LRB Portfolio updated to 2.4

Normally updates to LRB Portfolio are monthly, but this time I've had 2 code setbacks, meaning I had to go back twice and restart the update. I'm currently trialing a versioning system to prevent this from happening in the future. Mixed with a lot of other commitments, including new plugins and galleries, it's been tough to get this one out there. Hopefully I haven't introduced other bugs in the process of fixing the ones here.

Fixed issue where the menu offset could force the gallery to the right with Cmotion in Safari.

Fixed IE issue where there would be a gap at the bottom of images. (further work may be needed)

Changed Contact form so you no longer need to edit mail.html to get the correct email address)

There are other minor changes, but these are the main ones.

As with all updates, these are free to current 1.x & 2.X users of LRB Portfolio via the download link they received on purchase. New customers interested in buying this plugin can do from from the LRB Portfolio Website.

The updated User Guide is with the plugin, but can also be downloaded from the website.

Add your LRB Portfolio gallery.

Hi folks,
It's past time for a new featured gallery, so if you have a finished website make with LRB Portfolio, please add a link in the comments and I'll pick out some for the next few features!

And yes 2.4 will be out soon.

LR2Pikchur Plugin Launch

In my ongoing roundup of Twitter related photo hosts, I'm very pleased to announce the launch of LR2Pikchur, an export service for Pikchur.com, which also can post a message on Twitter after upload. With a successful upload the URL and message information are available via a custom Metadata Field List in the Metadata Panel. Price=Coffee for me €2.50.

Details on installing, using and a demo version are available from the LR2Pikchur page.

Playing with Panels

Lightroom makes extensive use of panels in order to simplify workflow. Often we're in and out of panels all the time without making the best use of them. So here's some tips on improving your panel usage.

Command(Mac)/Control click(PC) on any panel to collapse all the individual panels. Especially useful if all the panels are open and the one you want is at the bottom.

Option (Mac)/ Alt (PC) click on a panel header to activate 'Solo Mode'. In Solo Mode, only one panel at a time is open. Repeating the Alt/Option click will deactivate Solo Mode.

Hovering on the inner edge of a panel will turn the cursor into a double headed arrow. Click and drag to change the panel width. There is a fixed limit to how wide the panel can be.

By right clicking (or control clicking on Mac) on a panel, you can bring up a menu where you can remove or restore panels.

To hide/view the Left and Right Panels, simply press the Tab Key. (Shift Tab will toggle the Filmstrip and Module Picker also).

You can control how the panels react on mouseover by right clicking (or control clicking on Mac) on the outside of the panel scroll bar. From there you get options to Auto Hide and Show, which is the default behaviour of opening and closing as you mouse on or off the edge of the scroll area. Auto Hide means you have to click on the triangle in the middle to open the panel. Mousing away lets the panel close automatically. Finally Manual forces you to click on and off the panel every time. There is one more control, and that is Sync with Opposite Panel, which is useful when you want to apply your settings to the other panel.

Doing It The Hard Way

This post is a bit geeky/nerdy, so don't feel obliged to read it!

At the start of October, Tweetphoto changed their API. As most folk know nothing about code, it's kinda like they changed the combination to the lock. That meant loads of whinging from me as the old API did everything I needed. I think that made them add a new section to the API for me, but alas I couldn't get it to work. There was loads of back and forth, and I'm sure my frustration was showing. They were patient with me, but I still couldn't get an upload going. All the code seemed perfect, in line with the new API, but no joy, I couldn't upload. So I did what any good quitter does and gave up.

I'd already promised a cross grade to any user that wanted to go to Twitpic, so there was an out in that form. Still I wasn't happy with that. So the other night I started tinkering again. I commented out the optional sections of API until I got an upload. This little success led me to fixing my issue, which, believe it or not, was down to a misplaced space. With upload working, I considered myself done. Just as I was about to go to bed, I figured I better check the error list, and make sure it was parsing correctly. Disaster. Garbled internal error messages. I was a bit distraught, coming down quickly from the ecstasy of getting an upload again. I sent out feelers in a few directions for help. I left the code and started back to work on a new Web Gallery that I was building to create my new website: SkyWaterLand.com.

The Tweetphoto guys came back telling me that the I probably wasn't going to get any XML error codes back from this API, but to check the HTTP status codes. Of course I couldn't see what was coming back as the log didn't show anything. Eventually I had a peek at my Twitpic code and noticed I'd left out a line to print the log.. Doh! After inserting the code, I was able to see the exact error coming back in the Console. It wasn't an actual HTTP/HTML response as I expected, it was simply 'Bad Request'. Well that meant that I needed to search for 'Bad Request' and trap that error. So all seems well now. Of course the code needs to be compiled again and tested, but I'm glad I'm at least to that stage again after having practically given up.

Photoshop User: Sharpening in Lightroom

As promised, here a pdf of my Photoshop User magazine article from the Oct/Nov issue. For those unaware, Photoshop User magazine is the offical NAPP members magazine covering a range of general photography news, Photoshop and Lightroom articles. Membership is $99 per annum and includes a wealth of discounts that more than pay this back.

Which Collections are my photo in?

One new little feature in Lightroom 3 Beta is an answer to one of the Skribit questions in my sidebar.

Well, the answer is by clicking on the Collection Badge.

You'll then see a list of the collections a file is in.

Using Lightroom for your iPhone Photos

The new Publish option in Lightroom 3 Beta allows you a handy way to control what photos are on your iPhone without iPhoto. Fortunately iTunes allows you to select a folder that will sync to the iPhone instead.

First up, create a folder called iPhone on your hard drive. Next, in Lightroom 3 Beta's Library Module, go to the Publish Services section on the bottom of the left panel. Click on the '+' beside 'Publish Services' and choose 'Manage Publish Connections'. This opens a dialog box that's remarkably similar to Export.

The left hand side has 2 panels, Connections and Post Process Actions. Click 'Add' at the bottom of Connections. In the Dialog box that pops up, choose 'Hard Drive' from Via Service. Next name the Connection 'iPhone'. Click Create.

Now go through the settings. For Export Location, go to the folder 'iPhone' that you created at the start. Don't tick a Subfolder. For the settings I recommend Jpeg, sRGB, Quality 75, 960px long edge (to allow zooming in on the iPhone), 72ppi, Sharpen for Screen. I've added a Watermark, that up to you, if you want one. Once the settings are done, click Save. You'll now see a new Bar in Publish: 'Hard Drive:iPhone'.

Right Click on this and choose 'Create Published Folder' to add a folder to this. Each folder will be a selectable album that you can transfer in iTunes. Repeat for all the different albums you want.

Add files to the Published Folders and then click on the folder and click the Publish button (it replaces Export). You'll need to do this for each folder.

Now connect your iPhone. In iTunes, click on your iPhone Icon and then go to the Photos tab. Click on the 'Sync photos from' flyout menu. Click 'Choose Folder..' and then navigate to your iPhone folder and click 'Open'. If you want to pick and choose folders, click 'Selected Folders'.

Finally click Apply. You can now control the photos on the iPhone from Lightroom.

By looking at the iPhone Publish Service, you can see at a glance what's on your iPhone. If you edit the photos, you can then republish and update the iPhone. Same for adding more photos, republish and sync to keep the iPhone photos the same.

All text and and images ©2009 Sean McCormack. All rights reserved. No portion of this article may be reproduced without permission.

Master Adobe Lightroom! Hands-on Lightroom Workshop to be offered in Denver, Colorado for January, 2010

Former Adobe Evangelist, George Jardine has announced a Lightroom Workshop in Denver, next January.

Press release:

Master Adobe Lightroom! Hands-on Lightroom Workshop to be offered in Denver, Colorado for January, 2010 "

Photograph © George A. Jardine

In January I’ll be conducting an intensive, one-day Adobe Lightroom workshop at the Lone Tree Civic Center in South Denver, Colorado. We’re tentatively planning for Saturday, January 23rd, 2010. (OMG…. where did 2009 go???)

In this workshop, you will learn:

- an easy-to-adopt, end-to-end workflow using Adobe Lightroom

- navigation tips and techniques for the Lightroom Library, to speed your image editing and asset management

- color correction secrets of the pros, for squeezing the very best photograph out of your digital exposures

- the basics of the Slideshow and Web modules, for streamlined output

- the basics of Photoshop CS4 integration into the Lightroom workflow

Bringing your own laptop computer is highly recommended!

While you can certainly follow along in this workshop without a computer, you will get the most out of it if you are working on your own laptop, hands-on. It is highly recommended that you bring a laptop computer, with a copy of the latest version of Lightroom installed. A free, trial version of Lightroom can be downloaded and used for 30 days, from here.

This workshop is perfect for any serious amateur or professional photographer who wants to get a solid foundation in the basics of Adobe Lightroom, all the way from the Library Module to the Web Module.  If you live in Colorado and want to have a chance to learn Lightroom from one of the original Adobe Lightroom team members and the former Adobe Pro Photography Evangelist, then this workshop is for you.

Instructor George Jardine. Photograph © Jeff Schewe

This all-day Lightroom workshop will be $99, with a discount offered to qualifying Denver-area camera-club members. If you are interested in attending, please e-mail me at georgej@gmail.com to reserve your space, or check back here for the final date and location to be posted before the end of December. Reserving your space with me in advance is highly recommended, as space will be limited!

(Via George Jardine on Lightroom and Digital Photography.)

November Links

Tom Hogarty talks with Jim Goldstein about Lightroom 3 Beta.

Gene McCullagh has a fantastic introduction to Publish in Lightroom 3 Beta.

Mark Wilson has another take on it: Publishing to the Cloud.

Matt Kloskowski has some free Grain Presets on Lightroom Killer Tips.

Not directly a Lightroom post, but with useful information: Solving Printing issues with Snow Leopard, PSCS4 and Epson Printers.

Using the timelapse presets: a video tutorial

I've put together a short video showing the making of the timelapse video from the previous post using the Presets I gave out on Lightroom News. Here I cover creating the slideshow, exporting and a little about where the presets live. I'm also trying out a new feature of the video capture program ScreenFow: Export to YouTube. You'll need to click through to YouTube itself to see the video at a larger size as the embed size here is quite small.