Category: Workflow

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Course Complete: “Adobe Bridge for Photographers”

All lessons have been published for my “Adobe Bridge for Photographers” course, which is focused on helping photographers make the most of Adobe Bridge for organizing and sharing their photos.

The course covers the full workflow for organizing and sharing your photos using Adobe Bridge, including tips for creating and managing a folder structure, making use of collections and stacks, keywording photos efficiently, and much more.

You can get all the details about this new course on the GreyLearning website here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/adobe-bridge-for-photographers

 

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Course Published: Photoshop for Photographers

I have published the final lessons for my comprehensive new “Photoshop for Photographers” video course. The last chance to get this course for just $69 will be tomorrow (Friday, December 8, 2023). After that the price will increase to $99.

This course include in-depth lessons (that will help photographers master the use of Photoshop for optimizing their photos. You’ll learn how to configure Photoshop to best suit your workflow and preferences, how to make use of Camera Raw to optimally process your raw captures, and learn techniques for image cleanup, targeted adjustments, creative effects, and much more.

The “Photoshop for Photographers” course is included at no additional charge in the GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle (http://timgrey.me/atg99bundle), but is also available as a standalone course. You can get more details about the course on the GreyLearning website here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/photoshop-for-photographers-2024

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Meaning of Thumbnail Badge Icons in Lightroom Classic

In Lightroom Classic you may have noticed that some photos display one or more tiny icons at the bottom-right corner of the thumbnail. These “badges” can be displayed on thumbnails in the grid view display or on the filmstrip on the bottom panel. The options for hiding or revealing these badges can be found on the menu under View > View Options for the grid view display, or on the Interface tab of the Preferences dialog for the filmstrip.

But what do these badge icons actually mean?

There are six of these badge icons, and the meaning for each is as follows:

The enhance badge indicates that the image has been processed with one of the Enhance features in Lightroom Classic, which includes Denoise, Raw Details, and Super Resolution.

The keyword tag badge indicates that one or more keywords have been added to the metadata for a photo. If you are in any module other than the Library module you can click on this badge for an image on the filmstrip to be taken directly to the Library module.

The map pushpin icon indicates that GPS coordinates are included in metadata for a photo. This could be because you used a camera with a built-in GPS receiver to capture the photo, or that GPS coordinates were added to a photo later such as by dragging the photo onto the map in the Map module. Clicking on this map pushpin badge will take you to the Map module showing the location on the map where the photo was captured.

The collections badge indicates that an image is included in one or more collections. You can click on this badge to see a popup showing the collection(s) the image has been added to, and you can click a name of a collection on that popup list to navigate directly to that collection.

The crop badge indicates that the image has been cropped in the Develop module. Clicking on this badge will take you to the Develop module with the crop tool view enabled.

The adjustment badge indicates that any adjustments have been applied in the Develop module. In other words, at least some adjustment settings have been changed from their default values.

The embedded preview badge indicates that you are only seeing the embedded preview from the source image, not a standard or 1:1 preview. I always recommend building at least the standard previews when importing photos into Lightroom Classic, in which case you would not see this badge. Note, by the way, that unlike the other badges listed above, the embedded preview badge will appear at the top-left rather than the bottom-right of the image thumbnails.

Keep in mind that these badges will only appear on photos that meet the criteria for each badge. Some photos might not have any badges associated with them at all, some might have one or two badges, and some photos could show all six of the badge options.

Note: This article has been updated from the original post to add the new badge associated with the Enhance features in Lightroom Classic.

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Online Workshop: Organizing Photos in Lightroom Classic (June 2023)

I’m happy to announce that I will be teaching an online workshop soon, focused on helping photographers get organized in Adobe Lightroom Classic. Photographers who participate in this online workshop will have the opportunity to get their questions answered directly from me both during the live online class sessions and via follow-up email.

The workshop will include six live online sessions of about two hours each, running from June 5th through the 16th. All sessions will be recorded so they can be reviewed at any time. If you’d like to improve your organizational workflow in Lightroom Classic so you’ll have the confidence of being able to find any photo quickly, you can register to join me for this online workshop here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/online-workshop-organizing-photos-in-lightroom-classic-june-2023

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Pixology Magazine April 2023

The April 2023 issue of Pixology magazine is now available, featuring the following articles:

  • Masking in Camera Raw: Learn to leverage the power of targeted adjustments in Camera Raw for Photoshop.
  • Soft Proofing in Lightroom Classic: Learn to simulate the appearance of a printed photo on your monitor display in Lightroom Classic.
  • Creative Blur Techniques: Get tips on fun techniques for blur effects in photography.
  • Using Collections: Go beyond folders by leveraging collections in Lightroom Classic.
  • Photo Story: Il Cielo Sopra Roma: Sometimes the best photo is in a direction you forgot to look.

Pixology magazine is included in the GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle, and is also available as a standalone subscription here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/pixology-magazine

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Today is World Backup Day

As photographers our photos are important to us, and so it is important that we protect them. I continue to be surprised at how often I consult with photographers and find out that they don’t back up their photos. If you are one of those photographers today, being World Backup Day, is a great day to implement a backup solution!

In today’s edition of my Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter I shared an overview of the workflow I use for backing up my photos, at the request of a reader. Here is the question and answer as published in the newsletter:

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Today’s Question: I’ve decided I am long overdue to create a system to better back up my photos. Can you provide an overview of the workflow you recommend?

Tim’s Quick Answer: My primary local backups are created using GoodSync (http://timgrey.me/greybackup) to synchronize each primary storage drive to two backup drives. I also use Backblaze (https://timgrey.me/onlinebackup) as an online backup solution, which provides an offsite copy of my data.

More Detail: I was asked this question a couple weeks ago, but since today is World Backup Day I decided to hold the question for today’s newsletter.

My primary method of backing up my photos is to create exact copies of my primary hard drives used for photo storage to at least two other backup drives. By synchronizing photos to other drives, the backup drives represent an exact copy of the primary drive. I use GoodSync software (http://timgrey.me/greybackup) for this purpose, but there are other solutions available as well.

That means that when a primary drive fails it is very easy to recover. You basically just need to connect the backup drive in place of the failed drive, and the data structure will be the same. This is especially helpful when it comes to managing photos with Lightroom Classic, because it ensures the catalog won’t be confused by a different storage structure for your photos on the backup drive.

While I always maintain at least two backup drives (and often more) for my primary drives, I also want to have an offsite backup so I can still recover even if all my drives were lost at once in a disaster. I prefer to use an online backup service for this purpose rather than having to move hard drives back and forth to a remote location myself, and I have been very happy with the online backup provided by Backblaze (https://timgrey.me/onlinebackup) for this purpose.

As a side note, because I’m a Macintosh user, I employ the Time Machine backup for the internal drive on my computer, backing up to at least two external hard drives for this purpose. This doesn’t relate to my photo storage, since I store my photos on external hard drives, but Time Machine does make it remarkably easy to recover the internal hard drive if there is a failure.

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Regardless of the specific workflow you use, the critical thing is to be sure that your photos and other important data are backed up, so that when a hard drive fails it is merely an inconvenience rather than a crisis.

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Pixology Magazine March 2023

The March 2023 issue of Pixology magazine is now available, featuring the following articles:

  • Star Rating Strategy: Get tips on the benefits of defining star ratings for your photos in a way other than the “obvious” approach.
  • Understanding Process Versions: Learn about process versions in Camera Raw and Lightroom Classic, and how to ensure you have access to the latest adjustment features for your photos.
  • Choosing a Color Space: Learn what a working space color profile is, and how to make sure you’re using the right one for optimizing your photos.
  • Survey and Compare: See how you can compare photos quickly using the helpful survey and compare view options in Lightroom Classic.
  • Photo Story: Tricolor: Tips from a local in the Palouse helped me find a canola field with unique terrain, which led to an interesting photo.

Pixology magazine is included in the GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle, and is also available as a standalone subscription here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/pixology-magazine

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Online Workshop: “Cleaning Up Your Mess in Lightroom Classic”

Just in time for a New Year’s Resolution, in January I’ll be teaching an online workshop focused on “Cleaning Up Your Mess in Lightroom Classic”.

Register now and take advantage of early Black Friday savings on this upcoming online workshop focused on helping you streamline your Lightroom Classic catalog and workflow. You’ll learn how to reconnect missing photos and folders, merge multiple catalogs into one, clean up a cluttered folder structure, and much more. Along the way you’ll have direct access to me so you can get answers to your questions, both during the live online workshop sessions and via follow-up email.

The normal price for this online workshop is $99, but for our Black Friday special you can sign up for just $59.

Get all the details, and register to join me, here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/online-workshop-cleaning-up-your-mess-in-lightroom-classic-2023-01

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New Features in Lightroom Classic 12

Adobe has released Lightroom Classic 12, and I have a video ready for you that covers the exciting new features. You can learn about the major update to image cleanup in version 12 of Lightroom Classic, see how the masking features for targeted adjustments have been updated and improved, and much more.

If you already have access to my “GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle”, or you’ve purchased my “Mastering Lightroom Classic” bundle, you already have access to the new features video at no additional cost. Just sign in to your GreyLearning account, and look for the “Lightroom Lectures” course on the My Dashboard page.

If you don’t already have access to the “Lightroom Lectures” course, you can either sign up for a subscription to the “GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle”, or purchase the “Mastering Lightroom Classic” bundle. Here are links to each of those:

GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle:
https://www.greylearning.com/bundles/greylearning-bundle?coupon=99ultimate

Mastering Lightroom Classic Bundle:
https://www.greylearning.com/bundles/lightroom-classic-bundle

I’m excited about the new features in Lightroom Classic 12, and look forward to publishing more great content totally updated for this new release over the coming days and weeks. Stay tuned!

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Pixology Magazine September 2022

The September 2022 issue of Pixology magazine is now available, featuring the following articles:

  • Instant Object Selection – Learn how to use a powerful image-analysis feature of the Object Selection tool in Photoshop to automatically select various objects in a photo.
  • Framing with a Vignette – Get insights into the use of a vignette effect to help frame up, add drama, or otherwise enhance the creative look of a photo.
  • Video in Lightroom Classic – Discover how you can work with videos alongside your still photos in the Lightroom Classic catalog.
  • Assembling an HDR – Learn how to create great high dynamic range (HDR) images using either Camera Raw in Photoshop or Lightroom Classic.
  • Photo Story: Supporting Actor – Get the story behind a photo that reminded me that even a tiny element in the frame can provide support for the key subject of a photo.

Pixology magazine is included in the GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle, and is also available as a standalone subscription here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/pixology-magazine