Lightroom-News.com

LRB Exhibition from Sean McCormack of Lightroom Blog has been updated to version 1.1. Feature additions and bug fixes include:

1.1
Added Top Gap
Added Numbers checkbox
Added body image check box.
Fixed repeat
Changed less for fewer
Change UI colours
Added a Switch to the galleries to hide the menu and force all images into Gallery 1, acting as a single gallery rather than a website.
Added Number Height slider
Added Menu Gap slider
Menu gallery swap
Menu and Identity Plate transparency choices
Added Flickr code and made icon.
Body Height added
Fixed spacing in Gallery numbers for Gallery 4, 5, & 6.
Add tiles for number colour and hover colour.
Changed copyright date
Fixed bug that caused error code to be visible when someone enters a period (.) in a number box.

Current users can update using their download link, and this counts as one of the 9 downloads they purchased. It’s not compulsory to download, unless you need the features and bug fixes here. The 9 downloads can be used as the user sees fit. For those interested in the plugins features and purchase information, you can access the main LRB Exhibition Page.

Timothy Armes has just released a new Web Engine for Lightroom called “Impact”. The gallery fills the web browser with imagery in order to provoke the greatest emotional response from the viewer. Tim discusses the philosophy of the gallery design on his blog.

As with his first Web Engine (Elegance), Impact is distributed as a plugin which simplifies the installation process and allows Tim to keep users up to date with automatic updates.

The gallery also feature some other interesting features, such as:
Multiple image resolutions are exported and the most appropriate resolution is used when displaying the images. This ensures fast loading on mobile devices without penalising the image quality on desktop machines.
Users can bookmark images and return directly to them (the URL changes as the slideshow advances).
Designed for iPhone. The iPhone will be served with low resolution images to increase download speed. When viewed in landscape mode the navigation bar is automatically moved out of way to leave more room for the images. Finally, users may then swipe between images.
Pure HTML/Javascript – no Flash.
Image scaling is handled using some clever HTML rather than relying on Javascript. This results in a more fluid user experience when resizing the browser.
Impact is available from the Photographer’s Toolbox.

Timothy Armes has today released version 1.10 of “PLUS for Lightroom”. This plugin is used to embed PLUS image licensing metadata into images as they are exported from Lighroom.

The major new feature in the release is the ability to specify multiple PLUS “Packs” when defining a license. A PLUS Pack is essentially a pre-packaged set of image rights usages that significantly simplify the specification of image licences for many common scenarios – they form part of the PLUS standard.

PLUS for Lightroom is the first PLUS application to offer the ability to specify multiple packs. This was new territory and Timothy worked with PLUS to iron out complications that he came across.

You can learn more about the plugin here:

http://photographers-toolbox.com/products/plusforlightroom.php?sec=change

You can learn more about the plus standard here:

http://www.useplus.com/

Timothy Armes has just released version 1.20 of his Elegance web engine for Lightroom.

Version 1.20 offers a few bug fixes, but the most interesting change could be prove to revolutionise the distribution of Web Engines in general – Elegance is now distributed as a Lightroom plugin.

Traditionally Lightroom Web Engines have been treated as second class citizens. In comparison to plugins, which are installed and managed easily using Lightroom’s plugin manager, the installation of web engines has been a little ‘old-fashioned’, requiring the user to create a specific folder on his or her file system and then copy the Web Engine inside that.

Lightroom doesn’t afford Web Engines the same degree of flexibility as plugins either. The most obvious disadvantage is that updates have to be done manually since there’s no convenient way for a web engine to check for updates automatically.

Timothy decided to use his experience developping Lightroom plugins to circumvent these issues. Distrubuted as a plugin, Elegance is now installed using Lightroom’s plugin manager. The plugin then handles the installation of the Web Engine on the user’s behalf, provides easy access to the user’s registration and also checks for updates automatically. It’s really a very ‘Elegant’ solution (pun intended).

This isn’t the first time that Timothy’s squeezed an extra mile out of Lightroom’s plugin support. When export plugin support was first added to Lightroom 1.3 he quickly thought well outside the box to create the very popular LR/Enfuse – a plugin used to blend multiple exposures together directly from within Lightroom – thereby providing a service that didn’t seem to have anything to do with exporting at all…

You can learn more about Elegance from here:

http://photographers-toolbox.com/products/elegance.php

Matthew Campagna has announced that TTG Stage has been updated to version 2.2. The most exciting addition is the new liquid stage mode, which sizes Flash galleries such that they occupied the entirety of the browser viewport, minus the space needed for the header and site menu. Pretty cool stuff.

He’s also revised Google Analytics implementation, included new options for adding custom CSS and scripts to the page and more.

The new liquid stage:

http://demo.theturninggate.net/galleries/ttg_stage/stage_02_simpleviewer2/

And here’s the original, fixed layout (still an option for use):

http://demo.theturninggate.net/galleries/ttg_stage/stage_01_simpleviewer2/

The full news posting with complete changelog is here:
http://lightroom.theturninggate.net/2010/02/flash-goes-liquid-in-ttg-stage-2-2/

TTG Stage currently supports Airtight Interactive’s SimpleViewer, AutoViewer and PostcardViewer, as well as MonoSlideshow, Polaroid Gallery, FlashNifties, SlideShow Pro, DIMIN Slideshow and the Lightroom Flash Gallery. TTG Stage can also display photo sets from your Flickr account.

Lightroom Blog has announced the launch of LRB Exhibition, a new web gallery plugin for Lightroom. This plugin provides a showcase style website for Lightroom users.

Features

More information at Lightroom Blog.

With the recent update to the Lightroom Adobe Certified Expert exam to version 2, Examaids have updated their self help study guide for the exam. The aid contains 335 questions to help the user hone their study for the exam. It also covers the topic list as set out in the new ACE guidelines. There’s a study mode and a practice mode to get you prepared.

More Info: Mac , PC

Matthew Campagna has announced TTG Highslide Gallery Pro 1.9.1 is now available with the following updates:

He also recently released a cool new tool, TTG Viewport Sizer. The tool is available as a free download from the website, and is fully explained and demonstrated here:
http://lightroom.theturninggate.net/special-purpose-templates/ttg-viewport-sizer/

And finally, The Turning Gate has been given a new, Lightroomy redesign for 2010.

Tom Hogarty has announced the availability of Lightroom 2.6 and Camera Raw 5.6 as final releases on Adobe.com and through the update mechanisms available in Photoshop CS4 and Lightroom 2. These updates include camera support for the following models: Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, Canon EOS 7D, Canon PowerShot G11, Canon PowerShot S90, Leaf Aptus-II 5, Mamiya DM22, Mamiya DM28, Mamiya DM33, Mamiya DM56, Mamiya M18, Mamiya M22, Mamiya M31, Nikon D3s, Olympus E-P2, Panasonic DMC-FZ38, Pentax K-x, Sigma DP1s, Sony A500, Sony A550, Sony A850,

Release Notes:
Camera Raw 5.6 and Lightroom 2.6 provide a fix for an issue affecting PowerPC customers using the final Lightroom 2.5, Camera Raw 5.5 and DNG Converter 5.5 updates on the Mac. The issue, introduced in the demosaic change to address sensors with unequal green response, has the potential to create artifacts in highlight areas when processing raw files from Sony, Olympus, Panasonic and various medium format digital camera backs.
The Lightroom 3 beta has not been updated with this new camera support. If you’re working with one of these newer cameras and the Lightroom 3 beta, please use the DNG Converter 5.6 to convert proprietary formats to DNG files that can be used in the Lightroom 3 beta.
This release includes improved camera profiles for the Leica M9 and Ricoh GXR.

Camera Raw 5.6 Download: Mac, PC. Lightroom 2.6 Download: Mac, PC.

The Turning Gate has released a meaty update to TTG Highslide Gallery Pro with version 1.9. This latest version includes a new PHP-based proprietary shopping cart that allows gallery visitors to submit purchase orders without online transaction. A sample gallery demonstrates the new shopping cart system. Also included is the ability to set separate pricing for individual gallery items via IPTC metadata, configurable download links, and a number of other fixes and improvements.

A detailed overview of new features as been posted to The Turning Gate blog. The 1.9 update is free to existing subscribers, and available for $40 to new, unsubscribed users.

These new features come in addition to previously included e-commerce features for Fotomoto, PayPal and FoxyCart.

Additionally, updates have been released for TTG Pages, TTG Simpleviewer-2, TTG Stage and the standard version TTG Highslide Gallery. See The Turning Gate for full details.