Tip #1: Anyway, I thought of a couple more tips while doing that video that had to do with the Graduated Filter that I used in the video. The first grad filter tip is to hold down the Shift key when you're creating a gradient with it. In the video, I wanted my gradient to be slightly tilted. But if you don't you'll go crazy so just hold the Shift key down while dragging to keep it straight.

Tip #2: The second one is to hold down Option (Alt: PC) while dragging. This moves the faded edges of the gradient closer to, or further away from, the center of the gradient depending on which way you drag.

Hope you guys had a great week and an even better weekend ahead. See ya.

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Here's another one of those before and after videos for you folks. I know these are popular because they really show the workflow and the link between the two programs we tend to use most - Lightroom and Photoshop. I thought this particular photo made a great candidate because I was able to do some very neat things in Lightroom (more than a lot of people think is possible) but I also needed to move into Photoshop for some quick retouching. Hope you enjoy it. I'm actually taking the day off to spend with the family since they're off from school, but have a great Veterans Day / Wednesday.

Click here to download the video to your computer. [Right-click and choose the "Save As" option]

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1) Lightroom saves all of your history states... forever!
Ever notice that when you're working in Lightroom you never actually have to save your image? In Photoshop we're always going to File > Save but not in LR. That's because Lightroom has a History panel in the Develop module (on the left side panel group). It automatically saves every single thing you do to your photos. The cool part is that unlike Photoshop (which discards your history when you quit the program), Lightroom saves this forever so you can always go back to it.

2) Lightroom's Backup feature only backs up your catalog, not your photos.
Don't forget that Lightroom's backup feature only backs up the catalog - not the photos. So if your computer crashed and you had your backup, you could reinstall Lightroom and revert to the backup you created from Lightroom. But you'd only have your catalog with all the "stuff" you've done to your photos. You wouldn't have your actual photos unless you've specifically backed them up separately (which is really easy if you follow Scott's advice on where to store your photos).

3) No matter what you do, if you shoot in raw, editing in Photoshop will create a copy of your image.
I hear this one a lot. People are surprised that after they go to edit a raw photo in Photoshop, there's a copy of the photo when they return to Lightroom. This will always happen. You can't change it because you can't edit the original raw photo in Photoshop. Lightroom has to render a copy of the image out and you'll have that copy (in PSD or TIFF format) when you return to Lightroom. Your raw photo is still there, by the way, and it will still have all of your Lightroom-related changes in it, but only the copy will contain any Photoshop edits you've done.

So there's my 3 add-ons to Scott's post. Take care!

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Anyway, I ran into some one who showed me their computer and the fact that their ID Plate was rotated 90°. Naturally, I'm used to working with the ID Plate in the Print module so I just assumed there'd be a little rotation option next to it like there is in Print (you know, 0°, 90°, 180°). But there's not. I sat there stumped for about 3-4 minutes trying to figure out why their ID Plate was sideways. Finally, I just switched Slideshow presets for them and the ID Plate showed up the way it was supposed to.

But for the next 5 nights I couldn't sleep because it just didn't make sense (ok maybe not, but it really did bug me). Finally, while working on something in the Slideshow module today I realized there's two little rotation icons in the toolboar (see the image for this post in the top left). I realized they're not for rotating your photo but for rotating any text overlays that you've added to the slides. In fact, unless you have text overlays on the slide they're grayed out.

I know! It's a tiny thing but hopefully I saved you much frustration and many sleepless nights if you ever run into this. Take care and have a great weekend.

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Basically, a snapshot is a freeze-frame of your photo at that moment in time. It's a way to save all of your develop settings at a certain point in case you ever wanted to revert back to them. So let's say you're working on a photo. You're pretty happy with the way the photo looks but you want to try a couple of other things as well. Sure, you could create a virtual copy (here's a video on how to do that) and try things out on the copy but I find virtual copies better for when you want to compare two different versions of a photo. If I just want to experiment but want an easy way back, create a snapshot first, and have at it. Experiment away, knowing that you can get back to your happy place (the exact settings where you created the snapshot) with just one click in the Snapshots panel.

That's my story for the day. Have a good one.

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1) The grain effect really needs to be zoomed into 100% to see best. You can see it at lower zoom levels but don't make any judgment calls on it until you see it at 100%.

2) On a personal note, I'm actually not that into the "grain" look. Its not something I used to like in film and I typically tried to avoid it. Plus, I spend a lot of money on lenses to get sharp images, so adding grain back in doesn't do much for me. But hey, I totally get that A LOT of people really like this effect. Its been on the hot list of requests for quite some time now.

So enjoy and please leave a comment to let me know what you think. Thanks!

• Click here to see a sample of the preset.
• Click here to download Matt's Grain Presets
• To Install the Presets just unzip them to your desktop. Then right click in your preset panel and choose Import and choose the file you unzipped. MAKE SURE YOU UNZIP THE PRESET ZIP FILE FIRST. DO NOT TRY TO IMPORT THE ZIP FILE AS THE PRESET.

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Q. Will the beta run next to my real version of Lightroom 2? Basically, can I use both?
A. Yep. No problem you can use both at the same time.

Q. Will my Lightroom 2 Catalogs Work with Lightroom 3 Beta?
A. No. You'll have to import a whole new set of images in order to use the beta. You can't just open (or export) a LR2 catalog.

Q. If I use the beta will I be able to upgrade to the real version of the software and keep all of my work?
A. That's where things get tricky. Adobe always recommends that you don't do any work in the beta that you're not prepared to eventually lose. It really is just for testing and demo purposes. So there's no guarantee that the work you do will be portable to the full version of LR3. However, in the past, the catalogs have upgraded but again, that's not a promise for the future. I always have a hard time with this one because once the beta comes out, I have to be honest with you and say I start using it full time. I know I shouldn't and I know its bad, but what can I say. Once I get a taste of the new features its no fun to use the old ones anymore. Let's hope that it does indeed upgrade the catalog from the betas as Lightroom has done before :)

Q. When will the full version of Lightroom 3 actually ship?
A. Adobe isn't releasing that information right now. In an interview I did with product manager Tom Hogarty, he mentioned that it wouldn't be as long at the beta period for LR1 (like a year or so) but it wouldn't be as short as the beta for Lightroom 2 (only a few months). And the software itself has no indication like a "This software expires on October 31, 2009" or anything like that.

Q. In your movie on the Lightroom Learning Center, you said that the Luminance slider under Noise Reduction was grayed out and not hooked up yet. But I imported some photos and its there. Why?
A. Yeah, the Luminance slider will be grayed out when editing raw files that haven't been edited before. If you've imported a photo into Lightroom that was edited in a previous version of LR or Camera Raw, then Lightroom is applying the old noise removal and sharpening stuff to it. You'll know this is the case if you go to the Settings > Process Version menu in the Develop module and see "Version 1". That means its using the old stuff. You'll have to update to Version 2 to take advantage of the new sharpening and noise removal improvements (and the lack of Luminance slider).

Q. What's all the hype around the Import dialog? I don't have any problems importing photos.
A. As an existing Lightroom user I don't think the Import dialog improvements were really meant for you. If you've been using Lightroom, then chances are you know how to import by now. However, an easier Importing process is essential for Lightroom to grow beyond current users to new ones. Its been a little clunky in the past. Those that know it, know it. Those that never used Lightroom will now understand that importing process (hopefully) easier then you did when you were learning.

Q. So Matt, what's your take on the beta?
A. My take is actually very similar to what Tom Hogarty was saying in the interview I did with him. The beta feels a bit more unrefined to me then previous ones. That's pretty evident when there's a slider that doesn't even work (Noise Removal). For so long people have almost gotten used to the fact that a beta was really close to a shipping version of the software. Adobe's not saying for sure but they have alluded to the fact that there will be more features coming in the full version. So I think its cool for now. The features that are there are definitely worth trying out, but there's a handful of features that aren't there (as many of you pointed out) that I hope make it into the full release. In the short term, the beta is nice but not life-changing. It does whet my appetite for what's to come which, in the long term, I'm sure will have a bigger change on my everyday workflow in Lightroom.

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The Main Stuff:
• The Beta is for everyone
• Big changes in the Import dialog
• Noise removal has changed quite a bit
• Slideshows can now be exported as videos (with music)
• Custom print templates in the Print module
• Houston, we have watermarking!

So here's your marching orders:
1) Don't complain about the beta. Remember, its not finished yet. Its a beta.
2) Head over to NAPP's Lightroom 3 Beta Learning Center
3) Download the Lightroom 3 Beta from the Adobe Labs website
4) If you're a Kelby Training subscriber I've created an entire online training course, The Lightroom 3 Beta Power Session, that dives a little deeper into the new LR3 Beta features.
5) Keep an eye out at Tom Hogarty's (Lightroom Product Manager) blog
6) Don't forget to stop by Scott's blog as well
7) Stay tuned here at Lightroom Killer Tips. As I find and create new things you can bet I'll be showing them here first.

Thanks for stopping by. If you see me wandering around (with red bleary-looking eyes) at PhotoPlus East in New York today or tomorrow be sure to stop by and say hi.

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