[j sotelo]

Lightroom fans will be happy to hear that in the future Adobe may add support for high dynamic range photos and panorama stitching to the list of tools in the RAW image editing suite. Kevin Connor, Adobe's senior director of professional digital imaging product management, didn't commit to a definitive roadmap and stopped short of actually promising specific features, but rest assured Lightroom isn't sitting still..

Connor tells CNet that HDR is on Lightroom’s radar. “It’s definitely a natural thing to do,” he tells CNet, adding that, “at some point, cameras will be capturing HDR [and] at some point, Lightroom will have support for that.”

For those who aren’t familiar with HDR photography, the basic concept is to combine multiple exposures into a single image which contains a much wider range of dark and light tones than you can get with a single exposure. The results range from a closer depiction of how the human eye sees a scene to very surreal, otherworldly images.

At the moment HDR photography requires you to manually shoot multiple images of the same scene at different exposures and then layer them together in Photoshop or similar editing software (as of CS2, Photoshop includes a Merge to HDR tool). If you’d like a tutorial on creating your own HDR images using the tools available today.

For now HDR photography is primarily in the realm of more serious hobbyists and pros, but given that that’s roughly the target market of Lightroom we wouldn’t be surprised to see a future version of Lightroom include something like Photoshop’s Merge to HDR tool.

However, as Connor points out, most of Lightroom’s core functionality revolves around RAW and Adobe plans to keep it that way, so an HDR tool might come about only when the camera makers themselves begin to support HDR.

Connor drops some other tidbits about Lightroom’s future, including the possibility of a panoramic stitching tool and a much expanded SDK for outside developers to build more sophisticated plugins.

As for when these or any other new features might be available, Connor wouldn’t comment, but he did say that the incremental updates might be at an end, “I think we’ve done the bulk of what we wanted with the updates.” The logical conclusion is that Lightroom 2.0 is probably in the works, but of course when and what we might see in an actual release remains a mystery.

source: blog.wired.com



What I’d Love to See in Lightroom 2.0 by, Scott Kelby

THE BIGGIES

* NETWORKING: We’ need the ability to have multiple users access the same Lightroom library across a network.
* PHOTO BOOKS: How about the ability to create printed photo books (like those found in Photoshop Elements and Apple’s iPhoto and Aperture)? Also, we’d love it if Adobe hired some big-time design firm to create some really professional looking sets of templates for wedding albums, portfolios, coffee table book layouts, proof books, etc.. That would take it to the next level. (Personal admission: I process all my images in Lightroom, export them as JPEGs, import then into Apple’s Aperture, and then I use Aperture’s built-in book templates and printing service to print my photo books.
* THE JPEG PROCESSED LOOK: When a Raw photo appears in Lightroom, it first displays the same low resolution JPEG preview image you see on the back of your camera’s LCD. After a few seconds that image changes as Lightroom renders the real unprocessed Raw image file. I get asked this again and again and again during my tour: Is there a way to get that JPEG preview look applied to their image (they love that look because it’s been color processed, tweaked, and sharpened by the software in their camera), but they (their words—not mine), often don’t like the way their photo looks after Lightroom renders it (that’s because they’re now seeing the unprocessed raw image). What they want is a way to get the exact same look as that JPEG preview applied to their raw photo as a starting point. I don’t know how Adobe would pull that off, but if they could, it would make an awful lot of people happy (basically, they want their raw photo to be auto processed to match what the camera would have done if they had shot in JPEG rather than Raw). I want this one for them.
* OPEN AS SMART OBJECTS: We want the ability to open a Lightroom file in Photoshop CS3 as a Smart Object.
* SHOOTING TETHERED: We’d love to be to shoot tethered directly from the camera straight into Lightroom without having to use a separate third-party application.

LIBRARY MODULE

* I’d love to see the Stacking feature (which is now only available in the Folders panel), available within Collections. It’s a great Lightroom 1.0 feature that I never get to use because it only works in Folders.
* I’d like to see the Keywording consolidated into one single panel, instead of two panels on either side of the screen.
* If they’re going to keep the Quick Develop panel, at least make it usable by getting rid of the barely usable one-click buttons, and give us sliders. It’s like Adobe gave us those annoying one-click buttons to discourage us from using Quick Develop (it worked; I don’t use it, and most of the folks I’ve talked with don’t either for that very same reason). If we had sliders, it might keep us from having to switch back and forth between the Library and the Develop Module so often. Want to really take it up a notch? Not only give me sliders in Quick Develop, let me pick which ones I want to appear in the Quick Develop panel.
* I’d like to be able to hide panels I never use, and then combine panels (kind of like you combine palettes in Photoshop). That way, I could put all the panels I really use together on one side of Lightroom, and keep the other side hidden all the time. That way, I’d always have a much larger preview area, but still have access to all the panels I need.
* I would like to see Adobe change the keyboard shortcuts for switching modules to the first letter of each module. For example, you should be able to press P for the Print module, W for Web, and so on (Yes, they’d have to come up with a new shortcut for Lights Out mode so people can jump to the Library Module by pressing L).
* I’d like a Loupe feature like Apple’s Aperture, but not anything like the one in Adobe Bridge (Yeech!).
* I want a Light Table feature (like Aperture’s but better) where you can manually arrange your images. I know it’s not a terribly efficient way to sort photos, but it is terribly fun.
* When you’re in the Loupe view, and select another photo, it should automatically put you in Survey mode.
* I’d like an easy way to not just edit, but delete Metadata presets from right within Lightroom.
* I want to be able to change the name of any image in the Library by just double-clicking on its name (you can do that in the Bridge—why not in Lightroom’s Library?).
* When you go to Export a file, and you choose to have the Copyright Watermark visible, you should be able to choose the size of the copyright text.
* I want a big Reset button in the Library module (just like the one in the Develop module), and I also want it in the exact same place.

DEVELOP MODULE

* I want Noise Reduction that’s good enough to make me not have to jump over to Photoshop to run a third party noise reduction plug-in like Noise Ninja, Define, or Noiseware).
* I would like a Duotone/tritone/quadtone panel with some great built-in presets (so we don’t have to fake it using Split Toning).
* I want the option of using a regular Healing Brush for spots/specs that works like a regular brush.
* I’d like to be able to choose the color for my Clipping Warnings. With some photos it’s hard to see the red warning .
* I want to be able to toggle through the different White Balance presets and see image update as I highlight each one (using the up/down arrow keys on my keyboard).
* I’d like to have Sharpening Presets that I can apply from right within the Detail Panel itself, so I don’t have to leave the right side panels (where I’m making my manual adjustments) to apply a simple sharpening preset. I know, it’s a little thing.

SLIDESHOW MODULE

* My pet peeve is that if you’re showing a client a slideshow, they will see the first image of your slideshow on screen before the slideshow even starts. That stinks, since their first impression of your work will be a small version of the photo, with no music, surrounded by Lightroom’s interface. I would like to have a blackout mode, where all that is visible on screen is a play button—center screen. That way, when your client sits down to watch a slideshow, the don’t see anything until the slideshow actually begins. No visible filmstrip, other photos, or panels–just a black screen, and a play button. That would be sweet.
* There should be an option to start each slideshow by fading in from black. Even iPhoto does that.
* The music should automatically fade out at the end of a slideshow. Again, iPhoto does this automatically. You should also have a music loop on/off option.
* I’d like a built-in Ken Burn’s-like Pan & Zoom effect, and some nice transitions (Elements has something like this—can’t we have it, too?).
* In my “shooting for the moon” category of slideshow requests, it would be incredible to be able to set it up so your images could display in sync with the music. Yes, you would have to do this manually, by listening to the music and adding markers where the next slide should play, but it would be wonderful, and would let you create dramatic slide presentations that really made the most of the music. I saw a presentation where the photographer was showing his pro football porfolio, and he used the theme music to ABC Monday Night Football (not the Hank Williams Jr. opener—the main theme), and when it went, “Bom, bom, bom, bommmmm” four images appeared—one on each beat, and it was very dramatic. I want that. I know there’s no way in heck I’m going to get it, but hey—I said it was my “shooting for the moon” request.
* We need to be able to import and place more graphics on the slide (like logos, water mark graphics, etc.). More than just the one graphic we get to use as an Identity Plate.
* I want the ability to put a stroke around just the photos I choose, instead of applying to every photo or no photos.
* Adobe—I’m begging you—let us export our slideshows as a QuickTime or Window WMV files, and we MUST be able to include music with them. I’m begging, here. So are thousands of other users who are forced to switch to 3rd party apps like Apple’s iPhoto when it comes time to make a slideshow.
* Slideshows where you have two images side-by-side are all the rage right now, but to do one in Lightroom, you’d have to go to Photoshop first and manually combine the two photos into one document and import them one-by-one back into Lightroom and that “Just ain’t right.” Let us put more than one photo on each slide (at the very least, give us a side-by-side slideshow feature), but ideally we should be able to have more images on the same slide, like we do in the print module.
* The ability to create a simple title screen for slideshows should be built right in, and a tracking feature (to tighten or increase the space between letters) should be included for sure.
* We need a “Fit Slideshow to Music Length” option (like iPhoto).
* There needs to be an option that burns your slideshow to direct to DVD (like iPhoto).

PRINT MODULE

* I desperately want the ability to create non-uniform cells. By that, I mean I’d like to have three images across, the first being square, the center photo being a wide rectangle, and the third being another square. As it is, I’d have to have three perfect squares, or three identical rectangles.
* I want a separate watermarking feature, with opacity control or ideally a “blind emboss” option that is totally separate from the identity Plate feature.
* I want to be able to change the background color of my prints, so if I want a black background behind my photos, I just choose black.
* I want the ability to add more graphics to the page, or at the very least have multiple Identity plates.
* I want the built-in ability to add a matt.
* I want the built-in ability to add edge effects.
* I want the ability to export custom print templates I’ve designed as PDFs or PSDs (with the photos embedded—ready to print). I get asked this numerous times at every stop on my Lightroom tour.
* We need a better way to make Wedding templates for wedding albums. Creating the look that’s popular now in wedding album design (lots of backscreening, tints, cutouts, mixing color and black and white images on the same page, edge effects, paragraphs of poems or the invitation text or wedding vow text, etc.) almost requires that you go to Photoshop and create it all manually. We need an automated layout function (like the half dozen or so stand-alone apps I just saw at Imaging USA), then we need to be able to save these out as PDFs or PSDs, and then ideally upload them directly from Lightroom to the wedding album printing company.

WEB MODULE

* I would love a Flash-based client proofing gallery template that puts a number beside the pictures (like the default HTML template), but I also need two more things: (1) the ability to add a custom watermark across each image, and (2) Approval checkboxes so clients can choose the images they want and then hit the Send button, and it sends me just those numbers, and any additional comments from my client.
* I want to be able to add a caption, or change the name, of any individual photos right there on screen, without going back to the Library module and Metadata panel.
* I would like the ability to add multiple galleries to a home page and also separate customizable inside pages like an about page, a contact page, etc..

STUFF I MISSED THE FIRST TIME AROUND

* Dual Monitor Support
* Softproofing.
* Perspective corrections (this is something we’d have to jump over to Photoshop for, and having it built-in to Lightroom would save us the trip).
* Built-in HDR, but more full-featured than the one in Photoshop CS3.
* A Browse Feature, where you can look without importing (like the Bridge allows).
* I also like the Archiving to DVD idea.
* Another I hadn’t thought of, but really like, is adding the option of having a checkbox on Web galleries that would enable the viewer to download a high-res version of the Web thumbnail or preview-size image they’re seeing.
* How ’bout that tweak of having the Vignette readjust when you crop a photo. It’s a little big thing.
* Changing Catalogs without having to restart.

source: scottkelby.com

[stepheno]

They aint going to do it. Do all that and who needs PS? Shooting themselves in the foot.

[silkstone]

One problem is that most RAW converters allow non-destructive editing - the original file is untouched and changes are recorded in a sidecar file and/or a database. That's not too difficult with basic tonal and colour adjustments, but becomes very unwieldy with selective edits, layers, etc.

The original paradigm of LR was to be an all-in-one application, which is why the actual conversion to TIFF/JPEG was hidden away in an Export function that wouldn't run in background. They thought that you could used the (adjusted) RAW for everything and would never need to convert. That was a little optimistic, to say the least, and LR is still a long way off that. Even if they include lens/perspective correction, better noise filtering, etc (as found in some other converters) that still leaves layers, selections, masks, etc which need a conventional editor.

IMO it's a shame that Adobe have monopolised the 'serious' photo editing market - some of the prices are just silly, especially over here - and I'd certainly suggest looking at alternatives because there are some very good ones.

[AQ]

I have only just got a camera that can take raw files and have never looked at Lightroom. I am relatively OK with using Photoshop. The ARC in Photoshop looks reasonable so far. Is ther much / any reason for someone like me to even think about trying Lightroom ?

[Dabhand16]

The CS3 RAW function is very close to LR in its controls, and if you have CS3, I'm not sure that LR would be worth it.

[Charlotte]

Having both LR + CS3 (tho' havn't used CS3 much yet) I much prefer LR for RAW editing, possibly 'cos I'm more familiar with it.

Considering both are made by the same ppl, I'm starting to wonder why the 2 progs seem to be competing with each other

[Charlotte]

Why is this in General Chat

[j sotelo]

Originally Posted by stepheno

They aint going to do it. Do all that and who needs PS? Shooting themselves in the foot.

I also agree with you, they add all that and it will ALMOST render Photoshop useless.
but I have to agree that those are really good ideas!