LR5 Develop Module: Overlay grid got lost

[sm906]

In previous versions of LR I used the manual lens correction tool when there was the need to rotate an image, because it had a very close overlay grid that let me rotate the image very precisely in its correct position. I used this method instead of using the crop tool rotation, which never had this close overlay grid (at least since manual lens correction is available...)

Now, in LR5 the close grid in the lens correction has disappeared--there is no grid overlay at all--and has moved to the rotation tool in crop tool. Which makes the workflow really worse when working with the manual lens correction. If there is an additional rotation necassary, i.e. after horizontal and/or vertical rotation was necassary, I now do have to leave this tool switch to the crop tool, rotate, switch back to the lens correction to check it things got worse...and so on.

Sometimes, the small and tiny features make the real difference. So, I wonder why Adobe took it away from one place and put in another, instead of providing both of these tools with a close grid. Why to worsen a feature, when it would have been so easy to make it better?

Or, did I simply miss something?

Thomas

[eliedinur]

I think that the second alternative is the right one, that you are missing something. Not only does a grid still appear as soon as you mouse over any one of the sliders in the Lens Correction/Manual panel, LR5 has also added two new features in "always on" overlays for a grid and/or right-angle guide lines that with CTRL pressed can be dragged to any position in the image. Turn on the overlays from View/Loupe Overlay/Show.

(I also think you are mistaken about previous versions of LR not having a grid overlay associated with the Rotate slider in the Crop tool. I am sure they did, although I cannot verify it as I have only LR5 installed.)

[wolfnowl]

In LR4 and previous, the Grid is one of the overlay options for the Crop tool - the 'O' (not zero) key cycles through them.  In LR5 they've added new overlays for the Crop tool, and gone beyond that in that the user can decide which overlay options  to cycle through. 

As already mentioned, Grid and Guidelines are now options in LR5 Develop module as well.  The one thing I don't like about the rotation using the Crop tool is that you can't zoom while the crop tool is active.

Mike.

P.S. Don't forget that the 'Upright' tool in LR5 does a pretty good job, most of the time, although it's best to use it before cropping.