Howdy folks. OK, I’m starting a new series on things I’d love to see Adobe add to Lightroom (especially now that Lightroom is a full part of the Creative Cloud, theoretically Adobe could add features anytime, like they have with Photoshop CC).
But didn’t Adobe did just a big release of Lightroom? Yes they did, and that’s why I want to share these now, before they’re too far along on the next version. So, without further ado (yes, that was ado), here’s the first in my wishlist of things I’d love to see added to Lightroom:
#1: A Drop Shadow feature added to the Print module
Look at the screen capture above. They already have a drop shadow panel — it’s in the Slideshow module.  It’s just one module over from where we want it — they’ve already got a great user interface for it, and it works just lovely — if we could just have them copy that same panel over, just as it is, to the Print module, we’d be set. Boom! Done.
Q. Now, do I really have a pressing need to add drop shadows to things in the Print module?
A. Me personally, not very often.
Q. Have people been asking me for this at my seminars and workshops for since 2007?
A. Absolutely. I get asked about this on a regular basis
Well, I get asked “How do I add a drop shadow to an image in the Print module”, and of course the answer is, “You don’t inside of Lightroom — you have to go to Photoshop, add it there, then bring it back to Lightroom, or create a drop shadow all by itself in Photoshop, save it as a JPEG, and bring that into Lightroom as an Identity plate. Whew! That’s a lot of work. Wouldn’t just having that feature copied to the Print module be just a whole lot easier?
This seems like “low hanging fruit”…
…but of course in the past many times I learned from Adobe engineers or Product Managers that something that seems so simple and obvious, is actually way more complex than it looks because of the underlying architecture, or resolution issue, or whatever, but I do know this. The Lightroom engineers have performed some real miracles over the years, so I know if they decided to add it, they could probably do it in their sleep.
OK, that’s just one to get us rolling. Of course, I always encourage you to share your thoughts here in the comments (we read every one, even if we don’t get to respond to them all), and just a friendly reminder — please stay on topic, which is “new features you’d like to see added.”
That’s it for me today. I’m on my way to Spain today for some photography and fun with my brother Jeff (the trip is a Christmas present from my awesome wife), but I’ll still be online and sharing stuff during the week.
Hope you have an awesome Monday (I know, that’s asking a lot), and we’ll see you back here tomorrow for the second in my series.
Best,
-Scott
P.S. Heads up about a new online class you should watch on copyright, model releases, and all sorts of legal issues for photographers. We just released it last week at KelbyOne.com — it’s by Intellectual Property Rights Attorney Ed Greenberg and Photographer’s Rights Advocate Jack Reznicki. Here’s a link to the online class (it sounds like a boring topic, but these guys make it really fun and interesting. Fascinating stories and examples, and VERY eye-opening).
