crazydaddio Loc: Toronto Ontario Canada

Auto is excellent in the most recent version. It was really awful a few versions back. (Cant remember which, sorry). I never used it a few years ago as it was faster just to start from scratch or use a preset. The most recent version has an improved algorithm. The only slider I need to tweak right away is Contrast as Auto almost always pulls it to about-20. I find I have to bump vibrance a little as it starts a little low (usually around +15). I am editing from RAW btw....if you start with a jpeg, not sure what will happen :-)

crazydaddio Loc: Toronto Ontario Canada

Some great tips here on import presets! I think I will look into that from a workflow efficiency ....the other items I pretty much do...

(....oh btw, the new Auto does touch Vibrance now..)

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Interesting. We can see my sit-still on the v6 standalone island it getting further and further from current functionality.

If there's a "developer's handbook" on presets, I haven't found it. What I learned is that presets are simply text files and "readable" where you can decipher the syntax without documentation, from reading the contents and / or trial and error testing. Where a handbook would help is to understand if there is any conditional (if / then / else) logic. It doesn't seem like it, so instead, I have presets that are camera and ISO specific. Without conditional logic to respond to the ISO value of the image, I have presets for each camera type and discreet ISO value. I sort and filter my import by the ISO value and apply the presets on the images at each ISO setting by camera. Then, I start editing (well, keywording and then editing).

brettmilden

When do you crop image? Does cropping change with the print size?

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Cropping impacts print size when you consider the 'pixels per inch' (or ppi) available to the physical print size. The 'gold standard' is 300 ppi where, for example, your 24MP image is typically 6000 x 4000 pixels coming out of the camera. If you didn't crop, that could be a print of 20x13inches at 300ppi. As the print gets larger and larger, you can typically lower the PPI from 300 down to 200ppi (or even lower) as the viewer isn't going to be nose-to-print looking at the individual pixel level detail. The same 6000x4000px would print to 30x20in at 200ppi, still an excellent quality print.

You can also resample the image during the LR export, if desired, to increase the pixel dimensions to accomplish a desired pixel resolution (length x width in pixels).

Personally, I seek retain at least 2000-pixels on the 'long side' of the image so the image, when viewed digitally at 100%, will fill the target viewing monitors.

In my own edit workflow described above, I crop during the second / subsequent pass of editing after adjustments to exposure.

This post might be interesting when it comes to image size, particularly for digital viewing: Recommended resizing parameters for digital images

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

It may tell you something about your monitor calibration and profiling routine.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

Some disagreement here. Cropping affects the aspect ratio while possibly altering what the final picture includes. It affects file size but not print size. To keep this simple, resolution affects print size. However, as a practical matter, forget about resolution. The print rip takes care of that. Increasing resolution increases file size and decreasing does the opposite. With cheap storage and high-speed Internet speeds, file size no longer really matters in most cases.

My rule is to crop freely or to the aspect ratio of the final print. In the former case, I will add dead space to the art board to fit a standard print size, trim that off the actual print and finally mount. For the latter case, I just mount in a standard, off-the-shelf frame.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

I did not read all the posts in detail so if I repeat something, please excuse me.

For both the original and current enhanced auto's, I found the results very erratic. Sometimes, they were very good but usually not. As a result, I do not even use it as a starting point. I start with exposure and adjust and readjust it, clarity, tone, contrast and vibrance from there.

As for white balance, auto could affect this by changing the saturation or by trying to achieve what Adobe thinks is right.

Your third point is right. You can mimick the auto result through multiple adjustments.

The most important thing is to get a reasonably good exposure with a raw file. Once you do that consistently, LR becomes much easier. I also suggest that you use a proper gray or white card
or an Expodisc to set color balance. Otherwise, you are guessing about what the scene was like and you will not remember it. Once you do that, you may adjust color balance to change the mood.

wapiti Loc: round rock, texas

That about covers it.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

First of all, is your computer monitor calibrated with a device like a Spyder, Huey, ColorMunki or similar?

If it's not calibrated, you're just guessing at any adjustments you're making. Very likely you are making your images too dark, because from new most monitors are way too bright for accurate photo editing. That causes users to adjust their images too dark.

Uncalibrated monitors also tend to render inaccurate color, causing similar problems when adjusting color temp and tint.

A calibration device first helps you set an accurate brightness level, then it runs a series of color test patches and creates a profile that's used to make the monitor render color as accurately as possible.

And, a monitor needs to be re-calibrated periodically. I do it monthly... some people do it more or less often. The reason is that monitors gradually change over time. They lose brightness and shift how they render color. For example, my monitor is 6 or 7 years old... when it was new I had to dial the brightness level down to "20"... now after years of use I'm setting it slightly over "50" (not sure if these are percentages of something or just some arbitrary scale... doesn't really matter). Eventually when I'm setting it to around 90 I'll probably need to start shopping for a new monitor, if I haven't already replaced it.

As to the workflow with Lightroom...

I often use "Auto" initially... But find that additional adjustments are almost always needed. "Auto" doesn't normally change image white balance, though. That stays the same as was applied by the camera (regardless whether using Auto WB, Custom WB or one of the WB presets). So I don't know why Lightroom "Auto" would make your images look "warmer". There is some "shift" in the appearance of colors when you tweak exposures.... maybe that's what you're seeing. Something else that can effect color rendition is the color profile you use with you Export images. For most purposes, sRGB is the best to use. But LR gives you option to instead use ProPhoto RGB, Adobe RGB and others. However, if you assign those color spaces to an image, it will appear flat and desaturated in many common methods of viewing (such as most web browsers).

What Auto does to an image varies considerably depending upon what's in the image, the way the image was exposed initially and, I'm pretty sure, even from camera to camera... With Auto I find I often need to dial back the "white" and "highlight" sliders, push contrast back up a bit, brighten the "shadow" slider and further decrease the "black" slider (dragging this latter to the minus side, opposite the other sliders). Note: Almost all my work in Lightroom is being done on RAW files... You mention that you're adjusting JPEGs, which have already had a lot of adjustments applied in the camera when they were made. JPEGs have much less latitude for adjustment in post-processing with Lightroom or anything else... But, if they were done with relatively "correct" settings in the camera JPEGs also may not need as much tweaking as a RAW file.

A tip... use "Previous" and "Sync":

The first image in a series you'll need to configure your adjustments either using the sliders or "Auto" with some tweaking using the sliders.

Once you've adjusted an image, on the next, similar image use the "Previous" button.... Or select a bunch of images and use the "Sync" button. Either way will copy the corrections from the first image and apply it to the other(s). Doing this WILL change color temp and color tint ONLY if you changed it in the first image, that was being used for reference.

Using the Sync button to adjust batches of images calls up a dialog box where you can choose what adjustments to apply. Using the Previous button on a single image doesn't call up that dialog box.

If you straightened the original and/or cropped it, that also will be applied.... but of course you are free to change it as needed.

The Previous and Sync buttons are HUGE time savers, whenever you have a lot of images that require similar adjustments (I just finished editing 4300 images from a recent shoot).

bleirer

You will develop your own preferences and then you can learn how to save them as a preset to use as a starting point. You will get disagreements but that is ok because it is your art.

I start with the automatic lens profile and usually leave that alone. I set the curve to medium contrast, called a mild S curve because of its shape. Later I will use the 'adjust tones by dragging in the photo' to just nudge a touch one way or another.

I like around ten for saturation, clarity, dehaze, vibrance, and sharpening, and adjust up or down from there. If I sharpen more I use noise reduction more, they seem to work against each other in my mind. You can drag in the histogram to control it, same as using the sliders. Turn on the blinkies. I drag the whites up until something blinks then back off, then move highlights to the left, never to the right. On the same token I will drag the black down until I get a few blinkies but I'm ok with some loss in a nook and cranny, but then drag shadows to the right, never to the left until they look right. Only then will I see if exposure is ok, and then make further adjustments to the histogram if needed.

Then move to photoshop because you can use adjustment layers to get really fine control over most everything.

Joexx

From your comment it seems there is a way to apply "auto" on import. I have been trying to figure out how to do that. Please explain.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Actually, I perform the 'auto develop' following the image import. I run develop presets that include the following lines that trigger multiple auto steps:

AutoLateralCA = 1,
AutoTone = true,
CameraProfile = "Camera Standard",
ChromaticAberrationB = 0,
ChromaticAberrationR = 0,
EnableCalibration = true,
EnableLensCorrections = true,
WhiteBalance = "Auto",

Your question is interesting as I could reorganize the various Develop presets moving these parameters into an "import-default" to be selected and executed for the import of all images. See the selection point below from the screen capture of the Import screen.

(Download)

Jsykes

Thank you

Apologies, if I didn't reply earlier

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Cropping is usually done to adjust the subject placement, get rid of unwanted stuff, or to change an aspect ratio (ie. for 5x7, 8x10, etc.).

Cropping usually doesn't change the "print size", the editor usually adjusts the cropped area to the same canvas size. It looks like it's zooming in. But keep in mind what CHG_CANON said.