Thanks for having me on the show Jason!

First, and most important in my view, is improved image quality. I was impressed with the changes made to the rendering of raw files in the first beta release, but the subsequent tweaks and the addition of an improved luminance noise reduction has made me want to go back and reprocess many of my older photos. Yeah, I think it really is that good.

Second, and almost as important, is performance. The first beta was not optimized for speed, but they’ve definitely taken the feedback to heart and put more pep under the hood. From the import dialog to rendering previews to working in Develop, I am seeing definite improvements.

Now, before you run off and grab your free copy I implore you to do the following:

• Read the release notes. Go no further until you do. It isn’t that long and it may save you a lot of frustration down the road.
• Make sure your Lightroom catalogs and your system are backed up. Any excuse to confirm a solid backup is a good one. Don’t pass on the opportunity to save your own assets.
• Know how to replace the Lightroom preference file should things go wonky.

After reading the release notes you will learn that if you are on Windows then this version of the Lightroom Beta will overwrite the previous beta version, but if you are on a Mac the two versions can live side-by-side. I personally would choose to uninstall the old version and then install the new version since I only used it for testing purposes anyway (right?). Both beta versions can be installed alongside Lightroom 1 or 2 without problem.

To uninstall on a Mac, open the Applications folder and drag the Lightroom 3 Beta icon to the trash.

To uninstall on Windows, use the Add/Remove programs utility in the control panel.

Just like the first version of the Lightroom 3 Beta, this version will not upgrade your Lightroom 2 (or Lightroom 1) catalogs, but it will upgrade the previous beta catalog if you have one. You might find this guest post I did on importing photos from Lightroom 2 into Lightroom 3 beta and its follow up on migrating Lightroom 2 catalogs to Lightroom 3 revisited helpful.

Aside from the improvements I’ve mentioned here’s a few more things I’m glad to see:

• Support for copying video files off memory cards. No, Lightroom can’t edit video files, but at least it won’t just ignore them, and you can use Lightroom to manage them.
• An easy way to change the orientation of the crop rectangle, just press the X key to flip it! This may be reason alone to buy the upgrade. I look forward to not having to send people to this changing crop orientation tutorial anymore.




• A new function to pre-render previews for slideshows to avoid the problem of slides being skipped or shows getting hung up  in a loop due to the lack of completed preview rendering. Yes, sometimes it is the little things that make our lives better.

I’m just picking my favorites though. To get the complete rundown of improvements and new features head over to Lightroom Journal. Did I mention the release notes? Then join the party over in the Adobe Labs forum. They’ve even produced a beta version of the Lightroom 3 help file for you.

Additionally, there are some excellent LIghtroom 3 Beta 2 roundups from my favorite Lightroom gurus worth checking out:

• Victoria Bampton
• Mark Wilson
• Ian Lyons
• Richard Earney
• Jeffrey Friedl
• Sean McCormack
• Gene McCullagh

Even though it is more tempting than ever to abandon Lightroom 2 in favor of this beta release it is still a Beta release. It is not finished. Adobe is even teasing us by saying there may be more up their collective sleeve, so treat it accordingly and have fun kicking the tires!

Here’s an extra tip I find really useful, when I am first using the Adjustment Brush to apply any setting I prefer to start with all sliders zeroed out and the mask overlay visible. This way I can just focus on applying the brush strokes to the right part of the image. Once the brush strokes have been applied I’ll hide the overlay and work on tweaking the settings as needed. The non-destructive editing capability of the Adjustment Brush is one of its most useful features, so don’t be afraid to experiment. You don’t need to get it right the first time!

1. Press G to jump to Grid.
2. Select all the photos you want to have the same aspect ratio.
3. Expand the Quick Develop panel
4. Expand the Saved Preset section if you can’t see the Crop Ratio setting.
5. Click the Crop Ratio drop-down menu and select the aspect ratio or Enter Custom to create your own.

All the selected thumbnails will update to the new aspect ratio. Press R if you want to jump to the Crop tool and tweak the crop composition.

Last week I posted a follow up  called: Migrating Lightroom 2 Catalogs to Lightroom 3 – Revisited.

Let me know if you have any questions!

From the course description …

“Are you a new to intermediate Lightroom user who is looking to take your Lightroom experience to the next level? Do you have the basics down, but still want to know more? Does Lightroom drive you crazy sometimes? Would you like to learn how to better integrate Lightroom into other aspects of your digital life? Would you like to avoid common problems and learn from the mistakes of others? Well then this is the course designed for you. After answering questions from thousands of Lightroom users over the last 3 years I created a course that covers the most common things people have been struggling to understand while integrating Lightroom into their photography workflow.”

Continue reading about Lightroomers Guide to Lightroom class over at ppsop.net. The part of this class I am most jazzed about is that it allows for a level of interaction between me and the students you won’t find in most online learning experiences. This class includes lessons, assignments, video tips and lots of Q&A interaction via the classroom message board. You’ll be able to reach me via email, my blog, and twitter too, so it is the next best thing to having me at your side for 4 weeks while you take your Lightroom skills to the next level!

PPSOP was founded by one of my long time photography heroes, Bryan Peterson, who authored (among many others) my all time favorite book on understanding exposure, perfectly named, Understanding Exposure. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to wrap your head around exposure once and for all.

Bryan produced a great video explaining how PPSOP courses work. My class will continue to run throughout the year so if the January 8 start date doesn’t work for you keep checking back for the next session. I look forward working closely with you over those 4 weeks!

If you are brand new to Lightroom and you are looking for a great place to get started then I suggest taking Jon Canfield’s Lightroom From Import to Output first and then take my class next. I’ve designed my class to build on the materials in Jon’s class so your learning continues to the next level!

When anyone asks me where they can find great Lightroom tutorials, tips and tricks I simply point them to Lightroom.Alltop.com and feel good about sending them to a content rich resource that should cover just about anything you want to know about Lightroom.

As a bonus I thought it would be helpful to consolidate a link to all the twitter accounts (that I know of) of every blogger listed on the Lightroom Alltop page, so here you go:

twitter.com/Mattkloskowski (lightroomKilerTips.com)

twitter.com/lightroomblog (lightroom-news.com and lightroomblog.com)

twitter.com/LRSecrets (LightroomSecrets.com)

twitter.com/xequals (x-equals.com/blog/)

twitter.com/insidelightroom (InsideLightroom.com)

twitter.com/thelightroomlab (thelightroomlab.com)

twitter.com/laurashoe (digitaldailydose.wordpress.com)

twitter.com/ScottKelby (scottkelby.com/blog/)

twitter.com/lightroomers (woot!)

Let me know if you know of twitter accounts for other Lightroom bloggers on Lightroom.Alltop. I tried to find everyone I could.

If you want a one-stop-shop twitter feed for all of the above listed folks plus a bunch of my favorite Lightroom twitter folks then check out my Lightroomers twitter list.