Adobe Lightroom / Smart Shooter 5 Setup Help
Adobe Lightroom / Smart Shooter 5 Setup
While our main recommendation for tethering software is Capture One, we also support Adobe Lightroom via a third-party application Smart Shooter. Many people have found Adobe Lightroom’s tethering experience to be frustrating and prone to error. However, by combining Lightroom with Smart Shooter, you not only increase the reliability but also gain the features needed to work with Headshot Tools.
Canon, Nikon & Sony Shooters Warning -
The Smart Shooter 5 Lightroom plugin is not fully compatible with Canon, Nikon & Sony cameras. We recommend you utilize Capture One instead. However, you can use an alternative slower operating setup found here.
The Smart Shooter 5 Lightroom plugin is not fully compatible with Canon, Nikon & Sony cameras. We recommend you utilize Capture One instead. However, you can use an alternative slower operating setup found here.
Setting Up Smart Shooter 5
The below steps will get Smart Shooter 5 set up and your workspace all organized. You'll later set up Adobe Lightroom Classic to integrate with this configuration.Step 1 - Setting Up Your Folders
Create the below folder structure anywhere you normally organize your images. You'll be creating a total of 5 folders. Please note that this is a hierarchy. For example, folders under a folder are contained within the higher folder.
Folder Descriptions:
Test Job - This is the root folder that will contain everything for this job, including your Lightroom catalog later on.
Smart Shooter Temp - Smart Shooter will utilize this folder temporarily while you shoot. Generally, you won't need to access this folder.
Capture - This is where your tethered RAW images will be stored once ingested into your computer.
Output - This folder is where you'll place sub-folders of exported jpegs. It's helpful to utilize sub-folders within this folder so you can separate proofs, retouches or different crops later.
Headshot Tools - This folder is where you'll place your exported jpeg images. This is also the folder you'll select later when you upload images.
Smart Shooter Temp - Smart Shooter will utilize this folder temporarily while you shoot. Generally, you won't need to access this folder.
Capture - This is where your tethered RAW images will be stored once ingested into your computer.
Output - This folder is where you'll place sub-folders of exported jpegs. It's helpful to utilize sub-folders within this folder so you can separate proofs, retouches or different crops later.
Headshot Tools - This folder is where you'll place your exported jpeg images. This is also the folder you'll select later when you upload images.
Step 2 - Configuring Your Smart Shooter Session
Open Smart Shooter 5 and Navigate to your “Session” tab. If you don’t see a “Session” tab, click “View” and check “Session”, then the tab will appear.Now click the “Options” Drop Down within the “Session” tab and ensure that the “Unique Tag” checkbox is checked.
Step 3 - Setting Up Your Temporary Smart Shooter Capture Folder
We now need to give Smart Shooter a folder to temporarily hold some files while you shoot. When you shoot tethered, images will briefly appear in this folder. However, milliseconds later, these files will be moved into Lightroom out of this folder.To set up your temporary smart shooter capture folder:
- On a Mac, click “Smart Shooter 5” then “Preferences”
- In Windows, click “File” then “Options”
Step 4 - Creating Your Smart Shooter Naming Policy
We now need to set up how your files get named. Switch to the “Name Policy” tab and clear out the “Filename Expression” textbox. Now enter the following tokens:[U][S4]
This will name your files with whatever text is contained within your clipboard, followed by a 4-digit counter.
Step 5 - Installing the Lightroom Plugin
Switch to the “Lightroom” tab and Click “Install Plugin”.Next, check the following boxes:
Enable Lightroom Tethering Connection
Allow Lightroom Plugin to Shut Down Application
Allow Lightroom Plugin to Shut Down Application
Now click "OK" and leave Smart Shooter running. If Lightroom is already open, you’ll need to entirely close and open it to activate the Smart Shooter plugin.
You're now ready to move on to setting up Lightroom. See below for your next steps!
Setting Up Lightroom Classic
With Smart Shooter all setup, it's time to move on to making it work with Lightroom. Follow the below steps to get started.Step 1 - Create A Catalog
Open Lightroom and create a new Catalog by clicking “File” then “New Catalog”. Select your root Test Job folder, give your catalog a name like "Test Job", and click Create.It's not 100% required that you utilize a new Catalog but Headshot Tools and Adobe recommend this practice to ensure that your Lightroom performance isn't hindered by excessively large catalogs.
Step 2 - Quick Test
Plug your camera into your computer and switch it on. Now in Lightroom navigate to File -> Tethered Capture -> Start Tethered Capture. In the Tethered Capture Settings window that pops up, name your session “Test Job”.Under Naming, select the “Filename” template. This will make Lightroom utilize the Smart Shooter naming we configured earlier.
Under “Destination”, click “Choose” and then select the Capture folder from earlier, then click Choose again. This is where your RAW tethered images will be placed.
Now click “OK". The floating tether module will now appear. Snap a couple test photos to see your images pop into Smart Shooter -and- Lightroom.
NOTE: If images are only appearing in Lightroom, click on your camera's name in the Lightroom floating tether module. This will show you a dropdown of likely 2 cameras, both named the same. One of these camera options is Lightroom's built in tethering connection, the other is the Smart Shooter plugin. Select the opposite camera to choose Smart Shooter's tethering connection and try shooting again.
Step 3 - Setting Up Your Export Settings
We're now going to set up an export profile for converting your RAW images into jpegs. First, navigate to File, click Export then follow the below instructions:- In the “Export Location” panel, set the “Export To” dropdown to “Specific Folder”, then click “Choose…”. Select the Headshot Tools folder and click choose.
- Make sure that “Put in Sub-folder” is unchecked.
- Under “Existing Files” select “Overwrite WITHOUT WARNING”
- In the “File Renaming” section, ensure that the “Rename To” option is not checked.
- In the “File Settings” menu item, we recommend the following choices:
- Image Format: JPEG (Headshot Tools is compatible with JPEG and PNG files)
- Quality: 80
- Color Space: sRGB
- In the “Image Sizing” section, we recommend the following choices:
- Resize to Fit: Checked – Long Edge - 2048 pixels
- Resolution: 240 pixels per inch
Next Step: Now that you're set up, you need to watch the next video "Setting Up A Test Job". This will show you how Headshot Tools and Smart Shooter / Lightroom work together.
If this seems like a lot of work to you, we recommend you explore using Capture One with Headshot Tools
Common Issues
Do I need to do these setup steps every time?
Yes! We always recommend you perform the steps in this and the "Setting Up A Test Job" videos before each job you perform. These few minutes ensure you have a 100% successful job every time. We promise it's worth it!The clipboard contents will change while I'm shooting.
You need to disable "Universal Clipboard" or "Hand Off". This feature allows you to share the clipboard across all of your associated devices and some other device is copying to the clipboard while you're using the system.The "Export" menu item is greyed out.
To unlock the "Export" settings, simply import any image into your catalog or take a test shot.I'm experiencing intermittent connectivity.
Please see our Tethering Best Practices here.I have Smart Shooter 4 or 6, how do I get setup?
See our Lightroom + Smart Shooter 4 or Lightroom + Smart Shooter 6 guides instead.