughout.
• AutoTone now includes Fill Light.
• Sync/AutoSync now has a switch next to it to easily switch between the two.

Slideshow

• Slideshows can now be exported to MP4 video format for uploading to video sharing websites, including your music track.
• Mac version is no longer tied to iTunes, matching the Windows behaviour.
• You can now sync the length of the slides to the music track length.

Print

• Custom Print Package
  • New custom layout option for different images in different sizes (without resorting to hacks!)
  • Drag and drop to create a flexible layout.

• Page background color can now be changed.

Watermarking

• New watermarking allows a simple text or graphic watermark to be applied in Export, Publish, Print and Web.

Backup

• Backup has moved to quit rather than startup, by popular demand!
• There’s a new checkbox in the backup dialog to run optimize catalog after the backup.

Other bits and pieces

• The breadcrumbs bar on the filmstrip now has a Favorite Sources option.
• The Select Catalog dialog has had a facelift.
• Library menu > Show Missing Photos creates a temporary collection of all missing photos instead of having to go through Synchronize Folder.

System Spec Changes

• System specs have increased to a minimum of 2gb of RAM on Windows
• No more PPC for Mac, Intel processors only.
• No more Tiger – Leopard or Snow Leopard only.

Upgrading

This is still in early stages – even earlier stages than the 2.0 beta – so there are plenty of bugs. It’s not likely to blow up your computer, but you are strongly recommended not to switch your entire workflow over to the beta at this stage. It’s been released for testing and feedback on the new features, and the beta period is likely to be longer than that of 2.0 beta. It won’t allow you to upgrade 2.x catalogs to the beta, but the final release will.

Lightroom 3 Beta is not feature-complete – there’s more yet to come in the final release.

If you want to keep reading, there’s some more great blog posts:

Gene’s Lightroom Secrets http://lightroomsecrets.com/2009/10/lightroom-3-beta-is-here/

Ian Lyons’ Computer Darkroom http://www.computer-darkroom.com/lr3_preview/lr3-preview-1.htm

Jeffrey Friedl’s Plug-in Update Post http://regex.info/blog/2009-10-21/1339

John Beardsworth’s http://www.beardsworth.co.uk/news/

Clicio Barroso (in Portuguese) http://clicio.wordpress.com/2009/10/21/adobe®-lightroom®-3-saiu/

Richard Earney’s Inside Lightroom http://insidelightroom.com/?p=415

Sean’s McCormack’s Lightroom Blog http://lightroom-blog.com/2009/10/adobe-launch-lightroom-3-beta-missing.html

Rob Sylvan’s Lightroomer’s http://lightroomers.com/my-take-on-lightroom-3-beta/662/

And I’ve been busy… my new book release updated for Lightroom 3 Beta is available for immediate download! Read on to the next blog post for more information!

Ok, the news is a day old, but someone kindly pointed out I’d forgotten to post it.

Download links:
Windows http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=4508
Mac http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=4507

Lots of new camera releases including Canon 500d/T1i, Canon SX1 IS and Nikon D5000.

There’s a few bug fixes, including the irritating crop bug:

And new DNG options for those who use the DNG format, taking into account the updated DNG specification and still allowing for backwards compatibility.

Further details at Lightroom Journal.

It’s a good stable update, so download it now!

Adobe Lightroom 2.3 is now available as an official release!

The release candidate has had really positive feedback, so it’s a pretty safe bet.  There have been a few more bug fixes since the release candidate, so it’s worth heading over to Adobe’s website for the updated downloads: Windows – Mac

New cameras: Nikon D3X, Olympus E-30, and now also preliminary support for the Epson R-D1x raw format.

The biggest and best bug fixes – well, the 2.2 memory leak has to be the best fix in this release.  That solves many of the performance problems seen in earlier releases.

And here’s a bug you’ll be pleased to see if the back of, if you’ve ever been affected…. the Ctrl-Z bug!  In some circumstances, pressing Ctrl-Z to undo the last action could undo a whole series of actions, in some cases undoing a lot of work.  Nasty!  But the good news is, the team have found it and fixed it!

It also solves the ‘disc burning failed’ bug for some Windows customers, an sFTP bug for Windows customers, and a odd slideshow bug, where it randomly reverted to the first image while playing.

As in the release candidate, it also fixes the Canon 5D MkII magenta shift on sRAW files which was introduced with the Canon 1.0.7 firmware and these new languages are now officially supported: Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Dutch, Italian, Korean, Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish & Swedish.

It’s a great update – Enjoy!

Adobe Lightroom 2.3 is now available as a release candidate from the Adobe Labs website here: http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Lightroom_2.3

ACR 5.3 is also available from: http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Camera_Raw_5.3

The release candidate status it’s one step up from a beta version – it means that it’s been through some testing, but it would benefit from additional testing on a variety of different machines.  It’s your opportunity to catch any bugs before it goes final, but it shouldn’t kill your machine.

New cameras: Nikon D3X, Olympus E-30.

It also fixes the Canon 5D MkII magenta shift on sRAW fileswhich was introduced with the Canon 1.0.7 firmware.

There’s a list of bug fixes in the readme file, but particularly notable are fixes (hopefully!!) for the memory issues that appeared in 2.2 for files with local adjustments.

There are also new languages supported: Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Dutch, Italian, Korean, Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish & Swedish.  There’s a little more work to do on the translations yet.

If you find any bugs, the Official Feature Request/Bug Report Form is just here.

Enjoy!

Adobe Lightroom 2.2 is mainly a bug fix release with additional camera support.

New cameras: Canon 5D MkII, Powershot G10, Panasonic DMC-G1, DMC-FX150, DMC-FZ28, DMC-LX3, Leica D-LUX 4.

If you use one of the Panasonic or Leica cameras noted above, and you usually use the DNG format, do check the readme for further details.

The new color profiles will be installed, if you haven’t done so already, and it now defaults to the new Adobe Standard profile rather than the old ACR 4.4 matrix profile.

There’s a list of bug fixes in the readme file, but particularly notable are the improvements to the performance of the Adjustment Brush and Graduated Filter, which is improving with each release.

Enjoy!

Adobe Lightroom 2.1 is mainly a bug release with additional camera support.

New cameras: Canon 1000D, 50D, Fuji FinePix IS Pro, Kodak EasyShare Z1015 IW, Leaf AFi II 6, AFt II 7, Aptus II 6, Aptus II 7, Nikon D700, Nikon D90, Nikon Coolpix P6000, Olympus SP-565 UZ, Pentax K2000 (K-m), Sigma DP1, Sony A900.

Many of the performance and stability bugs have been fixed and this latest update is running much more smoothly than the 2.0 release.

It was first released on the Adobe Labs site for additional public testing before official release, so it’s a pretty safe update.  Additional bug fixes were introducted after the beta program, so do update if you used the beta.

Global Changes

Camera Updates

• *NEW* Official camera support – Olympus e420, Olympus E520
• *NEW* Unofficial camera support – Canon 1000D, Nikon D700

Catalog Upgrades

• *NEW* The 2.0 final release will safely upgrade your 1.x or 2.0 public beta catalogs. As always, make sure you have a full backup before upgrading.
• *NEW* When you try to open a catalog from an earlier version, it will automatically ask to upgrade to the current format, creating a new catalog in the process, leaving your original catalog untouched, and borrowing the existing previews file.
• *NEW* Be aware that you won’t then be able to open that new catalog in an earlier version if you change your mind, so keep a copy of the 1.x version if you will need to go back to 1.4.1.

New Color Profiles!

• *NEW* For the technically minded, also now available as a public beta is the DNG Profile Editor, which allows you to build complex custom profiles for use with DNG and raw files, replacing the previous calibration workarounds. The intention is not that everyone will start building their own profiles – although you can if you wish – but that profiles can be shared and sold. It also includes a very easy automatic colorchecker calibration which will replace previous calibration scripts. The DNG Profile Editor can be downloaded from: http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/DNG_Profiles
• *NEW* More importantly, that new DNG Profile Editor also ships with custom profiles designed to emulate the manufacturer’s own conversions and picture styles. This means that you can now produce almost identical Canon, Nikon or Fuji colours for most DSLR’s with Lightroom/ACR’s default settings.
• *NEW* These profiles can also be downloaded from the link above and, once installed, are selected from the profile drop-down list in the calibration panel. They are fully compatible with ACR 4.5 and Lightroom 2.0.

Dual Monitors

• The second screen may either be a second window on the same screen (useful for those running a single large monitor) or as a window/full screen view on a second screen.
• Your options are:
• Grid – for example, Grid on the second display while using Develop on the main screen. You can only have Grid mode on one display at a time.
• Normal Loupe – shows the image which has been selected on the main screen.
• Live Loupe – shows the image you’re currently floating over on the main screen, and updates live as you move the mouse.
• Locked Loupe – fixes your chosen image on screen, for use when comparing or as a Shirley image.
• Compare – usual Compare mode, but you can select and rearrange the images on the main screen whilst viewing Compare mode on the second display.
• Survey – usual Survey mode, but you can select and rearrange the images on the main screen whilst viewing Survey mode on the second display.
• *NEW* Slideshow – when the second display is in full screen mode, you can run a slideshow of images. Changes to the settings are made in the Slideshow module, however a small toolbar at the bottom of the second display allows you to override some settings.

• *NEW* Second display preview – if the second screen is facing away from you, you can turn on the new preview window which allows you to control your second display.

64-bit

• 64-bit support is now available for Mac and Windows (as long as the machine and operating system are 64-bit capable).
• For many functions, such as building previews or doing large exports, it won’t make a big difference as those are mainly tied to disc I/O speeds. It will be faster for general processing speed though, and Vista 64-bit operating system running the 64-bit version shouldn’t particularly see Out of Memory errors.
• There’s a separate download for 64-bit Windows version. The Mac version has a simple checkbox – select the App, Cmd-I to Get Info, and you’ll see the checkbox there.

Import

• *NEW* Maximum size has gone from 10,000 pixels to 65,000 pixels, enabling the import of almost all panoramic images.

Library Module

• The layout of the Library module has change – all filtering and searching is now done from a large filters bar which stretches right across the top of the Grid view. This can be accessed via the key or View > Show Filter View.
• The left hand panels now contain specific image sources – Folders or Collections. Metadata editing has moved to the right panel.

Folders Panel

• *NEW* Volume Browser
• *NEW* Colours for space
• *NEW* Different discs
• *NEW* Disc status – online/offline
• *NEW* Display root folder paths
• *NEW* ‘Add Parent Folder’ and ‘Promote Subfolders’ have been added to the folders right-click menus, making it much easier to adjust the way the folder hierarchy is displayed.

Date/Time

• *CHANGED* Many of the date/time bugs that haunted previous releases have now been fixed!!!

The Filters Bar

• The ‘Text’ filter replaces Find, and is used to searching for text within a variety of metadata fields, such as filenames, keywords, etc.
• *CHANGED* The ‘Attribute’ filters (named ‘Refine’ in the beta) include flags, star ratings, colour labels, and master/virtual copies. It’s also gained an icon for ‘no label’ and ‘custom label’. These same filters can still be accessed on the Filmstrip where they were before – click the Filter label to show them.
• The ‘Metadata’ filters allow you to easily combine filters on a variety of metadata fields.
• You can add additional columns by going to Library > Filter by Metadata > Add Column or by floating over the end of each column title bar and waiting for the + sign to appear.
• Select multiple options in a column using the Ctrl/Cmd and Shift keys.
• The Metadata filters now offer a few additional options that the previous Metadata Browser didn’t. Flash State, GPS Data, City, State, Province, Copyright Status, Job have all been added. Also now included are filtering on specific Develop settings – Aspect Ratio (Portrait/Landscape/Square), Treatment (Colour or Grayscale) and Develop Preset!
• *CHANGED* Serial number is now available in the Metadata filters, in addition to those that were in the beta.
• *CHANGED* Keywords in the Metadata filters can now be viewed as hierarchical or flat.
• The Metadata filters can be combined with Text or Refine filters for a very powerful yet simple search facility. To combine all three, hold down Shift while clicking on the filter section names (i.e. hold down Shift and click on Text, Refine and Metadata)
• The combinations of filters can be saved as filter presets for easy access.

Keywording

• The Keyword Tags panel on the left has become the Keyword List panel on the right.
• *NEW* The Keyword Tags panel now has a search bar, to easily find a specific keyword in a long list.
• The Keywording Panel in the right also has a useful tweak. The Keyword Set section now has a ‘Suggested Keywords’. This intelligently suggests keywords based on your previous keyword combinations and the keywords assigned to images nearby.
• *NEW* The Keywording Panel now has an extra ‘Add Keywords’ box to easily add new keywords without accidentally selecting existing keywords.

Collections

• The Collections panel has been given a complete overhaul.
• *CHANGED* Heirachical collections aren’t back in the same way as 1.x, but the new way works well, and existing hierarchical collections are upgraded. Collection Sets contain Collections or other Collection Sets, but not photos. Collections can only contain photos, but not Collections or Collection Sets. So you can have a hierarchy of Collection Sets, and put Collections of photos inside those.
• *NEW* There’s a new Target Collection indicated by a + symbol – by default it’s the Quick Colection, but you can set any collection as the Target Collection, and the shortcuts (B and the QC circle on the thumbnail) will add to that Target Collection.
• Collections remember your settings, whether for filters, slideshow, print, or web.
• The Collections panel is now visible in each of the output modules (slideshow/print/web).
• Specific module collections are created when you create a new collection in the Slideshow/Print/Web modules. These also retain settings for any of the modules, but are identified with an icon describing the module in which you first created the collection, which is useful for identification. Double clicking on that module-specific collection will take you directly to the right module.

Smart Collections!

• You can now select a series of criteria and these Smart Collections are updated live. (This is also known on other programs as Rules, Smart Folders etc.)
• Hit the + button to add additional criteria
• Hold down Alt/Opt while hitting the + button to add additional more complex criteria.
• *NEW* Smart Collections can now be imported and exported, to make it easy to transfer between catalogs.
• *NEW* Show in Collection… has been added to the right-click menu for all photos, so you can easily see to which collections each photo belongs.
• *NEW* The Collections panel can now be sorted by collection name or type.

Develop Module

Local Adjustments

• Huge amounts will be written about the new local adjustments, no doubt, so I won’t go into detail here. A quick summary:
• You can paint masks on to the image, which are fully editable.
• You can use these masks to adjust exposure, brightness, clarity, saturation and tint.
• *NEW* Sharpness and Contrast have been added to the Local Adjustment options
• You can have multiple masks on the same image, all doing different adjustments.
• The Auto Mask function intelligently masks off areas of different colour to protect these areas without taking hours to build a perfect mask.
• *NEW* Graduated Filter has been added to the Local Adjustments – this allows adjustments with a gradient.
• *NEW* A Density slider has been added to the Adjustment Brush options and sets a maximum density for that adjustment (as opposed to Flow which builds up gradually)
• *NEW* The Adjustment Brush & Graduated Filter options panels have gained an additional toggle switch which switches between buttons and sliders, depending on the interface you prefer.
• *CHANGED* The effect of the settings has changed – your beta settings will almost certainly give different results
• *NEW* Local Adjustment combinations of settings can now be saved as presets.
• *NEW* The mask overlay has been greatly improved, showing the feathering of the mask, and in a choice of colours. Press O to show the mask and shift-O to cycle through different mask colours.
• It’s not possible to do these tools justice in writing – you have to download and play! They’re incredible!

Other Settings

• The Crop/Heal/Clone/Red Eye buttons have moved from the toolbar to their new home on the Tool Strip just below the histogram. The options appear directly below the icons when that tool is selected, and the panels now have an on/off switch to see a before/after view of your adjustments.
• *NEW* The Clone/Heal options have gained an Opacity slider.
• The Auto Settings have been adjusted and work better than previously. They are still automatic settings, so they will never be as good as a trained eye, but they no longer blow out average jpegs, which is a huge improvement.
• The Clarity slider can now go into negative figures – with a lovely softening as a result.
• The Lens Correction panel has gone, and the controls moved.
• The Vignettes panel is a much requested addition. In addition to the lens correction vignette which has been rehomed, there is now a post-crop vignette, which allows artistic vignettes locked to the crop edge.
• *NEW* The Post-Crop Vignette has 2 more sliders since the public beta – it now has Amount, Midpoint, Roundness and Feather.
• Chromatic Aberration is now at home in the Detail panel
• *CHANGED* The Detail panel now has a small 1:1 preview window to show the corrections live. Use the TAT tool to adjust the area of image that you’re viewing. If you hide that preview, a small popup preview appears while you adjust sliders, giving a 1:1 view. Update 2.0 – forget the popup preview, that’s gone now.
• Keyboard shortcuts – the + and – keys have been tied to the Develop sliders.
  Adding shift increases the increments of movement.
  , and . keys cycle through the sliders giving each focus in turn, or you can single-click on the slider label to give that slider focus. The slider label will be brighter than all of the others.
  ; will reset the selected slider to its default setting.
  A new shortcuts list is available – check the end of the page for the links.

Export Dialog

• Export to Source Folder can now export files directly to the same folder as the original, or a subfolder of that original folder.
• Automatically add exported files back into your Lightroom catalog, bypassing the Import dialog, and automatically stack with the original.
• *NEW* Set a default action for existing files – overwrite/skip/ask.
• Automatically open the exported files in another program, without requiring an alias/shortcut in the Export Actions folder.

Output sharpening

• Extensive work has gone into implementing Bruce Fraser’s ideas on the ideal sharpening workflow.
• Don’t worry about the fact there are no controls – it’s already been adjusted for optimal output, based on the experience of the team at Pixel Genius who created PhotoKit Sharpener.
• To get the best out of the automated sharpening, you need a properly capture sharpened image, so the sharpening settings in Develop mode are still essential.
• Screen sharpening is based on most people owning LCD screens now, so they may look a little soft on CRT’s.

Edit with…

• Edit with Photoshop now has new options
• Files may now be opened directly into Photoshop CS3 10.0.1 & ACR 4.5 without creating an interim Tiff or PSD file. Other external editors still require an interim file.
• Open as Smart Object in Photoshop… opens the file as a smart object in Photoshop.
• Merge to Panorama in Photoshop… opens the selected files into the Merge to Panorama dialog in Photoshop CS3.
• Merge to HDR in Photoshop… opens the selected files into the Merge to HDR dialog in Photoshop CS3.
• Open as Layers in Photoshop… opens the selected files into layers in a single file in Photoshop CS3.
• The new Open/Merge options require Photoshop CS3 10.0.1 and ACR 4.5 to work correctly.
• *NEW* ACR 4.5 was released at the same time as Lightroom 2.0 and ensures complete compatibility with ALL of the new features. Some of the new adjustments don’t have an interface in 4.5, but existing settings will be applied on conversion.
• *NEW* Multiple external editors are now available, instead of just the 2 external editors available previously.

Slideshow Module

• *NEW* You can now add Intro & End Screens
• *NEW* Export to JPEG is now an alternative to Export to PDF, enabling you to export the nicely bordered slides you’ve created and use other software such as your CD burning software to create DVD slideshows.
• *NEW* A ‘Repeat’ checkbox has been added, to prevent a looping slideshow.

Print Module

• The much requested ‘Print to Jpeg’ is finally available!
• It includes options for resolution, file dimensions, jpeg quality, and also custom ICC profiles (not just sRGB, AdobeRGB, ProPhotoRGB). This means that contact sheets can be created, borders can be added, multiple images per page can be arranged, and these can all be sent to offsite labs for printing.
• Print sees the introduction of Picture Packages.
• Multiple versions of the same image can be laid out on a single page in a variety of sizes, unlike the fixed grid contact sheets available in 1.x.
• These are currently repetitions of the same image, not multiple different images, but will be very useful for creating ’schools photography’ prints, passport photographs and the suchlike.

Print Sharpening

• A hint – using glossy sharpening on matte paper should look ok, but using matte sharpening on glossy paper will likely look awful!
• As per Output Sharpening in the Export diaog, advanced algorithms automatically work out your output sharpening for you.
• Also now available is 16 bit output to local printers, for those using high end inkjet printers and suchlike.

Web Module

• Output Sharpening is applied to web galleries.
• Lots of work under the hood rewriting the galleries themselves.

Other Minor Adjustments

Import

• Import Initial Previews has added an additional option – ‘Embedded & Sidecar’ – this reads larger embedded previews. Lightroom will still need to render its own previews, but it’s good for starting to sort your images whilst waiting for previews to build.
• *CHANGED* If you’ve imported as Raw+Jpeg with the ‘treat as separate photos’ preference unchecked, and then wish to import the jpegs separately, you can now check that box and import the jpegs without having to first move them to a different folder.

Preferences

• *NEW* Presets section now has a ‘Show in Explorer/Finder’ button
• *NEW* Additional options for External Editor presets
• *NEW* External Editor PPI setting can now be set in Preferences
• *NEW* ACR Cache Size and Location can now be controlled from the Preferences dialog, without having to switch to ACR.
• *NEW* Catalog Settings now has a checkbox to decide whether to allow date/time changes to write back to proprietary raw files

General

• Added to menu File > Plugin Manager
• See Jeffrey Friedl’s blog for an update on this
• Added to menu File > Plugin Extras
• *NEW* Added to menu File > Library Filters > Filter by Copy Status
• Added to menu View > Show Filter View
• Added to menu View > Retouch in Develop
• Added to menu Window > Zoom All
• Added to menu Window > Secondary Display
• Added to menu Show, Full Screen, Grid, Loupe, Live Loupe, Locked Loupe, Compare, Survey, Show Filter View, Zoom In, Zoom Out, Zoom In, Zoom Out, Increase Thumbnail Size, Decrease Thumbnail Size

Library Module

• The Library panel has been renamed Catalog panel
• *CHANGED* The Missing Files collection is gone, but can be accessed using the Synchronize Folder command.
• Right clicking on any folder in the Folders panel has gained a new command – Update Folder Location – which allows you to change the folder links without having to first remove the existing folder and wait for Lightroom to realise it’s gone missing.
• Right clicking on a keyword has gained a new command – Assign this Keyword to Selected Photo
• Added to menu Library > Filter by Metadata command gives you the option to add or remove columns to the Metadata filters
• Added to menu Photo > Lock to Second Window
• Added to menu Metadata > Edit Metadata Presets…

Slideshow Module

• Play > Which Photos has been renamed Play > Content, and added Use Flagged Photos

Print Module

• *NEW* Added to menu Content > All/Selected/Flagged

Web Module

• Web > Which Photos has been renamed Web > Content, and added Use Flagged Photos

Final Thoughts

Usual recommendations apply – back up before upgrading

There are a number of new shortcuts, and changes to existing shortcuts, so here’s the latest list. If you find any I haven’t added, please let me know!

Keyboard Shortcuts – Windows 2.0 (pdf format, last updated 20/7/08)

Keyboard Shortcuts – Mac 2.0 (pdf format, last updated 20/7/08)

Adobe Lightroom 2 – The Missing FAQ eBook is now available for instant digital download!

After the slight glitch with the 1.4 release, it’s now been re-released as 1.4.1.

This release adds the same improvements as before, but solves 3 major bugs that were introduced in 1.4.

Quoting Tom Hogarty on the Lightroom Journal:

Lightroom 1.4 incorrectly modified the EXIF time date field of images that had a metadata update applied. This incorrect modification does not appear in Lightroom or Bridge and is only viewable through third party EXIF tools. This error has been corrected in Lightroom 1.4.1 and all files in a Lightroom catalog that have been incorrectly modified will be corrected on their next metadata update. (Metadata can be updated by selecting the files in the Library grid view and choosing Command or CTRL + S to save and update the metadata.)

Olympus JPEG files could render incorrectly in Lightroom 1.4, displaying an artifact in the exported file.

Any conversion to DNG in Lightroom 1.4 (Windows Only) would cause the DNG file to become unreadable by Lightroom’s Develop Module or Camera Raw 4.4 in Photoshop. The issue has been corrected and files can be converted to DNG again in order to resolve the issue for existing files. Returning to the original native raw files is not necessary. The affected DNG files can be selected and converted again using the DNG Converter 4.4.1 available at www.adobe.com/dng/. This process is not required but recommended to ensure that a correct validation value is stored within the DNG files.

Lightroom 1.4 provided degraded import performance relative to Lightroom 1.3.

Those bugs are fixed in 1.4.1.

This is a quick intro to the new tools available in the 2.0 Beta. It’s not an exhaustive list, and there’s been a lot more work under the hood that we can’t see. It would also be worth reading the Read Me file included with the installation. But in the meantime, allow me to whet your appetite…….

Major Changes

Global Changes

Dual Monitors!

• The second screen may either be a second window on the same screen (useful for those running a single large monitor) or as a window/full screen view on a second screen.
• Your options are:
• Grid – for example, Grid on the second display while using Develop on the main screen. You can only have Grid mode on one display at a time.
• Normal Loupe – shows the image which has been selected on the main screen.
• Live Loupe – shows the image you’re currently floating over on the main screen, and updates live as you move the mouse.
• Locked Loupe – fixes your chosen image on screen, for use when comparing or as a Shirley image.
• Compare – usual Compare mode, but you can select and rearrange the images on the main screen whilst viewing Compare mode on the second display.
  Survey – usual Survey mode, but you can select and rearrange the images on the main screen whilst viewing Survey mode on the second display.

64 bit

• 64 bit support is now available for Mac and Windows (as long as the machine and operating system are 64 bit capable).
• For many functions, such as building previews or doing large exports, it won’t make a big difference as those are mainly tied to disc I/O speeds. It will be faster for general processing speed though, and Vista 64 bit operating system running the 64 bit version shouldn’t particularly see Out of Memory errors.
• There’s a separate download for 64 bit Windows version. The Mac version has a simple checkbox – select the App, Cmd-I to Get Info, and you’ll see the checkbox there.

Import

• Maximum size has gone from 10,000 pixels to 30,000 pixels, enabling the import of panoramic images.

Library Module

• The layout of the Library module has change – all filtering and searching is now done from a large filters bar which stretches right across the top of the Grid view. This can be accessed via the key or View > Show Filter View.
• The left hand panels now contain specific image sources – Folders or Collections. Metadata editing has moved to the right panel.

The Filters Bar

• The ‘Text’ filter replaces Find, and is used to searching for text within a variety of metadata fields, such as filenames, keywords, etc.
• The ‘Refine’ filters include flags, star ratings, colour labels, and master/virtual copies. It’s also gained an icon for ‘no label’ and ‘custom label’. These same filters can still be accessed on the Filmstrip where they were before – click the RF button to show them.
• The ‘Metadata’ filters allow you to easily combine filters on a variety of metadata fields.
• You can add additional columns by going to Library > Filter by Metadata > Add Column or by floating over the end of each column title bar and waiting for the + sign to appear.
• Select multiple options in a column using the Ctrl/Cmd and Shift keys.
  The Metadata filters now offer a few additional options that the previous Metadata Browser didn’t. Flash State, GPS Data, City, State, Province, Copyright Status, Job have all been added. Also now included are filtering on specific Develop settings – Aspect Ratio (Portrait/Landscape/Square), Treatment (Colour or Grayscale) and Develop Preset!
• The Metadata filters can be combined with Text or Refine filters for a very powerful yet simple search facility. To combine all three, hold down Shift while clicking on the filter section names (i.e. hold down Shift and click on Text, Refine and Metadata)
• The combinations of filters can be saved as filter presets for easy access.

Keywording

• The Keyword Tags panel on the left has become the Keyword List panel on the right.
• The Keywording Panel in the right also has a useful tweak. The Keyword Set section now has a ‘Suggested Keywords’. This intelligently suggests keywords based on your previous keyword combinations and the keywords assigned to images nearby.

Collections

• The Collections panel has been given a complete overhaul.
• Hierarchical collections are not available in the beta, but are expected to return for the final release. There are ‘Collection Sets’ or folders to keep all of your collections tidy.
• Collections remember your settings, whether for filters, slideshow, print, or web.
• The Collections panel is now visible in each of the output modules (slideshow/print/web).
• Specific module collections are created when you create a new collection in the slideshow/print/web modules. These also retain settings for any of the modules, but are identified with an icon describing the module in which you first created the collection, which is useful for identification. Double clicking on that module-specific collection will take you directly to the right module.

Smart Collections!

• You can now select a series of criteria and these Smart Collections are updated live. (This is also known on other programs as Rules, Smart Folders etc.)
• Hit the + button to add additional criteria
• Hold down Alt/Opt while hitting the + button to add additional more complex criteria.

Develop Module

Local Corrections

• Huge amounts will be written about the new local corrections, no doubt, so I won’t go into detail here. A quick summary:
• You can paint masks on to the image, which are fully editable.
• You can use these masks to adjust exposure, brightness, clarity, saturation and tint.
• You can have multiple masks on the same image, all doing different adjustments.
• The Auto Mask function intelligently masks off areas of different colour to protect these areas without taking hours to build a perfect mask.
• It’s not possible to do these tools justice in writing – you have to download and play! They’re incredible!

Other Settings

• The Crop/Heal/Clone/Red Eye buttons have moved from the toolbar to their new home just below the histogram to join the new Local Corrections tool. The options appear directly below the icons when that tool is selected, and the panels now have an on/off switch to see a before/after view of your adjustments.

• The Auto Settings have been adjusted and work better than previously. They are still automatic settings, so they will never be as good as a trained eye, but they no longer blow out average jpegs, which is a huge improvement.
• The Clarity slider can now go into negative figures – with a lovely softening as a result.
• The Lens Correction panel has gone, and the controls moved.
• The Vignettes panel is a much requested addition. In addition to the lens correction vignette which has been rehomed, there is now a post-crop vignette, which allows artistic vignettes locked to the crop edge.
• Chromatic Aberration is now at home in the Detail panel
• The Detail panel now has a small 1:1 preview window to show the corrections live. Use the TAT tool to adjust the area of image that you’re viewing. If you hide that preview, a small popup preview appears while you adjust sliders, giving a 1:1 view.
• Keyboard shortcuts – the + and – keys have been tied to the Develop sliders.
  Adding shift increases the increments of movement.
  , and . keys cycle through the sliders giving each focus in turn, or you can single-click on the slider label to give that slider focus. The slider label will be brighter than all of the others.
  ; will reset the selected slider to its default setting.
  A new shortcuts list is available – check the end of the page for the links.

Export Dialog

• Export to Source Folder can now export files directly to the same folder as the original, or a subfolder of that original folder.
• Automatically add exported files back into your Lightroom catalog, bypassing the Import dialog, and automatically stack with the original.
• Automatically open the exported files in another program, without requiring an alias/shortcut in the Export Actions folder.

• Output sharpening
  Extensive work has gone into implementing Bruce Fraser’s ideas on the ideal sharpening workflow.
  Don’t worry about the fact there are no controls – it’s already been adjusted for optimal output, based on the experience of the team at Pixel Genius who created PhotoKit Sharpener.
  To get the best out of the automated sharpening, you need a properly capture sharpened image, so the sharpening settings in Develop mode are still essential.
  Screen sharpening is based on most people owning LCD screens now, so they may look a little soft on CRT’s.

Edit with…

• Edit with Photoshop now has new options
• Files may now be opened directly into Photoshop CS3 10.0.1 without creating an interim Tiff or PSD file. Other external editors may still require an interim file.
• Open as Smart Object in Photoshop… opens the file as a smart object in Photoshop.
• Merge to Panorama in Photoshop… opens the selected files into the Merge to Panorama dialog in Photoshop CS3.
• Merge to HDR in Photoshop… opens the selected files into the Merge to HDR dialog in Photoshop CS3.
• Open as Layers in Photoshop… opens the selected files into layers in a single file in Photoshop CS3.
• Warnings – The new options require Photoshop CS3 10.0.1 to work correctly, and will give a warning dialog about the ACR version not matching. That will be updated at another time. These functions should only be used for test purposes at the moment, as some metadata may not be carried across to the new file.

Print Module

• The much requested ‘Print to Jpeg’ is finally available!
  It includes options for resolution, file dimensions, jpeg quality, and also custom ICC profiles (not just sRGB, AdobeRGB, ProPhotoRGB). This means that contact sheets can be created, borders can be added, multiple images per page can be arranged, and these can all be sent to offsite labs for printing.
• Print sees the introduction of Picture Packages.
• Multiple versions of the same image can be laid out on a single page in a variety of sizes, unlike the fixed grid contact sheets available in 1.x.
  These are currently repetitions of the same image, not multiple different images, but will be very useful for creating ’schools photography’ prints, passport photographs and the suchlike.
• Print Sharpening
• A hint – using glossy sharpening on matte paper should look ok, but using matte sharpening on glossy paper will likely look awful!
• As per Output Sharpening in the Export diaog, advanced algorithms automatically work out your output sharpening for you.
  Also now available is 16 bit output to local printers, for those using high end inkjet printers and suchlike.

Web Module

• HTML previewing is disabled in the Mac 64-bit version for the time being, due to a bug in Safari. Switch to 32-bit or use the flash galleries instead.

Other Minor Adjustments

Import

• Import Initial Previews has added an additional option – ‘Embedded & Sidecar’ – this reads larger embedded previews. Lightroom will still need to render its own previews, but it’s good for starting to sort your images whilst waiting for previews to build

General

• Added to menu File > Plugin Manager
• Added to menu File > Plugin Extras
• Added to menu View > Show Filter View
• Added to menu View > Retouch in Develop
• Added to menu Window > Zoom All
• Added to menu Window > Secondary Display
• Added to menu Show, Full Screen, Grid, Loupe, Live Loupe, Locked Loupe, Compare, Survey, Show Filter View, Zoom In, Zoom Out, Zoom In, Zoom Out, Increase Thumbnail Size, Decrease Thumbnail Size

Library Module

• Right clicking on any folder in the Folders panel has gained a new command – Update Folder Location – which allows you to change the folder links without having to first remove the existing folder and wait for Lightroom to realise it’s gone missing.
• Right clicking on a keyword has gained a new command – Assign this Keyword to Selected Photo
• Added to menu Library > Filter by Metadata command gives you the option to add or remove columns to the Metadata filters
• Added to menu Library > Plugin Extras
• Added to menu Photo > Lock to Second Window
• Added to menu Metadata > Edit Metadata Presets…

Slideshow Module

• Play > Which Photos has been renamed Play > Content, and added Use Flagged Photos
• Print Module
• Web Module
• Web > Which Photos has been renamed Web > Content, and added Use Flagged Photos

Now what….?

If you have a version 1 Lightroom license, you can download and start playing!

If you don’t have a license, you can download the 2.0 beta and run it on a 30 day trial, or you can ask someone with a license for an invitation to gain you access for the entire beta period.

The 2.0 beta will not open 1.x catalogs, but the final release will.

Loading the 2.0 beta should not overwrite or interfere with a machine currently running Lightroom 1.3.1. You can run both versions on the same machine, although it’s best not to have both running at the same time.

Normal beta procedures apply:

It’s an early beta build and it WILL have bugs.

Don’t use it on anything valuable – make sure you have complete backups.

There are no guarantees that anything you do on the Beta software will carry through to the final release. This particularly applies to the new functionality listed above, especially the new local correction tools.

There aren’t any help files! But 2 main forums will be discussing it in detail, and will be pleased to provide assistance:

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom – the official Adobe beta forum

http://www.lightroomforums.net – a private forum with a friendly welcoming atmosphere

Come and join the fun!!!

There are a number of new shortcuts, and changes to existing shortcuts, so the latest list is on the shortcuts link on the menu. If you find any I haven’t added, please let me know!

This is mainly a camera support release this time round (Canon 450D, Nikon D60 etc).

New cameras: Canon 450D, Fuji S100FS, Nikon D60, Olympus SP-570 UZ, Pentax K20D, K200d, Sony A200, A300 and A350.

The LR release has also improved compatibility with Leopard print drivers.

All cameras have been updated to ACR 4.4 which offers better rendering at the ends of the temp/tint scales.

Grayscale conversion noise has been greatly improved in this release.

Those using export plugins may need to download updated versions of the plugins.

EDIT: Lightroom 1.4 was withdrawn a couple of days later due to 3 unforeseen bugs. 1.4.1 should be re-released shortly.