stumped yet again by the print module

[jjlad]

I have little to no success using the print module with its now you see it now you don't options selections.
Shot some aerials today and put them on DVD's for the clients. I wanted to make a simple 4.8"x4.8" cover for the DVD showing the photos on it and their names ...like the ones you get at Costco etc.
I made a grid that allows for 42 images to be shown. When I started I first dragged one photo in then constructed the grid so it would scale to the photo and allow for the filename to be displayed below it. That took awhile and I saved the layout. Then I tried to add photos to it by dragging them from the filmstrip. No go! I just get a circle with a line through it telling me I can't drag photos into the grid. Ok ...so the grid is useless I guess because they are not cells. There seems to be no way to transform the grid into a cell structure so that is useless too. I honestly have no idea what good the grid process is.

Ok ...let's try to make a cell size to match the grid size so I can drag photos into the cells. NOPE ...can't do that ...the option to create cells isn't available when that grid layout is in use.

OK ...let's start from scratch with a new sheet and make cells the right size and drag them in then drag photos into the cells.
Lovely ...I can do that but now there is no option to include the filenames for the images.

I'm not dreaming this up. I've spent more time trying to do this than I did driving out to the airport, getting airborne ...flying to the sites, taking 150 photos and returning home. I find both the Print Module and the Book Module to be the most dementedly programmed pieces of insaneware I've ever used. Absolutely nothing is intuitive and every attempt I have made to make use of either module ...has ended in utter frustration and capitulation.

If anyone knows of a way to accomplish this relatively straightforward task I'd sure love to hear it. To deliver tomorrow I've had to use the 2nd procedure ...creating all the cells then dragging the photos in and finding no way to include their file names ...then importing the jpeg into Photoshop and adding the filenames manually on text layers in that. Next time I'll just spend the 7 bucks to get the DVD made at Costco complete with the indexed cover. That's what I've been doing and clients are used to that but today I couldn't get there in time to get it done and have to deliver first thing tomorrow morning. I don't even know why I am so masochistic as to attempt these things in LR because they all end this way. Great program for management and editing but those two modules have to have been written by Vincent Price.

 

[Victoria Bampton]

You want to be in Contact Sheet style, and in that mode you select the photos in the filmstrip and ensure that the pop-up in the toolbar is set to Selected Photos. There's a Photo Info checkbox in the Page panel to automatically add the filename.

 

[jjlad]

Thanks Victoria ...I was just coming back now to say I figured it out. Actually not sure how I did it but somehow got to where I could create a grid and made it 4.875" square then put 5 columns and 7 rows in it and added .15" margins all around and ended up with a grid which I saved as a preset. Now with that open as soon as I select photos they automatically pop into that grid with the filename showing. I don't even recall selecting anything to make that happen but I was trying everything so probably did so inadvertently.
It took forever to get that far because for the longest time I couldn't clear the layout. In the layout panel there was no option to clear the grid I had created previously. Finally I clicked on one of the built in presets and that replaced what was there, but it was hours before I tried that. I used that as a starting point, changing everything until I had what I wanted. It is now 3am and I started at 6:30. I just don't understand why it is such a black box.
As always ...thank you anyway. I'll set up another one following those instructions ...although just looking now I don't see anything where I can select "Contact Sheet Style", nor do I see any "popup in the toolbar to set to selected photos. My eyeballs are hanging out already though, so I'll look again tomorrow after my brain recharges. Seems like things change depending on where you are at.

 

[Hal P Anderson]

Contact Sheet:

Selected photos dropdown:

You may need to hit T to see the toolbar.

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Thanks for doing the screenshots Hal!

 

[jjlad]

Yes ...thanks Hal.
Now that it is figured out it is really easy. I'm still a little confused though ...as to why there is no option in the layout panel ...to clear the layout. There is when making a grid, but not when doing a layout like these. That one had me in circles for the longest time.

 

[Rob_Cullen]

no option in the layout panel ...to clear the layout.

Press [Ctrl+D] This Deselects all images on the filmstrip and removes them from the layout (in "Single Image/Contact Sheet" mode)

In "Single Image/Contact Sheet" mode- 'Selected' images fill the cells automatically- not by drag & drop.

 

[Afterimage]

I understand how to use the images in the filmstrip to make a contact sheet. What I am trying to do is use the same five images in the film strip multiply times, i.e. have a contact sheet 15x15 with the same five images repeating.

 

[Afterimage]

I understand how to use the images in the filmstrip to make a contact sheet. What I am trying to do is use the same five images in the film strip multiply times, i.e. have a contact sheet 15x15 with the same five images repeating.

When I try to move the same five images to the contact sheet they will not move. I do not know how to repeat the images in the film strip.

 

[Rob_Cullen]

Can you be more descriptive of your desired layout?
Do you mean a contact sheet that has 225 cells? or is the print to be 15x15cm in size with 25cells?

Do you want the 5 photos (12345) repeating-
11111
22222
33333
44444
55555

Or-
12345
12345
12345
12345
12345

 

[frozenframe]

I'm no LR guru, but had a look at this. I think the only way you can achieve what you want is to create your own contact sheet, then drag and drop the images so they repeat as you want. With the templates, it's either using all or selected images to fill the sheet. In which case you need enough different images, 40 for a 5x8, or selecting the option for single image which populates all the cells with a single image. If there's a way for it to work for you I certainly could not find it going through all the menu possibilities I knew of.

 

[Johan Elzenga]

Yes, you have to make your own contact sheet, because you need to use a special package print where you drag & drop the images into the cells manually. A template that is meant to fill automatically, will use each photo only once.

 

[Afterimage]

Can you be more descriptive of your desired layout?
Do you mean a contact sheet that has 225 cells? or is the print to be 15x15cm in size with 25cells?

Do you want the 5 photos (12345) repeating-
11111
22222
33333
44444
55555

Or-
12345
12345
12345
12345
12345

Yes a sheet with 225 cells, repeating 123451234512345

 

[frozenframe]

There's a trick to creating a triptych using only 1 photo. To do it you create 2 virtual copies. The virtual copies are seen as separate images. I'm not sure if this would work for your contact sheet, and I think it could be a mess. It would require you to create virtual copies of each of your 5 images. So for the 225 cells, you would need about 40 virtual copies.

 

[Rob_Cullen]

Yes a sheet with 225 cells, repeating 123451234512345

You are asking 'almost' the impossible, but it could be done-
1. Add your 5 photos to a collection.
2. Select all 5 photos in the collection grid view
3. Press CTRL+' (CTRL+QUOTE) 45 times- (there is now 225 thumbnails in the collection)
4. Set the Sort Criteria to [Added Order]
5. Select all previews (Ctrl+A) and open the Print module
6. Select "Single Image/Contact Sheet" in the Layout style panel.
7. Set Row=15 Columns=15 and other Print options- paper size, margins, etc.

Now you still only have the original 5 images, the rest of the previews are all Virtual. After printing the contact sheet, you can tidy up the catalog by simply filter for Virtual Copies only, select all, and press [Delete]- you are left with only the 5 originals.

Screen-clip : I did not create the 45 VCs. but you should "get the picture"

 

[frozenframe]

You are asking 'almost' the impossible, but it could be done-
1. Add your 5 photos to a collection.
2. Select all 5 photos in the collection grid view
3. Press CTRL+' (CTRL+QUOTE) 45 times- (there is now 225 thumbnails in the collection)
4. Set the Sort Criteria to [Added Order]
5. Select all previews (Ctrl+A) and open the Print module
6. Select "Single Image/Contact Sheet" in the Layout style panel.
7. Set Row=15 Columns=15 and other Print options- paper size, margins, etc.

Now you still only have the original 5 images, the rest of the previews are all Virtual. After printing the contact sheet, you can tidy up the catalog by simply filter for Virtual Copies only, select all, and press [Delete]- you are left with only the 5 originals.

Screen-clip : I did not create the 45 VCs. but you should "get the picture"
View attachment 9768

I think if he creates 45 virtual copies he would end up with 250 thumbnails, because he has the 5 original or master files. So creating 40 virtual copies gives him his total of 225.

 

[Rob_Cullen]

Thanks Ron. Maths not my strong point (despite my high-school teacher suggesting a career as a mathematician.!)
To be correct it should need 44 copies of the original 5 for the OP's 225 sheet. (5 + (44x5) = 225)
Anyway , if the OP is intent on his contact sheet layout, I hope we have set him on a possible course of action.