Slimming down for 2014

2013 flew by quickly, and 2014 is already upon us. Have you set any goals or new year’s resolutions?

Weight Loss with Lightroom

According to Lifehacker, the most common resolution is to lose weight. Perhaps you’ve gained a few pounds over the holidays. Do you need a little encouragement to get started on your new healthy eating plan? Don’t worry, Lightroom can help! Have you discovered the Slimming slider? It’s not actually called the Slimming slider – the official name is the Aspect slider, and it’s hiding under the Manual tab in the Lens Corrections panel.

I’ve taken the slider to an extreme to illustrate on this happy chef, and reduced the Scale slider slightly to make him the same height, but more conservative adjustments can take off a couple of pounds without looking unnatural. Give it a try!

Slim Down Your Catalog

Have you thought about slimming down your catalog too? If you’re a packrat like me, perhaps it’s time to start thinking about deleting the most out-of-focus photos, to clear space on your hard drive for the stunning photos you’ve resolved to shoot in 2014.

Regular Maintenance

It’s a great time to check that your Lightroom catalog is in good shape. Don’t forget to check your backups are running correctly, optimize your catalog, and update your metadata presets. Gene McCullagh has a great checklist of housekeeping tasks and ideas too.

What are your plans for 2014?