Lightroom Secrets - Latest Comments

Re: A Scoop of DNG With Your PIE

Gene McCullagh — Thu, 03 May 2012 21:29:42 -0000

Hi Chris!

Lightroom doesn't create XMP files for DNG either. I suggest you turn off automatic write to file in the preferences while you are working on these large sets of scans. When you are done for the day you can save all the changes at once and leave Lightroom to work while you do other things.

Once you are past the initial stages you can turn that back on so you don't forget to save the changes out dring a regular workflow.

Re: A Scoop of DNG With Your PIE

Chris Nicholson — Thu, 03 May 2012 12:54:21 -0000

What is the reason for recommending not to convert TIFF to DNG?

The reason I ask is because I've seen several knowledgeable people
writing the same advice. But I still don't see the disadvantage, at
least in terms of why I want to do it.

I've done high-res scans of all my old slide work, which I've been
integrating into my Lightroom catalog. The problem I've run into is
that the scans are stored as TIFFs; because LR doesn't write sidecar
files for TIFFs, every time I make even minor global changes (to copyright info
in metadata, for example), LR takes forever to save those changes into
thousands of 100mb TIFFs, rather than the fraction of a second it would
take to update a 15kb XMP. I thought that by converting to DNG, I would
realize huge time savings during global saves. (Not to mention just the time savings involved in making a local change to one TIFF.)

If there is a tangible downside to converting TIFFs to DNG, then my Plan
B is to convert the TIFFs to NEF (I shoot Nikon) and re-import to LR.

--Chris

Re: Lightroom 4 Tip: New DNG Options

Dan — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 01:26:06 -0000

So I watched the lightroom4 video promoting dng files and I am sold on it. In the video she only showed selecting the setting in a conversion of a file. For files I am converting on import, I am not given an option to select "enable fast load data." She said it is automatically turned on but I want to double check because the main reason why I am switching to dng is for the quicker load time in the develop module.

Re: Automating Your Workflow

Gene McCullagh — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 12:29:30 -0000

No Problem, Aric.

I wish there were hooks into Lightroom for Automator or Apple Script. I don't anticipate that that will ever happen though.

Re: Automating Your Workflow

Aric Hoek — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 12:24:26 -0000

So sorry. I just answered my own question. Thanks!

Re: Automating Your Workflow

Aric Hoek — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 12:19:03 -0000

Thank you for your reply. I hope you don't mind me asking an additional question. Is is possible to add Lightroom into the Applescript and or Automator Library?

Re: Automating Your Workflow

Gene McCullagh — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 23:53:04 -0000

Hi Arec!

So long as the app you create doesn't reference something that is specific to the Mac you create the app on you should be able to just copy it to other Macs.

Re: Automating Your Workflow

Aric Hoek — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 12:22:38 -0000

Fantastic article. A question though. After I make the app, can I just copy and paste it to other machines on my network, and have other users add it to their Lightroom Workflow, or will I need to remake the app first?

Will be going through your blog today.

Thanks.

Re: onOne Software Announces Perfect Photo Suite 6

Gene McCullagh — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 06:23:31 -0000

Hi Mselainehunter!

Unfortunately I can't help there. You'll need to contact onOne's support people.

Re: onOne Software Announces Perfect Photo Suite 6

Mselainehunter — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 13:35:40 -0000

on one crashes adobe cs5 and will not open can you help new pc fast lots of ram

Re: onOne Software Announces Perfect Photo Suite 6

Mselainehunter — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 13:33:42 -0000

yes and i have 8 on my new pc and cannot get it to work....

Re: Brush Fire!

Gene McCullagh — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:27:09 -0000

Thanks David! You're too kind!

Re: Brush Fire!

David Marx — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 10:59:37 -0000

Excellent article Gene! A pleasure to see your Lightroom expertise both on the web and in print.

--
David Marx

Re: onOne Software Announces Perfect Photo Suite 6

Gene McCullagh — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 10:50:10 -0000

Thanks Scott!

I agree. onOne has some really useful plugins. I enjoy using them as well.

Re: onOne Software Announces Perfect Photo Suite 6

Scott Webb — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 10:25:09 -0000

This has been one of the best products for me when editing my photography! I adore it. I mainly use Perfect Effects 3 and FocalPoint 2. I'm hoping for an update that allows us to use presets without the included borders. I know not all presets have borders included but I love some of them that do.

Cheers

Re: A Scoop of DNG With Your PIE

D.M. Cook — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 17:48:55 -0000

DxO support is pretty unlikely. From what I understand, they claim that a DNG (by converting RAW data into a new, common format) means the image is already "processed" and therefore all their careful measurements of camera response -- distortion, aberration, sensitivity, etc. -- are no longer useful as a way to correct for these issues. Now, I'd imagine that knowing what camera/lens combo was used to shoot something should, in theory, be all the info a program like DxO needed in order to work its magic, but apparently they disagree.

Here's hoping that they'll change that someday, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Re: Lightroom 4 Tip: New DNG Options

Dan Moughamian — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 10:34:14 -0000

Norbert, Larry:
You both make valid points. Truly there's no one "right way" to handle file formats in workflow and archiving.

The way I've approached DNG is not as an alternative to a raw workflow, but as an alternative to raw-only storage. With Lossy DNG the same alternative now applies to JPEG storage, and to any workflows that include performing edits on JPEG files.

But it is easy -given enough storage capacity- to go with "shoot raw, edit raw, back-up raw, always"... The Lightroom and ACR teams have done such a fantastic job of building up support for new cameras as they become available... we take it for granted that all our cameras' raw files will always be supported. But we don't really know what the future holds, if you look 5-10 years down the line. Things can change.

DNG is a way to hedge your bets -by having your most prized files in two uncompressed data formats- that should the software landscape change, you'll have at least one version that will "translate" no matter what. Lossy DNG adds another layer to that, by providing a potentially better option than storing edited files as JPEGs. As mentioned, some cameras have fantastic, low noise JPEG output, and so that will suffice in many cases for those photographers.

Another "angle" is that for some people their cameras may produce acceptable quality raw files, but less acceptable JPEG quality. This somewhat common in the prosumer space between compacts and more expensive DSLRs. In that case if you wanted to store some snapshots or non-critical images in a smaller format, you could shoot everything raw (capturing the best quality), but back up some of the edited files as Lossy DNGs (saving drive space). Consider also the ever-increasing file size of DSLRs (D800 now 36MP!) and storage space has to be considered.

The hope way back when this started, was that camera companies would adopt lossless DNG as their raw format (directly out of camera) but few if any of them want to give up the perceived control they have by staying proprietary. IMHO, that's pretty much wishful thinking on their part, given how quickly Adobe adds support for new camera types within their raw workflows. Maybe one day our only worry will be "Do I shoot this next series of shots as a Lossless DNG or a Lossy DNG"?

Re: Lightroom 4 Tip: New DNG Options

Larry — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 08:40:00 -0000

I like to shoot RAW so I can have maximum flexibility in post processing and "developing" the images. Once I've got it the way I want it, I currently then save them as JPGs because I have no use for the original RAW files and want to save the space. I'm not a professional so it's not like I'm constantly tweaking my photos. I've never felt the need to go back to an original RAW image. Once I've processed it in LR/PS, I'm done with it.

I was looking at the new lossy DNG format as an alternative to JPG but I'll probably just continue with my current workflow.

Re: Lightroom 4 Tip: New DNG Options

Norbert75 — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 08:33:54 -0000

Sorry but for me it doesn't make sens to shoot in RAW and then to use a lossy pseudo-raw format !
If I shoot RAW I wish to have a maximum of informations in my file, if not then I shall shoot in JPEG mode !

Re: Lightroom 4 Tip: New DNG Options

Dan Moughamian — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 20:58:23 -0000

Hi Larry. Great question!

That may be an option (in Preferences under File Handling) that's coming down the road, but as things stand know I believe the only option in the Import dialog is the standard Copy as DNG mode, which is lossless.

It makes sense to default things this way as you can always export a lossy variation later, but if you start out lossy you can't "go back" without re-importing things.

Hope that helps.

Dan

Re: Lightroom 4 Tip: New DNG Options

Larry — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 19:49:27 -0000

Is there a way to create the DNG files in the new lossy format when importing from a CF card straight from the camera?

Re: onOne Software Launches New Marketplace for Photographers!

pratish sarvehi — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 03:12:19 -0000

Thank you,
The given information is very effective,
I will keep updated with the same,

MLM software noida

Re: A Catalog In The Cloud Revisited

pixeljammer — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 23:11:16 -0000

On Mac Snow Leopard and Lion, you can use a Symbolic Link to point to all of your Lightroom settings (including Presets) stored on Dropbox:

If you're in Lion, you need to see your Library folder, so fire up Terminal and past this in, and hit return:chflags nohidden ~/Library/

That will make your Library folders visible

Then go here:

/Users/yourname/Library/Application Support/Adobe/

and find the Lightroom folder. Move that Lightroom folder to your Dropbox. (I keep it in a folder called "PREFS", because I do this with several applications). Create a symbolic link [http://hints.macworld.com/arti...] or an alias of the Lightroom folder. (I haven't tested this with aliases) and move the link/alias back to /Users/yourname/Library/Application Support/Adobe.

Make sure that the link/alias is the only thing called "Lightroom" in the folder (if you copied the Lightroom folder instead of moving it, you would have the original folder and the link/alias.)

Next time you fire up Lightroom, it will bounce off the link/alias and use the real folder on Dropbox. If you replace the /Users/yourname/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom folder with a link/alias on all of your machines, they will all have the exact same setup, and they always will.

Hope that helps somebody.

Re: A Catalog In The Cloud Revisited

Gene McCullagh — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 06:47:40 -0000

Hi Kurt! I'm glad you found it useful!

Re: A Catalog In The Cloud Revisited

Kurt Congdon — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 09:20:33 -0000

Works like a charm, thanks for the tip. I've trying to figure out how to do this for a while now. Thanks!