Moving a Lightroom Catalog

I'll explain how to successfully move Lightroom files and a catalog to a new disk.

One issue that stumps many people is how to successfully move a Lightroom catalog from one computer to another or from a local hard drive to a removable one.

Having just faced this situation head on and having made a right royal mess of my first attempt, here's my take on the smartest way to do this.

The problem in moving the catalog and files for me was that I didn't want to lose the editing history for any of my files so it was critical that everything moved correctly and, in the end, the ideal method was to make Lightroom responsible for the move so all along it stayed informed about what was happening.

Step 1
Start by backing up your Lightroom catalog and files – if everything goes pear shaped at least you'll have your backups.

Step 2
Plug in your external drive (or fire up the new computer) and copy one photograph into the root folder on the drive, or if you want your photo folders to be stored inside a folder called Photos, for example, and not in the root folder, create this folder and copy one photo into it. There must be an image in a folder for you to import the image (and the folder) into the Lightroom Folders collection.

Step 3
Now locate your Lightroom folder which contains your catalog and preview images and move it onto the new drive. This has to be done with Lightroom closed.

Step 4
Launch Lightroom and it will report it can't find the catalog – so far so good. Point Lightroom to the Lightroom folder on your new drive and click the catalog file (it has the lrcat extension) - Lightroom will open the catalog and find everything intact because you haven't moved anything yet – except its catalog.

Step 5
Inside Lightroom, choose File > Import from Disk and import the single image that you copied into the folder on your new drive. This adds the root folder for your images on the new drive to the Lightroom Folders collection.

Step 6
Make sure the Library is visible and the Folders area opened. Now drag and drop each folder of images from your local disk onto your new drive in the Lightroom folder view. I did this one folder at a time but you can, if you wish, drag the root folder from your old disk and drop the lot into your new folder on the new drive – it depends how you want everything organized. Lightroom works pretty fast when moving the files so it doesn't take too long. The most inconvenient part of the move for me was that Lightroom can only move one folder at a time so the process had to be supervised manually – when one folder was moved, I dragged and dropped the next one and so on.

If you prefer to do so, you could move all the folders containing your photos outside Lightroom – this would be an easier process than doing it inside Lightroom if you want to retain the same overall folder structure. Then launch Lightroom and, in the Folders list, right click the old root folder and choose Update Folder Location and point to the new location for the files.

Once the Lightroom catalog and all your photo files and folders are on the external drive or on the new computer, your images will be instantly accessible anytime by simply opening Lightroom.


External drive letters issue
If you're using an external drive to store your Lightroom catalog and files you may encounter problems when attaching the drive to a second computer as it may recognize it as having a different drive letter. If this happens, Lightroom will still show you previews for all your images but you'll encounter missing file warnings if you try to edit one. The easiest solution at this point is to right click the root folder in the Folders list in Lightroom and choose Update Folder Location. Navigate to find this root folder on your external drive and, when you locate it, all the images in that folder will be immediately found.

Smart Dodge and Burn in Photoshop Elements

In the traditional darkroom, you could adjust the relative lightness or darkness of parts of an image using processes called dodge and burn. If you were dodging or lightening the image you would expose parts of the image for a shorter length of time to lighten them. If you wanted to darken a portion of the image you would expose it for a longer period of time so that more light would be applied to the photo paper with the result that you would be darker.

The terms dodge and burn continue to be used in software today and Photoshop Elements has a Dodge tool and a Burn tool which are both accessible from a toolbar position which they share with the Sponge tool. The disadvantage of using the Dodge and Burn tools as they are shipped with Photoshop Elements and, indeed Photoshop, is that these fixes are designed to be made to the original image and the cannot be made on a separate layer and then, for example, be blended into the image.

The result is that if you apply a Dodge or Burn fix and later determine that you do not like the result or want to adjust it, it will be difficult to undo the changes that you have made.

In post production, dodging and burning are best applied to a separate layer in the image so that they can be undone, edited or blended at a later date.

Here is a method dodge and burn an image in Photoshop Elements which works the same way in Photoshop. It involves creating a layer on which the dodge and burn process is performed. It also takes advantage of a special characteristic of the Soft Light blend mode. This is a different dodge and burn method to that which Food blogger Danny Jauregui used in his recent post.



Step 1
Open your image in Photoshop Elements (or Photoshop) and add a new layer by choosing Layer > New > Layer and click Ok.

Click on the foreground color swatch and set the R, G, and B values each to 128 and click Ok.



Step 2
Click the Paint Bucket tool in the tool list and click on the image to fill the layer with the gray color. You can also press Alt + Backspace (Option + Delete on the Mac) to fill the layer with the foreground color.



Step 3
Set the layer's blend mode to Soft Light. The result will be that you will see your image just as it was when you opened it.

The Soft Light blend mode can be used to lighten or darken an image. If the color on the top layer is darker than neutral grey the image on the layer below is darkened and if it is lighter than neutral grey the layer below is lightened. When you blend with neutral grey, nothing happens. Here we have filled the layer with neutral gray (each of the RGB values are 128) so you see no change to the image.

So, if we now paint on this top layer with white the image will be lightened and if we paint with black it will be darkened. This is the equivalent of dodging and burning on the image.



Step 4
Select the Brush tool and select a circular soft edge brush adjusting its Opacity to around 25 percent. Adjust its size by pressing the [ or ] key on the keyboard. Set the foreground and background colors to white and black by pressing the D key and then the X key. Paint over the image on this top layer in white in those places that you want to lighten the image below.

For those parts of the image that you want to darken, paint over them with black.

If desired you can create one layer for burning and a second one for dodging. This will allow you to alter the opacity of each layer separately so you can subtly adjust the strength of the lightening or darkening applied.

To ensure that the fix remains changeable, save your image in a format that saves the image layers such as .psd.

An Adjustable Black and White Conversion

Most photo editing programs offer multiple ways to convert to black and white and Photoshop Elements is no exception. In fact it has a great Black and White conversion tool which is marred by the very small preview images you get to work with. Additionally, there is no zoom feature so you're stuck with seeing your image in miniature (see image), or you find another way to make the conversion.



Here's an alternative method of converting to black and white in Photoshop Elements which lets you work on the image at any size so you can see what you're doing. It also works in Photoshop:



Step 1
Open your image Photoshop Elements and duplicate the background layer. Do this by first displaying the Layers palette by choosing Window > Layers, right-click the Background layer and choose Duplicate Layer.



Step 2
Select the topmost layer and choose Enhance > Adjust Color > Remove Color. This converts the image to a black and white image.



Step 3
From the Blend mode dropdown list in the Layer palette, select the Hue blend mode. This ensures the top layer's hue (color) shows but uses the layers below to provide the lightness and saturation for the image. We can now adjust the bottom layer to change the black and white image.



Step 4
Select the bottommost layer in the image and select Enhance > Adjust Color > Adjust Hue/Saturation. This opens the Hue/Saturation/Lightness dialog. You can now select any of the sliders and drag them in either direction and you'll see as you do so that the black and white image changes.

For example, adjusting Lightness will adjust the lightness and darkness of the image itself. Adjusting Saturation will also make the image darker or lighter. Use the Hue slider to change the colors in the underlying image with the result that different colors will tend towards being light and others tend towards being dark. For example, in this image, changing the Hue made a significant difference on some of the signs over the street – at one position the text was all the same shade of gray and in another position the text was lighter against a dark sign. Pick a slider position that works best for your particular image.



Step 5
To adjust the contrast in the image, with the bottom layer still selected, choose Enhance > Adjust Lighting > Shadows and Highlights. Drag on the sliders to adjust the tonal range in the image. You can darken the lighter areas, lighten the shadows and add some contrast to the midtones this way. With the preview option enabled, you will see the results at full size on the image as you work. You can also do the same with the Levels adjustment – again apply it to the bottom layer of the image.

When you are done, flatten the image by selecting Layer > Flatten Image.

This process allows you to convert an image to black and white while previewing the results at full screen size while you work and with quite a bit of creative control. I find it gives me a better appreciation of what my image will look like than using the very small dialog previews in the specialist black and white conversion tool.

Finding Lightroom presets

There are lots of Lightroom presets that you can download from the web and use in the program. The question then becomes where do you put these. There are a couple of ways to find the presets folder in Lightroom. One is to open the Develop module, locate the presets dropdown list and right-click one of the user presets that you’ve created and choose Show in Explorer. This opens the Lightroom presets folder inside Windows Explorer. If you’re using a Mac, the link will be to the Mac equivalent. The other method of doing this is to choose Edit > Preferences > Presets tab. Click the Show Lightroom Presets folder to view the presets folder location.

You will need this location to store downloaded presets, in and you will also need the location so that you can ensure that you back up your presets so that you do not lose them as, by default, they are not stored with the catalog and so will not be backed up with it.

Create A Three Up Photoshop Template

Recently LisaMarie from LisaMarieDiasDesigns.com asked me to look into creating a tutorial for her newsletter subscribers to show how to create a template with a 3 pixel frame around it and openings for three 2"x2" or 3"x3" images.

The process of designing a solution is a little complex so I've done two things. First of all, I'm giving you the templates as PSD files that you can use to create your own design, but secondly I’m going to show you how to do it yourself. So, if you want to know how to create a reusable design like this or one that can be used with different size photos, here's how:

I'll step you through creating a solution for displaying three 3"x3" images at 72 dpi with a 3 pixel frame around each of them.



Step 1
It’s a good idea to sketch the design on paper and work out the dimensions before you start. For three 3"x3" inch images at 72 dpi the starting image needs to be 660 x 222 pixels and it will look like this.




Step 2
In Photoshop, choose File > New and create an image 660 pixels wide and 222 pixels high with a resolution of 72 pixels per inch.

Set the background to be white and click Ok.



Step 3
To add the gridlines, choose View > New Guide and create a vertical guide at 3 pixels. Repeat and create a second vertical guide at 222 pixels. Repeat and add a third vertical guide at 441 pixels and a fourth one at 657 pixels.

Add two horizontal guides, one at 3 pixels and one at 219 pixels.



Step 4
Now choose View > Snap To and select None.

Repeat and choose View > Snap To and select Guides.

Make sure that the View > Snap option in the menu is checked.

Now selections and images will snap to the guides that you have created.



Step 5
Add a new layer by choosing Layer > New > Layer and click Ok.

Click the Rectangular Marquee tool and from the tool options area select Fixed Size and set the Width to 216 pixels and the Height to 216 pixels.

Click on the image where the two guides intersect in the top left corner of the image. The selection will snap to these guides.

Make sure that white is selected as your foreground color and press Alt + Backspace on the PC (Option + Delete on the Mac) to fill the selection with white.

Switch to black as your foreground color, press Ctrl + D (Command + D on the Mac) to deselect the selection and, with the Paint Bucket tool, click somewhere in the layer not where you added the white, to fill the remainder of the layer with black.




Step 6
Add a new layer to the document by choosing Layer > New > Layer. Hide the previous layer if desired.

Select the Rectangular Marquee tool and click at the intersection of the second vertical guide and the top guide. Your selection should appear in the middle of the image. Fill this with white. Deselect the selection and then fill the surrounds of that layer with black.



Step 7
Repeat once more, this time clicking at the intersection of the third vertical guide and the first horizontal guide.

Again, fill the selection with white and then fill the remaining portion of the layer with black.

Your layers palette should look as this one does.



Step 8
Now open the images to use. You should size these to a minimum of 3" by 3" but the project will work just as well if they are a little bigger.

In fact, you may want to make your images bigger than this so that you can see how the masking process will ensure that your images do not have to cropped to the exact size for this design to work.

For example, to size an image to around 3.5 x 5 inches at 72 dpi, open the image, choose Image > Image Size. Enable the Constrain Proportions and Resample Image checkboxes and select Bicubic Sharper as the mode for resampling the image. Enter 72 pixels per inch as the resolution and type either the width or height to use such as 5" - Photoshop will automatically calculate the other measurement. Click Ok to resize the image.



Step 9
Open the first of the resized images and drag its background layer into the composite image that you’re working on.

Repeat for the other two images. It doesn’t matter what the document looks like at this stage.



Step 10
Select one of the layers that has an image on it and use the Move tool to drag it roughly into position where you want it to appear in the final presentation.

Do this for the second layer and for the third.

Ignore for the moment that some of the images are overlapped and extend over the borders.



Step 11
Select the first of the image layers and click the Create a New Group button at the foot of the layers palette. Drag and drop the image layer onto the new group so that it is inset underneath it. Click the group layer name and click the Add Layer Mask button at the foot of the layers palette.



Step 12
Click on the layer mask thumbnail so that it is selected.

Choose Image > Apply Image and from the layer dropdown list, select the layer in the layers palette that has the white square where this image should be in the design. Click Ok.

This applies a layer mask to this layer masking it to that small square size.



Step 13
Select the second image to work with and click the Create a New Group icon at the bottom of the layers palette.

Drag and drop the image layer onto the new group so that it is inset underneath it. Click the group layer name and click the Add Layer Mask button at the foot of the layers palette.

Click on the layer mask thumbnail so that it is selected.

Choose Image > Apply Image and from the layer dropdown list, select the layer in the layers palette that has the white square where this image should be in the design. Click Ok.

This applies a layer mask to this layer masking it to that small square size.



Step 14
Select the final image to work with and click the Create a New Group icon at the bottom of the layers palette.

Drag and drop the image layer onto the new group so that it is inset underneath it. Click the group layer name and click the Add Layer Mask button at the foot of the layers palette.

Click on the layer mask thumbnail so that it is selected.

Choose Image > Apply Image and from the layer dropdown list, select the layer in the layers palette that has the white square where this image should be in the design. Click Ok.

This applies a layer mask to this layer masking it to that small square size.



Step 15
You can now disable or delete the three layers which contain the black and white designs as they are only used to create the masks.

You can also remove the gridlines by choosing View > Clear Guides.

This is your final design.



Step 16
Any of the images in the design can be adjusted by clicking on the image layer, click the Move tool and then drag the image around inside that layer.

Provided the image is larger than 3" x 3" you can move it so the piece of the image you want to feature appears in the desired position. The mask ensure the image does not extend over the borders.



Step 17
You can also replace the images - this is how you will use the template in future.

For example, open another image to use and resize it as you did the earlier images.

Drag and drop the image into your file as a new layer. Drag the layer into the group for the position it will appear in the design and remove the image that currently occupies that position. As you can see, all you need do is to position and resize your images; none of the rest of the layout needs to be recreated.

Once you understand the basics of creating this design you can mark out and create a display image that will hold 2 x 2 images and even 2 x 3 or other varieties of sizes.

To make it simple for you, here are two PSD file downloads for the 2 x 2 and the 3 x 3 design that you can use yourselves:

2x2layout.psd

3x3layout.psd

Smarter sharpening with the High Pass filter

In previous posts I have introduced the basics of sharpening in Photoshop and I also looked at a way to spot sharpen an image in Photoshop Elements using faux layer masks. In this post I want to show you the benefits of using high pass sharpening in Photoshop as an alternative to using the Unsharp mask.

The Unsharp mask has historically been the sharpening tool that most Photoshop users start out using. There are, however, different and better tools to use and one of these is the High Pass filter. One reason for this is that the Unsharp mask operates on the actual image pixels and it makes changes to those pixels. The sharpening process that makes use of the High Pass filter doesn't operate on the original image so it does not destroy the image pixels – this is particularly useful if you’re using Photoshop CS2 or earlier which doesn't offer the Smart Objects for Filters option for applying the Unsharp mask filter.

In addition, instead of sharpening the entire image as the Unsharp Mask does, using this High Pass filter process limits sharpening to the edges in the image which is where the most value can be obtained from sharpening the image.

Step 1
To see the process at work, open an image and duplicate the background layer of the image. If your image has multiple layers, add a new layer at the top of the layer stack, click it to select it and press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + E (Command + Option + Shift + E on the Mac) to fill the top layer with a flattened version of the image – without affecting the other layers.

Step 2
In the Layers palette set the blend mode of the new top layer to Overlay. This will let you see the sharpening results in place on the image in the next step.

Step 3
With the topmost layer still selected, choose Filter > Other > High Pass. This filter has one slider to adjust the Radius value. Drag the slider until you see a pretty much gray image in the preview window with the only detail being around the edges of objects in the image. If you can see color in the preview image then the radius is set too high. Typically a Radius value of well under 10 pixels should be sufficient – we used 2. Click Ok.

Step 4
The image is now sharpened – check the original against the sharpened version by clicking the Layer Visibility Icon for the top layer on and off to compare the result.

To finish the effect, adjust the Opacity of the top layer to 0 and then move it back up stopping when you have a good sharpening result. The ideal Opacity will depend on your personal preference.

If desired you can use blend modes other than Overlay, for example Soft Light and Hard Light can be equally as effective depending on the result that you are looking for.

Tip
When you are sharpening an image, adjust the image to the way you want it to look if you're planning to display the image on the web. If you're printing it you can (and should), sharpen more aggressively.

Tip

If you are using Photoshop CS3 or CS4, before you apply the High Pass filter to the top layer of the image, convert it to a Smart Object by selecting the layer and choose Filter > Convert for Smart Filters. Then apply the High Pass filter to the new smart object in the same way as I have outlined above. When you apply a filter to a Smart Object you can return later on to edit it – simply double click the filter name in the layer palette and the filter dialog opens allowing you to change the Radius value.

If you're new to sharpening, check out these recent posts:

Sharpening 101 - Understanding the basics of Sharpening

Sharpening in Lightroom 2

Photoshop Elements, Spot sharpening with a faux layer mask

How do you Vignette?

Adding a vignette to an image involves adding a subtle (or not so subtle) edge effect to it. A popular vignette technique involves darkening the edges of your image – it gives the image a slight border which helps keep the viewer's eye in the photo. This is an effect which has been popular for years and which was is a feature of some classic film cameras such as the Holga.

Nowadays many photographers and digital artists use vignettes as a way to finish their images. There are lots of ways to add a vignette to an image and here are some of them. I've included methods that work with Lightroom, Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. The latter process will work with most photo editing programs.

Lightroom 2

To add a vignette in Lightroom, move to the Develop module and choose the Vignette options. Set the Post Crop Amount value in a negative value to darken the edges. Set the Roundness to a low value such as -70 to get a rectangular vignette and set the Feather to around 50 so it is soft but not too soft.

Photoshop #1

A simple way to add a vignette in Photoshop is to use the Lens Correction filter. Choose Filter > Distort > Lens Correction and adjust the Vignette amount to the Left to a negative value and the Midpoint to the left to bring the vignette into the image more.

Photoshop #2

Another way to add a vignette in Photoshop is to use a Layer style. This has some benefits and one is that the method works on just about any size image and it's simple to do once you have the Style created.

Make the background layer a regular layer by double clicking it and click Ok. Select the Add Layer Style icon at the foot of the Layer palette and choose Inner Glow. Set the Color to Black, set the blend mode to Darken or Multiply and adjust the Size so you can see the edge. You can save this as a style preset and you can then record the process of adding the style to the layer as an action so that you have a one click vignette solution.

Almost any photo-editing software

If your software supports layers and layer opacity then this method should work just fine in most photo editing programs. I've used Photoshop Elements and you should check your program's help if you are unsure how to perform these tasks in your software.

Add a new layer using Layer > New > Layer and use the Rectangular Marquee to select around the inside border of this layer leaving a small margin. Choose Select > Inverse to invert your selection so the border area is selected. Now use the Paint Bucket to fill the area with black or dark brown. Choose Select > Deselect.

Choose Filter > Blur >Gaussian Blur and use a high radius value to blur the edge and soften it. Adjust the Layer Opacity to blend this edge into the image underneath and, if desired, set the Blend Mode to Darken or Multiply.