In Part 2 of this series, I discussed how to create a catalog in Lightroom (See June 16 issue). Creating a catalog is the starting point in Lightroom (LR). Once you have created a catalog of your photos, then you can proceed to organize, edit, and output them (print, slideshow or via web gallery).

Oftentimes, I am asked what the difference is between LR and (standard) Photoshop. While both can convert camera raw files and edit images non-destructively (Photoshop through its ACR plug-in), LR is also a photo management program and Photoshop is not. Adobe Bridge (Image 01), a stand-alone program that is bundled with Photoshop, does have the same organizing features – rating, color labeling, ranking, keywording, and even creating a slideshow on selected images – that are found in LR (Image 02), but it is primarily a browser that works more as an alternative to your operating system’s Finder. You can only use Bridge if the hard drive containing your photos are connected to your computer. Besides, the organizing features mentioned above are far more sophisticated in LR than in Bridge.

The photo management component of LR is the topic of this issue.

Library Work Area

Before I touch on the different organizing features, let me first give you an overview of the Library module where basically all the photo management activities occur.

Immediately below the logo of LR, called the Identity Plate, is the left panel group consisting of the Navigator, Catalog, Folders, and Collections panels. The middle of the window is called the Preview Window. On top of the window is the Module Picker which allows you to move from one module to another. Immediately below the window is the Toolbar and below it is the Filmstrip.

To the right of the window is the right panel group which contains the Histogram, Quick Develop, Keywording, Keyword List and Metadata panels.

Note: Both the Module Picker and the Filmstrip are present in whatever module you are in. The contents of the left panel group, the Toolbar, and the right panel group change depending on the module you are in.

The Left Panel Group

On the left side of the Library module preview window, you will find a set of panels – Navigator, Catalog, Folders and Collections.

Navigator

The Navigator is similar to the Navigator palette you find in Photoshop. It helps you find your way around a zoomed thumbnail. On the top of the panel are several magnification options: Fit, Fill, 1:1, and 2:1. The last option can be changed to other settings by clicking on the Up and Down arrows. You can change it to 1:4, 1:3, 1:2, 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, 8:1 and 11:1 magnifications.

You choose first your starting point – Fit (image in the window) or Fill (the entire window with the image). Then choose the level of magnification: 1:1 or any other steps indicated by the Up and Down arrows.

While the primary purpose of the Navigator is to see your way around a zoomed thumbnail, you can also use it to zoom in and navigate through a thumbnail.

When you bring your cursor inside the Navigator’s proxy image, it changes into a magnifying glass. When you press down the mouse on any part of the proxy image, the cursor changes into a square showing you the area that will be magnified. The Preview Area (the main window) will automatically show the magnified image. The level of magnification depends on the setting you chose from the top of the Navigator panel. When you release the mouse, the thumbnail zooms out to its original viewing size (either Fit or Fill).

You can also press down the mouse and drag it around the proxy image to navigate around the thumbnail in magnified or zoomed-in view.

The Navigator panel is also available in the Develop module. But in addition to just being a navigating tool, it also allows you to preview the effects of the developing presets and reviews past stages in the developing history.

Catalog

Through this panel, you have the option to view the entire content of the Catalog (All Photographs – the thumbnails of every photo that were cataloged and any Virtual Copies created), or limit its view to the Quick Collection (See Collections); to the photos that were last imported (Previous Import); or to the photos that were exported as a Catalog (Previous Export as Catalog). Opposite each option is the total number of thumbnails. Click on the option to change the content of the Preview Area.

Folders

The Folders panel identifies the Volume (hard drive) that contains the folder(s) in which the actual photographs are located and any subfolders that were originally there or were created later on in LR. If the photos are located in different hard drives, then several Volume Browsers will appear inside the Folder panel.

By default, only the name of the folder identifies the folder under the Volume Browser. But if you click the small down arrow near the Add sign on the panel’s tab, you can change from Folder’s Name Only to either Path from Volume or Folder and Path.

You can reorganize your photographs in the main folder by grouping them in several folders and/or subfolders right inside LR without having to go to your hard drive. Hence, whatever you do in this panel affects the location of your original photograps. You can, however, delete the contents of the folder and it will only affect the catalog, and the photos in your hard drive remain intact.

The colored LED to the left of the volume’s name indicates that the hard drive is linked to the computer (Online). If it is grayed out (Offline), it means the hard drive is not connected as in the case of external hard drive or LR unable to locate it because the name of the volume has been changed. When it is offline, only low resolution previews are displayed by LR. The color changes depending on the remaining capacity of the hard drive.

Collections

While your photos reside in their respective folders, you can gather photos from different folders into a collection for easy viewing, or for easy access to them for a specific task that you can apply later on. For example, I created a Collection of Black & White photos (B&W Collections). So while reviewing the catalog, or a folder, of photos I find a photo or photos that I think will be good for B&W conversion, I simply drag them into the B&W Collections. Later when I have more time, all I have to do is click on the B&W Collections and start working on them. You can create as many collections as necessary for different purposes. These collections are found in the Collections panel.

When you gather photos from a folder or a catalog into a location, you are not really changing the location of the photos. The images still remain in their respective folders but, by dragging their thumbnails into a collection, you are creating a reference. You can, therefore, place the same photo in different collections or delete a photo in a collection (or delete the entire collection itself) without affecting the photos in the catalog.

In LR, there are several kinds of collections. In addition to the regular collection discussed above, there is also the Quick Collection, the Smart Collections, the Collection Set, and the Ouput Creations.
The Quick Collection is a temporary collection found in the Catalog panel. You can use the Quick Collection to quickly group photos that you want to apply certain operations to. For example, while reviewing the photos you recently imported, you can quickly assemble those that you think need further editing into a Quick Collection by selecting them and then pressing the B key.

You can only have one quick collection at a time. To convert a quick collection into a regular collection, go to File > Save Quick Collection.

A Smart Collection is a collection based on metadata criteria that you specify. Smart collections automatically include all photos that meet the criteria. For example, you can create a smart collection based on keyword “Architecture.” Once you assign the keyword Architecture to a photo, that photo is automatically included in the Architecture Smart Collection. LR 2 includes a set of five default smart collections: Colored Red, Five Stars, Past Month, Recently Modified, and Without Keywords.

You don’t manually add or remove photos from a smart collection.

You can organize your collections into a Collections Set. A collection set does not actually contain photos. It only contains regular collections, smart collections, and/or output collections. To differentiate from a regular or smart collections, a smart collection has an icon of a filing box.

The Output Creations is a kind of collection based on the settings you specify in the Slideshow, Print and Web modules. I will demonstrate in later issues on how to create an ouput creations.

The Right Panel Group

On the right panel group of the Library module includes the Histogram, Quick Develop, Keywording, Keyword List and the Metadata.

Histogram

Histogram is a bar chart indicating how the pixels in an image are distributed over a range of brightness. It is a way of telling whether the image is correctly exposed or not. By default, the histogram shows the red, green and blue channels of a particular image. Below the chart are the exposure data used in shooting the image – ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed. I shall discuss how to use the Histogram when I cover the Develop module.

Quick Develop

While still in the Library module, you can already edit your photos using the Quick Develop panel. The panel is divided into Saved Preset, White Balance, and the Tone Control.

The Saved Preset contains certain editing presets that LR compiled for your easy use. For example, if you want to convert your image into a Sepia, you can just click the drop down menu and choose Creative - Sepia. The White Balance allows you to apply a particular white balance setting on a raw image or remove the color cast on a JPEG photo. If you need to quickly correct the exposure of an image, then you can use the Exposure buttons to increase (right) or decrease (left) exposure. The double-arrow button increases or decreases the exposure by one stop, while the single arrow by one-third increment. The Clarity buttons adjust the contrast of the image on the midtone, while Vibrance buttons increase or decrease the overall saturation of the colors in an image without affecting so much the skin tone.

(To be continued in the next Digital Focus issue.)