Review Digital Camera World 10-04-2013

Digital Camera World

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Master Adobe Lightroom in 12 minutes or less Oct 3rd 2013, 23:01, by jmeyer Mastering Adobe Lightroom doesn't take long, but it does require you to get your head around a particular workflow – and, for those used to Photoshop's pixel-pushing approach, a slight shift in mindset too. In this quick Adobe Lightroom tutorial we’ll show you how to master the basics in no time at all. Rather than altering pixels, anything you do to an image in Lightroom is stored as an extra bit of data, leaving the original image untouched. So whatever tweaks or enhancements you make, you're simply changing the way Lightroom displays the image. This means everything is non-destructive, there's no having to save or open images, and raw files are easily managed. At heart, Lightroom is like a database that catalogues where your images are stored and what you've done to them. But first you need to tell it how to find the images by importing them. During the import, you can perform a few handy tasks like adding keywords or embedding copyright. Once imported, you can begin sorting, enhancing and taking your images in all kinds of directions using Lightroom's array of seven different workspaces, called Modules. The Library and Develop Modules are the main hubs of Lightroom, so we'll focus on them here. First you'll organise your images and pick your favourites in the Library Module. Then you'll move to the Develop Module, which is where the fun begins in terms of enhancing, boosting tones and creating effects. You can be up and running in a matter of minutes, and once you've mastered a few essential edits – like boosting tones, making selective adjustments and using presets – there's much more to explore. Timesaver tip When you insert a memory card or plug in your camera, Lightroom's Import dialog will open. Get used to downloading files from a card and you'll save lots of time. You can copy the files to a folder on your hard drive by choosing Copy, or Copy as DNG, then selecting a destination. You can also add keywords, embed copyright and apply tonal presets. PAGE 1: What Adobe Lightroom can do for your workflow PAGE 2: Organising your images in Adobe Lightroom PAGE 3: Editing your photos in Adobe Lightroom READ MORE Adobe Photoshop Touch: how to use Photoshop for phone and tablets Best photo editing tips for beginners: 18 quick fixes to common image problems 10 reasons your photos aren’t sharp (and how to fix them) Adobe Lightroom: what every photographer needs to know about the ‘alternative Photoshop’ How to change your composition with Photoshop Elements' Recompose tool Oct 3rd 2013, 10:38, by jmeyer Photoshop Elements’ Recompose tool is a clever function that allows you to alter the ratio of your images without distorting key details. In this tutorial we show you how it works. We all know how frustrating it can be when it comes to displaying our favourite photographs and they don't match our chosen print size, or are the wrong ratio for a frame we want to use. Cropping won't always solve the problem, as you might lose interesting detail at the edges of the frame, or end up with an image that feels unbalanced or doesn't conform to the rule of thirds – perhaps because you're left with just a thin sliver of sky. Elements introduced a Recompose tool back in version 8, and this enables you to make 'content-aware' transformations. The tool gives you the power to reshape an image, whether it's by changing the ratio, extending the canvas or reducing the gap between subjects for a tighter composition. The clever thing about the tool is that you can select areas that you don't want the tool to distort, and these will be protected; you can also highlight areas that you don't mind being distorted or lost. For this tutorial we've got a landscape shot that we want to resize to a more panoramic 16×9 ratio, but we don't want to stretch or squash the river, so the Recompose tool is ideal for the job. How to use Photoshop Elements’ Recompose tool 01 Crop to ratio Download our start files and follow along! Open recompose_start.jpg. There are a couple of ways of recomposing our scene. First, select the Crop tool and choose 16x9in from the ratio menu. Drag out a crop within the confines of the canvas, then drag the handles to extend the box outside the canvas so the full height of the image is included. Take the Recompose tool, select the Mark for Protection brush and paint over areas you want to protect, such as the river.   02 Stretch to fit Next take the Mark for Removal brush, and paint over the areas that you don't mind being removed or distorted, such as the distant fields and the edges of the sky. A green overlay indicates the areas you want to protect, and a red overlay indicates the unprotected areas. Now drag out the left and right handles of the bounding box to stretch the image until it fits the 16×9 ratio, and hit Return to apply the transformation.   03 Mark it up again The other way of recomposing an image doesn't require you to crop it first. Reopen recompose_start.jpg, or just undo the previous edit. Select the Recompose tool, and paint over the areas you want to protect with the Mark for Protection brush as before, then paint over the areas you don't mind being distorted or lost with the Mark for Removal brush.   04 Auto recompose Select the 16x9in option from the ratio menu, and this time the tool will automatically recompose the image to fit the selected ratio. Use the Threshold slider to fine-tune the transformation and  minimise distortion: the lower the value, the less the image will be distorted. Click the green tick button, or hit Return, to apply the transformation. You crop the image slightly to tidy up the edges if you need to. READ MORE How to process raw files the right way in Photoshop Elements The 10 rules of photo composition (and why they work) Adobe Camera Raw: the secret to using it for just about everything How to compose a photograph: start seeing images where you never saw them before

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