Batch Edit NIK Software in Lightroom

(from https://brianparkes.com/batch-edit-nik-software-in-lightroom/)

So here is the thing. NIK Software batch edit feature can only be accessed by Lightroom. It can’t be accessed directly from say Colour Efex on its own. From Lightroom, choose any 3 images in the filmstrip at the bottom of Lightroom. Note it has to be in Filmstrip at the bottom otherwise it will not work. Now right click on the Film Strip and choose ‘Edit in’ then choose say Color Efex. Again, you HAVE to right click on the filmstrip, not choose the edit feature from the photo menu in Lightroom or it simply wont work.

You get the normal options to edit a copy or the original. I tend to output Jpeg’s from the RAW files and then work on those jpeg ‘originals’. Wait a little and then when the Color Efex window opens up you will notice you have the option to look at the next image. This allows you to change the settings per image. However if you want to apply the same settings (including exact same placement of control points if you are using them) all you need do is click ‘Save All’ and Color Efex will merrily go through those images and apply the settings.

The Batch Edit Gotchas

What may throw you and make you think its not possible, as it has to even NIK Software itself are the following:

1. You must select your images in the filmstrip. It is the only place it will work.
2. You must right click on the film strip and edit in (for E.g Color Efex), not from the photo window or it will not work.
3. If you select all images, on sizeable batches it will look like nothing is happening because there is a lengthy delay. Nik Software doesn’t appear to open the images one by one, it seems to open the lot up at once and then apply the settings one by one. I tend to process high quality Jpegs for this reason.
4. Do try it with 2 or 3 images before a big batch, just to satisfy yourself it is working or the delay in opening may make you think it is not.
5. Control points will be same on every image so you can only use the Save All feature if you intend to ether scroll through each image and apply control points for each, or are happy to apply the filter globally.

Summary

That’s it. It IS Possible to batch edit with NikSoftware in Lightroom, how to do that is just hiding out in plain sight!

Big thanks to Google for making the NIK Software filters freely available. It is a fantastic set of tools. It’s just a shame I bought them before they became free!

Lightroom: Processing sports photos

(Thanks to Zamani Feelings for much of this info.- short but sweet!)

Often times, your photos may end up with a ‘muddy look’, which is a combination of too warm of a White Balance and too much Contrast. To fix this, cool down the color temp (you may need to play with the green/red slider, too) and lower the Contrast. Continue reading »

Lightroom: Delete custom crop preset

If you create a custom crop preset in Adobe Lightroom and then need to delete it, there’s no easy way. This is because the preset is stored in the Catalog. Fortunately, there is a way to delete it using SQLiteSpy.

Using SQLiteSpy, open the Lightroom catalog and either run the Edit Cell option, or the following SQL statements (substitute the correct dimensions as needed):

SELECT * FROM Adobe_variablesTable WHERE name = "Adobe_customCropAspects"

DELETE FROM Adobe_variablesTable WHERE name = "Adobe_customCropAspects" AND value = "customCropAspects = {
{
h = 2.166,
w = 3,
},
}
"

Photo Noise Reduction Tutorial

from https://photographylife.com/photo-noise-reduction-tutorial

The Lightroom Adjustment Brush – The Difference Between Flow and Density

from http://blogs.adobe.com/jkost/2011/07/the-adjustment-brush-the-difference-between-flow-and-density.html

When using the Adjustment brush, the Flow sets speed of the adjustment made when painting. For example, if you set the Exposure slider to +2 and then set the Flow down to 25 and paint in the image, you will notice that it takes a longer to build up that +2 stops than if you had left the Flow setting at 100 (eventually though, it will get there). A low Flow setting can help when trying to slowly dodge and burn in an area of an image.

The Density slider caps amount of change that can be applied with a paint stroke. If you set the Exposure slider to +2 and then set the Density down to 50, no matter how long you paint, you will never get more of a change than 1/2 of the +2 (or +1 stop). At first I thought why not just reduce the slider to cap the maximum amount, but then I realized that I can set the sliders at the highest point I need for the image, then prevent overdoing the adjustment by setting the density slider to cap the adjustment in certain areas.