Lightroom Fundamentals: An Introduction to Lightroom

Adobe Lightroom 5 softwares help you bring out the best in your photographs, whether you're perfecting one image, searching for ten, processing hundreds, or organizing thousands. This course is designed for novice photo editors to learn the basics of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.

Photographers, designers or anyone else that wants a non-destructrive workflow to organizing and editing their photos.

Practical working knowledge of computers and basic Mac OS X or Windows skills.

Note: The curricula below comprise activities typically covered in a class at this skill level. The instructor may, at his/her discretion, adjust the lesson plan to meet the needs of the class.

Lesson 1: A Quick Tour of Photoshop Lightroom

• Understanding how Lightroom works
• About catalog files
• Managing photos in a library
• Non-destructive editing
• The Lightroom workspace
• The top panel
• The work area
• The left and right panel groups
• The Toolbar
• The Filmstrip
• Customizing the workspace
• The Lightroom modules
• The Library module
• The Develop module
• The Map module
• The Book module
• The Slideshow module
• The Print module
• The Web module
• The Lightroom workflow
• Importing photos
• Reviewing and organizing
• About keyword tags
• Working in slideshow mode
• Creating a collection
• Rearranging and deleting images in a collection
• Comparing photos side by side
• Comparing several photos
• Developing and editing
• Using Quick Develop in the Library module
• Working in the Develop module
• Straightening and cropping an image
• Adjusting lighting and tonal balance
• Creating effects with the Radial Filter tool
• Editing in another application
• Sharing your work by e-mail
• Getting help
• Navigating Help in the application
• Accessing Help and Support on the web

Lesson 2: Introducing the Workspace

• Importing images into the library
• Toggling screen modes
• Adjusting the workspace layout
• Working with the application window on Windows
• Working with the application window on Mac OS
• Using a secondary display
• Resizing panels
• Showing and hiding panels or panel groups
• Working with the left and right panel groups
• Expanding and collapsing panels
• Hiding and showing panels
• Working with the main display area
• Navigating the Loupe view
• Grid and Loupe view options
• Dimming lights
• Personalizing the identity plate
• Personalizing the side panels
• Keyboard shortcuts

Lesson 3: Importing

• The import process
• Importing photos from a digital camera
• Organizing your copied photos in folders
• About file formats
• Creating import presets
• Backup strategies
• Renaming files as they are imported
• Importing images from a hard disk
• Applying metadata
• Importing via drag and drop
• Evaluating photos before importing
• Importing and viewing video
• Importing to a specific folder
• Importing from other catalogs
• Importing from a watched folder
• Specifying initial previews when importing
• Tethered shooting
• Tethered shooting with a supported camera
• Tethered shooting with other cameras

Lesson 4: Reviewing

• Viewing and managing your images
• Switching views
• The Grid view
• View options for the Grid view
• Working in Loupe view
• Comparing photos
• Using Survey view to narrow a selection
• Flagging and deleting images
• Grouping images in the Quick Collection
• Moving images into or out of the Quick Collection
• Converting and clearing the Quick Collection
• Designating a target collection
• Working with the Filmstrip
• Hiding the Filmstrip and adjusting its size
• Using filters in the Filmstrip
• Changing the sorting order of the thumbnails

Lesson 5: Organizing and Selecting

• Organizing folders
• Creating subfolders
• Making changes to a folder’s content
• Synchronizing folders
• Using collections to organize images
• The Quick Collection
• Collections
• Smart collections
• Stacking images
• Applying keyword tags
• Viewing keyword tags
• Adding keyword tags
• Working with keyword sets and nesting keywords
• Searching by keywords
• Using flags and ratings
• Flagging images
• Assigning ratings
• Working with color labels
• Adding metadata
• Storage of metadata
• Organizing photos by location
• Working in the Map module
• Geotagging images captured without GPS data
• Adding locations using GPS tracklogs
• Saving map locations
• Using the Painter tool
• Finding and filtering files
• Using the Filter bar to find photos
• Using the Metadata filter
• Using the filters in the Filmstrip
• Reconnecting missing files and folders

Lesson 6: Developing and Editing

• Quick developing in the Library module
• Quick and easy video editing
• Trimming video clips
• Setting video thumbnails and grabbing still frames
• Editing video in the Quick Develop panel
• Previews in a nutshell
• Understanding process versions
• Updating the process version
• About white balance
• The Develop module
• Cropping and rotating images
• Removing unwanted objects
• Retouching spots
• Correcting color balance and tonal range
• Undoing, redoing, and remembering changes
• The History panel
• Creating snapshots
• Getting more from the Before & After view
• Working with the Tone controls
• Creating your own developing presets
• Working with virtual copies
• Beyond the Basic panel
• Adjusting contrast using the tone curve
• Making local corrections
• Using the Graduated Filter tool
• Using the Adjustment Brush tool
• Making discrete color adjustments
• Understanding hue, saturation, and luminance
• Adjusting colors selectively
• Converting an image to black and white
• Split toning
• Synchronizing settings
• Removing camera-generated image artifacts
• Correcting lens distortion
• Correcting perspective effects automatically
• Sharpening detail and reducing noise
• Adding effects

Lesson 7: Creating a Photo Book

• Assembling photos for a book
• Working in the Book module
• Setting up a photo book
• Changing page layouts
• Adding page numbers to a photo book
• Placing photos in a book layout
• Changing the images in a photo book
• Working with photo cells
• Setting a page background
• Adding text to a photo book
• Working with text cells
• Fine-tuning type
• Working with captions
• Creating a custom text preset
• Saving and re-using custom book page layouts
• Creating a saved book
• Copying a saved book
• Exporting a photo book

Lesson 8: Creating a Slideshow

• Assembling photos for a slideshow
• Working in the Slideshow module
• Choosing a slideshow template
• Template options for slideshows
• Customizing your slideshow template
• Adjusting the slide layout
• Setting up the slide background
• Adjusting stroke borders and shadows
• Adding a text overlay
• Using the Text Template Editor
• Creating a Saved Slideshow
• Refining your slideshow
• Adjusting the playback settings
• Adding music to your slideshow
• Saving a customized slideshow template
• Modifying and organizing user templates
• Exporting a slideshow
• Playing an impromptu slideshow

Lesson 9: Printing Images

• About the Lightroom Print module
• About layout styles and print templates
• Selecting a print template
• Specifying the printer and paper size
• Customizing print templates
• Changing the number of cells
• Modifying the page layout of a print template
• Rearranging the photos in a print layout
• Creating stroke and photo borders
• Using the Rotate To Fit option
• Customizing your identity plate
• Printing captions and metadata information
• Saving your customized print template
• Creating a Custom Package print layout
• Changing the page background color
• Soft proofing photos before printing
• Configuring the output settings
• Working with 16 Bit output on Mac OS
• Using color management
• Using color management
• Color managed by your printer
• Color management controlled by Lightroom
• Tweaking printed color manually
• Saving print settings as an output collection
• Printing your job

Lesson 10: Publishing Your Photos

• Publishing photos from the Library
• Setting up a Flickr account
• Publishing photos to Flickr
• Publishing photo comments
• Republishing a photo
• Creating a new Photoset on Flickr
• Sharing images to Facebook
• Sharing work in progress on Behance
• Publishing photos to your hard disk
• The Lightroom Web module
• Assembling photos for an online gallery
• Choosing a template in the Web module
• Distinguishing between HTML and Flash templates
• Rearranging the order of your images
• Customizing your web gallery
• Replacing text
• Changing colors
• Tweaking the layout of a web gallery
• Personalizing your web gallery
• Working with identity plates
• Providing more information
• Specifying output settings
• Watermarking images
• Previewing the gallery
• Saving your custom template
• Creating a Saved Web Gallery
• Exporting your gallery
• Uploading your gallery to a web server

Lesson 11: Making Backups and Exporting Photos

• Preventing data loss
• Backing up the catalog file
• Exporting metadata
• Backing up the library
• Exporting images as a catalog
• Doing incremental backups
• Exporting photos
• Exporting JPEG files for on-screen viewing
• Using export plug-ins
• Exporting as PSD or TIFF for further editing
• Exporting as Original or DNG for archiving
• Using export presets
• Setting up post-processing actions
• Creating user presets