A week or two back I saw a question on a Fuji focused Facebook Group.. “Why do many Fuji users add borders on thier images when sharing on Instagram” (further down the post it was clarified to acknowledge that it was not only Fuji users).
If you follow my instagram (or have taken a look at it) you will be aware this is how I post my images & have done so for a while. I do notice that it seems to be more common now.
I do this for 2 reasons; I want the whole image to be visible in the feed & I just think it gives space for each image to breathe.
These borders were easy to create on my desktop Lightroom Classic, I have a couple of export presets configured to utilise the Mogrify plugin to work the magic.
However on the iPhone its been a case of exporting the image and then using the Snapseed tools Expand & Crop. On the iPad I have been dropping the exported image into a Photoshop template.
But No More…….
Because Lightroom Mobile was updated last week to add a new function Add Border and Share.
The new tool enables the format (aspect ratio) of the final image to be chosen along with the size & colour of the border.
Great!!! …
or is it ???
Can you spot what is missing?
There are two missing options on this tool:
1. What size image is being exported ? (we dot want full sized images on social media).
2. Watermarking, a necessary evil to remind viewers copyright applies.
Although these options are missing, the new function is not a right-off though. It is still an easier workflow to create the final image it just requires three steps.
1. Use the existing Save to Camera Roll tool to export a watermarked image with specific dimensions.
2. Import that exported image from the camera roll back into Lightroom.
3. Add a Border and Share that image to create the final image.
While not perfect, this method is faster and easier than that I used to employ on either of my mobile devices.
I do welcome this tool but the omission of the options I mentioned does make me wonder about Adobe’s focus for this product (app). Do they assume that it’s not used by professional photographers? I can’t believe they are not aware we would not put larger or unwatermarked images on social media…
How do you see this? Comment Below 👇👇👇
Julie Edwards-X 