LR 2.6 changing BKG colors/Crop size indicator

[Don Hamilton Jr.]

Good Morning:
I'm wondering if any knows how to change the bkg color within a processed picture with LR. I do not have photoshop, and it's looking like another purchase is needed. In other words if one wanted to chnage a white sky to a darker blue, is this possible with LR..
2Nd Question.. when one crops within LR, i simply grab the corners etc, and pull in diagonally to complete the crop, however where does one see the actual crop size, how much of the image was used or cropped, is this an estimate, or is there an actual number shown?
I purchased the Kelby Book, and it helps a lot however i can't find answers to these questions
TIA
Don

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Don,
1. Sky colour:
You can select the Graduated Filter. If you are in the development mode, press M and you are there. You will select the colours. You can select the area where the graduated filter can be applied. It can be at an angle also, but in a straight line. Caveat: I am not the best person to teach you the nuances, as I don't apply such manipulations to my image.

2. Display of Cropped dimension:
Go to View options. You will find Grid View and Loupe view. Select Loupe view. Tick mark the box Show info overlay.
You have the option of selecting either the Lopue info 1 or Loupe info 2. You have to select either one of these two. Then select Cropped dimensions and any other details you want to be displayed.

Now go to Loupe info and then click on the "Show info overlay" or Ctrl + I"

Press R to go to the crop tool. Pull the corner and leave it. You will see the cropped dimension updated.

What is Kelby book?

Lightroom is the only software I use, and I guess will continue to use for a long time for image editing. I wish they add a video editing mode as well.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Jeff Donald]

What is Kelby book?

Scott Kelby is the best selling tech writer in the US for the last several years. He also runs NAPP (http://www.photoshopuser.com/) and Kelby Training (http://www.kelbytraining.com/). His books are typically best sellers because of his writing style, that makes for easy reading.

Don, you may want to take your LR education a step further by taking a workshop or subscribing to some online training. I would recommend either Kelby Training (linked above) or Lynda.com (http://www.lynda.com/). Both are great sources for online learning.

Artie has some great resources as well, but I believe they mostly deal with Photoshop, rather than Lightroom.

[Dug Threewitt]

A tedious way would be to use the adjustment brush tool and add color and set all other options to 0. Then you could paint. You can change brush size(not shape) and hardness. There is also the erase brush to help avoid unwanted overpaints.