###### tags: LP, Resources

# Getting Started with Lightroom #

### Lightroom CC vs Lightroom Classic ###

For this guide, we will be focusing on the Classic desktop version of Lightroom, although the concepts will apply to both Creative Cloud and Mobile versions of Lightroom.

The primary difference between the two programs is in the way they handle image storage. Lightroom CC is primarily cloud-based meaning all images are saved in the cloud and can be downloaded to local storage, whereas Lightroom Classic uses complex catalogs and stores all images on the local level.

Apart from that, the programs are fairly identical when it comes to editing.
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### Step 1: Setup and Storage ###

Now that we know what the differences between Lightroom CC and Lightroom Classic are, let's start with creating and opening our first catalogs in Lightroom.

* When you open Lightroom Classic for the first time it will look something like this
This is your default catalog created by Lightroom and is stored in your Pictures folder on your computer. What we want to do is create a new Catalog in a location we know we will be saving all of our images and edits.
* Click File -> New Catalog
* Navigate to the location you want to save your Catalog, rename, and click create.
* Next click import
* From here we will select the images from our desired source and import them into Lightroom.
There are a few options to choose from when doing this: "Copy", "Copy as DNG", "Move", and "Add". I recommend choosing **"Copy"**.

This will copy your images into lightroom as well as copy them to the Catalog location you specified a step earlier.
**This is optimal, as it results in making sure you always have a copy of your originals in case something were to go awry.** --- That said, if you have already copied your images outside of lightroom and don't want to copy them again, I would then choose **"Add"**. This adds the images to lightroom so that you can edit them, but does not change the storage location of the physical image file.

* Select your Images and Click Import 

* And now Lightroom should be set up and should look something like this! 

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### Step 2: Editing
Now that we have Lightroom setup we can start editing. I should note, that this tutorial will only cover the basics, but I will leave links to in-depth tutorials at the end of this document.

* Click on Develop 
* This is where we will be doing our editing. On the right is our controls. We're only going to focus on the "**Basic**" section

* At the top, you'll notice **Temp** and **Tint**, these are very self-explanatory. The **Temp** slider controls how warm or cold the image is, and the **Tint** controls how green or red the image is. These two sliders are the basic foundations of your image's white balance. For this image, the white balance is fairly good although you could warm up the image or cool it to your preference. For right now we'll leave it as is.
* The second set of sliders control the images **Brightness and Contrast.** **Exposure** pertains to how bright the image is overall, and **Contrast** controls the level of contrast in the image. A good way to think of Contrast is that this slider when turned up makes the black areas "blacker" and the white areas "whiter". It's not necessarily brightness, however, a higher contrast image will appear to be more saturated and brighter because of this concept.
* The next sliders all control individual areas of the image. **Highlights** control the brighter parts, **Shadows** control the darker, **Whites** control how intensely bright the white parts are, and **Blacks** control how intensely dark the image is.
* The next set of sliders control the **Presence** of an image. Presence is a little harder to define, so let's break it down by each individual slider in this section
* **Texture** functions to bring out the detail in the lesser or mid-frequency parts of your image. Essentially giving you the option of adding or decreasing the level of detail on a smaller/less intensive scale.
* **Clarity** on the other hand is a far harsher tool. It serves to increase the level of detail by increasing or decreasing contrast in the image's edges or harsher areas of the image. So an increase can make for a very harsh-looking scene, whereas a decrease can give a dreamy effect. 
* **Dehaze** is more straightforward, this slider controls how hazy the image is. So if you have a very foggy-looking image increasing the slider will cut down the fog and vice versa.
* The last set of sliders controls the **Vibrance** and **Saturation** levels of the image. You might be wondering what the difference is. **Vibrance** refers more to skin tones, making them look more or less saturated, but doesn't have as strong of an effect as **Saturation** does. **Saturation** controls, well saturation --- how bold and rich the overall color of the image is.

* Lastly let's take a look at the **Crop** tool. In my opinion, this is one of the more important tools.

* The **Crop** tool lets you crop, straighten, or change the aspect ratio of your image. It's incredibly useful for fixing your composition. This particular image is a little bit off center, so I've gone ahead and fixed it by cropping in on the photo a little. 
* Now that we know what our Basic tools do, we can edit our image to look something like this:
* ***Before*** 
* ***After***
Congratulations, you have successfully edited your first image!
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### Step 3: Exporting your image
* Click File -> Export
* Choose the location or create a new folder where you want the export to be saved. Rename your export, and make sure you select the correct file type. I tend to select jpg and set the maximum quality slider to 100%. I also like to leave the resolution at 300.

* And you're done! You can now find your image inside the export location you specified earlier.

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## In-depth Resources ##
What we covered today was only a glimpse of what's possible in Lightroom. So I've linked here some extra resources that cover more in-depth editing guidelines for those who want to pursue editing.

* [Official Adobe Tutorials for Lightroom](https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/tutorials.html)
* [How to Edit in Lightroom Classic: An Overview](https://photographycourse.net/how-to-edit-photos-in-lightroom-classic/)
* [A No-Nonsense Guide to Photo Editing in Lightroom Classic](https://www.sandynoto.com/blog/a-complete-guide-to-lightroom-classic-for-photo-editing)
* [Lightroom Classic: The unabridged, beginner’s guide](https://www.photographyacademy.com/lightroom-classic-the-unabridged-beginners-guide/)