Question about workflow

Tuna · January 2, 2008

I'm a pretty new photographer and am just an amateur/hobbyist at best. Anyway, I just am curious what everybody's workflow is like and what people do to keep everything as simple and efficient as possible. I have CS3 and Lightroom and they don't seem to integrate all that well together from what I can see. Currently, I work with the photo in Lightroom, then export it as a PSD to the Untitled Export folder. I then open it with CS3 and work with it there and when I'm finished, I save it as a jpeg. The whole process seems very inneficient to me, but right now it's not a huge deal because I don't process enough images for it to be much of a hassle. I'd just like to know what I can do to help myself out a bit more. Any suggestions or tips are welcome.

Also, a question about Lightroom, to highjack my own thread. Is there a way to save two different sets of settings in Lightroom? I had an image that I processed as a B&W with everything the way I liked it, and then today after learning a new Photoshop technique, I wanted to try it out on that photo but in color, so I went back through and changed everything for that photo in Lightroom. Is there a way to save everything the way you want it and then sort of have a duplicate of the same image, but with different settings? Does that make sense? :scratch

Icebear · January 2, 2008

I don't have enough time right now to properly respond to all the issues you raise, and especially the ones you didn't even know you raised. By the time I get back to this thread, I'm sure a lot of people will give you lots of helpful advice, but here's my quick and dirty.

You need to get a good book on Lightroom. You obviously are not getting a dime's worth out of the Library Module. Seriously. And look up "Snapshots" in the Develop module.

Really - I gotta go. Later.

colourbox · January 2, 2008

Tuna wrote:

Is there a way to save everything the way you want it and then sort of have a duplicate of the same image, but with different settings? Does that make sense?

You want to look into the Virtual Copies feature. It will do what you want. One file appearing twice in the library with different settings. You can also use Snapshots, which are two saved states within one file.

Tuna · January 3, 2008

Thanks for the comments so far. Any recommendations on some good reading for Lightroom or CS3? I'm currently in Iraq, so online reading is preferred, but if there are good books that you'd recommend, I can order them from Amazon.com if need be. I'll just have to wait a bit longer before I can start the reading.

cmason · January 3, 2008

Lightroom and CS3 are very well integrated, but the trick comes from approaching things from Lightroom , not from CS3. Simply do most of your work in Lightroom, and when you need CS3 for capabilities not available in Lightroom, simply select the photo and then select 'Photo/Edit in Photoshop".

You can choose to edit with Lightroom changes (my favorite) then the photo loads in CS3. You do your edits, then select "save" and simply return to Lightroom: your edited photo will be right there in Lightroom! Then when you need a JPG, export in Lightroom. I create an edit folder under each dated folder, to hold all my edited JPG.

btw, I don't often convert to JPG much anymore, realizing that I can do that anytime I like, over and over again, so no real reason to keep JPG. I also use 'virtual copies" to allow me multiple versions of photos.

Btw, I have found the podcast: Lightroom Killer Tips to be very helpful...the free videos are well done: http://www.lightroomkillertips.com/

Try this one for CS3/Lightroom integration

arodney · January 3, 2008

cmason wrote:

Lightroom and CS3 are very well integrated, but the trick comes from approaching things from Lightroom , not from CS3. Simply do most of your work in Lightroom, and when you need CS3 for capabilities not available in Lightroom, simply select the photo and then select 'Photo/Edit in Photoshop".

Exactly! Two very different tools doing quite different functions (that from afar, appear similar). Do as much global tone and color work and iterations (B&W conversions, differing crops) in Lightroom on Virtual Copies. Only enter Photoshop when you need what that tool provides (local corrections, layer work, blending etc). I think you'll find you can do 90% of all the big work in Lightroom faster and with more flexibility (and less files on disk) than Photoshop.

Tuna · January 3, 2008

cmason wrote:

Lightroom and CS3 are very well integrated, but the trick comes from approaching things from Lightroom , not from CS3. Simply do most of your work in Lightroom, and when you need CS3 for capabilities not available in Lightroom, simply select the photo and then select 'Photo/Edit in Photoshop".

You can choose to edit with Lightroom changes (my favorite) then the photo loads in CS3. You do your edits, then select "save" and simply return to Lightroom: your edited photo will be right there in Lightroom! Then when you need a JPG, export in Lightroom. I create an edit folder under each dated folder, to hold all my edited JPG.

btw, I don't often convert to JPG much anymore, realizing that I can do that anytime I like, over and over again, so no real reason to keep JPG. I also use 'virtual copies" to allow me multiple versions of photos.

Btw, I have found the podcast: Lightroom Killer Tips to be very helpful...the free videos are well done: http://www.lightroomkillertips.com/

Try this one for CS3/Lightroom integration

Awesome! I actually was looking for some good photography podcasts the other day and didn't see this one. That helps a lot, and there are lots of videos on there that look like they may answer my many questions. I'll have to load them onto my Zune and watch them in my free time.

arodney · January 3, 2008

Tuna wrote:

Awesome! I actually was looking for some good photography podcasts the other day and didn't see this one. That helps a lot, and there are lots of videos on there that look like they may answer my many questions. I'll have to load them onto my Zune and watch them in my free time.

Don't forget this site:

http://lightroom-news.com/

jdryan3 · January 5, 2008

cmason wrote:

You can choose to edit with Lightroom changes (my favorite) then the photo loads in CS3. You do your edits, then select "save" and simply return to Lightroom: your edited photo will be right there in Lightroom!

So where is the PSD file stored?

cmason · January 5, 2008

jdryan3 wrote:

So where is the PSD file stored?

On my machine, they are saved in the same location as the photo file.

BradfordBenn · January 6, 2008

I am currently reading The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book: The Complete Guide for Photographers by Martin Evening which has some stuff that is out of date already, LR is 1.3.1 and it was written and released under 1.0 I think. However the concepts still apply. It will probably help answer a lot of these questions as well.

You might also want to check out the Adobe Creative Suite Podcast that is about Lightroom. I did a quick search using Google Reader and here are a few of the podcasts

Using Export Presets in Photoshop Lightroom 1.3.1
...newly redesigned Lightroom Export features. We'll see how to create our own presets so that we can export our images in various formats for various needs.
Adobe Creative Suite Video Podcast - Dec 10, 2007 3:38 AM
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 1.1 Workflow
...Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 1.1 workflow. From start to finish. We'll import photos, manage them in the Library, work with metadata, develop them in the Develop module, export them for email and then wrap things up with the Slideshow, Print and Web modules. While it's not possible to show every single feature of Lightroom in a single episode, this...
Adobe Creative Suite Video Podcast - Jul 23, 2007 12:49 AM
Photoshop Lightroom 1.1 New Features Overview
...popular Photoshop Lightroom. Lightroom 1.1 packs several new features and enhancements to existing features. In this episodes we'll explore some of the highlights of this great app. If you're a digital photographer or Lightroom user, you'll definitely want to check out this episode.
Adobe Creative Suite Video Podcast - Jun 28, 2007 12:35 AM
Scott Kelby shows Photoshop Lightroom's Develop Module
...Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Live Tour in Boston. Scott has been performing his Lightroom tour to sold out audiences across the US. This episode is an excerpt from the full day class (which is in New York Today!) and shows Scott covering the Lightroom Develop Module. Keep in mind that this is only 16 minutes out of an entire day. If you really want...
Adobe Creative Suite Video Podcast - Jun 7, 2007 12:52 AM
Learn how to do Keywording in Photoshop Lightroom
...Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. Why Lightroom? I know it's not a part of the Creative Suite. However, it is a workflow tool in digital photography with a lot of interest from my Photoshop viewers. So I will continue to cover it here.
Adobe Creative Suite Video Podcast - May 3, 2007 12:36 AM
Flagging, rating and more in Photoshop Lightroom
...images into Lightroom, the real test of a good photographer is narrowing your images down to the best ones. In this episode we'll see how to use a variety of different options in Lightroom to accomplish just that. If you don't have Lightroom yet, remember you can download the 30 day free trial at adobe.com and work along with me.
Adobe Creative Suite Video Podcast - Mar 26, 2007 12:08 AM
Create a web gallery in minutes using Photoshop Lightroom
Get an edge up on the competition by being fast. In this short video tutorial, see just how quickly you can get your photos up on the web in a web gallery.
Adobe Design Center - Mar 7, 2007 9:23 PM
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 1.0 Getting Started
...Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 1.0 has shipped! I couldn't be happier. Although Lightroom is not a part of the Creative Suite there is a lot of interest in the product from my viewers. Therefore I will give it some coverage. This episode starts from the very beginning - Importing your images. A lot has changed since the public beta, so you owe it to ...
Adobe Creative Suite Video Podcast - Mar 5, 2007 12:53 AM

LiquidAir · January 6, 2008

cmason wrote:

On my machine, they are saved in the same location as the photo file.

Same here. If my orginal is titled IMG_3186.CR2 and I edit in Photoshop, Lightroom creates a new file IMG_3186-Edit.psd right next to the orginal CR2 file. The new .psd file is automatically added to the Lighroom database and stacked with the RAW file.

Here is my current workflow:

Do all my global moves in Lightroom including cropping.
Before I go to Photoshop, I save a snapshot and reset the crop.
Do all my local moves in Photoshop and save.
Restore the snapshot on the orginal and sync the crop across to the .psd file.

The resulting .psd file becomes my new original.

When I am printing or generating a web resolution JPEG, I export from Lightroom to a .PSD file at the final resolution. In Photoshop, I sharpen and watermark to taste and then either print or save as a JPEG.

You'll note that in my workflow an image can go through Photoshop twice. The first time is for local editing to create a .psd file original. For that, I use the Edit in Photoshop feature. The second time is when I am printing or generating a JPEG. For that, I use the export feature because I don't plan on keeping the .psd file, so there is no reason to have it in the database.

Tuna · January 6, 2008

cmason wrote:

Lightroom and CS3 are very well integrated, but the trick comes from approaching things from Lightroom , not from CS3. Simply do most of your work in Lightroom, and when you need CS3 for capabilities not available in Lightroom, simply select the photo and then select 'Photo/Edit in Photoshop".

You can choose to edit with Lightroom changes (my favorite) then the photo loads in CS3. You do your edits, then select "save" and simply return to Lightroom: your edited photo will be right there in Lightroom! Then when you need a JPG, export in Lightroom. I create an edit folder under each dated folder, to hold all my edited JPG.

btw, I don't often convert to JPG much anymore, realizing that I can do that anytime I like, over and over again, so no real reason to keep JPG. I also use 'virtual copies" to allow me multiple versions of photos.

Btw, I have found the podcast: Lightroom Killer Tips to be very helpful...the free videos are well done: http://www.lightroomkillertips.com/

Try this one for CS3/Lightroom integration

Just wanted to say thanks again for this link.

He had lots of helpful videos and I feel I've gotten everything much more organized than it previously was. Also, I've learned about a lot of features that I wasn't even aware that Lightroom had, like the Spot Remover, Crop/Straighten tool, and what many of the sliders do that I previously had no clue about.

That also lead me to http://www.photoshopkillertips.com/ I haven't tackled that one yet, but I will be over the next few days.

Question about workflow

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