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My top ten wishes for Lightroom in 2009
In the tradition of both new-years resolutions and top ten lists, I decided to compile a list of my wishes for where I’d like Lightroom to develop in the new year. My biggest issue that I had with Lightroom for a long time - the poor quality of the scaler - was fixed in 2.2 and the addition of camera profiles in LR 2 fixed the color issue, so, apart from the nasty memory management bugs in LR 2.2, I am quite a happy camper. Of course, no piece of software is ever perfect. So here goes:
10. Faster browsing in the Library view without the need for the lengthy generating of previews. Aperture has an awesome quick browse mode that just uses the RAW-embedded previews or the already generated previews. I would love something similar in Lightroom. This would speed up initial culling tremendously.
9. Fool-proof printing. The glut of people complaining online about bad colors from Lightroom prints makes me think that this is not quite straightforward enough. I think the fault lies partly with the OS and printer vendors but for some reason, Lightroom seems to amplify the problems these two have neglected for ages. There are so many ways to end up with double color management, or no management at all, and only a few ways to get correctly managed prints and they are often non-intuitive. Hardly any program manages to get this right but I find it astonishing that in 2009, 30 years after the introduction of the laser printer and 24 years after the introduction of affordable desktop publishing, this is still such a hard nut to crack. I can get great colors from Lightroom prints, but often only after a song and dance incantation of the good graces of the printer gods.8. A better, more useful slideshow module. Currently, I think the slideshow module, while functional, is not that useful. The quality is quite poor (no sharpening and it uses a poor quality very soft scaler), there are many bugs (if you don’t pregenerate previews, the module will jump back to the beginning), and it is quite bare bones. There should be more transition options. For example, a simple “Ken Burns” type effect would be great. I actually use external software (Apple's Keynote is my favorite) to do slideshows currently. Having this possibility inside Lightroom would be far better.
7. Better lens correction tools. Lightroom has some very rudimentary lens correction with the lateral chromatic aberration section in Develop. Unfortunately, you have to dial the correction in manually. It is fairly straightforward to do this correction automatically by using an image-processing algorithm that automatically fits the image misalignment of the different color channels. Current Nikon DSLRs do this in the camera and Canon and Nikon's conversion software also do this after the fact. There is no need for a lens database for this. Perhaps the algorithms used by Canon and Nikon are patent protected so it might be non-trivial to add to Lightroom but it would be so much better then staring at the image at 2:1 magnification and jigging the sliders back and forth. Another lens correction I would like to see is distortion correction. This might be a simple barrel/pincushion correction tool, but might also include perspective and more complex distortion correction.
6. Automatic facial recognition. Apple has just added this to their iPhoto app, which means Aperture can not be far off. Check out the video. It seems to work really well. Having this feature available in Lightroom would make tagging people's names so much more quick and even fun instead of a time-wasting chore.
5. Better Geotagging tools. If you don't have a camera-connected GPS, you can use Jeffrey Friedl's very nice GPS plugin. Jeffrey also makes some outstanding social web plugins - check them out . Even though Jeffrey's tool is very good, I’d like to see tighter integration. Currently, if you do not use a GPS that logs tracks and can be connected to a computer, you have to copy and paste the coordinates from another program. It would be really nice if Lightroom would somehow gain the capability to simply drag and drop images on a map, perhaps using google maps for example. I almost never carry a working GPS (I save the batteries for emergencies), but I always know exactly where I am on the map. A model for this could be the nice geotagging tool in flickr.
4. More complex, boolean searching. A form of this wish is currently possible using smart collections but it is not easy to access and not very flexible. Having such logical searches would, for example, make finding all mountain images without snow but with flowers and/or with waterfalls possible. Now that I think about it, I would also like the filter panel to be able to show me ranges of certain parameters such as focal length. As in "I want to see all mountain images taken between 15 and 18 mm." You cannot currently filter for lens focal length, only for specific lenses.
3. Book making. For anybody that has used Aperture, this is a no-brainer. The photo-book layout module in that program is outstanding. These books are great for wedding photographers, to give as gifts, or as a promotional calling card. I currently use services like blurb.com but their layout software is a far cry from the smoothness and professionality of the tools in Aperture. I also sometimes simply use Aperture, or even iPhoto, which is less full featured. The problem with this is that you need to export your images and keep track of the exports. A simple Lightroom module or a way to plug into the Lightroom catalog from an external program would be so much better.
2. Plug ins that can sit in the RAW develop pipeline. A good example of this would be noise reduction (e.g. noise Ninja) or lens correction software (e.g. PTlens) that can act as early in the RAW pipeline as possible and can do so completely non-destructively. This would one-up the plugin architecture in Aperture, that currently needs a rendered file and acts semidestructively but has precipitated a community of third-party plugin developers.
1. Soft proofing. I have wished for this for a long time. In order to predict accurately what a print will look like, soft proofing is essential. Currently, you have to go into Photoshop to do this, but it would be far better if it were available in Lightroom together with some rudimentary Develop controls that will be used specific to the print, so that you can correct for subtle shifts that always occur. It would also be lovely to have out-of-gamut warnings specific for the profile you are targeting, to avoid posterized colors.
I have to admit that I had some trouble coming up with a good ten wishes. What about you? Do you have any different wishes for Lightroom in the new year? I can’t believe I was very thorough here and I am sure that even if I didn’t miss any items, you could have different priorities or you could just think Lightroom is perfect as is.
this might be part of 2., but i'd like to have support for 3F hasselblad files. it would be nice to have a plug-in that allow camera developer to create specific raw input for cameras. no way i'll use Nikon capture, and phocus is not as good as an overall software as LR is. and it will never be.
a phocus plug-in or a NX plug-in would be a much better option to me.
that is my number one wish.
This is probably more or less what you're asking for in #3 but I'd like to be able to generate photo layouts in PDF for the purpose of creating books. (Of course that means that you then have to use a service that accepts PDF's. I like blurb for printing; I just don't like their software very much.)
This is a great list. Lens/distortion correction would be my priority - DXO is so far ahead of Lightroom on this front it is embarassing (although, fortunately for Adobe, DXO is otherwise a horrible piece of software)
Great list, Jao! Thanks!
Dan - take a look at PTLens. It is way cheaper than DXO, has a LR plugin, and does a fairly decent job.
http://epaperpress.com/ptlens/
I'd love to have more creative control over the print module (unless someone has finally figured out how to make black backgrounds on there!). I love using it for contact sheets but what more options.
I'm delighted to see soft proofing as the number one item. Lightroom's use of ProPhotoRGB makes it very easy to produce out of printer gamut colors without any warning. The only partial protection is to print in using perceptual rendering intent. Printing with relative rendering intent with a Lightroom adjusted image is dangerous and can easily lead to clipped colors.
Gene, thanks - I have PTLens and it is useful for one-off edits, but something integrated into the Lightroom workflow would be much more valuable.
Mine would be:
1. Your #7 Better lens correction tools (more automation options, plus distortion and perspective correction
2. Same as your # 2
3. Same as your # 4
I have to say my #1 feature request is having Unsharp Mask in Lightroom. It is the only reason I continue to have to use Photoshop as part of my workflow.
Chad,
you should try to use the capture sharpening tools in Lightroom. They are far more versatile than unsharp mask in Photoshop but with very smart controls to avoid edge halos and automatic edge masking. If you set the detail slider to 100 and mask to zero, the effect is basically the same as unsharp mask. The thing that is missing is efective creative sharpening. The sharpen brush doesn't quite do this yet.
Jao,
Good list. The Print module I feel needs an overhaul.
The improvements with LR2 (like Picture Package) were gimmicks really, nice-to-haves which you do once you have the product working properly. So for me, Adobe have done this backward.
Using the Identity Plate to put in a dark background (Tanya - make a black image in PS, use the Identity Plate to display it, and select Render behind image), or for picture frames is just a kludge and a hard work!
Only being able to have one text element (the identity plate again) is not very professional - I want to have my Identity plate and I want to display the name of the place in the image in a different font and size. Like a poster, for instance.
I don't want to sound angry (I'm not!) as I love Lightroom. We use it because it gives us (nearly) everything we want and allows us to be organised and methodical while releasing our creative juices. Improvements to the Develop module have been amazing - I want to see the same for the Print Module.
Oh.... and soft proofing too!
Give me soft proofing and I'll knock hours off my workflow.
You've all submitted feature requests, right? :-)
Tethered shooting! Yes I know there are plug-ins however, they are not reliable, have caused crashes in LightRoom and made my camera act funny. Shouldn't have to pay for software from the manufacturer, yes you Nikon.
Ok JAO here's a copy of my LR stuff as you suggested. Enjoy you're blog very much. Here goes...
1.Lens distortion corrections on the lines of DxO/PTLens is certainly the first on my functionality list.
2. When I edge-burn an image in PSCS3 I use a radial gradient mask on a curves adjustment layer. This not only darkens the edges but simultaneously increase the contrast within the resulting vignette.
With LR’s post-crop vignette there is no contrast increase merely a flat grey overlay which deadens the image within the vignette. I would like to see the addition of a contrast control to the post-crop vignette.
2a. Perhaps a better option than the above would be a radial option for the gradient tool. This would add the ability to use negative clarity to soften the edges along with the other gradient tool options.
3. While it is quite easy to use the Identity plate to create a coloured background with or without text additions and other embelishments it would be better to be able to do this type of thing entirely within the print module. I should like to see the introduction of a “border” control adjacent to the “stroke” control which would effectively stroke outside the image area with a chosen colour producing a coloured surround filling the remaining extent of the paper size.
4. I should futher like to see the addition of a “custom text” option in the print module just like that available in the slideshow module. This would enable the addition of titling in any chosen font, size and colour to be freely located within the aforementioned “border” or if so desired on top of the image in varying opacities.
5. Almost every part of LR includes the ability to save "presets" except the import dialogue. I should like to have the ability to save different presets for differing develop & metadata presets that could be applied upon import etc. etc.
6. Performance improvements when using Wacom tablets would be a great help especially for adjustment brush usage.
I would add the ability to add keywords in the import dialogue from the keyword list. Much the same way it's done in the library module.
I use lightroom to manage my entire library of photos. I would like to see some better control for the folders:
1. There should be a better way to display folders on the left so that I don't have to scroll down the hundreds of folders present.
2. The left and right side tool panels often pop out when I don't want them to and disappear when I want to use them. Would like sticky panels that I can move around like in Photoshop
3. Printing Options need to improve. I should be able to pick photos, sizes, backgrounds, borders, text, etc. and print a page without going into PhotoShop.
4. I should be able to use this printing option to make a book from any of the popular printing services.
5. Face recognitiion is good but why stop there. I'd like to see an automagic filter for scenic, people, night lights, etc.
6. Several of my digital cameras take video. I'd like to see a simple video sorting and storage module like you can find in Picasa. Otherwise I have to use a separate workflow to pull video off the memory card...And audio files that go with still photos. I'd like LR to keep track.
7. When in develop module, If I select multiple photos, I cannot edit metatext for more than the one photo being edited. Yet, I can do multiple edits in the Grid screen. Why can't I have both
8. Duplicate search. I must have 4 duplicates of many of my images for one reason or another. I'd like LR to find them and help me organize and cull the uneeded copies that are hogging space on the drive.
9. Ability to use LR database from several computers. I've trie and it is not easy. I don't want to walk around with a 500GB drive from machine to machine as others have suggested. But I'd like to be able to sit in the living room and work on the database that is in the office. (I use remote desktop to effect this, but it is not as smooth as it could be...)
10. Slideshow should improve. Can I get it to make a DVD for me? That would be great!
Thanks and I hope that Lightroom improves! Soon!
Today LR is geared toward the pro controlling output to their own site. I switched from Aperture and don’t regret doing so, but there are a few simple ‘connecting to the world’ things that I thought LR would have by now.
90%+ of my original Raw files are off line. When I’m traveling I would like the ability to send a preview to email. It would be great if the adjustments rendered from the original are included but ok if not; I just want to email the darn shot. Right now I have to do a screen grab which I find absurd. Also the ability to selectively re-render 1:1 previews of collections (of offline originals) that I know I will want access to when on the road.
I’m okay with the lack of full integration to things like FB (doesn’t mean I don’t want them) but I would like to see a few simple tools to help manage where my images are being pushed.
Export Presets: Add photos to collection, and add keyword(s) to export. Now when you push shots to FB, Flickr, Smug etc. they get added to a specifically selected collection or via smart collections.
Buck, you can do that already. If you use Jeffrey Friedl's various upload-to-site export plugins, metadata is set for each image uploaded that can be collected by a Smart Collection.
As a film emulation preset developer, I would LOVE to have a grain module to add grain to images, preferably in the style of Nik Silver Efex. It would make my presets better and keep me from going to Photoshop to add grain to my final images.
I strongly agree with Number 2. Bibble appears to have integrated Noise Ninja non-destructively so I assume NN engineers are working with LR engineers to make this happen in LR as well. I currently use a post-process action to NeatImage but it would be so much better if the image in LR were to match that which I am exporting - I am now forced to view each exported JPEG to make sure the post-processing occured as intended. As as side note, let's make the image on the screen include the detail adjustments, regardless of where they come from, at all sizes (not just those > 1:1).
The sliders are still sticky and the localized adjustments are too slow to use (still awaiting a 2.3 update to hopefully fix that), but otherwise I am quite happy with LR for image management.
I took dream of native tethered shooting in Lightroom. I created a short video tutorial on the freely available plugin from Mountain Storm.
I hope you enjoy it:
http://www.michaelwarf.com/blog/adobe-lightroom-tethering-tutorial
Just finished a brilliant lightroom course at silicon beach training I love it - will be using it instead of photoshop for all my wedding photography from now on.
The best thing is adjusting the curves on highlights and shadows independantly, and shifting the histogram. Brilliant, not to mention the storage savings using virtual photo and the quick exports
#2 and #7 -- These two would make Lightroom THE killer app
I just requested this option via the feature request form on Adobe's website:
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I'm really interested in quickly checking out what my photos would look like in black & white without having to manually convert each and every photo. It would be great if there was a "Display" option to "View in Black & White". I could see this mainly being useful in the Library module, in both Grid (most useful) and Loupe views. Or maybe there could be a switch at the top of the Library module to change between Color and Black & White rendering. Then I could flag the ones that look good in black & white and do a real conversion in the Develop module at a later time.
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What do you guys think?
I'd love to have embedded HDR and panorama stitching functions. Would save a few bucks and improve workflow.
i would love to be able to filter by focal length, as i am picky about CA corrections at different focal lengths on zoom lenses, like on my 17-55mm: at 17 mm the CA is a lot different than at 55. so i want to be able to filter by lens and then further filter shots done with that lens but at different focal lenghts to be able to batch correct CA. at the moment i have to work around it by hitting J in grid view to get the info around the thumbnails and then make on of the infos the focal length. only then can i browse through all the shots in a collection / folder and click on each individual one with the settings sprayer tool thingy (still not sure what you call that one!?)
at the moment this wastes a lot of my time as i do a considerable amount of walkaround type shots.
I have to say the thing I would most like to see is some sort of text tool for signatures, as well as a frame or border tool. I feel this would truly make LR "all in one".
Non destructive lens corrections ala PT lens directy in the raw work flow is my top priority. Second to that comes the use of stacks.
1) Stacks should be able to span over multiple folders.
2) The ability to delete a full stack at once
3) the ability to add keywords to all in the stack at once
This is standard functionality in PSE since version 4 I believe.
This would greatly help to organise and delete my raw-jpeg combo'
My wishlist is fairly similar:
- Radial Gradient Tool option
- Overlay view (like quickmask) without having to hover over your "adjusment pins"
- Gaussian Blur, Diffuse Glow, Film Grain as adjustment sliders
- Proper Dodge & Burn that you can select just on Highlights/Midtones/Shadows
- Better lens correction
- DVD slideshow option
- Direct RAW plugins
I'd really like to see collaborative libraries. I have a photographer that works for me and Id like to be edit his library and vice versa in real time from my computer across the network. Just one library we could both share and mix together in and see each other adjustments with a dialog to see his adjustments or not as well as the ability to leave notes for each other on the photos. OK I am rabling so Im done....
Tethered shooting with Lightroom is stil not perfect but I found a way to not only shoot tethered with a Nikon and a Mac but also to directly import the images over the network to Lightroom on another Mac using Automator folder action:
http://phototechstuff.johnklijnen.com/2009/10/howto-import-images-into-lightroom-from.html
If you work in the studio with a laptop and want to see the images imported into your Lightroom database on your desktopcomputer based in the office, this works like a charm and it makes you look very Pro!!
Hope this helps.
a phocus plug-in or a NX plug-in would be a much better option to me.
that is my number one wish.
The fact that a LR catalog cannot be networked makes it DOA as an archiving solution. It's a great program for the beginning of my workflow, just hellish in a multi platform studio with hundreds of thousands of digital assets.
No video, folks? How about the sound file that came with the video as a separate asset?
My ADHD wish would be to color code the folders so my eye does not have to scan as much.
I really like LR and some more customizable preferences for the individual user or business would be helpful.