Photoshop® Lightroom® 2 for Dummies®

Chapter 7. Develop Module Basics

In This Chapter

• Getting familiar with the Develop module

• Switching between view modes

• Applying settings to multiple photos

• Preserving editing states with snapshots

• Using develop history to undo adjustments

• Performing basic tonal adjustments

• Cropping to an aspect ratio

• Removing spots and red-eye

• Understanding the Graduated Filter

• Making local corrections with Adjustment Brush

Welcome to the Develop module! This is where Lightroom's real magic happens. You find some amazing additions to the Develop toolset in this version of Lightroom, and some of the existing tools have been upgraded. The need to send photos to an external editor has been decreased significantly. (In fact, you might no longer need an external editor for most photos!) Because this module has so much to offer, I split the coverage of the Develop module between this chapter and Chapter 8.

In case you are puzzling over the use of the word develop here, you need to keep in mind that Lightroom was primarily designed to work with raw photos, which by definition have not yet been processed for final output. So, Lightroom approaches photos with the mindset that photos first need to be developed before they are ready to leave Lightroom and face whatever comes next.

Aside from getting oriented to where everything is in the Develop interface, you get a chance to focus on the most common Develop tasks (from ...