How to Use Lightroom 2

Import photographs into Lightroom 2 for management and editing. Access the "File" menu and choose "Import Photos from Disk." Find the file or files you wish to import, click on them and press the "Import" button.

Edit the file handling options in the pop-up window to control how Lightroom 2 will deal with the imported photos. You can apply a custom naming scheme to the photos that will, for instance, rename photos from their default img_0142 filenames to something more readable and descriptive. For example, if the shot is from a wedding, it could be renamed wedding42.

You can also tell Lightroom where to move the files (if you are copying them directly from your memory card) and what to do with the original files (either delete or preserve them).

Organize your photos either manually or with automatic controls. Manual organization can be achieved by applying tags or titles to each image. Right-click on an image to set its tags or other image properties. Automatic organization--a feature made more robust in Lightroom 2--will sort photos by date taken, date imported, lens used or any other metadata characteristic your photographs might possess.

Rate each image by clicking on one of the five stars in the filmstrip toolbar. The furthest right star will rate the photograph as 5-stars, the highest rating. With this new Lightroom 2 feature, it is faster to sort through your favorite images to print or add to your portfolio.

Click the "Development" tab to apply individual changes to a single image. The tab includes photo editing options such as hue, saturation, sharpness, exposure, brightness, contrast and most other settings that are common in photo editing programs. Lightroom 2 has additional presets to add defined techniques to images, such as generating black and white, sepia or high-contrast images.

Batch edit (edit multiple photographs at one time) by applying your edits to a single photograph, and then selecting multiple from the film strip. You can select more than one photograph by holding down the Ctrl (Cmd on Mac OS X) key and clicking, or by dragging a selection around the photographs. Click the "Sync Settings" button--a new feature to Lightroom 2--to apply the same changes to every photograph in your selection.

Export photographs, send images via email or upload them to the Internet through the "Export" tab in the "File" menu. Lightroom 2 will ask if you would like to automatically resize any exported images to a specific resolution, what file type you want to use and where you would like to save them. Lightroom 2 will automatically retain the original, unedited RAW versions so you may later return and undo your edits.