
From the people at
D-65
Adobe has released a public beta of Lightroom 3. This sneak preview is very much a Beta, but much more like an Alpha version. The idea behind it is to solicit input for certain functionality, but it is in no way even close to complete. D65 likes Tom Hogarty’s (Lightroom product manager) description the best. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re moving quickly. This public beta is more reminiscent of the first set of betas in 2006. We’re iterating rapidly and shipping early. If you need a metaphor, the Jan 2006 beta of Lightroom was like a giant hunk of raw meat on the market.( We didn’t even have a crop tool in the first beta!) The Lightroom 2 beta was a burger cooked medium well. The Lightroom 3 beta is an attempt at splitting the difference and in my mind is the perfect medium rare burger. “
BIG CHANGES
The most noticeable big change is SPEED. No more waiting to change modules and an engine that has been rebuilt ground up. 1:1 previews will be noticeably smaller. For 37,000 1:1 previews LR 2.5 consumed 216 GB on our computer whereas Lightroom 3 Beta consumed only 115 GB for the same amount of previews. In the Library a volume can now be ejected from the volume browser. Images can be sorted by aspect ratio and images show a badge in the library when they are part of a collection.
In the Develop Module one big welcome is the addition of a Collections panel. Also, the Adjustment Brush and Graduated Filter can be reset by holding down Option/Alt and clicking on Amount. The color setting for the Adjustment Brush and Graduated Filter display an “x” when no color is selected.
In Import and Export the file extension can be changed to lower case or upper case. It is important to note that Lightroom 3 Beta is not complete. Some of the features here could disappear and many others could be added. So lets take a quick tour of some of the key details and features of the “perfect medium rare burger” Lightroom 3 Public Beta.
IMPORT MODULE
The most noticeable change you will see right away is a brand new slick Import module. The features are actually very similar to before but it is much easier to visualize how Lightroom will manage your files. One very exciting feature here which has long been asked for is the ability to browse through hard drives much like Bridge and decide exactly what files you want to import. There is a full screen expanded version and a simpler compact mode.
The Import Module in Expanded View
• On the left side all of your sources are listed
• On the top you can decide on Copy as dng, Copy, Move or Add to Library
• On the right side you have the presets to apply at import including Preview size, File Renaming, Develop Presets, and Metadata and a list of all possible Destinations for the import.
• There is control over sort order and size of the thumbnails
LIBRARY MODULE
PUBLISH COLLECTIONS
You can now publish images directly to a sharing site like Flickr or even to an Iphone. In the LR 3 Public Beta there is direct access to Flickr using simple drag and drop. With a pro account when a visitor comments LR can add that comment right back into the Library.
WATERMARK EDITOR
Another long asked for feature is the Watermark Editor allowing you to customize and indentify any information you want to apply as a watermark to your images. There is control over font, opacity, position, size and it is available in print and Web as well as the Export Dialog.
To See the rest of this press release and to learn more about the Lightroom 3 beta visit
D65.com or
Adobe Labs