When Lightroom 5 Public Beta was introduced I recorded a video showing my Top 5 Favorite Features (see below). One of the features that I knew would be a game changer for me was the new Smart Preview feature. When you build “Smart Previews” for your images they are available even if the original RAW files, TIFFS, JPGs, PSDs, etc. aren’t with you. You can perform edits on them in the Develop Module and also output them for web/email as well as use them in slideshows. I was curious as to how much space these Smart Previews would really take up. Last night I did a test. I opened my Portrait/Models Catalog and built Smart Previews for every photo I’ve ever edited. What constitutes an edit? An edit in this catalog means that I retouched (edited) the photo in Photoshop and the edited version is a PSD file in my catalog. To identify these “edits” I built Smart Collections that organize my edits by year.

I simply selected every image that I’ve ever edited as far back as 2006 (a total of 3,669 photos) and built Smart Previews for all of these images. Now keep in mind that all of the original PSDs but my most recent two shoots reside on my file server. They are NOT on my local hard drive in my MacBook Pro. However, I keep my catalogs with me in my Dropbox folder so that they are sync’d to my other Macs as well as backed up to the cloud. There’s no way that I’d want to house these 3,669 images on my internal drive. Nor would I actually have the available space even if I wanted to. However, there have been times that I’ve wanted to use these images in slideshows, email to clients or update my websites/social media presence with them. If Smart Previews would enable me to always have access to these images even if the originals are back in the studio on the server then I’d be elated. So the real test was how much room would the Smart Previews take up?

I was shocked and thrilled to see how little space they actually took up! Also keep in mind that the above 1.73GB Smart Preview file also contains Smart Preview for other images in that Catalog besides the 3,669 I did last night. Now I will always be able to show and SHARE my work even if the originals are “offline”.

You can get the Lightroom 5 Public Beta here.

The post Having Every Photo I’ve Ever Edited With Me At All Times Thanks to Lightroom 5 appeared first on Terry White's Tech Blog.

Ever since I upgraded to the iPhone 5 and got an iPad mini I’ve been slowly but surely replacing my old 3o pin iDevice cables with newer Lightning cables. While the price of Apple’s Lightning cables are a bit on the expensive side, what bugs me more is being limited to a fixed 1m length. While 3rd party 30 pin iDevice cables are a dime a dozen and can be found in many different lengths and configurations, 3rd party Lightning cables are just now starting to become widely available. There were some really cheap knockoffs that appeared early on and as the saying goes you get what you pay for. I tried a few of the different cables and found that either they didn’t work at all, didn’t work reliably or stopped working after a while. One problem is that many of the cheap ones aren’t “reversible.” That’s one of the main benefits of Lighting cables is that there is no front/back up or down. You can plug it in either way and it just works. Many of the cheap ones only worked one way. I did find some 10 foot cheap 3rd party ones that worked properly. However, over time one by one they simply stopped working or started acting very flaky. I decided to wait until some of the trusted brands I’d used in the past. I wanted both shorter cables and longer ones than the 1m Lighting cables that Apple sells.

6 foot and 10 foot Lightning Cables

One of my favorite sources for low price, quality cables and gear is Monoprice.com. Monoprice has listed both 6 foot and 10 foot Lightning cables for a while now, but they recently started shipping. Before these cables became available I was using USB extension cables to make my Apple cables longer, but I prefer to have a single cable that’s long enough. I bought a few of each length and as I expected they work perfectly. You can get them in either white or black here.

Very short Lightning Cables

CableJive is known for selling a variety of different specialty cables and as I had hoped they just started selling pocket sized 12cm Lighting cables. This cables are short for a variety of different uses when you don’t want a long cable that you’d have to coil up. They are a bit pricey for the length, but they fit the bill for always having a Lightning cable for charging my devices, in my pocket.

Amazon has them here.

Lastly a lower priced 1m Lightning Cable

Amazon has their own brand of cables and they are offering a 1m Lighting Cable for less than Apple sells them for here. Monoprice also has some 1m cables cheaper too, here.

The post Long and Short Lightning Cables appeared first on Terry White's Tech Blog.

For the last few years I’ve used a MacBook Pro as my primary computer. I even sold my Mac Pro tower a few months ago as I just couldn’t justify hanging on to it for the few times I used it to do heavy duty video rendering. Sure it was faster than my notebook, but I just found that I was using my notebook more often than heading over to the Mac Pro. Now that I’m on the MacBook Pro most of the time, when I’m at my desk I want to connect all my peripherals. I’ve got a Wacom Cintiq 24HD display, Gigabit Ethernet drop, a 7 port USB 3.0 hub with a Logitech C920 webcam, Rode Podcaster Mic, Bose Speakers, Apple Wireless Keyboard, wireless Magic Mouse and an occasional external hard drive to transfer data from here and there.

What is the Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock?

It’s an external piece of hardware that sits on your desk and connects to your Thunderbolt port on your computer. Once connected it adds 1 Gigabit Ethernet, 1 Firewire 800 port, an additional Thunderbolt port, an audio in and audio out port, and 3 high speed USB 3.o ports.

Before the Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock I would have to plug in the power and four cables before waking my MacBook Pro up. The beauty of a dock is that it can give you not only the convenience of having all your peripherals plugged into one device so that you can just plug in one cable, but it also can give you ports that you didn’t have. For example, on the MacBook Pro 15″ Retina Display Apple has eliminated Firewire and Ethernet ports. While I have the Thunderbolt Adapters to add these ports back in, the Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock has them built-in plus one that I don’t have an adapter for and that is a standard 3.5mm audio in jack.

The design of the dock is appealing to my eyes and it has all of the connections in the back with a pass through to the front for the Thunderbolt cable (which is not included). I was a little disappointed by the rather large power brick, but then I reminded myself that I won’t likely be traveling with this dock. It’s designed to sit on your desk with everything connected to it so that I just plug in the Thuderbolt cable to my MacBook Pro when I get to my office.

I’ve connected a couple of hard drives to it for testing and  noticed no difference in speed. The other ports seem to work as expected.

The Bottom Line

This dock has been a long time coming. For a MacBook Pro owner it’s nice to have. For a MacBook Air owner it becomes an even better accessory since MacBook Airs have even fewer ports built-in to them. I would have loved to have seen one more Thunderbolt port and for the price I feel that it should have included a Thunderbolt cable. Otherwise it’s a solid piece of gear that will make my MacBook Pro feel even more like a desktop computer when I’m at my desk.

You can get the Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock here.

You can get the needed Thunderbolt Cable here.

The post Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock Review appeared first on Terry White's Tech Blog.

Today Adobe took the wraps off all NEW versions of Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Adobe Muse and more. The Creative Suite (CS) Applications have been rebranded Creative Cloud (CC). I’m here to give you your first look at these applications and to share my Top 5 Favorite Features in each one. I’ve created a Creative Cloud Learning Center playlist on my YouTube channel and added my four new videos to it. I’ll continue to add more videos on Creative Cloud in the coming weeks and months. The NEW CC versions will be available to Creative Cloud Members on June 17th.

Note: Currently there are no plans to add new features to Creative Suite. Creative Suite 6 will continue to be available indefinitely for those that aren’t ready or don’t want to go to Creative Cloud. Also Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Acrobat Professional will continue to be sold as perpetual licenses. This probably brings up a lot of questions and we’ve tried to anticipate as many as possible. Go here to get answers.

I’ll also be rebranding my show from The Adobe Creative Suite Video Podcast to Creative Cloud TV.

The post What’s New In Photoshop CC, Illustrator CC, InDesign CC and Muse CC? appeared first on Terry White's Tech Blog.

I have the honor of being on stage today at the Adobe MAX Keynote in Los Angeles. I’ll be showing some never seen before new technologies and you can watch the LIVE STREAM. That’s right, even if you didn’t make it to Adobe MAX this year you can still watch the keynote. It will air from 9:30-11:30am PT (GMT -7) and you can sign up to watch it here. I think this will be the largest audience I’ve ever presented in front of live and I look forward to seeing you at MAX or at least knowing you’re watching from where ever you are in the world!

The post Watch Me in The Adobe MAX Keynote Live Today appeared first on Terry White's Tech Blog.

I’m looking forward to seeing many of you next week at Adobe MAX – The Creativity Conference in Los Angeles. The show kicks off Monday for me with the Day 1 Keynote and sessions.

• Monday, May 6th – 9:30am – 11:30am – A Creative Evolution – Keynote (Register to Watch the Keynote Online Here)
• Monday, May 6th – 3:30pm – 4:30pm – Adobe Muse – Creating HTML Websites Without Coding
• Monday, May 6th – 5:00pm – 6:30pm – Self Publishing on iPad – B.Y.O.D. LAB
• Tuesday, May 7th – 10:00am – 11:30am – Community Inspires Creativity – Keynote
• Tuesday, May 7th – 4:00pm – 5:00pm – Adobe Design Evangelists Shootout
• Wednesday, May 8th – 9:30am – 10:30am – Creating Engaging Web Design with Adobe Muse
• Wednesday, May 8th – 5:00pm – 6:00pm – Creating Engaging Web Design with Adobe Muse

Want to save $300 on Adobe MAX? Use this promo code: MXSM13

The post What I’m Teaching at Adobe MAX – The Creativity Conference Next Week appeared first on Terry White's Tech Blog.

During a brief visit to my studio between business trips I got a chance to try out the NEW Rogue XL Pro Lighting Kit. I’m a fan of the Rogue FlashBenders and Diffusion panels. I keep a set in the outer pocket of my suitcase because they are completely flat when not in use. This means that on those occasions when I’m on the road and come across an interesting subject to photograph I don’t have to worry that I didn’t bring my usual, larger light modifiers.

The NEW Rogue XL Pro Lighting Kit Changes the Game A Bit

I have all kinds of light modifiers in the my studio and smaller ones for travel and while I always looked at the Rogue FlashBenders as “great in a pinch.” I’m now looking at this new Rogue XL Pro as more of a primary tool for my on the road arsenal. The first thing I like about it is the XL part. It’s large enough to achieve better results. The larger the light source and the closer it is to your subject the softer it will be. So larger is definitely better. I also like the versatility in using it either to reflect light or diffuse it.

The kit comes with everything you need to set it up as a large bounce or as a strip bank softbox. It’s the use as a strip bank that I was most interested in. I use a large strip bank in my studio on a regular basis and I wondered how this much smaller one would perform. To my surprise it worked out even better than I anticipated. I typically use a strip bank to get nice rim lighting, but using it as a main light ain’t bad either.

Shot with a Nikon D4 (f/5.6, 125th, ISO 200, 95mm) and SB 900 speedlight with the Rogue XL Pro attached. The SB900 was triggered with a PocketWizard Plus X.

I was very happy with what I got with one light, but I would be even happier with what I could get with two lights or even three. Nevertheless, when I travel it’s usually with one speedlight unless I expect to or have a shoot planned.

When I head to LA next week for Adobe MAX I’ll definitely have the Rogue Pro XL Kit with me and probably my usual set of FlashBenders. If you have a speedlight and you want better, softer results with something that is EXTREMELY PORTABLE, then you should check out the Rogue FlashBenders and Diffusion Panels.

You can get the Rogue XL Pro Lighting Kit here or here on Amazon.

You can get the Rogue FlashBender Kit here.

You’re probably gonna want one of these too.

and one of these.

Also check out the NEW PocketWizard Plus X

The post Hands On With the New Rogue XL Pro Lighting Kit appeared first on Terry White's Tech Blog.

Last week I announced that I’d be giving away a FREE Ticket to Adobe MAX 2013 and I have a winner. The contest ran across both Twitter and Facebook. The Winner is Facebook Fan, John Paul Rock! John will join me at the Adobe MAX Conference as well as get VIP treatment at MAX Bash. Congratulations John.

I look forward to seeing all of you at the Creativity Conference – Adobe MAX 2013 in Los Angeles from May 4-8, 2013.

The post We have a Winner and He’s Going to Adobe MAX! appeared first on Terry White's Tech Blog.

I have an Adobe MAX pass that I will give away to one lucky person on Twitter or Facebook this Friday (winner announced on Monday 4/29). All you have to do to enter is send a tweet that says “I want to go to #AdobeMax and see #TerryWhiteAtMAX” or head to my Facebook fan page and tell me “why you want to go to MAX – The Creativity Conference.” I’ll pick one lucky person from either the tweets or the Facebook posts and you will have a Full Pass to the Adobe MAX Creativity Conference happening in Los Angeles on May 4-8, 2013. You’ll have to get to LA on your own and provide your own housing, meals etc., but the conference pass will be yours to attend. A $1,495 value!

Let the Tweeting and Facebook posting begin and I look forward to Seeing you at Adobe MAX “The Creativity Conference”.

The post I’m Giving Away A Pass To Adobe MAX on Twitter and Facebook appeared first on Terry White's Tech Blog.

In this episode of the Adobe Creative Suite Podcast Terry White shows how to remove the yellow from teeth as well as how to fix a gap. How to fix teeth in Photoshop.

Are you missing out on my Bonus Content?

See more of my Adobe Creative Suite Videos on my Adobe Creative Suite Podcast and get the App below. It features EXCLUSIVE CONTENT that no one else gets to see. This episode has a BONUS CLIP that is available only in the App! My iOS App is a Universal App for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. I also have an Android version on the Amazon App Store:

The post How To Fix Teeth in Photoshop CS6 appeared first on Terry White's Tech Blog.

Had a GREAT Photoshop World 2013 East here in Orlando and I thought I’d post a few picks for those who couldn’t make it so that you get a feel for what Photoshop World looks like. Hope to see you all at Adobe MAX in May and Photoshop World Vegas in September! Cheers!

The post Photoshop World 2013 – East Wrap Up appeared first on Terry White's Tech Blog.

I’m here at Photoshop World 2013 in Orland and I’m having a great show, presenting to lots of new people. In case you missed it Adobe did a sneak peek of Camera Shake Reduction. Check it out here:

The post Adobe Gives a Sneak Peek of Camera Shake Reduction in Photoshop appeared first on Terry White's Tech Blog.

Lightroom 5 is here! Well at least in Public Beta form and I’m here to give you your 1st look. I’ll take you through my Top 5 favorite features of Lightroom 5. Lightroom 5 has some great new features and several minor enhancements. So by no means is this 1st look all there is to this new version, but these are the 5 features that got me the most excited.

Learn more about the new features of Lightroom 5 in this blog post from the Lightroom team. Grab the Lightroom 5 Public Beta here from Adobe Labs.

P.S. Yes David, this version has tethering support for the Nikon D600!

Are you missing out on my Bonus Content?

See more of my Adobe Creative Suite Videos on my Adobe Creative Suite Podcast and get the App below. It features EXCLUSIVE CONTENT that no one else gets to see. This episode has a BONUS CLIP that is available only in the App! My iOS App is a Universal App for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. I also have an Android version on the Amazon App Store:

The post Lightroom 5 – A 1st Look and My Top 5 Favorite Features appeared first on Terry White's Tech Blog.

It’s that time of year again. Time for me to head to Photoshop World East, which takes place this week in Orlando Florida. I’m looking forward to seeing you all there and I’ve got some new classes on tap that I’m excited about. I’ll be teaching two classes on the conference track. The 1st is my usual “Intro to InDesign” and I’m doing a new class on my “Lightroom Workflow from Start to Finish”. I’m also doing a new class on the show flow “How to build a Photography website with Adobe Muse” and as usual I’ll be in the Adobe booth from time to time giving sessions on Creative Cloud (Wednesday and Friday). I’ll also be in the Westcott and Manfrotto booths from time to time. So I’ve got a pretty packed schedule, but it’s one of the few conferences each year that I really really look forward to. Be sure to stop by and say hello. Also be sure to grab the newly redesigned Photoshop World iOS App for your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch complete with iCloud syncing.

The post What I’m Teaching at Photoshop World This Week appeared first on Terry White's Tech Blog.

If you missed my HOW Design Cast yesterday, now’s your chance to catch the replay. The topic was “Adobe Creative Cloud for Designers”.

In this session, Terry White will show you everything you need to know about Adobe Creative Cloud!  Love print? Interested in websites and iPad apps? Ready to edit video? You can do it all. With Adobe® Creative Cloud™, a simple monthly membership gives you the entire collection of CS6 tools and more. Plus, Creative Cloud members automatically get access to new products and exclusive updates as soon as they’re released. Join Adobe Evangelist Terry White to learn how Creative Cloud will let you:

- Discover new features in your favorite CS6 design software including new performance engines in Photoshop Extended and Illustrator and the ability to create beautiful repeating patterns in Illustrator.

- Design and publish HTML websites without writing code using Muse.

- Create iPad apps without writing code using Adobe InDesign and Digital Publishing Suite, Single Edition.

- Get access to the very latest features as soon as they’re available including ability to package files with Illustrator, more than a dozen new features in Photoshop Extended and the ability to create tablet and smartphone version of your website with Muse.

- Work on files at the office, from home, on your tablet. Just save files to the Creative Cloud Files folder on your desktop, which includes up to 20GB of storage, and start sharing between devices and team members, or with clients.

See the replay here:

The post HOW Design Cast – Adobe Creative Cloud for Designers – Replay appeared first on Terry White's Tech Blog.