How to export photos from lightroom. How to properly export a photo in jpeg in good quality after processing in lightroom? How to save photos in Lightroom 5
Photos, create slideshows and albums. In addition, the editor allows you to retouch and adjust images different ways... We will talk about how to edit and how to save a photo in "Lightroom" in this article. We will consider the work of the editor using the example of the fifth version.
Saving photos in "Lightroom"
There is no usual "Save" button in the "Lightroom" program. Most often, RAW photos are corrected in this editor. The modified image can only be saved by export. Select the desired photos in the Library module, which will be described below. Several images can be selected at once using the Ctrl or Shift keys. Next, click on the Export button located on the left side of the program window at the bottom (you will see it only if you are in the Library module). You can also just right-click on the photo and go to the line of the same name in the appeared context menu... Export is also performed through the File menu. After clicking the Export button, a window will appear in which you can edit the save parameters.
Save settings
So how do you save a photo in Lightroom? In the Export To section, select the location to save the files. Usually this Hard drive (hDD computer). Further, you can select the same folder as the save location where the original files are or any other. The second option (Specific folder) is usually more convenient. Likewise, when exporting several photos at once, you can place them in the same folder and then not search for different ones. Below you can name the files, and also choose the format (usually Jpeg), quality (slider) and color space (most often RGB) in which they will be saved. Next is the Image Sizing tab, where you can resize the image. If necessary, here you can set a limitation on the width and length of the saved photo. In the Output Sharpening tab, adjust the sharpness of the saved image.
Even below is the line intended for setting. In the drop-down menu Watermarking select Edit Watermarkis. Further, in the window that opens, you can enter the required text for the watermark. Quite a few are available here. a large number of fonts. If desired, you can also use a pre-drawn picture as a watermark. The transparency of the inscription is adjustable. In addition, it can be changed in other ways: shift, rotate, select the size, make shadows, shade.
The very last command determines what the program will do after exporting the photo. The editor can open saved images in Photoshop, open the folder where they were saved, etc.
As you can see, exporting files in the Lightroom program is not such a complicated procedure as it might seem at first glance. Next, we will make a small overview of this program.
Opening the photo
Let's see how to open a photo in Lightroom. Files in this editor are not opened, but imported. In order to select the photos that require processing, go to the main menu File - Import Photos from Disk ... On the left side, after clicking on the import photo button and the File menu, a tree of folders is displayed. After switching to the desired one, the pictures contained in it appear in the working window. You can select the necessary ones by checking the boxes above them. Next, at the bottom of the window, click on the Import button.
Library module
After the photos are imported, several buttons will appear at the top of the editor window. These are the main sections in which you can work. Most of the photo processing in "Lightroom" is done in the Library and Develop modules. In the Library, you can view images, apply to them quick settings and move pictures between folders. The latter are shown on the left in the Folders menu. You can work only with those folders, photos from which have already been imported. On the right under the histogram there is a list of Saved Presets that can be applied to the photo. In the Quick Develop menu, a quick surface finish is performed in Lightroom. If desired, here it is easy to change the hue, brightness, contrast, photo exposure, etc. At the bottom right there is also a Keyword Tags menu. Here you can leave any comments on the images.
Develop module
How to save a photo in Lightroom, how to open it and how to perform elementary editing, we have discussed with you. Now let's take a look at what serious adjustment tools exist in Lightroom. Only small quick changes are made in the Library section. The main work on image correction is carried out in the Develop module.
On the left, in the "Presets" window, there are various presets for photos, created independently or already built into the editor. In the Snapshots section, you can take snapshots while working with images. This is a temporary copy of the current state of the photo. Such a snapshot remains relevant only while working with the current image. If you wish, you can make several such copies of the photo at different stages of its processing. This is useful if there is a need to compare the state of the picture before making changes and after. In addition, all stages of photo processing are saved in the History section, which is located below Snapshots. All the main editing tools in the Develop module are located on the right. Let's consider the editor's capabilities in this regard in more detail.
Lightroom editor tools
So, how to process a photo in Lightroom? The first tool that can be seen under the histogram in the panel on the right, in the Develop module, is Croop (crop, crop). It is intended for cropping pictures to the desired size. Using this tool, you can, among other things, align a photo with a blocked horizon by rotating it. This does not require manual scaling like in Photoshop.
The next on the panel is the cloning tool (analogous to a stamp in the Photoshop editor). Next is the red-eye fixer. With the last tool "Gradient" you can select a separate part of the photo (create a mask) and adjust this area by any means of the program. On the same panel there is another selection tool "Radial Gradient" (available only in "Lightroom 5"), as well as a regular brush for creating masks.
Basik tab
All fixed assets intended for the actual photo correction are located below - in the Basik tab. The first - Temp - is used to change the picture. With Tint, you can change the hue at the same time. It is also possible to automatically select the temperature using a pipette. Below there are tools for changing exposure, brightness, contrast, lens flare correction, working with shadows, etc. All adjustments made to the photo are displayed on the histogram.
Below are the tools for editing the clarity and color saturation. In the latter case, it is better to use the Vibrance slider to make changes to the image. It can be used to make softer, more gentle changes without the strong acidity of the color. To reset the settings made by tools from any tab, double-click on the name of the tool.
Tone Curve Tab
Below the Basik tab is the Tone Curve tab. Here you can make more subtle changes to the tone or sharpness of the photo using curves. Work can be done in one of color channels... With the eyedropper, you can select a specific editing area. In the same tab, you can work with the Hue, Saturation and Luminance of colors. Moreover, each of them can be adjusted separately. The work can be done in one of three tabs - HSL, Color and Grayscale.
Thus, we figured out how to save photos in Lightroom and how to process them in this program. Of course, this editor is simpler than the same Photoshop, but with its help you can get quite high-quality images.
Users are probably used to the usual location of the Save button in applications. Almost every program has a save as command. The respected company Adobe Systems has distinguished itself with a non-standard approach to saving photos. Therefore, many users often have a question about how to save a photo in Lightroom. Instead of complaining about Adobe Systems, you can try to understand the steps to accomplish this task.
Photos: export
First, let's talk about how the export is carried out in Lightroom. Usually the results of creativity in others computer programs can be saved as files immediately. In Adobe Lightroom, you have to export your images to files. Of course, this sounds somewhat unusual. It's worth trying to ask a friend or colleague who has never used the program how to save a photo in Lightroom and which command to choose. In response, you can only hear the word save. Why is it missing in this app? It seems that easily understood terms are not used in professional programs.
Sort the photos you want
First you need to select the images you want to export in JPEG, TIFF, DNG and PSD formats. This can be done in the film panel or in the grid view of the special Library module by pressing Cmd (on Macintosh). IN windows system use the Ctrl key. You need to click in turn on each of the images that you want to export.
Export dialog
In the Library module, click on the Export button located in the lower right corner on the left side of the sidebars. When using the Film Bar to select images in another module, press Cmd + Shift + E (Macintosh). On Windows, use Ctrl + Shift + E. After completing this action, the export dialog box will appear. The user needs to change the settings there. After that he will be able to save the photo in the Lightroom.
Presets area
On the left side of the export dialog is the Preset sphere. It lists all of the presets available in Lightroom, as well as user-created and saved settings. To fill in some fields of the standard settings for exporting images to jPEG format with simultaneous recording to disk, take the Burn Full-Sized JPEGs setting as an example.
Record full size JPEG photos preset
She has her own purpose. This preset will serve as a starting point for further customizing the desired values \u200b\u200bin the export dialog box, which will be needed when saving images to files in the required format and in a specific location. The set parameters will be saved as a special preset. As a result, a novice user who wants to learn how to save a photo to Lightroom will avoid repeating the same steps each time an image is exported. If you want to save JPEG image files not on the disk, but in a directory on your computer, you should click, while holding down the mouse button, on the icon with geometric shapes (triangles) in the upper right of the Export dialog box. This will open a list from which you need to select the Files on Disk option.
Directory selection
Next, you should specify the location to save the photo files in the Export dialog box. First, you need to select a separate directory, you can also add pictures to the original folder. If you want to save files separately from other images, you should select the Specific Folder option from the Export To drop-down list. To select a specific folder, you need to click on the Choose button and find it. If you need quick access to exported images, you should save them in a directory on your desktop. By checking the Put in Subfolder checkbox and specifying the folder name, files are organized in one place. If you want to add exported images to the Lightroom catalog, then the Add to Lightroom Catalog item should be checked.
Renaming files
The next area that needs to be mastered for those who want to learn how to save a photo in Lightroom is File Naming. There are times when the user does not want to rename the exported image file and wants to keep the current name. Then he should select the Filename option from the Template and move on to the next area of \u200b\u200bthe dialog box under study. If you still want to rename the file, then you need to look at some template from the list of built-in options or created by the user. For example, the sequence is named Foto. By using the Custom Name - Sequence template (adding sequence number), all files will be named as follows: Foto-1, Foto-2, etc.
Exported Image Type
In the File Settings area, you can select the format of the saved file from the Format drop-down list.
When exporting JPEG images, a horizontal Quality slider appears to the right of this list. The file sizes depend on the quality of the saved photos. Marking 80 on the Quality slider is a guarantee of the optimal ratio of photo quality and file size. To transfer an image to a person who does not have Photoshop Lightroom, select sRGB from the Color Space drop-down list.
When specifying other formats for the file, it becomes possible to configure additional parameters for color color and compression rate.
If desired, you can resize the photo in the Image Sizing area. To do this, select the Resize to Fit checkbox and enter the required image parameters for export.
Photo adjustments
To obtain sharpening of ready-made images for printing and displaying in web galleries, in the Output Sharpening area, select the Sharpen For checkbox. Photos can be displayed on the screen (Screen item) or directly for printing, with a choice of matte or glossy paper. The sharpness of the images in these two cases will differ. Due to its high degree of magnification (High) when outputting to an inkjet printer, the photo will be correctly reflected on the paper, while on the computer screen it is too detailed. Not all images are suitable for printing. Those that are to be published on the Internet are saved with the standard sharpening level (Standard). This parameter can be changed in the Amount dropdown menu.
Deleting marks
When you select the Minimize Embedded Metadata check box, all existing metadata from the user's camera will be excluded from the files. At the same time, personal information, including information about copyright protected by law, will be preserved. When this checkbox is checked, the following item for writing built-in keywords from the selected images to the Lightroom list will be unavailable.
To overlay exported images with copyright information that was entered when the images were imported into Adobe Lightroom, select Add Copyright Watermark.
Further commands
In the Post-Processing area, you can specify what to do with the file after the export is complete. If you select Do Nothing in the After Export drop-down list, then it will be saved without changes in the specified directory. When setting the parameter Open in Adobe Photoshop CS exported file will be opened in photoshop... In addition to immediately using the saved images in another application, you can select Open in Other Application. Go to Export Actions Folder Now allows you to send a photo by email.
Export settings for photobook creation
The saved images can be used in almost any editor. A photo book is a great gift for friends and family. How to save photographs in Lightroom that are intended for the subsequent design of the brochure?
First you need to choose the images you like. Then you need to use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + A. In the export dialog, you need to select a directory to save your photos, or you can even create a new folder called Photobook. In order for the editor to "understand" the order of the images arranged by the user, the files should be renamed so that the names begin with a sequential number. It is necessary to consistently mark Rename To, Edit.
Further actions
Putting the cursor in front of the name, you need to select Sequence 001, Insert in turn. You can add custom text. To do this, select the Custom text field and separate it with an underscore. Most photobook editors only work with JPGs and PNG images. The quality slider should be moved to 90. It is also better to note the traditional sRGB color space.
Next, you should select the size and resolution of the photos. The basic principle: you must not take pictures too small, otherwise the sharpness will change greatly. If the exported images are large, they will be reduced automatically in the photobook editor. However, it is worth at least roughly estimating the size of the pictures in the layout. If the photographs are of gigantic resolution, then the user should save the thumbnails with suitable sharpness settings. This will save disk space.
Additional settings
Sharpness settings are for inkjet printers and screens. In the case of photobooks, printing technologies are different, but this does not mean that the pictures do not need sharpening. Usually consistently set “matte paper” and “standard” settings work well. However, they will be superfluous in the case of a woman's portrait. Therefore, you should try the service of printing a test photobook. The rest of the settings can be set at your discretion. Next, you need to minimize the metadata and select "Open catalog after export". How to save a preset in Lightroom for exporting layout images? To do this, click on the Export button.
Creating a preset
All of these settings should be saved as a custom preset. After completing this task, the user will no longer have to search in the bookmarks for an article on how to save a photo to Lightroom, and manually repeat the above procedure every time when you need to export a JPEG file to a computer directory. In order for the preset to be used more efficiently, some modifications should be made to it.
Changing a preset
If you create a separate preset now, every time you use it, the JPEG photos will be saved in the Foto folder. Better to uncheck the Put in Subfolder checkbox right away. Then you need to create a new directory on your desktop. Next, you should assign it a suitable name, for example JPEG, and click on the Choose button to find it in the list. Then you need to select the newly created directory as a special folder for exporting photos. All JPEG images will be saved there. Therefore, you should select the Ask What to Do item in the Existing Files drop-down list in case the program finds files with the same names in this directory.
How to save a preset in Lightroom
In addition, the user may need to rename the files, since the images named Foto were already saved in the directory during the previous export. In this case, select Filename from the Template drop-down list. The current file names will be retained. The next step is to create a preset from the updated settings by clicking the Add button at the bottom in the Preset area of \u200b\u200bthe Export dialog box. The user can give it a name. This should be done in the New Preset dialog box that opens. How to save a preset in Lightroom? You just need to click on the Create button.
User presets
After clicking the Create button, the saved preset will appear in the User Presets section. To export JPEG images using the desired settings, just click on it. The user may need to make changes to a saved preset, such as clearing a check box to set a watermark. To perform this task, right-click on the set (in Windows) and select Update with Current Settings, or click on it while holding down the Ctrl key (in Macintosh).
Other preset variations
If the user was able to open the Export dialog box, configure the export of photos according to his needs and, finally, learn how to save a photo to Lightroom, then nothing prevents him from creating another preset as a modification of the first, for example, for the subsequent JPEG demonstration -images in web galleries.
To do this, set the resolution to 72 dpi in the special Resolution field. This graph is in the Image Sizing area. Next, select Screen and Sharpen For from the Standard and Amount drop-down lists, respectively. Do not forget about the Add Copyright Watermark checkbox, thanks to which the images will be protected from unauthorized use. After making changes, click on the Add button and give the new preset a suitable name.
from Lightroom to a computer using a preset
After creating presets, the user can forget about accessing dialog box export. This saves a lot of time. To export JPEG images, select the required images, and then follow the menu items File, Export with Preset. Next, you need to click on a specific preset. After that, you can safely watch the automatic export of images, carried out without user intervention. Anyone who wants to know how to save a photo in Lightroom will agree that it is very simple and convenient!
Greetings to you dear readers of my blog. We are in touch with you, Timur Mustaev. Today I want to continue with the Lightroom theme. In the last article, we learned. Today we will talk about exporting processed photos.
Everyone who started working with this program faces this problem. For some reason the developers made this function so clever, I still can't figure it out. Well, okay, that is, that is!
In my practice, this has not been done without it either. As I already said, the first problems I had with opening photos in the program, but about export, it was generally a disaster.
Only because of these two misunderstandings, many people who open Lightroom immediately throw it away, believing that it is very difficult and do not want to waste their precious time. But today I will dispel the myth about complexity, and you will learn how to save a photo in lightroom after processing.
Where to begin?
We will not touch on the processing of the photo today. Since this is the topic of more than one article. There are so many chips and interesting goodies that we will consider separately in each article for a detailed understanding of the program.
And so, you processed the photo, corrected the contrast, brightness, saturation, pulled out details from the shadows, removed highlights, evened out the color of the sky, if it is a landscape. Or maybe they retouched the skin, removed pimples, skin irregularities, whitened teeth, if this is a portrait.
In short, you worked with the image and decided to save.
From this moment, we will begin to describe in detail all the actions.
Save photos
I will show the whole example in Lightroom 5, in the Russian version. If you have software in English, do all the sequential steps, that will be the translation for you. It is not possible to be impressed! The same actions will be for 3 and 6 versions, the essence is unchanged.
There are 2 ways to save
1 way
Let's say we have a processed file that you want to save.
Right click on the main (large) photo. In the drop-down menu, select Export.
Tab Export... I always export To the selected folder... I show the way, right away. In this submenu, there are more items: Select folder later and Place in originals folderby clicking on the arrow.
Place in subfolder... I do not check the box here.
Add this directory, a check mark is not needed here either.
If the file exists... Here I select the item - Ask for action.
Replace name with - put a tick and choose Set name... I like to control the whole process, so I give the name right away.
We dwell on the categories in detail File format.
Quality put 80
, it's in good quality. If you want the best, put the value 100
.
Format: JPEG... There is also PSD, TIFF, DNG, Original. We are interested in jpeg export.
Metadata... I put Everything... What it is. This is all the data about the photo. What shutter speed, what was used, camera model, lens model and other useful information.
Further, Watermark... Let's dwell here in more detail too. In lightroom there is an opportunity to set a copyright notice for each photo. What it is, let's look at an example. Check the box. Click on the arrow to open a submenu. We choose in it Watermark editor.
The editor menu opens. As you can see, I wrote my last name in the text. It is used as a copyright for the photograph.
Here you can work with the font, with the shadow, with the color, with the transparency, in which edge to place the copyright, and so on.
To get to other options, move the slider down or click on the arrow. Here we have some more parameters that we can work on. Experiment, see what happens. Fear not, you can always press a button Cancellation.
For example, I don't use this copyright feature in Lightroom 5. In the beginning I used it as soon as I started to master this software. Now, if necessary, I do all the modifications in Photoshop.
The last remaining export point is Post-processing... I put - Nothing to do... If I need to finalize a photo, I do this when I have processed all the photos I have taken.
Finally, press the button Export.
That's it, your photo has been exported to the folder you want. We look and enjoy the result.
2 way
The second way to export is through the main menu. File – Export.
Finally
If you do not want to wait for the next articles on processing, but want to learn Lightroom as quickly as possible, then the video version of the training is for you. Course "" is what you need. Wonderful video course. Everything is presented in understandable, human language, without scientific phrases, especially for beginners. I highly recommend it as a good helper in your endeavors.
Lightroom is an indispensable tool for the modern photographer
DSLR for Beginner 2.0 - for NIKON camera users.
My first MIRROR - for CANON camera users.
I tried to explain everything in the simplest possible language. If you have any wishes, questions about the article, write in the comments, I will definitely answer. No need to keep questions in yourself, ask, develop as much as possible useful for yourself!
That's all for me. I am finishing this article. Subscribe to the update. Recommend to friends in social networks, even if they know all the subtleties of lightroom.
All the best to you, Timur Mustaev.
Updated 11.07. Views 34640 Comments 76
I got to the last article related to photography, hurray! On the topic of processing, there are many holivars on the network: both regarding what it should / should not be done, and regarding how exactly to do it. My opinion on this topic is based on what result I personally want to get and at what cost. To clarify: first of all, I shoot for the blog and for my family archive, that is, I do not earn my living directly from photographs. Plus, I can't spend too much time on them, otherwise I won't have time to work, after all, I have to process a lot of photos. I have 2-3 articles per week on my site, each with about 20-40 photos. On the other hand, I also cannot release completely unprocessed ones, they are faded (because RAW), there are often too bright or too dark areas, and so on, and I myself do not like such photos. That is, one could, probably, upload any, but this is not my option.
All parts of my FAQ for aspiring photographers
How I process photos in Lightroom
Thus, I am a supporter of shallow processing due to the lack of motivation to spend a lot of time on it, and I do not see much of a difference for myself yet. Of course, occasionally I can conjure a little longer, but this "masterpiece" still has nowhere to go. Now all the processing takes place in Lightroom, and I have already forgotten other programs when I used it. So, if you are with Photoshop, and you prefer to process photos quite strongly, then in the post you are unlikely to find something worthwhile for yourself :)
As I said, all the processing is done in Lightroom, and it's pretty simple. In fact, I only crop and flatten the horizon, draw out shadows and darken highlights, add color and sharpness.
Photo import and presets
I insert the flash drive from the camera into the card reader and import the photo with transfer to an external hard drive. I will write about storing photos below. When importing, I use the pre-created presets: and. Now I use only the latter (I have a Sony A6500), it has more settings for my camera and for how I shoot. There are also a couple for the phone and a second camera.
But the presets are very similar, they differ a little only in the settings of shadows, highlights and exposure, and I constantly adjust them, since my opinion changes, then once again I try to adjust the settings for most photos in order to process them less. Some of the repeating settings: Clarity +25, Vibrance +25, Sharpening +60, Noise Reduction Luminance +65, Enable Lens Correction. The latter is quite important, as it adjusts the photo (mainly geometric distortions are removed) to your lens. But this is in case Lightroom knows your camera. For example, for Canon G7xm2 I then have to manually select something similar to it.
Regarding presets, I want to say right away that there is no right or wrong here. Well, if we talk about amateurs, the pros are different, although they may have a special author's style. Therefore, you can create a preset for yourself with any settings you like, and it will be right. After all, the main thing is that it suits you, you process them, simply because "I see it that way." Here, of course, you can argue, I do not insist :) It's never too late to read about professional processing, how gurus suggest using this or that setting, and change your presets.
I do not rename the files, I leave them as they are.
Photo thinning
The next step after import and before processing is decimation. I usually delete: photos that are blurry, duplicates (when about 20 photos of the same object were taken), all photos with a marriage (too dark, too light, etc.), just photos that I don't like. Sometimes I can and leave with marriage, if there is nothing like this, and the photo is very necessary.
But in general, after a couple of years of photography, I began to spend much less time on thinning and thin out less carefully, at first I left almost 50% somewhere. Easier hard drives change to more capacious ones and buy new ones than sit for a few days and thin out. Moreover, my archive is not growing so fast. Plus, besides, more than once there was such a moment that suddenly a remote photograph was needed, albeit a defective one.
Thinning occurs also in Lightroom, I mark the photo as Rejected with the X key, then I delete all marked ones at once.
Cropping and aligning the horizon
At first I did framing very often, then apparently I took aim and I build a normal composition already at the stage of photographing. In the article I said that I use the rule of thirds, so when cropping, I use it in the same way. Not fanatical.
White balance
Since I always take pictures with automatic white balance, I correct it in the eye program using the Temp and Tint levers. I mostly use the first, the second less often. Sometimes you can use Auto to get Lightroom's opinion. By the way, it is difficult to correct colors on ordinary monitors, because they are not calibrated, and the matrices themselves have poor color reproduction. That is, you will do as you see fit, but other users will see everything quite differently.
Now I have a Macbook Pro 15 ″ with retina display... I consider it, of course, not a reference, but very good in terms of color rendition. Also 15 inches of dual resolution is enough for me to process photos.
Stretching shadows and darkening highlights
Since many photographs have some dynamic range issues, processing can reduce them. To do this, I lighten the shadows with the Shadows lever (move to the plus), then darken the too bright Highlights (move to minus). I adjust the resulting result by Exposure (plus or minus, depending on the situation) and often also adjust White and Blacks. Yes, and I almost forgot, I add Contrast, because when the shadows are lightened, it is lost, and from time to time I add Clarity (up to 50), increasing the micro contrast. Although usually the contrast and microcontrast are immediately set by the preset when importing to the fixed values \u200b\u200bI need (+10 and +25, respectively).
I personally like micro-contrast photos more than contrast or sharpened photos. Therefore, sometimes I even take Shadows away a lot, and then increase Clarity even more. How watchable it is for you, you decide for yourself. Well, I often do contrast not at the expense of Contrast, but at the expense of White and Blacks, so it turns out to adjust it more precisely, because they are regulated from “two sides”.
Adding color
Previously, I used 2 presets: Blue Sky 0.5 (), or Skin toning lighter (). The first preset was spied on by Sergei Doli (it was called Matts Blue Sky 1), but I slightly altered it, reduced the parameter changes by half. The second one I don't remember where I downloaded it. So, now Blue Sky 0.5 is already “hard-wired” into the preset upon import, so I have reduced my processing steps a little more.
Blue Sky is needed to increase the blueness of the sky, but for this it should not be too overexposed (otherwise it will be useless), and to increase the saturation of yellow and orange colors. It is important to mention that sometimes you need to set Luminance back to zero for the blue color, otherwise the blue comes out unnatural.
Skin toning changes the balance of light, making the skin tone more true to life. But the truth and everything around also changes the balance, not just the skin. So let's say, for lovers of warm shades and lamp-like.
Sharpening and noise reduction
Since all the photos go either to the blog or on Instagram, that is, the photos will be viewed only from the screen, and not in the maximum resolution, but about 1000 px in width, the sharpness can be painlessly raised in the program. Sharpness is also set by the preset during import (+60). Depending on the photo, I can decrease the Sharpening values \u200b\u200bto avoid excessive sharpness or noise. Actually, I also neutralize noise when importing, and then I rarely touch the Luminance lever (+65). Basically, you have to reduce Sharpening and Luminance for jpegs received from a soap dish or a smartphone.
And again I will mention the Clarity tool here. In fact, it also sharpens the photo.
Using additional tools
More often than not, I use a gradient filter to lighten / darken part of a photo, or change the contrast or white balance of a specific part of a photo. Sometimes it is better to use a brush instead, which is more convenient when you need to change a complex area, for example, a face, on which, on the contrary, you need to remove Clarity (otherwise it will be too structural). IN latest versions In Lightroom, these tools are much more customizable, you can change whatever you want for the selected area.
Less often I use a stamp to remove some garbage from a photo.
Export
After I have processed the image, I check the box (Set Flag -\u003e Flagged) with the P key.This will allow, after I finish with all the images, display only them using the filter (Filter by flag -\u003e Flagged only), view once again only for processed images and export them all in bulk. For each article, I usually process about 20-40 photos.
I have already created a special preset for export. The folder for export is selected in it, the size of the exported jpeg (2048 × 2048), its quality (75%), sharpness during export (High), saving meta data, watermark (configurable and saved as a preset too). For Instagram, I make 100% quality, I don't add watermark.
Final result
In fact, in the example above, there was some attempt to expand the dynamic range (if you expand it strongly, then there will already be a pseudo HDR). Naturally, it is not always necessary to carry out just such manipulations with photographs, but usually they are very similar: adjusting the blue / yellow balance, lightening shadows, darkening bright areas, increasing contrast. Simply, when there is not such a big difference between the dark and light areas, then the levers will not need to be moved to extreme positions, but only a little bit and this is done, of course by eye.
Why Lightroom
It's simple, it just happened. I tried it and I liked this program. It's great for correcting photos, not for deep editing them. Everything is done for this, there are all the tools. Plus, I also have the entire library of photos in it, and you can quickly find everything you need: there are a bunch of different filters, you can set tags for photos (I really don't use this at all).
There are plenty of analogues, but I don't want to try anything yet, everything suits.
About resize in Wordrpess
I can't help but mention one thing that can be important for bloggers on the WordPress platform. I upload photos to the blog with a size of 2048px in width, but in the post they are displayed at a size of 800 px (full size on click, the photo is shown in a lightbox). If you upload full-size photos on your blog, and the engine resizes them to the size you need, then this is not an idea, if quality is important to you, of course. The fact is that the built-in resize will spoil the sharpness pretty much, the photo is blurry. However, few visitors will notice this, unless you have a portfolio of a photographer offering your services. Well, there may not be enough space on the hosting, since a full-size JPG can easily take up 10 megabytes.
Alternatively, use the Sharpen Resized Images plugin, it will add sharpness when resizing, but it also does it quite roughly.
How do I store photos
All photos, videos and other files are stored on the Seagate 4TB external portable hard drive, because they do not fit on the laptop drive. This disc I always have with me. The photo archive currently takes up about 1.5 TB (2017), which is actually not very much if you are a photographer or blogger and shoot a lot. The file structure is shown in the screenshot below. As a rule, there is a separate folder for each trip, inside which there are 2-3 more folders for each of the cameras. But if the trip is long and in different cities, then for each city its own folder is also created.
The folders have the following structure: Year / Month_Number_Name of the Event / Shooting device. The directory structure in Lightroom is exactly the same. And what is convenient, you can put a photo in any of the folders on the disk, and then synchronize this folder in Lightroom, and the photo will appear in the program. For me, such a structure is quite convenient for storage, and does not take additional time for cataloging, I did it once and that's it. Now there is simply a trend to lump everything together, and only then the program itself distributes the photos according to different criteria. I like this option less.
I keep the photo in the originals, that is, in RAW, so that I can turn the photo into what I need at any time. And in Lightroom, in my settings, it is worth saving all information about the photo to XMP files. Indeed, during RAW processing, nothing happens to the file itself, all information about the actions taken is stored in the catalog file. So XMP is a duplicate of information for each photo, it weighs quite a bit, so the total volume is not particularly increased. Due to XMP files, transferring photos to other computers is simplified and this is a kind of protection against the fact that something happens to the catalog file, there have already been precedents, it was necessary to delete it.
Where to backup photos
Besides how to store photos, it is important where else to backup them. First you need to remember the golden rule that there should be 2 backups... As I said, all my photos are stored on an external hard drive, that is, this is the main database, and you still need to make 2 backups (copies) to it. Your main base can be on a hard laptop, it's more convenient.
I make the first backup to another external hard drive. About once every 3 months (and before each trip) I make a complete copy from one external (main) to the second (backup). So that it does not take time, I set to copy at night, and in the morning everything is ready. I do not take the second hard drive on trips, that is, the risk of ruining it is minimal.
I make the second backup to the cloud from the main hard, specifying the folder with the base as a folder for the cloud. While I am using cloud service Mail.RU, since in 2014 they had a promotion and they gave 1TB for life. But this place was no longer enough for me, plus I do not like the download speed, and the fact that the storage is not very reliable, there was already a case when they deleted some of the files for me. Therefore, I want to switch to which is currently considered the most functional and safe. There is a good paid tariff with no space restrictions. In principle, I already use it, store important files, but for now free tariff.
And one more important, as it seems to me, point. Since on all trips I take only one external hard drive where the main database is stored, that is, the risk of ruining it. This is not scary, since a copy is stored at home, but you can lose photos from current trips if you constantly transfer them from a flash drive to your main drive. So, if possible, I leave all the files on the flash drive, and do not delete them immediately after transferring them to the hard drive. Yes, for this you need a larger volume of flash drives (or several pieces) so that they are enough for the whole trip, but there is a guarantee. Also, if the trip has good internet at the hotel, the files are also sent to the cloud.
P.S. That's all I can tell you about photo processing and storage. Not a lot, but that is :)
Life hack # 1 - how to buy good insurance
It is unrealistically difficult to choose insurance now, therefore, to help all travelers. To do this, I constantly monitor forums, study insurance contracts and use insurance myself.
If you follow the work of some photographers, you may have noticed that each of them have their own style. But this does not mean that they try to make each of their photographs similar to the previous one. An example of such photographers can be club photographers.
At first glance, the work of a club photographer may seem interesting, fun (after all, he works in an entertainment place), but imagine what it is like to process hundreds, thousands of photos? And you need to hand over the work quickly. Comes to our aid.
So, we have processed one photo, how to process the rest? I suggest you create your preset!
Choose a photo that you like and on the basis of which you want to make a preset. Attention, you must "be" in the " Corrections”.
Have you chosen? Now let's start saving the preset. Way create preset two, they are no different, but for you, dear readers, I will show two at once. Moreover, the differences will be only in one step.
Step 1.1. In the menu, look for the section “ Corrections"And in the submenu" New preset ...”
Step 1.2. Or you can use the “+” button in the preset list.
Step 2. In the window that appears in front of us, the program will offer to select the settings that you want to include in the preset. And also choose a name for the future preset.
Step 3. After saving the preset, it will appear in the “ User presets”.
And we learned save your preset in lightroom.
Now you can use your preset on other photos. But, you must understand that in one photo it can look perfect, while in another it is just awful. The shooting conditions are different, and it is worth using it only for the same photo session, and then, most likely, you will have to correct each photo. But, this is better than processing a photo from scratch for every frame.
