When I do soft proofing, I display the master in Before and the proof virtual copy in After.  Occasionally I'll be in the middle of making changes to the proof copy when I notice a problem in the master, for example: a dust spot.  I could fix the problem in the proof copy, but it really should be fixed in the master. How I currently handle this:  I go back to the master, make the change, create a NEW proof copy, sync changes from the old proof copy to the new proof copy, and delete the old proof copy.  This is awkward and error-prone.  Is there an easier/better way to do what I want? ... View more

When I do soft proofing, I always create a proof copy, and I always use the Before/After button on the Develop toolbar (the button that looks like YY) to display the master photo side-by-side with the proof copy.  Of course I also use the split view.  During soft proofing, I only make changes to the proof copy. My question concerns the Before menu that appears on the toolbar when a Before/After view is active. Since I want to compare the proof copy with the master, I select Master Photo from the Before menu.  Is it really necessary to do this?  I haven't been able to find any difference between using Master Photo, Before State, and Current State.  They all display the same version of the image in the left pane.  Perhaps there are use cases where it make a difference which one I use.  Am I doing the right thing in selecting Master Photo?  Is there a danger in choosing Before State or Current State? ... View more

In the Print Module, when all boxes are checked in the Guides panel, the resolution is shown together with image dimensions in a little box in the upper left corner of the print cell. Following the advice in Jeff Schewe's book "The Digital Print" (and posts he has made on Luminous Landscape) we should override this value with a value that is more printer-friendly, e.g., 360 or 720 for Epson printers. Continuing with the Epson example, if the value displayed is less than 360, Jeff suggests using 360, and if it is greater than 360, he suggests using 720. To override the value, you check Print Resolution in the Print Job panel and enter the desired resolution immediately to the right. The peculiarity that I refer to in the title of this post is the following: As soon as you check Print Resolution, the old resolution disappears from the little box in the print cell, leaving only the print dimensions.  What is the rationale for this disappearance?  What is Lightroom trying to tell us? Why is the old value not replaced by the value that was entered in the Print Job panel?  ... View more

In my document I have a layer L and a channel C.  How can I apply C as the layer mask for L?  I want direct way to do it that does not go through an intermediate selection.  Thanks! ... View more

In our classroom environment, Lightroom catalogs are shared by students and get wiped out at the end of the day.  If students want to preserve their proof copies, they must export them as actual file types. Use Case: You create a a proof copy, do some soft proofing work, and make a print.  Before quitting Lightroom, you export the proof copy as a PSD.  To make another print the next day, you re-import the PSD.   In the Develop module, you want to tell Lightroom "Make This a Proof."  But you don't get a dialog with that choice until you move a slider.  To handle this scenario, the Create Proof Copy button should be a menu with two choices: (1) Create Proof Copy (2) Make This a Proof Copy.  If no choice is made, pop up the dialog.  Not only would this handle the above use case, but it would make the proof process more logical and understandable. ... View more

I only consider it harmful to those who misunderstand the nature of the "warning." When you turn on the Destination Gamut Warning in soft proofing, a red overlay identifies colors that are out-of-gamut for the chosen ICC profile.  Many Lightroom users have been taught that they must do something to bring the colors into the gamut, making the red overlay disappear.   This is a misunderstanding.   The colors have already been brought into gamut by the rendering intent.  If you turn off Destination Gamut Warning and examine the colors underneath, you will see the colors that will be printed if you do nothing.  You should only "do something" about destination gamut warnings if you think you can do better than the rendering intent has already done.   In my experience it is often difficult to do better.  Your changes may eliminate the warnings but make the result worse than if you had done nothing.  ... View more