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Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Project Life | Page Planning Using Lightroom

I came up with a method to plan my Project Life pages last year using Adobe Lightroom. I process all my photos inside Lightroom. AND I organize and tag my photos in Lightroom. So it made total sense for me to create some templates inside Lightroom so I could see what my photos looked like together on a 2-page spread.

Snapshot 2 (2-17-2013 2-43 PM)

Then a couple of weeks ago, my friend Liz (Paislee Press) blogged about some things she’s doing differently this year for Project Life. One of the things she’s doing is a mock-up of her 2-page spread using Photoshop. So I commented on how I do the same thing, but I use Lightroom because it’s easy to drag and drop the photos. That led to me doing a video tutorial on how I do my Project Life page planning in Lightroom.

You can watch it slightly bigger at Youtube. 

And as a bonus, you can download my Lightroom print template here if you don’t want to create it yourself!

Download: Listgirl’s Lightroom Print Template for Project Life Design A.

After you download it, here is how you import it into Lightroom.
  1. Save the file somewhere on your hard drive where you can find it.
  2. Open Lightroom. Click on the Print module in the upper right hand corner.
  3. Go to the left side of the module and you will find a section called “User Templates”. Right click on that and click on “Import”.
  4. Find the folder where you saved the Lightroom template. Select the template and click “Open” at the bottom of the window.
  5. The template should import into your User Templates and you should be able to see it on the left side in Lightroom.
  6. Click on the “Listgirl | PL Design A Spread” template on the left side of Lightroom. Start dragging your photos into each slot.
Make sure you watch the end of the video on how to save your print template as jpeg files so that you can look at it for reference when you’ve printed out your photos and ready to put your page spread together.

Let me know if you have any questions. Happy Project Life page planning! :)
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29 comments:

  1. Tali2/19/2013 8:24 AM

    This is very cool. I had no idea that templates were even possible for use in Lightroom. Makes me wish I still had it accessible to use in planning!

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  2. Unknown2/19/2013 8:28 AM

    Thanks for putting this together, Christine. I need all the help I can get with being organised for PL and this could well be really useful for me :)

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    1. listgirl2/19/2013 11:34 AM

      I love the ease of dragging and dropping the photos into the template using Lightroom! Anything to make Project Life planning and execution easier! :)

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  3. Kathleen2/19/2013 11:37 AM

    You are brilliant! Thank you, THANK YOU for sharing your process and your template. I have been struggling with my PL layouts and this will be a lifesaver!

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  4. Carla Crosby2/19/2013 11:54 AM

    I also do everything...editing and printing including journal cards in LR4....never thought of using it for planning..TY

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  5. Islander Girl2/19/2013 12:58 PM

    Thank you! I have Lightroom but never used it and now this'll give me the opportunity to use it!! Genius! BTW, I'm from San Diego also! Maybe one day I'll see you at Paper Tales Crop or something like that! Have a good day! Aloha! Claudette

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    Replies
    1. listgirl2/20/2013 11:10 AM

      Awesome! I have been to Paper Tales a couple of times for class and crop!

      Delete
  6. Carolee2/19/2013 1:49 PM

    What a great tutorial Christine!

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  7. Liz2/19/2013 2:23 PM

    Thanks so much for sharing your process Christine. You're a genius!! You inspire me to utilize Lightroom more and be more efficient.

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  8. LB whosthischick 2/19/2013 2:26 PM

    This is such an awesome idea... I completely forgot about the template option in LR. TFS

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  9. Lili2/19/2013 4:42 PM

    Great video and tutorial, Christine!! TFS!

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  10. Randa2/20/2013 7:41 AM

    Found you via Paisley Press :)
    This was excellent!! So helpful. I had tried this recently and wasn't successful. You laid out the info well and I look forward to doing this!
    Thank you for the video :)

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  11. Jennifer2/20/2013 9:55 AM

    Thanks so much for sharing this. I am not competent in Lightroom and when I tried to use your template, it wouldn't even open. Is it possible my version of Lightroom is too old? Would that be a glitch?

    Thanks anyway. Great suggestions.

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    Replies
    1. listgirl2/20/2013 11:08 AM

      Hi Jennifer! Are you in the Print Module when you tried to import the print template? You must be in the Print Module for it to work. You cannot import a print template while inside the Develop or Library Modules. As far as I know, print templates work at least in Lightroom 3. Not sure about versions previous to that, since I've never had those.

      Delete
  12. Debra2/21/2013 2:21 PM

    just bookmarked it and I hope to be able to come read and try this out a little later this evening! Thanks!

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  13. Maureen Reynolds2/21/2013 5:08 PM

    This is so cool Christine! Thank you so much for the video!

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  14. Teresa2/22/2013 5:46 PM

    Thanks so much, Christine! I haven't taken the Lightroom plunge yet, but this might just convince me to try! :)

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  15. Brandi2/24/2013 4:17 AM

    Thanks for this Christine! You always inspire me to love LR more and more.

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  16. Nicole2/27/2013 8:41 PM

    This is genius. I knew I could mock up a layout in photoshop, but didn't want to spend the time each week, since I've been trying to cut Photoshop out of my editing entirely. Lightroom will be so quick and easy, thank you for sharing! I am not able to get the template to work in LR2, but this alone might be reason enough for me to upgrade :)

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  17. Christi3/10/2013 5:58 PM

    This is amazing! Thank you so much for taking the time to create a video to share with everyone. I'm determined to learn LR this year and I just started putting my 2011 photos together with my PL stuff.

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  18. Sheryl Clark Productions4/22/2013 3:48 PM

    I just Googled to find Lightroom templates for Project Life and found yours! Awesome!

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  19. Sheryl Clark Productions4/22/2013 3:48 PM

    I just Googled to find Lightroom templates for Project Life and found yours! Awesome!

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  20. my rebel took over6/06/2013 7:26 PM

    Amazing!!!!! I was doing a Pinterest search for PL planning pages, thinking I'd have to print some out since I've decided to do the paper version of PL instead of digi and I came across this. This has opened a whole new world in LR to me!! Thank you SO much!

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  21. Alisha Ippolito8/23/2013 7:45 PM

    When I try to use this template in LR2 it is missing a few options. The main drawback is that I cannot drag and drop a photo into each box... it duplicates the photos. There is even a box that has an option to repeat one photo per page, and I have that off. Might need to make my own template for LR2.... maybe you can make your next video on how to do that ;)
    Thanks anyway!!

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  22. Unknown11/26/2013 8:53 PM

    You are definitely super amazing!! Thank you for sharing this!!!

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  23. kym3/20/2014 12:33 AM

    I have Lightroom on trial right now. I'm going to give it a try and see if I want to make the investment. Thank you for sharing your template and video.

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  24. Unknown5/27/2014 8:38 PM

    Thanks so much for this, you're awesome!

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  25. Beth3/24/2016 11:36 AM

    March 2016 and this is still great advice! Thanks for the template

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