CASpyr, You wrote "or you could move them from within LR". Yes, that is certainly possible, provided that the external hard drive is displayed in the Folders panel. It will not be displayed if no images are on it, or if no images have been imported from it. Also, there are some reports that Lr looses images when moving image folders. These "occurrences" are few and seemingly random. Even Adobe acknowledges this with it's warning about moving images in Lr. Therefore, to be prudent, I would reduce moving images and image folders in Lr to the minimum possible. ... View more

Lr 4.4 doesn't have that. But in Lr 5 beta is a new feature: you can create Smart Collections based on Size / Dimensions. ... View more

BillAnderson1, I think you nailed the issue of slow performance of Lr. I'm not a computer engineer but "intuitively" I understood that data transfer and data storage times are the root cause of sluggishness in today's systems. Lr constantly writes to and reads from the catalog. When working in the Develop Module, every step is instantly stored in the catalog and immediately it and all previous steps are read back. That necessitates a lot of data transfer. At the same time Lr uses the ACR cache and (possibly) the preview cache. In the background Windows is using the page file. If all these data packets have to be written to and read from the same drive the queue builds up while the CPU sits idle. SSDs help because the read and write times are shorter, but I think distribution of the data transfer to as many physical drives as possible does more to improve Lr performance. Naturally, having 3 SSDs is best. I don't have the fastest system (Quad Xeon 3550. 12 GB RAM) but I use 3 internal drives (with OS and Lr on drive 1, Win page file and Lr ACR on drive 2, Lr catalog on drive 3), and photos on external drives. My ACR cache is set to 75 GB. I don't experience the slow performance that many complain about and I attribute it to the drive configuration. So it makes eminent sense to distribute the data transfer to as many drives as reasonably possible as Bob Frost (post # 44) suggests. ... View more

The message you are getting could be caused by the presence of the so-called lock-file. The purpose of the lock file is to prevent that a catalog file can be opened twice at the same time. Therefore it should be present when a catalog has been opened with/by Lr. But the lock-file should be deleted (automatically) when the catalog has been closed by Lr. It happens sometimes that on closing of a catalog, the lock-file is not deleted, particularly when Lr does not close down but is interrupted by a crash or hardware failure. The lock-file then prevents any further opening of this catalog and Lr sends the message you are getting. With Lr closed check in Mac Finder / Win Explorer if you can find a lock-file. The lock file sits directly besides (i.e. in the same folder) the catalog file in question. The catalog is a file with the extension <  .lrcat>; the lock-file has the extension <  .lrcat.lock> If - for instance - you have a catalog file named <123xyz.lrcat>, the lock-file would have the name <123xyz.lrcat.lock>. If, while Lr is closed, you see a lock-file, delete it, i.e. send it to the Trash Can / Recycle Bin. ... View more

I am not familiar with Macs but from what I read on this forum I get the impression that Macs and Epson printers are somewhat "unfriendly" companions that don't want to speak to each other nicely. I'm sorry I can't help you with this, except for my general remarks. It would be good if a Mac person could chime in. I suggest this; start a new thread on this forum. And in the heading for your post don't give a general description such as "Peculiar and infuriating problem" that doesn't trigger answers. Say something like: "Problem printing to Epson 3880 with Lr 4.3 and Mac OSX". Don't express your frustration in the heading, give a concise description of the problem. ... View more

From your description  "And it's not the complete picture, just a part of it." I would draw the conclusion that Lr sends the image in the right size  but that your printer cuts it off around the margins. Is there a separate setting for margins in your printer dialog? In case you don't have it, here is the Epson Manual for the Epson 3880:  http://files.support.epson.com/pdf/pro3880/pro3880ug.pdf ... View more

I would think that this is most probably due to a paper size mismatch between the settings in Lr (Page Setup) and your printer dialog (driver). Or, maybe you have selected one of the templates that "dictate" the size? ... View more

In Addition to what JimHess said. You can click on the <Before / After> icon in the develop Module, lower left (just below the image). Clicking it repeatedly cycles through different <Before / After> views where Before and After are shown as two images for a direct comparison. See screen shot: : ... View more

Lr does not convert to CMYK. In fact it doesn't even display CMYK profiles. You can convert to CMYK in Photoshop. But I think that the person who asked you to supply photos in CMYK does not really know what he / she is talking about. CMYK is not a device independant color space. That means each device, each press has its own CMYK profile, and probably sub-profiles for the actual ink and the actual paper used. Without knowing the exact CMYK profile for the press the magazine is printed on, your conversion can only be a generic CMYK profile (such as are available in Photoshop) that is not much worth. Converting to CMYK is usually done by the pre-press person who knows the exact CMYK profile. I deliver images constantly to publishers of magazines and not a single one has asked me to deliver images in CMYK. I send them TIFFs with Adobe RGB 8-bit and they are happy with that. ... View more

I can only quote from the webpage that you already visited RE: Permission. You need to have full permission for reading and writing for the folders and drives that Lr is using - particularly the folder that contains the catalog (i.e. the database Lr is working with). If you have full permission try re-installing Lr. Un-install it via your OS. And re-install it. Also, occasionally downloaded programs can become damaged during download - for instance when the download has been interrupted. Before you re-install, I'd recommend that you download Lr again and use this second download for re-installation. From the webpage (particularly read the part about Macs): Solution 5: Set correct permissions on Lightroom folder inside Application Support     The Lightroom folder inside Application Support could have the wrong permissions preventing Lightroom from writing to it which can cause this error. Navigate to the following folder: /Users/[user name]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom Highlight the Lightroom folder and chose File > Get Information Under Sharing & Permission, verify that your have Read & Write Privileges. If not, click the padlock icon at the lower right, enter your password when prompted, then click the Read only entry and select Read & Write.   Important: (Mac OS) Apple made the user library folder hidden by default with the release of Mac OS X 10.7. If you need access to files in the hidden library folder to perform Adobe-related troubleshooting, see How to access hidden user library files. Solution 6: Try a different user account.   Copy the Lightroom folder into a new user account or other existing account on your computer. Then, restart Lightroom. The Lightroom folder is in the following locations: Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Application Data\Adobe\ Windows 7, Vista: [user name]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\ Mac OS: [user name]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/ Important: (Mac OS) Apple made the user library folder hidden by default with the release of Mac OS X 10.7. If you need access to files in the hidden library folder to perform Adobe-related troubleshooting, see How to access hidden user library files. ... View more

I think one of the advantages to not have the computer delete the images on the card is that it forces you to format the card in your camera. This is the best way to ensure that your camera can write to the memory card. ... View more

John E Anderson wrote: I'm just really surprised at how hard it is to get a decent print out of a program I consider top-shelf for image management, editing and printing. You are a bit unfair here. It is not hard at all to get good prints out of Lr, and in my opinion Lr is better now than Photoshop CS5 in that respect. But if your printer is not recognized by Lr because there are no icc profiles available for it - is that Lr's fault? And you have never told us which model your printer is. Is it a photo printer? ... View more

twenty_one wrote: Well, I gave up on HP some time ago, for precisely this reason. They make good hardware, but they insist on doing all the thinking for you. "Just push this button, everything's taken care of"...I hate that. I'm a bit surprised that icc profiles actually exist for this printer, because HP is known not to do that, at least for the consumer models. But if they don't show up, what's the use. That is maybe true for entry-level printers. But I have a HP Pro B9180 and there are lots of icc profiles on HP's website for their own papers and also for 22  non-HP brands of paper. See here: http://h10088.www1.hp.com/cda/gap/display/main/index.jsp?zn=gap&cp=20000-13698-16022-14163^159807_4041_100 ... View more

The reason for that your prints are too dark is that your monitor is set too bright; i.e. your monitor displays the color brighter than what they are in color numbers. And your printer goes by the color numbers. Even if your monitor is calibrated that doesn't mean it has the correct brightness. The calibration software often has a default brightness value that is too high. Calibrate your monitor by selecting a brightness value between 100 - 110. ... View more

I think the profile should have come with your printer. But if that's not the case you can get the profile only on HP's website. Look for "Support" and do a search for "icc profile". You have to download and install the profile. Installation has to be done in the correct folder or Lr won't find it. Right-click the downloaded file and select <install>. In Windows the folder is C:|Windows\System32\spool\driver\color. If you are on a Mac do a search for "icc" which will bring up your profiles and then see where they are. ... View more

MikeWadell, You wrote "Would being in a zip file cause this problem with the plugins.?" No, you cannot install a plug-in in a zip-file that has not been un-zipped. You system will not install a zip-file without it being un-zipped first. Plug-ins (and other software downloads) often / mostly come in a zip-file. The zip-file wraps the various files into one file which makes it less likely that the download will be interrupted. When you double-click a zip-file one of your unzip-programs should come up and ask you where to put the un-zipped files. After un-zipping you have to install the plug-in. If the installer does not come-up automatically, look in the list of files for a file with the ending <  .exe> and double-click it. That should bring up the installer. When the installer asks for a location select the <Modules> folder. Make sure that the plug-in has been verified by its author for use with Lr4. If it doesn't say it explicitely it most probably isn't for Lr4. Plug-ins that have been developped for Lr2 or Lr3 don't work with Lr4, unless they have been updated for Lr4. Also, make sure that you are logged on as Administrator and that you have <full permission> for the drive. If you don't have an unzip-program you need to get one. BTW: Are you on Windows? Windows has an unzip-program. ... View more

You did not necessarily do anything wrong. First: which plug-in is it. Is it a plug-in that has been upgraded for Lr 4.2 - if that is what you are using? I discovered recently that a lot of plug-ins out there on the web have not been updated for Lr 4.2. Second: Open Win Explorer / Mac Finder go to the <Modules> folder and see if it is there. If it is try this: In Lr, in the Plug-In Manager click on <Add> and then click (or double-click) the plug-in in your <Modules> folder. Finally, a question: How did you install it after downloading. Forgive me if I state the obvious: Installation is a two step process. First step: download. Second step: Installation. Downloading alone is not good enough. Usually you install by double-clicking the downloaded file. ... View more

If your G:\ drive does not show in the folders panel check first if it shows on the left side in the <Import Dialog>. If it does show there then do this: In Win Explorer / Mac Finder create a copy of one of your image files and rename it; then move it to a folder on your G drive. Then import this photo into Lr with the Import Dialog by using the feature <Add> in the top center of teh Import Dialog. The renaming of the photo in Win Explorer / Mac Finder makes it a "new" photo for Lr - or else it would refuse to import it - unless you uncheck <Don't import suspected duplicates>. Alternatively you could use a photo that previously had notbeen  imported into Lr. ... View more

Please note: When we talk of the "catalog" in Lightroom, it means the database where Lr stores everything. It does not mean your photos. The catalog (i.e. the database, i.e. the file with the ending <  .lrcat>) does not have to be on the same drive where the photos(the image files)  are. So you can move your photos to an external hard drive and leave the catalog where it is now. Where is it? Go >Edit >Catalog Settings ? General tab. It tells you the name and location of the catalog. Before you do any moving of your photos, please note: Lr stores - among the many other things - in its catalog also the location of each one of your image files. This has the consequence that if you move the image files in Win Explorer / Mac Finder Lr does not find the photos in the location stored in the catalog and sends you the much feared "?". How to solve this, see here: http://help.adobe.com/en_US/lightroom/using/WS3BC0B0A1-D48C-4271-891D-DA04EF388E29.html So, there are two ways to move your photos to an external drive: a) do it within Lr and Lr will keep on top of the moved files; b) If you want to move the image files in Win Explorer / Mac Finder it is best you create one (1) parent folder that contains - in various sub-folders - all of your images. Do this in Lr. Then - in Win Explorer / Mac Finder - you move the parent folder with all its sub-folders to the external drive. When you open Lr again it will show - in the folders panel - a question mark besides each folder. You then have to do the <Find missing folder> routine: Locate missing folders If a folder is moved in the operating system instead of in Lightroom, the link between the catalog and the folder breaks, and a question-mark icon appears on the folder in the Folders panel. To restore the link, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) on the folder and choose Find Missing Folder from the context menu. Navigate to the file path of the moved folder and click Choose. ... View more

I would second dj_paige's comments about watching the tutorials. It cannot be over-emphasized that Lr is very different than Photoshop in many aspects and just "jumping in" and doing things mostly ends in frustration. ... View more

Another advantage is hard drive space. My Raw files from the D600 are about 29 MB. All Lightroom edits are stored as metadata in the Lr catalog and don't increase the size of the image file. The same file edited in CS5 as 16-bit image and saved as psd with two layers has a size of 381 MB. And flattened it still has 134 MB. Although external hard drives are huge and not overly expensive - a size difference of 1:13 (in the case of the psd with two layers) matters in my opinion. ... View more

trshaner, You write: " Is there a way to have LR write metadata (not develop settings) to both exported and imported TIF and JPEG files, so that the metadata will also appear in Adobe Bridge?" Yes, there is. You have to <Save metadata to file>, either automatically in >Catalog Settings >Metadata tab or by >Metadata >Save metadata to file (in the Library Module) or by >Photo >Save metadata to file (in the Develop Module). In case of a JPG this will write the metadata into the header of the file (but not into the image pixels!) and in case of a TIFF it will create (or write into an already existing) XMP-file. In both cases, Bridge will be able to read and display all the edits done in Lr, not only dvelop edits but all library metadata (keywords, stars, captions, titles, and color lables). For color labels to work, the description of the color labels has to be identical in Bridge and in Lr, down to upper / lowercase, hyphens, commas, etc. There are a few things that Bridge will not be able to display: Collections, stacking, virtual copies. In case you meant: Can Lr write only non-develop metadata to file? No, when you do <Save metadata to file> this includes all data for the selected picture(s), develop data and library data. ... View more

DdeGannes, Yes, that's what I've come to in my workflow, too: Use PS only for things that Lr cannot do so well or so fast: Clone tool, patch tool, content aware fill. And for my scanned TIFFs: Noise reduction through an edge mask, localized sharpening through a mask. ... View more

Maybe it is edundant incase of a TIFF file edited in PS. But keep in mind that probably not many Lr users work with TIFF files - only those of us who used film in the "good ol' days". Although I read this morning in the specs for the new D600 that it can save as TIFF. ... View more

trshaner, I also do a lot of scanning and import the TIFFs into Lr. The scenario you describe is familiar to me. The interplay between Lr and PS is governed by the fact that PS saves the edits in the image file (=in the image pixels) wheras Lr saves the edits in its catalog - or you can have Lr save in the metadata but never in the image pixels. You know this, I'm sure. And PS never saves in the metadata; it saves only in the image pixels. When you do some edits in Lr, then open your image in PS to do some spotting (clone tool or patch tool), save in PS and then return to Lr you will have noticed that Lr displays your spotting correctly. In fact, if you return to Lr before PS has finished the saving process, you will see that Lr reloads the image as soon as PS has finished saving it. So, Lr displays the edits done in PS correctly: it "senses' that the image file has been changed (by PS) and reloads it. But when you opened the image from Lr in PS you probably selected <Edit Original>, because you don't want an unnecessary copy. By selecting this option the image is opened in PS without your previous Lr edits. This does not matter since you only want to do some spotting. After the saving in PS, Lr "senses" that the image file is different than what is in the catalog. Lr "senses" that there have some edits been done, now on reloading this image  "edits" are not in the image file. Well, they can't be in the image file because Lr saves the edits in the catalog. But there is a discrepancy between what Lr displays on reloading the image file and the data in the catalog. Lr then sends the metadata warning. In fact, I do not think of this message as a warning, because if you do not react to it, nothing will happen. I think of it a message alerting me that I have the option of overwriting the edits in the Lr catalog (by <reading metadata from file>) or by applying the edits in the Lr catalog to the file (By <Overwrite settings>). The latter option does nothing to the image pixels; Lr never writes in the image pixels. And irrespective of which option you select, your spotting doen in PS will be displayed in Lr. You can at this point safely select <Overwrite Settings> because the spotting is in the image pixels whereas the data you overwrite with are not image pixels (Lr doesn't save image pixels in its catalog, as you know) but develop data from the catalog. And this is what you want: You want your image with the develop settings from Lr and the spotting from PS. Message was edited by: web-weaver ... View more