Workflow

[leonvick]

Michael, since you're back now, might you briefly describe what Lightroom is supposed to be and do from the perspective of the workflow applied to print a raw image from a digital camera? Recognizing that Lightroom is a work in progress, what new features can be expected (and not expected) as the product matures?

I have thousands of images already stored (and archived) in my own databases so I don't understand why I should copy or duplicate them for Lightroom. I don't have to "import" any images to use them in Bridge or CS2 Why should I start now?

If Lightroom is supposed to take the place of Camera Raw, then it may soon be expected to have  file size, bit-depth, bit-density and noise controls for sizing prints without going into Photoshop.

If Lightroom is not supposed to replace Photoshop, I suppose it will not contain transforms, selection tools, local color controls, layers, texture filters, etc. But I use some of these tools on most of my prints, so what is the advantage of having to go into PS for them alone when everything else is already in Lightroom?

Finally, what is a "metadata" edit? Is that a disphemism for a "global" edit?

[jani]

Finally, what is a "metadata" edit? Is that a disphemism for a "global" edit?

I think to answer that, someone would also have to explain what metadata is.

Metadata is data that in itself isn't the data you're looking at, but rather data about the data, so to speak.

For instance, in this post, it's:

 - the posting time
 - the nickname of the poster
 - the thread name
 - the board name
 - various other identifiers


In an image, it is e.g. the exposure, the time of capture, the white balance, the image dimensions, etc. Changing these values does not necessarily change the image, but it can change how software chooses to interpret the image data.

So a "metadata edit" is simply an edit of these additional data about the image, and not the pixel values.

[michael]

This is all covered in detail in the tutorial DVD that is now available from the site's store.

Michael