RollOver

It's only fledgling but you can download and play with (and decode for your own use) my version of a javascript rollover gallery for Lightroom.
While this works in and of itself and is based on the Scroll Extra gallery below, it has a number of things added and equally so, missing.
CSS: I've updated to the correct CSS file calling technique. In Scroll Extra I literally just made a call to the file using the standard call. This one line of code is now replaced by about 15 lines of XSLT instead. While the first one worked fine on Mac, johnbeardy reported it broken on Windows. This bit solves that.

Missing: I cannot make the XSLT call the first image to display when the gallery loads.
Here's my code for calling the thumbnail with the link that allows the javascript call:


<!-- Add one image with link to the list -->
<xsl:template name="indexImage">
<xsl:param name="path" select="rendition[@size='thumb']/@path" />
<xsl:param name="previewFull" select="rendition[@size='image']/@path" />
<a href="#" onMouseOver="MM_swapImage('enlarge','','{$previewFull}',0)">< img xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" src="{$path}" alt="" name="a1"/>< /a>
</xsl:template>


The previewFull tag calls the full image into the main viewer when you mouse over the thumbnail.
Much as I try the same code for previewFull does not call the first image for display on loading. I know it's something stupid that I'm doing or missing.

A few notes on the above code. path and previewFull call rendition, size and path. These make sense to view, but have no relation to anything in the galleryMaker.xml or tranformer.xml file. So where are they referencing? Well as it turns out, they are referencing the source.xml file that you can create by removing the comments around that section of code in transformer.xslt.
Examining a sample source.xml file I can see the following:
<samples totalGallerySize="9" firstSampleIndex="1">
<img orientation="DA" imageID="F32FE884-9B67-4252-A47B-74A8A5C106F7" filename="2006_08_11_045">
<text>
<description></description>
</text>
<rendition height="600" path="bin/images/image/2006_08_11_045.jpg" width="400" size="image"></rendition>
<rendition height="60" path="bin/images/thumb/2006_08_11_045.jpg" width="40" size="thumb"></rendition>
</img>

I can see that this image has 2 renditions: 600X400 called image and 60X40 called thumb. Also the path of each rendition is included.
So our "rendition[@size='thumb']/@path" calls the image located at the 'path' that is sized thumb.
Also each img call is inside the <samples> folder which is where the <xsl:for-each select="samples/img"> comes from


Things I'd like to do in XSLT: create cropped square thumbs ala php, Embed paypal links. I should also try adding radio buttons to let people rate the image as an experiment in creating feedback from images.

Martin Evening: The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book

As I flick through the pages of this fantastically written book, I am struck by the beauty of the images used within. The book is a joy to read and written in a straightforward, almost informal, style. Although just getting into it now, it seems no stone is being left unturned. I'm really looking forward to hints and gems that I've missed along the way. I'll report back more along the way.
One thing I did notice is my name in the Acknowledgments.. Blush..

Cool tools: Export Presets.

I know I've done tips on using and creating Export Presets, but I'm finding them handy for so much. Using them in combination with droplets from my FTP program Transmit means that with one click I can upload images to this blog, my other blog, my photoblog, for competition.. the list goes on. It's getting to the point where I might need folders for the different export presets!

For non Transmit users, I feel Adobe would really push exports presets much further by allowing the internal FTP module to be accessible from inside the Post Processing section of Export.

Scroll Extra

Still messing around with XSLT/XML and HTML galleries in Lightroom.
Here's an extension gallery that uses Andy Rahns info in this blog post. Read the original article and use the new locations mentioned also. What I've added is a scrolling mechanism in CSS and made it a little prettier using snippets of code from around the net. Scrolling uses overflow in CSS, while using LI to control the look of the nav bar buttons comes from a variation on the Listmatic site.

I've created a single page scrolling gallery mostly to avoid grid coding/preview pages and pagination (areas I need to study more first). It uses ID plate/Watermarking and Jpeg Quality. I have the JPG quality at 70, but moving the slider appears to do nothing. These last features are cut and paste code from the Lightroom HTML gallery, used in a 'cookbook' form, so I may have missed something essential.

Things of note:
The background files to the page, the ID Plate and the Nav buttons are included in the gallery.xml file using the 'filePath' command. As is the CSS file.
You can, if you want to, hard code links to files on the internet, but on a Mac Lightroom will open them in a browser when you first run the web gallery. John Beardsworth says this doesn't happen on PC.

The nav bar in the gallery can have its links edited in transformer.xslt. I plan to work on code to do this inside Lightroom at some stage.
I've been up all night messing with this so I should crash before work ;)

Lightroom Tips @ Oaktree Imaging

I've mentioned a Daniel Neeley post in the past relating to organising Presets. He's now got a whole page of great Tips. Well worth a look.

Emailing using XP

U2U forum member Steven B Sutherland has created a small Borland Delphi program that calls the default Email program and passes the exported photos to it. This works around issues with email clients that refuse attachments passed to it (eg Outlook Express).
In his readme Steven notes
"This program addresses the problem of not being able to create an email, with selected photos attached directly out of Lightroom in Windows.
It is a simple program which will accept a list of files on the command line and then it uses the MAPI API to invoke the systems default email program. It opens a new email with all of the passed files attached. Once the email is sent (or cancelled), the passed temporary images are deleted automatically"

The program can found on Lightroom Extra, in the Download/Other Goodies section.

WOW Presets?

The WOW Presets from onOne software are a little more YAWN than WOW.
Effectively they create a lot of incremental changes in basic settings like sharpening and vignetting, but on the whole take up more panel space than I would deem useful. At least the WOW title means they rest at the bottom. Still I suspect they'll be deleted soon. I also thought the installer for them was a bit overkill!

New Presets

I've been messing around creating new Effect presets. I was looking to recreate some Dragan style portraits in Lightroom. As this style requires heavy use of localised contrast changes and localised colour and sharpening, it's not quite as feasible as in Photoshop. I still managed to create a few variations which I've sent to Inside Lightroom. Richard has put them up in the Colour section. Meanwhile here's a mixed Dragan/Cross Process shot from one of these presets:

Taken from my recent photoblog post. Just to note this file is a virtual copy of a .CR2 file and is processed only in Lightroom. I did a bit of blemish removal and removed lines under the eyes using the Spot Removal tool. It does work for very basic retouching.

"Damn, it's like watching something out of Blade Runner..."

James Duncan Davidson has a few words to say on using Lightroom Vs Aperture.

"Over the last year or so, I've been a very casual user of Lightroom. Mostly, I've been using it enough to keep tabs on its development and write about it. But, the majority of my work, as well as my primary image library, lived in Aperture. Then, sometime late last year, I discovered that Lightroom is a great vehicle for making large prints from. In comparison, the prints from Aperture look a bit, um, mushy for my taste. The differences in my comparison prints can be described as looking at a good picture taken with a kit lens next to the same scene taken with professional glass. So, I've been using Aperture for almost everything, but using Lightroom to produce big prints from."

[Read the whole Article...]

Via Inside Lightroom

Lightroom on Flickr

There is a Lightroom group on Flickr.com for anyone interested. As well as showing off images processed in Lightroom, there is an active discussion area. There are a number of prerelease testers active in the group, meaning that information can filter back to the team from there.

Lightroom Illuminated

Lightroom Illuminated is a new section on Michael Reichmanns Luminous Landscape website. It covers written tips and advice on using Lightroom, along with ways of adapting it to your workflow. Of the new section, Michael says:
"Regular readers know that I have been involved with Adobe Lightroom as an alpha and beta tester for some time. I have produced several video tutorials on the program, and this site saw a number of beta-related Lightroom articles during 2006.

Now, with the launch of Lightroom V1.0, together with video producer Chris Sanderson and Adobe Photoshop guru Jeff Schewe, I have produced an in-depth multi-hour video tutorial on Lightroom – currently available for download in instalments.

In addition, this page will feature, from time to time, miscellaneous tips on how to get the most from Lightroom. It is not intended as a regular column – simply a place for me to provide some insights about the program, its use, and related topics.

Needless to say, all of this is not because of any commercial relationship with Adobe, but simply because I found the concept, and then the execution of Lightroom, to offer the photographer (me, initially) a set of superbly designed tools for accomplishing the tasks needed when working with digital files."

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Support

Adobe has opened the support center for Lightroom at http://www.adobe.com/support/photoshoplightroom/. The page has 4 options: A knowledge base search, a series of tech notes, a bug and feature form and a product resource link.
The tech notes include Troubleshooting on Mac OSX and PC, Emailing from Lightroom, Photo Binders, Libraries, Preferences and file locations.