So waddya working on?

Well I've a few things on the go at the moment. Parallel processing isn't a human task, so it's literally one at time until my attention span gives out (easily done, I'm afraid).

LRB Portfolio 1.03 was released yesterday

I'm working on a new website plugin based on 1.03 but very different. Check out the first sample website.

I'm back working on an eBook on making your own galleries. My designer came in with a nice InDesign layout (now I need to learn InDesign!).

I'm still working on the next installment of the tutorials for Lightroom-News.com. Mostly done, but I need to make up the gallery pages again to make sure it all works!

I know Tom is keen to get a music player in galleries, and while I have created a little flash player and have the code for the tunes buried in the galleryInfo.lrweb file, I can't get it to sit in right without frames, which don't seem to be working right in PC Lightroom.

LRB Portfolio updated to 1.03

Initially created to fulfill a user request for longer thumbnails LRB Portfolio has now been updated to version 1.03. Additionally a second request for an option to open external links in a new window was also fulfilled.
A feature I've wanted since the beginning was also implemented: only files required by the gallery are generated. I mailed in some possible conditional code for the manifest.lrweb file to Lightroom engineer Andy Rahn. Andy was kind enough to expand on it and so I was able to get this feature in. Thanks Andy!
Use the download link you received when you purchased to get the new version. If you have used the 5 downloads, reply using the download email and I'll reset it.

Update: I've changed to 9 downloads to help with this. Also there was a silly typo (which noone seems to have seen yet!), so please redownload this if you got it earlier today.

Previewing Camera Profiles.

The new Camera Profiles are really great for getting a good look quickly. But you want to preview them to see what suits. Well, changing them in Camera Calibration will let you see them, but it's a bit tedious. The obvious answer is much easier than you might expect: Create a batch of Presets!

Open your image and go to the Camera Calibration tab in Develop. Option/Alt click the tab to switch to Solo mode if you want to see only this tab.

The Camera Calibration tab in Develop. ACR4.4 is the default profile for the 40D

In the Profile section, select a camera profile. Here I've selected the Landscape profile.

Right click on a presets folder and choose New folder. Name it for the camera. In my case I've called it 40D Camera Profiles.

Now use Shift Command N (Shift Control N on PC) to call up the New Preset dialog. Name the Preset to match the Profile name. Select the Preset folder you just created. Click Check None and then Camera Calibration to make sure only the Camera Calibration settings are saved.

Repeat for each Profile. When done, you will have a folder of Presets to hover over and preview the look in the Navigator panel.

As a treat to fellow 40D owners, you can download the presets I created for this tutorial here. You need the Camera Profiles installed for these to work. Update: These seem to work for any Canon camera. The preset seems to just take the appropriate profile for the camera to preview, which means any Canon camera should be previewable from these presets. I'll check with Eric Chan on this.

Update 2. I notice that the Camera Standard, Neutral, Portrait and Adobe Standard also work on Nikon Raw files also (D3 and D70 are the Raw's I have).

Update 3. Here's a set for Nikon users.

Lightroom 2 vs. CS4 & Lightroom Conspirarcy Theories

Scott Kelby has posted a video about Lightroom 2 vs. CS4 & Lightroom Conspirarcy Theories over at his Photoshop Insider blog. Basically the video is Scott and Matt Kloskowski talking about coverage of issues relating to the programs.
A very valid point is that while the majority of users don't have issues, there are some that do, and for them it's the most important thing in the world (appropriately).
Personally, I'm having a bizarre graphic issue where my screen darkens down as I move the image about the screen or scroll using any scrollbar. I move the whole window to my 2nd monitor and it rectifies immediately.
Here's the catch: to create an effective bug report that lets Lightroom engineers see the issue, you need reproducible steps. While this happens to me all the time, I have no steps. It simply happens.
Besides that I have only one minor crop issue and that's it. Lightroom is solid otherwise. The crop issue, for those that care, is when I'm in a portrait image and I use Shift to constrain a crop, it jumps to landscape when I drag a corner. It happens most of the time for me. If I use the lock it's fine, so it's not major by any means.

Update: Folks, if you're going to say you've a bug in the comments, do it the right way! List your machine and OS, the version of Lightroom you are using and the steps to take to reproduce it. If you've no steps, describe what you were doing when you see the bug.

LRB Portfolio updated to 1.02

This just adds 2 external links and a test.php to the web engine. It's only a very minor update, so you don't need to redownload unless you are using all 6 galleries and need further links. If you want it and have used the 5 downloads, reply using the download email and I'll reset it.

Help

It's not something I make much mention of, but I am a Moderator for Adobe with the community help. Help from Lightroom goes through the design centre, with actual help being the first link. Here's 2 options for you instead of going through the design centre.

Save the link http://help.adobe.com/en_US/Lightroom/2.0/ in your browser

Open the link and on the top right of the page click on the PDF link to download the Help file for offline reference

So why is help online? Well Adobe are hoping to make it more interactive with comments and moderators. It's not so useful in the Jungle or on Plane though, hence the PDF. But of course you need to go online to get that! At least now you know you can get it before heading in offline territory.