new digital (numpty)....help!

[Hamish Gill]

No you have that wrong matey, you dot need to undo anything or redo anything like that ...
It doesn't matter what order you apply anything or change anything in!
All the sliders and settings work independently!
If you add contrast then brightness
Then take off the contrast only the brightness is still in effect
Does that make sence?
You have complete freedom to change things in what ever order you like completely non destructively!
To use your example, you can apply lens correction at any stage in the edit, it makes no difference at all!

Yep, you can use snapshot like that, but that's what the "history" is for ...

Snapshots are good for creating a version of the image taking a "snapshot" of the settings applied then creating a new version ...
Once the new version is created, create another snapshot, then click between snapshots to compare

You can also right click on the image at the bottom, create "virtual copy" select both versions with different snapshot applied, press the 'c' key and compare them side by side ...

 

[Hamish Gill]

Just to add to this ...
Like layers you can turn off settings, or at least sets of settings...
At the top left hand corner of each set of settings there is a little switch ... Click it and it will grey out that set of settings and effectively turn them off ...
This is a good way to solve the issue I mentioned before of finding which setting is doing what of you te confused and loose track of things ...

Double clicking on any slider will also return it to default!

 

[Tim Pindar]

OK yes I understand what you say but you mean you create another adjustment which cancels out the earlier one. I was thinking ideally you could (somehow) select one or more adjustments from earlier and press delete and they'd all disappear, but the later ones would remain. TBH it's not a big deal though.

I do use Virtual copies - I'll try using snapshots.

 

[Hamish Gill]

Yeah you can do that ...
In the Right column of all the settings if you apply for eg lens correction then brightness then switch of the lens correction that won't effect the brightness ...

Nothing cancels anything out...
I think we are at cross perposes here a bit

Say you apply brightness then contrast then add exposure
You take off the brightness and contrast adjustment you are left with just the exposure
Then add half as much brightness as you did before
The original brightness you added then took off is having no impact on the brightness you are now adding

If you apply 10 adjustments the decide you don't want the first five
Double click on those fisrt 5 sliders and they will reset to default ... That will have no effect on anyof the adjustments you did after those first 5

They all function independently of each other!

Does that make any sense .. I'm not sure I'm answering the problem

 

[Tim Pindar]

Yes we are at cross purposes!

I'm talking about the History on the left hand side.

Suppose you have (earliest at the bottom as it appears in LR):

-Lens Correction enabled
-Brightness +25
-Contrast -15
-Brightness +20
-Contrast -10

then you decide you the last two brightness/contrast adjustments were excessive and should go (the +25 and -15).

Your options are:

1. Switch off the brightness/contrast altogether as you have explained, but then you lose the first two adjustments as well


2. Make two further adjustments so you end up with:

-Brightness -25
-Contrast +15
-Lens Correction enabled
-Brightness +25
-Contrast -15
-Brightness +20
-Contrast -10

This works but is messy in terms of the recorded history and if you use the sliders you may not get it exactly right.


3. Click on the "Brightness +20" entry (or do CTRL-Z 3 times), and work onwards from there, but this means you have to reapply the Lens Correction entry as it will now be lost.



What I would like is an option 4 where I select the two entries I now don't like and delete them, to end up with:

-Lens Correction enabled
-Brightness +20
-Contrast -10

This has the same effect as 2 or 3 but would be neater and wouldn't require the lens correction to be reapplied.

I suspect this isn't possible as it might sometimes render some of the later entries meaningless or incorrect

 

[Hamish Gill]

I see what you mean!
Although it wouldn't render the later adjustments incorrect as such ... Just different
It's not possible as far as I know to do what you want to as it is a linear history like history controls are ...

I think where we differ in how we see this is if you add +25 contrast then +25 contrast you see that as 2 adjustments ...
I just see that as having added 50 contrast ...
I don't really think about previous levels added ... Just what the slider currently reads ...

Does that make sense?

Maybe I have this view point as I don't ever use the history ...
Lightroom isn't a linear process for me...

 

[Peter McCullough]

This is the easy way to do things

Buy Lightroom (from adobe online) - Not as yet...
Buy a memory card reader - Already have one
Set your camera to raw - Yes can do...
Take photos - Yes can do...
Take memory card out of camera and put in card reader - Easy peasy
Plug card reader into computer - Easy peasy...
Copy Photos on to computer in folder of choice - I have spare external hdd
Open Lightroom
Import raw files
Edit to your hearts content - Do you mean sharpness/adjustsments in general..?
Export to jpeg for sharing on your favorite forum - So you save BOTH original RAW & converted J-Peg..?
Done ...

 

[Pete Askew]

Peter, Lightroom is a RAW file editor. You can change pretty well anything including crop and rotation. The clever thing is that it just remembers that 'recipe' you used and you can make virtual copies and do different things to them. The programme remembers the original file (that is never changed) and the changes you made within LR (shown associated with the image or a virtual copy of it). When you decide to export it as a JPEG (for example) it applies those changes during the export so the exported file has them. You can then alter the settings again, go back to the unaltered file, whatever you choose. It also acts as a library of your images and you can sort them into collections etc, create web galleries, slide shows and print etc. It really is a very good all-in photo editing tool.

 

[Peter McCullough]

Ok I've been giving this 'Raw Shooting' idea some looooong thought etc.

Here's my outcome;

I've a very close (photographic) friend of 35yrs longstanding, he worked for a professional photographer for 30yrs, in HIS vast experience he advises me "just shoot jpeg all the time", hassle free and more universal everywhere etc.

My friend also pointed me towards Ken Rockwell's review of RAW 'v' Jpeg review/debate which takes lots of time to read, very in-depth, but I'm now convinced (personally) that for me I'll be shooting in my usual hi-res J-Peg mode as it suits ME best, and I don't need to learn more editing skills etc. Result!

-pete-

 

[Hamish Gill]

Pete
If that is what suits you, and your decision has been made on suitable research and advice that fits you ... Then I'm sure you have made the right choice!!

My advice at the moment is to **** digital off and get a film camera ... But that's just how I'm feeling at the moment ... Somthing that I think says a lot about advice as a whole ...
Get lots of it, and make a choice that suits you!

You seem to have done that, so good luck to you I say!!
You are not the only one here who feels that way!

 

[Hamish Gill]

... Many pros with a high turn over of images do shoot Jpeg, it depends on the area of photography the pro is in!
I for one couldn't do that, I do to much pp for effect for it I be viable ... But that's just me ... Just throwing that in there for a bit of balance ...

 

[Darren Turner]

Peter, Lightroom is a RAW file editor. You can change pretty well anything including crop and rotation. The clever thing is that it just remembers that 'recipe' you used and you can make virtual copies and do different things to them. The programme remembers the original file (that is never changed) and the changes you made within LR (shown associated with the image or a virtual copy of it). When you decide to export it as a JPEG (for example) it applies those changes during the export so the exported file has them. You can then alter the settings again, go back to the unaltered file, whatever you choose. It also acts as a library of your images and you can sort them into collections etc, create web galleries, slide shows and print etc. It really is a very good all-in photo editing tool.

that sums up raw shooting to a T well said Peter, Many folks do start off with jpeg only and as they progress then realise the huge benefits of raw shooting especially when combined with Lightroom or similar then it doesn't make sense not to shoot raw.

That said everyone is different and we all find ways we are happy with and prefer. I am sure you will enjoy photography which every method you choose. The main thing is to keep shooting

Daz

 

[Pete Askew]

I too know some professional photographers who stick with JPEG files as it fits their work flow. Others cannot conceive of shooting anything by raw. I guess a reasonable analogy would be to shoot film and then be happy with the prints you get back from the printers and maybe cropping them to suite your taste (nothing wrong with that and what most people did - amateur and professional alike - before the ability of manipulate images with ease became available). The difference of course is that you still have the negative (although of course that has the nature of the emulsion and the way it was developed embedded in it) that can be printed / interpreted in another way in the future if you wish. Maybe a wise compromise for you then (given how cheap storage is these days) would be to shoot JPEG and Raw but to just store the raw files until you either want to develop an image further or find you need more highlight detail etc that is not available in the JPEG. A sort of 'future proofing' exercise if you like.

 

[Peter McCullough]

Thanks all for replies, appreciated!

I believe (others may say different here) I'm obtaining decent photo's from my joe-blogs hi-res jpeg shots, so it suits me fine, I like hassle free editing issues.

Onwards and upwards.....

 

[Dave Moss]

I must admit I alter jpegs in lightroom

 

[Hamish Gill]

Nothing wrong with that, it makes a good half way point to raw if raw seems an overwhelming prospect!
Or your camera doesn't do raw...