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1211001557
1211001557
Participant
January 13, 2018
Question

Re: How to resize a picture to exact measurement [BRANCHED]

  • January 13, 2018
  • 1 reply
  • 1134 views

Hello. I've just got a trial version of LR for Mac and I don't see the basic resize option. Come one, even Preview has it. When I try to export, I can only choose the horizontal width... Is this the trial limitation or Adobe is forcing people to purchase Photoshop in order to resize the image. Why isn't the resize option where it should be, i.e. I want to select the image, right click and choose "Resize..." or select the same from the menu (Image -> Resize).

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    1 reply

    Per Berntsen
    Community Expert
    Per BerntsenCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 13, 2018

    Lightroom does non-destructive editing, so it never changes your originals, and you cannot resize them.

    All edits are written to the catalog (which is a database), and are only applied to a copy of the original when you export.

    If you want to export at a different ascpect ratio than the original, you have to crop the image to that aspect ratio first.

    In the Export dialog, then choose Long edge (or Short edge), and enter the dimension you want to export to.

    You may find this article helpful: Lightroom basics

    1211001557
    1211001557Author
    Participant
    January 13, 2018

    What do you mean "no-destructive editing"? How's changing the image size any different than changing contrast and other parameters? When I try to export to a JPG format I cannot even change the image quality (LR assumes some settings, and judging by the image size as compared to other programs, the quality must be below 100%). LR is a joke.

    Per Berntsen
    Community Expert
    Per BerntsenCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 13, 2018

    Non-destructive editing means that no pixels are changed in the original file, so that you can always go back the original, and do addidtional editing, or change your mind and start over, or create a different version of the file (Virtual copy). All the edits will be visible and undoable in the History panel when you return to the file.

    Editing in Lightroom works exactly the same way as the Camera Raw plugin in Photoshop,

    Lightroom was primarily designed to work with raw files (but will work with jpgs and some other formats too), and raw files cannot be edited the same way as other files. Only a digital camera can save raw files, so edits are applied to a new version of the file - derived from the original, and it will be created when you export. Lightroom works the same way with jpgs as with raw files, which is actually a very good thing. The jpg format uses lossy compression, which means that every time you save a jpg, it will lose quality, and that quality loss will be visible. Repeated saves of a jpg can make the image disintegrate, and you will end up with a very low quality file.

    When you edit a jpg in Lightroom, it is never resaved, and you avoid the quality loss.

    When I try to export to a JPG format I cannot even change the image quality

    Sounds like your original is a jpg, which you are exporting as Original, which will export a copy of the original, unedited file.

    Choose jpg instead of original in the export dialog, and you can set the quality on a scale from 0 to 100.

    Before you conclude that LR is a joke, I suggest that you spend some time learning how the program works.

    I also suggest that you read the article I linked to. There are also much more comprehensive tutorials, like Julieanne Kost's Lightroom videos: Lightroom Tutorials by Julieanne Kost or Adobe TV: Lightroom Classic tutorials | Learn how to use Lightroom Classic CC

    The Lightroom Queen is also a great resource: https://www.lightroomqueen.com/

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