Lightroom-News.com

Due to the high number of people who have linked to and visited Ian Lyons Lightroom 2.0 Beta review, the original site link has had to be updated. If you want to check out Ian’s review, then please use this link instead.

Here is a quick tutorial about one of the subtle new features in the Lightroom 2.0 Develop module.

A less obvious innovation in Lightroom 2.0 is the ability to apply a negative Clarity adjustment. But now that it is implemented, one can foresee quite a few creative possibilities. Negative Clarity does the opposite of a normal Clarity adjustment as it softens the midtones, and the way that it does this produces an effect that is not too dissimilar to a traditional darkroom diffusion printing technique. The net result is that you can create some quite beautiful diffuse soft focus image effects which are particularly suited to black and white photography. It’s a bit like being able to add a cloudy sky lighting effect. Here’s how it works…

Tom Hogarty has announced the release of both Lightroom 1.4.1 and Camera RAW 4.4.1:

The Lightroom 1.4.1 and Camera Raw 4.4.1 updates have been posted to the following locations: Lightroom(Mac, Win), Camera Raw(Mac, Win). The updates provide all of the changes included in the original Lightroom 1.4 and Camera Raw 4.4 releases but also include corrections for issues described below and in previous blog posts.  The Camera Raw plug-in will also be available later this evening via the Adobe Update Manager and the Lightroom update can be located by choosing ‘Check for Updates…’ under the Help menu. 
The Lightroom and Camera Raw team apologize for any inconveniences caused by the issues presented in the initial updates.

Go to Lightroom Journal for full details.

Source: Lightroom Journal

Lightroom Journal has posted an announcement of the Lightroom Beta , a quick overview of what is new in Lightrom 2 and how you can sign up now to take part in the new beta program.

“Version 2 of Lightroom is now available as a public beta, allowing the the photographic community to provide feedback on new features and workflow enhancements. It’s hard to believe that Lightroom 1.0 was released just over a year ago and Lightroom 1.1 shortly thereafter. It really feels like the beta process never stopped and we’ve received a ton of great feedback through the feature request submissions, customer conversations, forum discussions, tradeshows and targeted customer visits. We’re glad to continue the process by releasing this version before it’s final to get your opinions on our progress. This is different from the previous Lightroom beta in that we’ll be targeting feedback on new enhancements and aiming to release the final version sooner than we did in the previous year-long beta. I’ve provided a few key notes below but I strongly recommend reading the entire Release Notes document available on Labs.adobe.com.”

Press Relsease: SAN JOSE, Calif. - April 2, 2008 - Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 beta, a public preview of new and improved functionality to be delivered in the next major release. Lightroom is the professional photographer’s essential toolbox, providing one application for managing, adjusting, presenting large volumes of digital photographs. Lightroom 2.0 beta will feature enhancements such as dual-monitor support, localized dodge and burn correction and will be the first Adobe application to support 64-bit for Mac OS X 10.5 Intel Macs and Microsoft Vista 64-bit operating systems.

The Lightroom 1.4 update for Mac and Windows has been temporarily removed from the Adobe.com web site. Those Lightroom users who have installed Lightroom 1.4 should uninstall the update and install Lightroom 1.3.1.(Mac, Win) until a further update can be provided.

For those not in immediate need of the updated camera support available in Camera Raw 4.4 or the DNG 4.4 Converter, it’s recommended that you also continue working with the 4.3.1 versions. (Mac, Win) This decision is based on the following errors that have been discovered with the recent update:

The Lightroom 1.4 and Camera Raw 4.4 updates have been posted to the following locations: Lightroom(Mac, Win), Camera Raw(Mac, Win). The updates include support for the following new camera models:

In a post on the Lightroom Journal Tom Hogarty, Lightroom Product Manager has posted download URLs for the Mac and Win versions of Lightroom 1.3.1. In addition to resolving the issues relating to compressed NEF files, Lightroom 1.3.1 addresses the following issues:

• The Lightroom 1.3 Print Module could previously cause the application to crash on either OS X 10.5 or 10.5.1 during template usage. 
• On Mac OS X 10.5 or 10.5.1, the import process from a card reader or other device into Lightroom could fail to import all or a portion of the selected images. 
• A decrease in Develop slider responsiveness introduced in Lightroom 1.3 has been corrected.
• The Lightroom 1.3 Develop module could cause the application to crash if adjustments were made in quick succession.
• Compressed raw files from the Nikon D100 were read incorrectly in Lightroom 1.3.
• A possible artifact in raw file support for the Olympus E-3 has been corrected.
• The Lightroom FTP Plug-in provided as sample code with the Export SDK did not function properly if the password was not saved with the selected FTP preset.
• Editing or creating a new FTP preset immediately prior to using the FTP plug-in provided as sample code with the Export SDK would cause the FTP process to fail.
• Using the Export as Previous option did not work with the FTP plug-in provided as sample code with the Export SDK.  

Lightroom and Camera RAW Product Manager, Tom Hogarty has announced the upcoming availability of updates to both Lightroom and Camera RAW. These are both bug fix updates to the applications. Tom has promised that these updates will be available within the week.

“Lightroom and Camera Raw will be updated to 1.3.1 and 4.3.1 respectively within the next week. These updates provide corrections for issues introduced in the last release as well as additional Lightroom Leopard compatibility.”
Read the full article..

The latest Lightroom 1.3 update features an updated Export dialog with several new features. Rather than just pick out what’s new, I thought I would us this opportunity to write up a complete guide to all the Export controls: what they are and which are the right options for you to use.

The Export function lets you export single or multiple photos from Lightroom as finished files, allowing you to export copies of the master images as DNGs, TIFFs, PSDs, or JPEGs. But that’s not all. You have full control over the exported file settings, where the files get saved to, whether to incorporate a post-processing action and the export settings can be saved as custom presets, making it easy for you to create and use different Export routines.