Lightroom 2 Released

Adobe released Lightroom 2 early this morning. This is Adobe's first 64-bit program for Mac and Windows. The full version is $299, but existing Lightroom owners can upgrade for $99.

If you are a NAPP member, don't forget to take advantage of your 15% member discount. See the member area of the NAPP website for details.

The original Lightroom came with a decent manual, so I went ahead and ordered the boxed product to see if they delivered a good manual again.

In the meantime, I installed the 30-day trial. It installed without a hitch and upgraded my existing Lightroom library. This will tide me over until I receive the boxed product to get my product activation key.

Apple TV 'Take Two' software update

It's been a while since I've posted anything. The weather has been too bad to get in some photography outings, so there just hasn't been much on the photography side.

However, today Apple released the free 'Take Two' software update for Apple TV. I can't express how pleased I am with this update! I have always enjoyed my Apple TV, but this update has turned it from a novelty to a 'must have' component for my living room.

The user interface has changed completely. Everyone knows that the big addition is the ability to rent standard and HD movies directly from the Apple TV. That's nice and all, but there are other features that really excite me.

You can now view photos from Flickr or a .Mac photo album. I use Flickr extensively, so this peaked my interest. But not only can you view your photos/albums, but you can also browse your friends photos (and their friends), and bookmark their photo stream for easy viewing. And here's the kicker... you can make any of these photo albums your Apple TV screensaver/slideshow! That is my absolute favorite feature of the 'Take Two' update. I currently have my sister's 'Recent Additions' photos from her Flickr account set as my Apple TV screen saver.

In the video settings, you can now set your Apple TV to display at 1080p! I haven't noticed this documented anywhere, but then again I have not been doing a lot of research on it either.

The line between local and streaming content has been blurred. You no longer see only what is stored on the Apple TV. You see the entire contents of your iTunes collection on your computer. Before this update, you had to navigate to a special area hidden deep in the menus just to stream items from your computer's iTunes. The process of viewing local content (stored on Apple TV) and viewing streamed content (stored on your computer) was very distinct. You had to jump through hoops to do it. Not anymore! Now it just works!

I did experience some movie preview buffering issues when I was trying it out earlier today, but I think that's just due to the increased traffic to the Apple servers as a result of the update. I'm sure that will clear up.

If you don't have an Apple TV, go to an Apple Store and try one out! I can feel confident about recommending one to my family and friends now. Overnight, the Apple TV has turned into a major contender in the media center/hub market.

Get DivX Pro FREE for a limited time

DivX is offering DivX Pro for free for a limited time. No promotion expiration date is mentioned, but they have a note stating that "DivX Pro holiday download available for a limited time."

Get it while it lasts! Mac / Windows

Adobe updates Lightroom, Photoshop CS3, and Camera RAW

Adobe released a cornucopia of updates today for Lightroom, Photoshop CS3, and Adobe Camera RAW today. I have installed each of these updates on my Mac Pro OS X 10.5.1 Leopard system and haven't seen any adverse effects (knock on wood).

Lightroom 1.3

(Download: Mac / Win)

From the release notes:

Lightroom 1.3 includes corrections for the following issues:

• Writing XMP metadata automatically has been corrected for performance issues
• Printing with the native resolution option enabled no longer sets the wrong dimension for portrait oriented images
• Prior to Camera Raw 4.3 there was the possibility that artifacts in edge transitions could be introduced through the
• Bayer demosaic and luminance noise reductions algorithms. This has been corrected.
• The Canon sRAW format and the Fuji compressed RAF formats are now supported.

Lightroom 1.3 includes the following enhancements:

• The import dialog now offers the option to render 1:1 previews as part of the import process
• The export dialog layout has been enhanced
• A Lightroom Preview Export SDK is available for developers to create and distribute Export Plug-ins. Further details
• are located on Adobe Labs

This update improves support for OS X 10.5 Leopard, however Time Machine was nowhere to be found in the release notes. When I questioned Tom Hogarty (Lightroom Project Manager) about this, he had this response:

"I would still recommend not running Time Machine backup or restore operations while Lightroom is in use. I'll have more details as soon as they're available."

Keep an eye on Adobe's Lightroom Insider blog for more on this topic.

Lightroom Export SDK: The Lightroom team has also released an Export SDK to allow developers to create and distribute Export Plug-ins. It includes plug-in sample code for a Flickr and FTP plug-in. This holds great potential and I am excited to see what the development community produces. The SDK can be downloaded from the Adobe Labs website.

Adobe Camera RAW 4.3

(Download: Mac / Win)

Support for the following cameras has been added. Visit the Camera Raw page for a complete list of supported cameras.

• Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III
• Canon PowerShot G9
• Nikon D3
• Nikon D300
• Olympus E-3
• Olympus SP-560 UZ
• Panasonic DMC-L10

Adobe Photoshop 10.0.1 update for Adobe Photoshop CS3

(Download: Mac / Win)

The most significant fixes in the Photoshop 10.0.1 update include the following:

• The speed of moving objects contained within multiple layer sets has been improved.
• Converting images to CMYK using certain profiles no longer results in black files.
• The Save for Web feature now includes an option to "Include XMP" (metadata) in the settings menu within the main Save for Web interface, making the existing capability easier to access.
• When using Save For Web with "Include XMP" enabled, all XMP data is now included in the optimized file.
• Print color matching has been improved.
• Images saved as DICOM and reopened in Photoshop CS3 are no longer corrupted on PowerPC based Mac computers.

Lightroom update coming mid-November

Lightroom Product Manager Tom Hogarty announced news of a Lightroom update coming in mid-November to address compatibility issues with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.

"As noted in Adobe’s Leopard FAQ the current version of Lightroom 1.2 is not fully compatible with Leopard, Mac OS X 10.5. The good news is that we’ll be releasing an update in mid-November that will address key compatibility issues. In the interim, the following list describes areas where photographers may encounter problems with Lightroom 1.2 on Leopard:

• The Print module may not load
• The Import dialog and other dialogs can “disappear” below Lightroom’s main window. The dialog can be retrieved by switching to another application and then returning to Lightroom.
• Lightroom’s web module may not provide a visual update after a setting is changed
• The left-side panels in the Develop module may not display properly. Resizing or closing/opening the panels will correct the issue.
• The interaction between Leopard’s Time Machine and Lightroom’s catalog files is unknown at this time. Running Time Machine backup or restore operations while Lightroom is in use is not recommended until more information can be obtained

Feel free to share your Leopard/Lightroom experiences in this post’s comments section."

Head on over to Adobe's official Lightroom Journal blog for additional updates and to leave your comments for the Lightroom team.

Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard upgrade experience

I'm a technology geek... I admit it!

And I'm the worst kind of technology geek... the early adopter type. I stood in line for hours when the iPhone launched. It was a fun social experience. However, I decided to skip the launch festivities at my local Apple Store for the Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard launch. Amazon.com had it for $20 less than Apple Store. Sure I wouldn't have it in my hands on launch day, but I'm glad I didn't because I would have popped that sucker in the computer and been at the mercy of not knowing how to fix any bumps I ran across during the upgrade.

Good thing I waited...

My order arrived late this afternoon. I did a quick update to bring my daily SuperDuper! backup current. I can't stress how important a current backup is for anyone performing an OS upgrade. This one little thing can save you from feeling that sinking feeling in your chest when you find out that something went wrong and you lost some important files.

Installation

Once that was done, I popped in the Leopard install DVD. Installation was extremely straight forward. Just insert the disc, tell it what drive to install to, and what kind of install you want to do. I did a very straight forward 'Upgrade' install.

I was kind of surprised that there were no screenshots or information about the new Leopard features during the install. It was quite boring actually. I made a phone call and watched an episode of the Colbert Report while it did its thing.

I thought it was particularly amusing how the install seemed to go quickly until it got to the '5 minutes left' mark. Once it said '5 minutes', time stood still. It was at '5 minutes' for no less than 15-20 minutes.

Once the install was complete and the system booted, it asked me to enter my Apple ID information. A message came up that there were two updates available for 'Login & Keychain Updater'. I installed the updates and let the computer reboot.

Bumpy road ahead

Once my computer rebooted, that's when things went south.

The AirPort card in my Mac Pro was no longer recognized! My computer is not anywhere near my cable modem, so I had no way to access the Internet to research the issue.

Thank god for my iPhone that I stood in line for hours to get on launch day! I loaded up the Apple Support website and found this discussion of others that were experiencing the same problem as me.

The solution that worked for me was to delete the following file:

/System/Library/Extensions/AppleAirPort2.kext

Immediately after I dragged that file to the Trash, my AirPort card was recognized and connected to my wireless network without any further action on my part.

No sound from speakers

The upgrade had also disabled my speakers, so all audio was coming from the Mac Pro internal speaker. This was an easy fix. Just go to System Preferences and click on 'Sound'. 'Internal Speakers' is currently selected. I just click on the 'Line Out' device and my speakers started working again. I'm listening to a live version of AC/DC "The Jack" now.

Lightroom and Photoshop CS3

As I reported earlier, Adobe had already released documentation stating that Photoshop CS3 was certified for Leopard, but that Lightroom was not. After monitoring several discussions about Lightroom performance with Leopard, I already went into this with the knowledge that some people have experienced problems importing files into Lightroom and that the entire Print module didn't work at all.

I don't currently do any printing from Lightroom, so that was not a big concern to me. But the ability to import my photos was a huge deal! So naturally that is the first thing I did. I breathed a sigh of releif when I successfully imported some RAW photos from my CF card and some JPG files from my iPhone.

Lightroom was a little slow at first, but then it got back to its snappy self. I'm very pleased with the performance of both Lightroom and Photoshop CS3 in Leopard. Nevertheless, I will be happy when the Lightroom patch is available to address the printing module and any other Leopard compatibility issues.

Other programs

Mail crashed once and I submitted an error report to Apple. Other than that, all of the applications that I have tried are working great. I love the fact that my iCal icon no longer tells me that it's July 17th every day. All of the programs seem a little snappier than they were in Tiger (10.4).

The updates to Mail, iCal, Dictionary, and Address Book are enough to sell me on the upgrade, but there is so much more to this upgrade than you realize going into the upgrade.

Conclusion

Once I got through the AirPort card and audio crises, everything else has been smooth. I will go through and try out everything later, but tonight I wanted to hit the major ones and get a post up incase anyone else runs into the same issues that I did.

Adobe on Mac OS X Leopard compatibility

Adobe has released a PDF document outlining compatibility of their products with Mac OS X 10.5 'Leopard'.

Both flavors of Photoshop CS3 are compatible with Leopard. In fact, most of the CS3 line are compatible, with a few exceptions.

Lightroom requires an update, but they do not provide any details as to what features are not working properly (or when the 'future update' will arrive).

"Photoshop Lightroom 1.2 is not fully certified for Mac OS X Leopard, but future updates will address areas of Leopard compatibility".

Bad news for Photoshop CS2 (and earlier) and Photoshop Elements 4.0 (and earlier) users as they are marked as "Not Designed for Mac OS X Leopard". Comments state "Likely to encounter issues for which there is no resolution."