How to Create Copyright Preset for Lightroom Classic

January 2, 2019 by Lightroom Guy Leave a Comment

It’s 2019 – Time to update your Lightroom copyright preset.

The method to create a Lightroom copyright preset hasn’t changed over the years. But like many things we only need to do once, we forget the process. So, as a public service, here’s the step-by-step process:

Create the Copyright Preset

In the Library Module, go to the Metadata Panel and from Preset pulldown menu on the right side, choose “Edit Presets.” If you should find the Metadata panel completely blank, you’ll need to select a photograph. Then the Metadata fields will appear.

Creating a 2017 Copyright Preset in Lightroom

Choose Edit Presets

Now you’re looking at the Edit Metadata Presets dialog window. The panel looks overwhelming, but don’t worry. We’re only going to fill in two of these sections. Click on every disclosure triangle on the left side to close any open sections except for “IPTC Copyright” and “IPTC Creator.”

Fill in the ITPC Copyright Section

Change the Copyright Status pulldown menu from “Unknown” to “Copyrighted.”

In the Copyright field, type the copyright symbol followed by the year and then add your name. The © copyright symbol keystroke for Mac is Option G. For PC, hold down the ALT key while typing this sequence of numbers: 0169.

In the Rights Usage Terms field, copy and paste the following legal speak: No reproduction rights are granted without the express written permission of (your name). No other usage is expressed or implied. Part of the pasted text will become hidden. But, when applied to a photo, it will appear in its entirety in the IPTC Rights Usage Terms metadata field. Double check for typos!

Create Copyright Preset

Fill in the IPTC Creator Fields

Fill in as much (or as little) contact info as you wish. And, when you’re finished, go to the Preset pulldown menu. Choose “Save Current Settings as New Preset…” Type in your Preset Name and choose Create.

Lightroom Copyright Preset

You’ve now created your Lightroom Copyright Preset for 2019.

Apply your Lightroom Copyright Preset to a Photograph

In the Library module, select an image or a group of images. Then, choose the 2019 copyright you made from the Preset pulldown menu in the Metadata panel. If you have a group of images, you’ll have an “Apply Metadata Preset” dialog appear asking you if you want one or all selected photos to have the preset applied.

Lightroom Copyright Preset

Even if you don’t select IPTC from your Metadata view options, as long as you select your Preset, copyright information will be embedded in your image.

We wish everyone a very happy and healthy 2019!

Adobe Lightroom Classic CC Update Version 8.1

December 11, 2018 by Lightroom Guy Leave a Comment

Our favorite 8.1 improvements …

Not two months after the Lightroom Classic CC update to version 8 was launched (leaving Lightroom 7.5 in the dust), Lightroom Classic CC Version 8.1 has been released. It seems that Adobe is coordinating this update with the entire Adobe photo ecosystem: Adobe Camera Raw 11.1, Lightroom Classic CC, Lightroom CC and Lightroom CC 4.1 for Android, iOS and ChromeOS. For you holdouts, it’s a good reason to love the Creative Cloud. These improvements, updates and bug fixes keep making Lightroom better and better.

Just the Big Stuff

Instead of reviewing all the minutia of this Lightroom Classic update, we’re looking at our favorite improvements in 8.1. This is the desktop application and not to be confused with Lightroom CC, the cloud version (also updated to 2.1!).

Last October, we reviewed the major improvements for Lightroom Classic 8, in addition to our favorite improvements of Lightroom CC 2018, in case you missed them. And at the end of this post you can find a direct link to the “What’s New” page at Adobe for all the small details.

Here are the improvements worth knowing about:

Develop Panels Custom Order

At last week’s Digital Asset Management presentation at APA, we explained that no two photographers use the same workflow. Adobe must have heard us because you can now customize the order of the panels in the Develop Module!

Right click any of the panels on the right side of the Develop module and choose “Customize Develop Panel.” Uncheck to hide any Develop panels you don’t use, and drag and drop from the left side to reorder the ones you use the most.

Book Module Grid Snapping

Version 8 saw a big improvement to the Book Module, thankfully! With 8.1 Adobe has introduced grid snapping which is a much needed feature! This makes it easier to position image cells accurately to other images and text boxes. Yay!

The Book Module still isn’t perfect, but with a visible background grid, image cells you can snap to and custom page designs you can save, we’ve returned to Lightroom Classic for book making. These are all big improvements and time savers. We had been using Blurb’s Bookwright software, but returning to Lightroom simplifies our workflow. We promise, we will be reviewing the Book module at a later date.

Auto Import with Watched Folder

Auto-import images directly into a collection with a “watched” folder. Using File>Auto Import>Auto Import Settings … You can setup a new folder to automatically import and add images to a collection. This can also be a Collection synced with lightroom.adobe.com or Lightroom CC on iOS or Android. During my tests, this feature worked perfectly!

Cancel Quit

I’ll bet there are a lot of Lightroom users who end up quitting Lightroom when they didn’t plan to! This feature gives you the option of canceling a “Quit.” ‘Nuf said.

Performance

For those of you with 4K and 5K monitors, grid scrolling should be up to 5 times faster switching between the Library and Develop modules.

Click here for more on Adobe’s “What’s New” page

Download for the Lightroom Classic CC Manual

We’ve had a lot of requests for the most recent Lightroom Classic manual, so as a bonus to this blog post, here’s a link to Adobe PDF download of the Lightroom Classic CC manual: Adobe Lightroom Classic Manual.

Quick! Develop Like a Pro!

November 27, 2018 by Lightroom Guy Leave a Comment

Using the Radial Filter to Develop Like a Pro can dramatically change the way your photos look

You can develop like a pro quickly with this simple approach.

In our Develop Like a Pro workshop, I frequently talk about using Lightroom to bring attention to the main subject of a photo. This is a subtle move that uses Adobe Sensei and the Radial Filter tool.

Adobe Sensei

Although Adobe Sensei was released for Lightroom a year ago, many users (Classic and CC) overlook it. A simple click of the “Auto” button in the Tone section of the Develop panel will engage Adobe Sensei’s features. This makes short work of your initial first steps. Sensei isn’t labeled on any of the Auto buttons, so the feature isn’t obvious. But it’s there, under the hood, working its magic, referencing thousands of photos and saving you valuable production time.

To really develop like a pro, add a professional touch using the Radial filter. This can make a world of difference and it’s quite easy to do. It adds an “instant spotlight” to your subject.

Watch the video and in just two minutes you’ll understand why Develop Like a Pro isn’t a tag line, it’s a professional approach to developing photos.

Digital Asset Management Event

November 20, 2018 by Lightroom Guy Leave a Comment

On Wednesday, November 28^th from 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM, The Lightroom Guys are presenting, “Get Your DAM Act Together: Digital Asset Management principles and techniques for professional photographers.” The event is being sponsored by the New York Chapter of American Photographic Artists (APANY) and held at Photoshelter’s presentation space at 33 Union Square West, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10003.

Digital Asset Management is an essential part of maintaining a photo library. Having a plan (workflow) that is robust and efficient is critical to maintaining an ever growing library of images. Whether you use Lightroom, Bridge, Photo Mechanic or Capture One, this event will help you improve managing your photographic assets.

We will start the evening by reviewing basic Digital Asset Management concepts. Then, we’ll explore key principles and guidelines that apply to library management, no matter the software you’re using. Lastly, we will will review examples of real world workflows to see how to put theory into practice.

Your presenters are the Lightroom Guys: David Mark Erickson (Adobe Certified Expert, Capture One Certified Professional) and D.A.Wagner (Adobe Certified Expert and Instructor).

Digital Asset Management Tickets are $5 for APA members and $15 for non-members.

Check the Eventbrite page for the venue and to purchase tickets.

Preview Unavailable For This File

November 7, 2018 by Lightroom Guy 4 Comments

What’s going on when Lightroom’s import preview window says, “Preview Unavailable For This File?” You shoot camera raw and, you probably have a new camera.

Preview Unavailable For This File

The Adobe DNG Converter (Mac + PC) may be the solution. But first, let’s look at two reasons this could be happening:

Adobe can’t update a new camera’s updated proprietary raw data the moment it comes out. You usually have to wait for these camera raw updates to be added to the next “dot” version release. This would be for Creative Cloud apps of Lightroom and Photoshop.
The other reason could be that you’re using Lightroom 6, Photoshop CS6 or earlier. Lightroom 6, the last version of Lightroom that was sold as a DVD installation (AKA “perpetual version”). This was last updated on December 17th, 2017 and there will be no more updates, ever. If you’ve not updated your original Lightroom 6 to 6.1.4, there are updates and you can find the Lightroom 6 updates here. The update offers some bug fixes and adds the camera raw updates current at that time.

There’s a pretty good chance that converting the proprietary camera raw files of a camera manufacturer to DNG, will eliminate the “Preview Unavailable For This File” warning. DNG is the universal camera raw format, that both Lightroom and Photoshop can recognize.

In this video, you’ll learn how to download the Adobe DNG Converter, change your proprietary camera raw files to universal DNGs that Lightroom can “see” and import them to Lightroom.

What’s the workaround if the Adobe DNG Converter doesn’t solve the issue of importing your new camera photos into Lightroom? Camera manufacturers usually have their own software, like Nikon’s ViewNX-i. They update the software with each new camera release to include camera raw formula changes and can also convert to DNG. Check your camera manufacturer’s website. Their software should hold you until Adobe does their next dot release update.

Prevent Catastrophic Data Loss…

October 30, 2018 by Lightroom Guy Leave a Comment

…Using a NAS

It has now become “Prevent Catastrophic Data Loss Month” at Lightroom Guy.

It was barely three weeks ago that I wrote about the 3-2-1 Backup Strategy. This week, the #2 in my strategy, my 8-year old RAID (an OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2) died. Not the four hard drives inside, but the enclosure unit itself died, which has been running non-stop since 2010. Not a bad lifespan for a physical device! Still, the data on these drives are lost without taking extreme measures.

Before going out and spending any money on a replacement system, I did extensive research on the current state of backup hard drive systems and this blog post is the result of my research. We’re nothing if not particular about the hardware we use and recommend and figured this topic would make a great post since it is such a critical aspect of digital photography!

Based on my research, I have decided on getting a new NAS RAID system as my primary backup for my 2012 Mac Pro Tower. Fortunately, the #3 in my backup strategy has saved me from potential catastrophe! All of my computer hard drives are backed up in the cloud, using Backblaze.

I realize all of the acronyms can be a little confusing, so read on for further explanation …

What’s a RAID?

A RAID (stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks) enclosure contains two or more hard drives that can be used for storage or for backup. Using multiple hard drives increases the amount of storage over using the limited space (and sometimes speed) of single hard drive. We recommend our clients to use one of two RAID setup methods: RAID 1 or RAID 5 (explanations below).

And, things have changed considerably in the past 8 years. This time around I decided to get a NAS (Networked Attached Storage) RAID enclosure (NAS explanation also below).

RAID 1

Simply put, a RAID 1 is about redundancy. It works like two separate external hard drives, but it’s all in one enclosure and looks like one hard on your desktop. This is also known as mirroring. If a drive fails, you have a full backup on the other half of the RAID 1.

RAID 5

RAID 5 is about speed. Failure of one hard drive will not result in the loss of data. It’s pretty safe, but it’s not quite as safe as mirroring. It treats a group of hard drives like one drive. This makes for increased speed in data saving and recovery, while the failure of any one drive. In a RAID 5, if one hard drive fails (sometimes two, depending up configuration), the failed drives can be replaced without losing any data. In the rare event two drives fail at the same time, then there’s a problem with backup recovery.

NAS

NAS is hard drive enclosure for storing data that can be attached to your home network for wireless access. This can be a single hard drive or a RAID with multiple drives. Unlike a hardwired RAID though, you can setup a NAS to backup all the devices in your home. You access a NAS via your home network wirelessly over WiFi. That would be your home modem or router.

The Search for a Reliable NAS Was Too Easy!

We’ve installed quite a few of them for our clients – mostly Asus (1), QNAP (3),and Synology (7). However, this search was short work. It didn’t take long for me to discover that Synology, which has been the easiest to install is also top rated on nearly every review site we looked at, including the New York Times’ Wirecutter website, PC Magazine online and CNET. The list goes on and on with Synology consistently coming in at the top of nearly every list with multiple models.

The biggest challenge after deciding on Synology was, which model to purchase. I had the options of choosing a 4 or 5 bay NAS enclosure. With the price of large capacity hard drives dropping nearly monthly, I opted for Synology’s DS416 Slim, a 4 bay NAS Diskstation, a low-profile, space-saving enclosure that will fit right into my Mac Pro Tower’s Metroshelf unit.

The Hard Drives

Next, was to decide on a new set of hard drives. My last RAID had 4TB hard drives and was getting full. Since a local backup is my first line of defense, I wanted a larger capacity hard drives with an excellent warranty. Drives fail, especially when they’re running 24/7. And, for the record, I’ve replaced a number of failed drives within that warranty period with no manufacturer problems. My final decision was based on Tom’s Hardware review of the Seagate Ironwolf Pro Hard Drives with a 5-year warranty. The review was of the 12TB drive, but included positive commentary on 6, 10 and 12TB drives as well. I trust Tom’s advice. These drives are not a cheap solution, they’re a reliable one. That’s the most important consideration.

Now, with 4-Seagate 10TB Ironwolf Pro drives in my new Synology NAS, I have sufficient space to backup of my large library of photos on my Tower, and the 4 other Macs in the house without having to worry about space issues for years to come.

Struggling to find a backup solution for your growing photo library? Consider upgrading to a NAS and, if you need installation or setup help, contact us here at Lightroom Guy for an estimate.

Note: We receive a commission when you make a purchase through one of our Lightroom Guy links. It won’t cost you more and it helps support Lightroom Guy.

Lightroom Classic CC Version 8 is Here …

October 15, 2018 by Lightroom Guy Leave a Comment

… and we’re not sure why.

Lightroom Classic CC Version 8

Lightroom Classic CC Version 8 Splash Screen

Adobe is branding this as a full version update of Lightroom Classic. However most of the updates and changes are under-the-hood improvements with a few important, feature specific improvements. Since this release coincides with the start of the 2018 Adobe MAX conference, we assume the marketing department wanted to have a bigger sounding headline. Nevertheless, these updates are welcome and demonstrate Adobe’s ongoing commitment that Lightroom Classic CC isn’t going away.

Given the total number of updated features and bug fixes we thought it best to give you a review what we feel are the four most notable improvements. The laundry list, with short notes, of everything else is at the bottom of this post for those interested in more details about this “major” release.

And, unlike previous major releases, version 8 will not upgrade your current catalog by creating a new “-2” catalog. Your catalog and its name will remain unchanged.

Luminance Range Mask

If you have been using the new Range Masking features, you’ll appreciate this useful update. The Luminance Range Masking panel now includes an eyedropper tool for faster sampling of a single point or a range of luminance. Along with this added feature, there is now a “Show Luminance Mask” checkbox. This shows a preview your luminance mask selection against a monochrome version of your photo.

Luminance Range Masking Now Includes an Eyedropper and Mask Preview

Depth Range Mask

Lightroom has added Depth Range Masking support for HEIC format images. HEIC is a new format which we expect will slowly replace the JPG format. The HEIC format has a lot of advantages, least of which is the ability to record how far away objects are from the camera.

This version of Lightroom will be able to read that information which will allow users to be able to select the different depths and selectively apply local adjustments. Depth Range Masking will work the same way Luminance Range masking works, with an eyedropper to sample points and similar set of sliders.

Currently, the only cameras that use depth range information are Apple iPhones shooting in the Portrait mode (7+, 8+ and X’s). Read more about this feature here.

Negative Dehaze Improvements

Ever since its introduction, the Dehaze slider has been hugely popular! It was initially designed to help compensate for the perceived effect of humidity/moisture in the air. However, the actual effect is so dramatic that many users love to use the slider to quickly punch up their images.

In this release, significant improvements have been made to Dehaze when making negative adjustments (moving the slider to the left). These changes are reflected in something called Process Version and Adobe has updated this release to Process Version 5 (PV5). In PV4, negative Dehaze adjustments would make an image appear to have an overall milky haze. In PV5 we see a notable change with contrast, color and details far better preserved. Positive Dehaze slider results remain the same.

Negative Dehaze is Improved in Lightroom Classic Version 8

Using Negative Dehaze Slider Settings No Longer Add a Milky Haze

Improved Tether Support for Canon

Professional photographers will appreciate that the Lightroom development team have been working on a complete overhaul of the tethering features, to be released in future updates. That said, Adobe has decided to throw some direct support to only Canon users for the moment. With this version, Canon users have improved tethering, faster performance and shorter time between capture and loupe view of images with improved reliability with less hanging or crashes. Nikon’s tether performance enhancements (as well as support for other cameras) will be in upcoming releases. We expect to see additional improvements and features for tethering in the near future.

Adobe has released more details on tethering support here.

Now, for the Version 8 Laundry List …

New camera support

The new Nikon Z7 and Canon EOS-R mirrorless cameras are supported in this release. For a full list of camera raw supported cameras click here.
Updated Lightroom/ACR Lens correction support

Process Version Update

There is now process version 5. With significant improvements made for high ISO RAW files and the Dehaze slider. Negative Dehaze slider adjustment results are improved, making for better perceptual changes. High ISO files show less color aberration and improved shadow detail.

Single Step HDR Panorama Merge

This is a great addition for photographers who shoot Panoramas and use multiple exposure HDR techniques for expanded range of tone. As a result, this feature simplifies the merging and stitching process into a single menu item. Read more about this feature here.

Video and Slideshow Library
These are under-the-hood performance updates that should improve usability.

Playing AVI files on macOS
Older AVI format video files will now open and play in a pop-up window.

HEVC Support for macOS 10.13 or higher
Support has been added for new HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) video format being used by Apple on newer iPhones. Read more about this feature here.

System Requirements Update – Not supported in Lightroom Classic version 8:

MacOS 10.11.x
Windows 8.1
Windows 10 v1511 and v1607

New Licensing Library

You must be logged in to the Creative Cloud to use the program in this and all future versions.

Compiler Upgrade on macOS and Windows

This relates to performance optimization – hopefully we will see some more speed improvements with this version!

Jeffrey Freidl (or other) Lightroom Plugins

If you have any of Jeffrey’s excellent Lightroom plugins (or other third party plugins), you may have to update them to work with this version.

Click here for Adobe’s “What’s New” page with full notes

Click here for Adobe’s official blog post on the Lightroom Classic CC version 8 release

3-2-1 Backup Strategy

October 8, 2018 by Lightroom Guy 2 Comments

The Number One Reason to Backup Your Photos!

“About half of all computer users either know someone or they themselves have recently lost photos or data.”

After two completely different experiences this year, one of which happened just this week, I’m writing about why backup of photos (and other files!) is so critical. Actually, to be safe, you’ll want to have three copies: one on your computer, one on a backup drive locally (in your location – traveling with you, home, office, etc.) and one in the cloud (AKA online). It’s called the 3-2-1 backup strategy and you can read more about it here.

What We Do to Keep Our Photos and Files Safe

NOTE

Before leaving on any trip, I always copy my important workshop files to my laptop from my desktop computer and create a backup to a Time Machine drive that I take with me. My wife follows the same routine. We shut down our respective computers at home and unplug them as a matter of practice. So far, that’s one copy on the laptop, one on Time Machine. Two copies, both local.

We also have all of our computers, laptops and desktops, backed up to the cloud with Backblaze as an additional precaution. Backblaze is automatic and backups happen in the background while we work (just like Time Machine on Macs). We never have to consciously do anything; it’s a set it and forget application that works on both Macs and PCs. That’s three copies now: a belt, suspenders and a safety pin. With this much backup, what could go wrong?

Plenty, if I only had the first two copies.

Unexpected Disaster

The first time was in Paris in April (sounds romantic, doesn’t it?), shooting reference photos for a children’s book. I could never have imagined that both my external library drive and my Time machine drive could fail in the same day but fail they did. And I have the bad habit of reformatting my memory cards after they’ve been backed up to Time Machine. Duh. My photos were gone!

Backup your photos

So, without getting into the details of what exactly happened, this would have been a disaster (not to mention unprofessional) without a cloud backup. To make this potential misfortune even worse, the subject of the shoot was a crotchety 91-year-old toy repair man. He wasn’t about to let me take over his shop yet again, I’m sure of that. I located the photos on Backblaze and downloaded them to a new set of drives. Cloud backup to the rescue. Catastrophe #1 averted.

Workshop Files Not Transferred

This week and next I’m in Doha, Qatar, doing research for a future photo tour, while my wife, Vicki, works at the American School here. In our rush preparing for the trip, the wrong workshop folder went to Vicki’s laptop while the correct folder remained on her turned off and unplugged home computer. From our hotel in Doha, a simple login to Backblaze gave access to her backed up files. Catastrophe #2 averted.

Moral of the Story

Catastrophic failures happen.

Both David Mark Erickson and I cannot emphasize to our readers just how important it is to use the 3-2-1 strategy. We recommend Backblaze because of its reliability, reasonable price and set it and forget it simplicity. But it doesn’t matter which cloud backup program you decide to use, no matter where in the world you may be, as long as you have internet, you have access to that third copy of your files. That means if your computer is lost or stolen (especially while traveling), you still have your photos and data.

Note: Lightroom Guy is a Backblaze and Amazon affiliate. We receive a commission when you make a purchase through one of our links, but it doesn’t cost you anything while helping support Lightroom Guy.

Hold Off On Updating to MacOS Mojave

September 24, 2018 by Lightroom Guy Leave a Comment

As I wrote in an earlier post, please hold off on updating to MacOS Mojave, which is the Mac operating system number 10.14. Apple announced its release today, September 24th at 5pm. And although you may not see it featured yet in the App Store, it’s there and available for download.

You’ll also want to hold off on updating to MacOS Mojave until you have checked to see if your particular model of Macintosh can upgrade to this version.

A really good example of “Why Not?” is compatibility issues with BookWright, Blurb’s excellent book design and publishing software. The folks at Blurb recommend to complete making any books in progress before updating toMacOS Mojave. If you have a book in progress in Lightroom’s Book Module and update to MacOS Mojave, your current book will be unaffected. Now, Blurb is a company willing to admit their software is not ready. There will be software that doesn’t work with Mojave, so hold off on updating to MacOS Mojave and save yourself some grief. We’ll try to keep you posted in the coming weeks. If you must and you’re tech savvy, we recommend going to the Eclectic Light Company’s app page and checking out 32-bitCheck to see which programs are 32 bit and Taccy to check your privacy settings and notarization.

Uninstall AdWare Doctor Now!

September 11, 2018 by Lightroom Guy Leave a Comment

We don’t usually raise alarms like this, but if you have Adware Doctor (formerly known as Adware Medic), the #1 selling app in the Apple App Store, uninstall Adware Doctor now! It is malware and this news is extremely important.

Why? Adware Doctor (also App Store’s Dr. Antivirus and Dr. Cleaner) has been stealing your browser history if you use Chrome, Firefox, or Safari. What does it do with your browser history? It sends that data to China. And it’s been doing that for years. How did we find out? On Patrick Wardle’s website, Objective-See. A site dedicated to developing Mac OS X security tools. He’s looked deep inside Adware Doctor and discovered that, under the hood, the app was deceitfully bypassing Apple’s security restraints. This is a astronomical privacy issue and we want you to know about it. So, please uninstall Adware Doctor, Dr. Antivirus and Dr. Cleaner if you have them.

What I’ve discovered in my search for uninstalling Adware Doctor is, lots of very dicey “uninstall software” websites. They run down a list of procedures for removal that would be complicated for most users and pepper the text with ads for (you guessed it!) their recommendation for “easy” to use removal software. Please, don’t download these.

Removing apps from your Mac is relatively easy. MacWorld UK has a step-by-step article on how to uninstall software apps on mac. This will get you started, but these kinds of malicious apps can go unnoticed for years. So, please read on.

uninstall Adware Doctor

Malwarebytes Labs’ most recent September 7th blog post has noted this very important privacy issue and will be updated to include all the above mentioned offenders and more in their soon to be released next version of Malwarebytes. Our recommendation has always been Malwarebytes for all our clients. There’s a 30 day free trial of this highly regarded and easy to use software. We implicitly trust Malwarebytes for all desktop Macs and PCs and we’ve used it to save our client’s from grief many a time.

They’ve also introduced Malwarebytes for iOS. However, we haven’t used it yet and the reviews are mediocre (3.3 star rating) at the time of this writing. However, I do want to note here that, every comment on the Malwarebytes for iOS page in the App Store has a Developer Response. Those guys keep on top of their product.

And, for the record, we don’t profit from recommending Malwarebytes.