I went to go install Lightroom 4 on Windows 8 and the funniest thing happened. After installing Lightroom 4 on Windows 8 the program would start, if you hovered your mouse over the Lightroom 4 icon the program would look like it was running. The program would seem to stay minimized on the start menu and would never open up.

Because of this flaw, I could never enter the serial number so that I could run Lightroom.

To fix this issue the best thing to do is locate the lightroom program and edit the shortcut located in this folder:

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.2

Right click the shortcut and click properties. Click the compatibility tab and and make sure the program is run in Windows 7 compatibility mode.

Hit Apply and Ok. You should now be able to actually see the application and enter the serial.

If you haven’t checked out my post on “How to create your own presets in adobe lightroom” then I would recommend you checking it out before going through this post.

To import photos in Lightroom hit “CTRL+SHIFT+I”. The import window will open. On the top right hand side Click on “Apply during import” and select the preset you would like to apply to ALL photos during the import phase.

Click “Import” at the bottom right side of the screen. Lightroom will remember this setting once you have imported at least one picture.

I find I apply these settings on every picture I take except portraits. By entering these values each time I worked on a picture that it was slowing down my work flow. Creating a preset can really remove the mundane tasks and let you work on the artistic stuff.

Luckily Lightroom allows you to make presets. In Lightroom 3 Making a preset is very easy. When creating a preset it’s a good idea to make sure you haven’t applied ANY changes to the picture. I would recommend resetting the picture just to make sure that everything is back to the default settings. The reset button is on the bottom right of the main Lightroom screen when you are in edit mode. The reason you want to reset everything is that all the settings you’ve changed will be saved and applied to the preset.

Now change the settings you would like to have part of the presets. I will be increasing the Clarity and sharpening as per the screenshots above. Once you are happy with the settings you have made click the “+” button on the presets bar.

I would recommend that you click the “Check None” button and ONLY select the items that you have made changes to.

Since I only made changes to Clarity, sharpening, and Noise reduction I will check them off. Hit the “Create” button.

Now you should be able to apply these items with one click on the “JHH – Default Sharpening” preset.

If you are like me and want to be really lazy you can make Lightroom apply this preset during import so you don’t even have to click the “preset” name.

To learn how to do this check out my post “How to automatically apply a preset to a lightroom import”.

I have been taking a few Lightroom courses and just found out the other day that you can re-brand Lightroom with your own logo or text. In the image above I’ve highlighted in red what you can change. Right now Lightroom 3 is the latest version of the software. These steps will be for the PC. There is a link at the bottom of the page for Mac users.

1. Open your favorite image manipulation program (photoshop) and create a new document 600px by 57px. Make sure that the image file is no taller then 57px.
2. Paste your logo into the image. I would recommend that you don’t have any background color. We are going to save the file as a png and because PNG supports transparency we don’t have to worry about if the logo will work properly with Lightroom’s colors.
3. Make sure Lightroom is open and go into “Edit” – “Identity Plate Setup…”
4. Check off “Enable Identity Plate”
5. Use a graphical identity plate
6. Click on “locate file”
7. Open the .png file that you created in step #2
8. Click “Ok”.

Here’s what you should see approximately when filling in the info in Steps 4-7.

Once you click “ok” you will be brought back to the main Lightroom screen. Your logo will appear now like so:

One more trick before I end this post if you hit “F” a couple of times you will cycle through the different Lightroom views. Eventually you should get to the full screenview. Not only do I find editing pictures in this mode much more pleasing, I have also heard when you go to show clients their pictures that it’s less distracting for them as well. Theoretically because you’ve branded the software as your own it will also make you seem a bit more professional as well. Isn’t it nice not seeing the menu bar?

How to change the identity plate on a Mac – http://help.adobe.com/en_US/Lightroom/3.0/Using/WS3DC88623-7951-4bd4-9969-63E4BC7E2A79.html

I was working in Lightroom 3 and one day my brush adjustment markers were no longer showing up! I couldn’t for the likes of me figure out how to make them visible again. Well it turned out I accidently hit a shortcut key and disabled them. I was searching and searching for how to re-enable it. It turns out that Adobe calls these markers “Pins”. Therefor this post is more about how to make the adjustment “pin” visible again!

It’s very easy to do. You need to hit the “H” key. Bellow is an example of several "adjustment markers” when they are visible.

I found the key combo here: http://www.computer-darkroom.com/lr2_keyboard/lightroom-keyboard.htm