Well, now that most of the photographic world has begun to digest what the release of Lightroom 2.0 means for their little world, I’d like to do a quick rundown of the top 10 things I’m most excited about in this new release. Unlike most of you, I’ve been using the GM version for a few weeks and have already got a grip on the things that really enhance my real-world workflow. I’m not talking about some big checklist of new features, I’m takling things that make my job as a photographer easier in Lightroom than anywhere else.

So off we go, in no particular order:

1. Local Corrections - you now have the ability to paint on special effects within the raw pipeline (i.e. no having to render a tiff, open it in another application and then manage two separate files like Aperture has to do). You can dodge, burn, add clarity or contrast to a spot and you can soften skin (negative clarity) or add a tone (via a colored brush). This feature is really cool and allows all kinds of things you used to have to go to Photoshop to do.

2. Streamlined Editing - Lightroom was always good at helping you edit your photo shoot. Step thru each image, and either pick it (p) or reject it (x). (Tip: You can unmark things with the (u) key). PIcks are for images that I think have potential. Rejects are ones I’m going to trash. Nothing new here so far, as Lightroom 1.0 did this. However we’ve added a great new indicator for those items that have been rejected. The filmstrip and grid icons are now grayed out - perfect and much clearer. Tip: when you’re done editing and ready to trash those rejects, hit Cmd-Delete and Lightroom will ask you if you want to remove them or trash them.

3. Collections - with Lightroom 2, collections got a huge and much needed kick in the pants. First off, they now have little icons that help you in parsing what can be a long list. Each collection type (more on that in a second) has its own icon too. And with 2 you can now create Smart Collections. This is very cool - you can make collections based on metadata, just like you do in iTunes.

4. Volume Browser - this is a nice little update that improves the “where are my files” problem that some people have when they start using Lightroom. The skinny: Lightroom is a catalog app. You point lightroom at a folder and it will build a cache with metadata and previews for the image. The images remain on the drive where you told the Import dialog to put them. But some got all concerned with the “where” question. So we improved the Folder panel display to show the volume, its status, capacity and other great info about the file folder structure. And hint, you can change the LED color by holding the Shift-Option-Command keys down when clicking on the LED light.

5. Print Packages - its so much easier to print a package of images now. Want a 5x7 images and a bunch of wallets? A few clicks and you’re there. As Borat says “Very Nice.”

6. Match Total Exposures - Shoot a bunch of things at the same time and want the exposures to match? One command, baby...

7. Post-Crop Vignette - In Lightroom 1.0, all you had was a full-frame vignette designed to eliminate lens vignetting. If you wanted it for artistic effect, and then you added a crop, you lost much of the effect. Not any more.

8. Custom Camera Profiles - One of the big complaints we get is that the Raw files imported into Lightroom don’t have the “pop” of the camera manufacterers JPG. Uh, this is kinda the point, but people kept complaining when they saw Raw files ready for interpretation instead of pre-processed jpegs. Adding to the problem: our auto settings didn’t work as well as they should. So we’ve added the ability for Lightroom to use custom profiles that can be created by the DNG Profile Editor. There is even a default set from Adobe that mimics several known picture styles. Had problems with red/orange/yellow colors in Lightroom 1.x? Now that is a thing of the past. Making profiles isn’t for everyone, but you can do it and many will do it and make them downloadable. Its going to be very cool. And we tweaked the Auto algorithm too for good measure.

9. Keyword Suggestions - This new feature suggests other keywords that might apply to your image - it uses all kinds of fancy algorithms done by super geekycool Adobe engineers (hint: I don’t know how it works, but it sure is nice for stock photographs).

10. Target Collection - In 1.x, you had the Quick Collection for a nice bucket to organize stuff into. Now you can target any collection and add it by a simple press of the (b) key. This makes organization really simple.

Well, that is it. There is a lot more in the release, but this is what is floatin’ my boat (as it were) these days.

Sound off in Comments on what is making your life better!

Cheers!

Tags:Lightroom, Photography