New PC, bought to play with photos in the field (bush) Options

[MandoTiM]

Hmm, the (dis)pleasures of new PCs, probably slightly off topic but it relates to photography. Have a new portable in the house to replace a work one where the disc was cactus (perhaps I could have just bought a new disc). Wanted one that could run some audio hardware/software I was using as well as run Lightroom/Photoshop for some serious photo work when in the field so speed et al was important, something the old portable didn't have. Given my current desktop is an i7 running W7 x64 with 24Gb of memory and too much hard disc for my own good I also wanted something that didn't seem slow by comparison.

So I've ended up with a Fujitsu SH772 with a 240Gb SSD and 16Gb memory (all I could slip in). I am amazed at just how fast the mchine is booting up from scratch - I can see myself going for an SSD in the main machine having used this - just the capacity isn't quite up there yet (I'm currently running 130Gb on the C: drive with all my data elsewhere for the main system and I'm not sure a 240Gb SSD would really be enough). Very nice machine although as usual I've had some issues with software loading and running, specifically with a Telstra 3G USB modem but that is now working.

Now all I have to do is get familiar with Lightroom, a piece of software I have never used (I'm a CS5 user normally) and I'll post a few shots I took over the weekend at the Sunshine Coast botanical gardens. They look good on the PC just need to work out how I size and upload them...

I'll post them on the normal topic when I can.

[Antraman]

Changing PC's is always fun!

/sarcasm...

any questions re: Lightroom I might be able to help....

[MandoTiM]

much to learn in Lightroom particularly in creating files and uploading to the net. Used to making 2 shots in CS5, one small as a link and one large as a final file but seems to be somewhat more complex in LR3. I also thought it might be possible to upload to the net within LR but I can't find the right method without uploading a whole website... I'll stick with an ftp programme for the time being.

an example of a recent shot


and another

[MandoTiM]

Changing PC's is always fun!

/sarcasm...

any questions re: Lightroom I might be able to help....

Well one question so far.
I've set up an export preset with the desire to always export to a specific folder with a number requirements, one of which is resize and the second to add a watermark. Now the resize is working but neither the watermark or file location is working. What am I missing? The file location is always coming up as the 'default' TRB directory in the windows personal file structure (oh I'm using Windows 7) rather than the directory I'm after so each time I have to adjust the folder for save.

[Antraman]

When you say watermark, do you actually want an identity name plate overlaid somewhere on the image that people can see, or a watermark that is hidden within the image (the true meaning of watermark I say)?

What Lightroom calls the Identity Plate is actually the banner heading that goes across the top of your Lightroom UI, which is a bit confusing, as I would say the identity plate is what you would paste over your image as an...well, identifier. 8-)

I'll assume you want to do the latter...

Exporting to a folder and have it keep exporting to that folder, go to File|Export|Export Location and set Export to as "Specific Folder" then choose the folder location. This will then always save to last location saved. Whether you can save that as a preset I am not sure.

For watermarking (ie. a signature graphics or text overlay), in the Export window scroll down to Watermarking and check the box. Click on the drop menu and select copyright watermark, then another drop menu with Edit Watermarks will pop up. Choose that. Edit it as you wish, then instead of Clicking the DONE button, in the top left go to the drop menu and select Save Current Settings as New Preset, then press DONE. Now each time you export this watermark (overlay) will appear on your pics.

Hope this is it...

This post has been edited by Antraman: Aug 5 2012, 10:10 PM

[MandoTiM]

When you say watermark, do you actually want an identity name plate overlaid somewhere on the image that people can see, or a watermark that is hidden within the image (the true meaning of watermark I say)?

What Lightroom calls the Identity Plate is actually the banner heading that goes across the top of your Lightroom UI, which is a bit confusing, as I would say the identity plate is what you would paste over your image as an...well, identifier. 8-)

I'll assume you want to do the latter...

Exporting to a folder and have it keep exporting to that folder, go to File|Export|Export Location and set Export to as "Specific Folder" then choose the folder location. This will then always save to last location saved. Whether you can save that as a preset I am not sure.

For watermarking (ie. a signature graphics or text overlay), in the Export window scroll down to Watermarking and check the box. Click on the drop menu and select copyright watermark, then another drop menu with Edit Watermarks will pop up. Choose that. Edit it as you wish, then instead of Clicking the DONE button, in the top left go to the drop menu and select Save Current Settings as New Preset, then press DONE. Now each time you export this watermark (overlay) will appear on your pics.

Hope this is it...

Well, you are right about the true definition of a watermark, but their definition is more like your 'identity plate'. Think I've solved that one, It seems I thought I had checked the box for adding the watermark on an Export Preset but I hadn't.

On the file location, the preset has me flumoxed, it seems like you can set a directory in the Export Preset Window but when you use the preset it always defaults to a 'Standard' directory not the one you have set. Perhaps the method you are suggesting is the correct one to use but then why allow one to set a different directory in the Export Window if it always defaults to another? Am I the only one that has this problem with Lightroom?

thanks, anyway, for the suggestions.

[Antraman]

Hmm, I don't whats happening there. My setting is so it always saves at the last folder saved unless you specify a new location, which is the option "Specific folder".