The introduction of localized adjustments via the Adjustment Brush in Lightroom 2 is just beginning to reveal many creative uses. One possibility that may not be readily apparent is the ability to colorize or hand paint old black and white photos. We've all seen many Photoshop tutorials on how to apply this classic and nostalgic technique. But now, it's possible to do directly in Lightroom.

In the last post I wrote about LR2's Graduated Filter. The other localized editing tool, which many think might be the most significant addition to LR2, is the Adjustment Brush [AB]. The AB (keyboard shortcut "K" in your program) allows you to "paint" localized non-destructive effects like Exposure, Saturation, Sharpness, etc. You can then change or add parameters to the selected area and fine tune the effect to your image.

I just thought I would post an excerpt from my latest newsletter on the improvements in Lightroom 2.0. You can download the newsletter on my website here. The newsletters are free and back issues are also available on my website...