Marking Up Photos in Lightroom

[normatorti]

Hi, Is there a mark-up tool in Lightroom that allows you to "draw" on top of the image? Thanks.

[Nancy OShea]

Lightroom is a digital darkroom.  For drawing, use Photoshop CC which has a wide assortment of Brushes, Pencil, Pen, Eraser and Shapes.

[normatorti]

Thank you.  Is there a Photoshop version that is in the $200 -$300 price range available?

[Nancy OShea]

The best deal is the Photography Plan for $10/month. It includes LR, LR Classic and the full scale Photoshop CC + 10 GB of storage, continued updates, Camera Raw, Bridge, Adobe Fonts, mobile apps and online services.

https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/photography.html

[JP Hess]

The plan you are referring to that includes Lightroom, Lightroom Classic and Photoshop for $10/month does not have 10 GB of storage. It has 20 GB of cloud storage.

[Nancy OShea]

@JimHess, I stand corrected. 20GB, not 10. Thanks.

There is also a 1 TB storage plan for $10 more per month.

[JP Hess]

Yes, that is true. However, that plan does NOT include Photoshop.

[Nancy OShea]

"However, that plan does NOT include Photoshop."

Sure it does. 

See screenshot from Adobe's website today (5/20/2020).

https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/plans.html

[JP Hess]

Ah yes, that is right. The $20/month plan does include Photoshop. I was thinking of the $10/month plan that has Lightroom Classic and one TB  cloud storage. Thanks for keeping me straight.

[Nancy OShea]

No worries. 

[normatorti]

Hi, I subscribe to the $10/month and get the apps below.  How do I upgrade to the $20/month to have Photoshop too?  Thank you.

[Bob Trlin]

Photoshop is too hard!  Is there something easier?

[Rob_Cullen]

Easier? - Photoshop-ELEMENTS

Picture & photo editing software | Adobe Photoshop Elements 2020

Or any of the Editing apps you can search for on the Web.

Any editor App requires some learning, and Photoshop (for Photographers) is not really that "hard" if you start with the 'basics' and ignore the myriad of 'Graphic' capabilies.

[Nancy OShea]

What version of Photoshop?

What are you trying to do that's too hard for you to achieve?

It might not be the software as much as your workflow.

[GilmourB]

As a "digital darkroom" it really should have markup functions. Marking up an image is fundamental to the darkroom workflow. Have you ever seen strips of film from Time Life marked up in beautiful red grease pen? Or guide prints, the markedup prints used in the darkroom by everyone from Ansel Adams to Helmut Newton.

Lightroom needs a markup function. Marking up a screeen capture is not a solution. Roundtripping to Photoshop and bloating the HDD/SSD and file structure is not a solution. 

#lightroom #markup 

[Nancy OShea]

Use Photoshop (see screenshot).

[GilmourB]

I appreciate the reply Nancy. How can I do that without creating extra files, extra copies or bloating the storage system and file structure? 

[Nancy OShea]

Obviously you don't want to markup-up your original image layer. Markup should be on a separate layer that can be removed prior to publishing.  Photoshop can open these file types (see screenshot).

[Conrad_C]

Some of the replies might be overthinking this. For the questions using the specific phrase “mark-up,” including the original question from 2020, if you are only asking for some way to literally mark up the image like the old method of using a grease pencil on a contact sheet or work print, or like the Markup feature Apple offers in its macOS and iOS photo viewers, then it is possible to do this in a nondestructive way in Lightroom: Hack the Mask feature as I show below, with these steps:

1. Create a new Brush mask.

2. Adjust Brush size and feathering. I set a small diameter and a hard edge.

3. Start marking up the image. Important: The initial color you see may be a mask overlay color (in this case, red), not the actual color. Which is why, next you usually want to…

4. Adjust Exposure (and maybe Whites or Blacks) to make the brush mask white or black.*

5. If you want to hide the markup, like to make a final print or export, just hide any masks you used for markup. (Will be easier if you named the masks.)

Masks are nondestructive, so the original photo is not damaged in any way.

*If you don’t want black or white you can try adjusting Hue, but you may not be able to make the Hue or Color adjustment work as a mark-up on some images because Hue and Color modify existing colors instead of drawing opaque color. So you usually can’t get a nice solid color markup like you can in, for example, the Apple Markup feature.

I show doing it in Lightroom for iPad, but this works in any version of Lightroom that supports the brush mask.

In Lightroom Classic, you can streamline this a little by creating an adjustment preset with Exposure already jammed to minimum or maximum, and choosing that preset to mark up with.

Of course, if someone wants to do a detailed graphic art drawing on top of a photo, then you want Photoshop (or Illustrator or Fresco) instead. But if you just want to scribble some visual notes over an image, then this mask hack could be all you need.

[GilmourB]

Conrad, this is a  good solution. No extra files generated. No virtural copies to confuse things. Easy for my editor to see and delete when they are done.

[JP Hess]

Photoshop cannot be purchased outright. It is only available by subscription in the creative cloud program. Depending on which subscription program you have signed up to, it may be included. The only Adobe program that can be purchased is Photoshop Elements. I'm not familiar enough with it to know whether it would have enough drawing features for what you need. It sells for just a little over $100, I think.

Photoshop Elements information 

[JP Hess]

There is a box on this webpage to instruct you how to change plans. Click on that box and it will tell you everything you need to know:

Adobe customer care