Lightroom CC : The new software offers a lot more than just changing the size of your images. It’s a powerhouse for adjusting image quality, improving color balance and applying a host of other tweaks, plus organizing photos and working with your library.
Here’s a quick guide to the most common functions of Lightroom CC 2018 and how to change aspect ratio in your Lightroom.
Table of Contents
Adjust the Aspect Ratio
You can easily change the width and height of your images, and the way Lightroom crops your images, using the Adjust Aspect tool.
1. In the Toolbar, select the crop icon (it looks like a camera).
2. Click the Aspect button.
3. Choose the width and height of your images, or use the drop-down menu to select the aspect ratio you want.
4. Lightroom will show you the original image and a cropped version with the desired ratio.
5. Drag the handles on the edges of the image to resize it.
Adjust Image Quality
In the Toolbar, you can adjust the image quality of your photos using the following controls:
• Shadows: This slider adjusts the shadows and highlights in your photo.
• Sharpness: Using this slider, you can control how sharp or blurry your photo appears.
• Clarity: This slider lets you add more detail to the whites and blacks in your photo.
• Color: This slider lets you adjust the color in your photo.
6. Drag the slider to increase or decrease the effect.
Apply Color Balance
Using the Basic panel, you can adjust the overall color balance of your images by selecting one of the preset options. To apply a different look, simply drag the sliders or click the button and choose a new look from the menu.
• Highlights: This slider reduces or increases the amount of light captured by the highlights in your photo.
• Midtones: This slider reduces or increases the amount of light captured by the midtones in your photo.
• Shadows: This slider reduces or increases the amount of light captured by the shadows in your photo.
• Whites: This slider reduces or increases the amount of white captured in your photo.
• Blacks: This slider reduces or increases the amount of black captured in your photo.
• Vividness: This slider reduces or increases the amount of contrast in your photo.
Organize Photos
You can arrange your photos into groups, based on a specific criteria, using the Sort By panel.
• Name: This option sorts your photos by the name of the folder they are stored in.
• Date Taken: This option sorts your photos by the date they were taken.
• Location: This option sorts your photos by their location.
• Albums: This option allows you to sort your photos into groups by the albums you create.
• Faces: This option sorts your photos into groups based on whether they contain a face.
• Categories: This option sorts your photos into groups by the categories you assign to them.
• Ratings: This option sorts your photos into groups based on the ratings you give to them.
7. Select the group type and then drag the photos onto it.
8. You can also use the icons to the right of each group to quickly select all the images in a particular group.
Edit Your Photos
The Toolbar offers a number of editing tools that let you quickly modify your images, depending on the style you are working on.
• Correct Lighting: This tool uses the histogram to analyze the lighting in your photo.
• Red Eye Fix: This tool fixes red eyes by eliminating the dark shadow around your subject’s eye.
• Retouch: This tool gives you an assortment of retouching options, including skin smoothing, blemish removal and face reshaping.
• Enhance Details: This tool lets you enhance the details in your image.
• Black & White: This tool gives you the ability to make a traditional black and white photo.
9. Click the tool you need to use.
Adjust the Exposure
To adjust the exposure of your photos, you can use the following controls.
• Lightroom CC 2018: Using the Basic panel, you can change the exposure by dragging the Brightness and Contrast sliders.
• Lightroom Classic CC: You can use the Basic panel to change the exposure by using the Slider or by clicking the + button and choosing the amount of Exposure you want.
10. Drag the slider to increase or decrease the amount of exposure.
• Histogram: This tool gives you an overview of the exposure in your photo.
• Shadows/Highlights: This tool shows you a histogram for the highlights and shadows in your photo.
Adjust the Saturation
You can use the following controls to adjust the saturation of your photos.
• Basic panel: Using the Basic panel, you can adjust the saturation of your photos.
• Color panel: Using the Color panel, you can change the overall color of your photo.
• Vibrance: Using the Vibrance slider, you can adjust the vibrance of your image.
11. Drag the slider to increase or decrease the amount of saturation.
12. You can also use the buttons to the right of the slider to quickly select all the images in a particular group.
13. You can also use the icons at the top of the screen to quickly change the brightness, contrast, saturation and color of your image.
14. Click the icon to return to the Basic panel.
Change the Exposure, Brightness, Contrast, Saturation and Vibrancy Using the Adjustment Layers Panel.