Lightroom 4 Beta - Comment on Controls

[Remo Nonaz]

I have been using the Lightroom 4 beta and I am generally very enthusiastic about it. One comment I would make is that it seems like the controls are rather fine and require very dilligent mouse work to use them. The sliders are particularly tricky if you are just trying to move the setting one or two increments. (It's easier to double click the number box and enter a digit.)

Not being experienced with Lightroom 3, I don't know if this is unique to Lightroom 4 or the nature of the Lightroom product. I have found that slowing down your mouse in the Windows Control settings does help. As is, it's kind of like driving an XKE with golashes on. 

A feature I would like to see added (understanding that it could be in the final product anyway and prehaps I just have not learned how to use all the features yet) would be a scroll zoom for them main screen. I am accustomed to having this in CS4 and find the clicking back and forth between Fit, Full, 1:X cumbersome. I do like the click-magnifier that jumps between current view and 100% view.

[GeraldB]

Have not tried LR4 beta but in LRM3 holding the shift key while using the sliders slows them down.

[Martin Ocando]

You can also click on the slider, keep the mouse pointer over it, and use the scroll wheel to move up and down slowly. Have you dragged the left border of the develop panel all the way to the left to make it bigger, as far as it goes? You'll notice that sliders also become bigger, and thus more precise.

[Ben Rubinstein]

Have not tried LR4 beta but in LRM3 holding the shift key while using the sliders slows them down.

Didn't know that, thanks!

[Schewe]

Not being experienced with Lightroom 3, I don't know if this is unique to Lightroom 4 or the nature of the Lightroom product. I have found that slowing down your mouse in the Windows Control settings does help. As is, it's kind of like driving an XKE with golashes on. 

Note, if you take the control panels side and drag it to the left, the controls will become a finer adjustment. I usually work with the left panels collapsed and the right panels extended out.

As far as zooming, Command -+ zooms in/out and no, LR doesn't have infinite zoom like Photoshop. Would be nice but won't happen for LR4.

[luxborealis]

Personally, I hate the sliders due to their lack of precision and never, ever use them.

Try this: skip the sliders completely and use your cursor keys (up/down/left/right arrows) for precise adjustments. For larger jumps hold down the shift key while using the cursor. For me, this works because I find the values become less random and more repeatable and I begin to learn which numbers work best in which contexts.

Furthermore, I try coaching my Lightroom students to use both hands when working with Lightroom like a concert pianist - one hand for mousing (track padding) and keyboard-right keys and the other for keyboard-left keys. Using the keyboard shortcuts makes the whole process very efficient.

[john beardsworth]

Furthermore, I try coaching my Lightroom students to use both hands when working with Lightroom like a concert pianist - one hand for mousing (track padding) and keyboard-right keys and the other for keyboard-left keys. Using the keyboard shortcuts makes the whole process very efficient.

There have been one or two attempts to hook Lightroom up to mixing desks so you could use both hands. One went by the unfortunate name of Knobroom, the other was on an iPad but I can't recall the name.

[Remo Nonaz]

Great tips, thank you. Expanding the panel helps a bunch and the mouse wheel works well, too. I didn't have any luck with the CTRL +/- to expand and enlarge. Perhaps others should try it and confirm if it really is a bug. I'm sure Adobe would want to know if it supposed to be there but doesn't work.

With the expanded control panel taking up a lot of my main screen, I decided to move the main screen to my secondary monitor then put the 2nd image on the main screen, using the full screen for the photograph. This works well but it took a moment to figure out. There are no commands to do this, but it is simple. Just turn off the second screen in the  1 - 2 panels on the bottom left, drag the application to the second screen, then turn the second screen back on. The screens will now be in reversed position with the controls on what was the secondary screen and the full image on what was the primary screen.

Awesome product - I have a lot to learn. Jeff, when does Realworld Lightroom 4 come out?

[dchew]

Awesome product - I have a lot to learn. Jeff, when does Realworld Lightroom 4 come out?

If you purchase the videos here on Lula plus Martin Evening's LR4 book (I'm guessing here - I hope he continues to write these), you should have everything you need!

Dave

[Remo Nonaz]

I have C2Pand Realworld Camera RAW. Looks like I'll need to add to my collection.

Bad news on the two monitor plan. It seems that the second monitor does not fully track the primary monitor. Masks and such in Detail do not show up at all. And, it has a huge delay. You really can't use it as your primary working screen.

[rhynetc]

Have not tried LR4 beta but in LRM3 holding the shift key while using the sliders slows them down.

I believe that would be the CTRL key rather than the shift key.