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When you have a group of interesting photos with a related theme it’s fun to present them as a set. The good news is that you don’t need Photoshop for this. You can use Lightroom Classic’s Print module to take care of the layout side, then make a print or export a JPEG to use in a book, zine or postcard.
I’ve got several Print module layouts for you to try, so let’s get started! Before we get onto the detail I suggest you make a Collection containing photos that you think will work well together. Add more photos than you need, so you can experiment with the layout.
By the way, these layouts use the Single Image / Contact Sheet Layout Style. We’ll look at Custom Package Layout Styles in another article.
Print module layout 1: Triptych
A triptych is a set of three images placed side by side. You need three photos with the same orientation and aspect ratio for the layout to work. Here’s how you do it.
1. Select your photos and go to Survey View (use the ’N’ keyboard shortcut). The benefit of Survey View is that it lets you change the order of your photos so you can see what looks best. For example, here I started with four images.
I experimented with grouping three images, like this (marked in the screenshot below).
But decided that I liked this layout the best.
Tip: Move the cursor over a photo and click the black X icon that appears at the bottom right to remove it from Survey View.
2. Layout decided, go to the Print module. Make sure Use in the Toolbar (press ’T’ if you don’t see the Toolbar) is set to Selected Photos so you only see the photos you selected in Survey View.
Click the Page Setup button. Set Paper Size to the largest setting your printer can handle (A3 in my case). Set Orientation to Landscape. Press OK when you’re done.
3. Go to the Template Browser panel, then Lightroom Templates > Triptych. You’ll see something like this.
That’s not what we want, so we need to make some adjustments. Go to the Image Settings panel and uncheck the Zoom to Fill box.
Then go to the Layout panel. Under Page Grid set Rows to 1 and Columns to 3, then uncheck the Keep Square box.
It looks like this.
4. Show guides. The above screenshot shows the Margins and Gutters in light gray (indicating the three column and one row layout) and the Image Cells (outlined in black). To see this view go to the Guides panel and check the Show Guides box.
5. Resize your photos. At this stage you’re likely to have small photos and lots of white space, just like my screenshot above. We need to make the photos larger and push them closer together. You can do that in the Layout panel.
Move the Height slider (under Cell Size) to make the Image Cells larger. You can also increase the left and right margins if you want more space around the three photos. The result should look like this.
6. View without guides. Go back to the Guides panel and uncheck the Show Guides box. Now you can see the triptych without the guide marks getting in the way. Make adjustments if you’d prefer the images to be closer together or further apart. I’m happy with my layout, so there’s no more adjustments to make.
7. Save your print layout. Click the Create Saved Print button to open the Create Print window. Give the print a name and make sure the Include only used photos box is checked.
Click Create when you’re ready. Lightroom saves the print as a Print Collection inside the Collection selected in the Create Print window.
Now you can leave the print and come back to it later without losing your work.
8. Export a JPEG. If you’d like to export the triptych as a JPEG go to the Print Job panel and set Print to: to JPEG file. Uncheck all the boxes in the panel and under Color Management set Profile to sRGB and Intent to Perceptual.
Click the Print to File button under the right-hand panels to complete the process.
Print module layout 2: Diptych
You can create a diptych (two images instead of three) using the same template. Go to the Layout panel and set Columns to 2. You’ll need to adjust both the Height and Width sliders to get it to work.
Print module layout 3: Five images
There’s no need to stop with three images. If you have five good photos that go together you can use the same layout template and set Columns to 5. Here’s the result:
Print module layout 4: Fine Art style
Now we’re going to try something different. You might use this layout on a postcard or business card to advertise your photography. Or it could be a funky wall print or the cover of a zine or photo book.
This is what it looks like, so you can see what we’re aiming for. The text at the bottom can related to photography (like Andrew S. Gibson Photography) or a book/zine title (like Spain).
We create the text using the Identity Plate tool. Here’s how to do it.
1. Select your photos and go to the Print module. You can use Survey View to help you decide which photos to use. In the Print module, go to Page Setup. Set Orientation to Portrait and Paper Size to whatever you need. I selected A5 because I’m making a cover for an A5 zine. If I wanted to make a print I’d select A3 instead.
Tip: You can change Paper Size at any time, but you’ll have to redo the layout.
2. Go to the Image Settings panel and check the Zoom to Fill box.
3. Go to the Layout panel and set Rows to 1 and Columns to 3. Now it’s time to set up the layout. You need to do this visually as the exact settings depend on the selected paper size. The key settings are Cell Size > Height and Margins > Bottom. Increase both until you get something like this, three narrow rectangles with space at the bottom for text.
4. Click and drag each photo to align it within the Image Cell. You can change the order of the photos Here’s what mine looks like after the adjustment.
Tip: This is how you can change the order of the photos. Click Create Saved Print and check the Include only used photos box. Then, in the Toolbar, set Use to All Filmstrip Photos. Now you can click and drag a photo in the Filmstrip to change its position in the layout.
5. Add text. Go to the Page panel, check the Identity Plate box and set Rotation to zero. If you have an Identity Plate ready to use, select it by clicking the white triangle in the preview field.
Now all you have to do is click and drag the Identity Plate into position. You can resize it by clicking and dragging the square toggles around its edges. This is what mine looks like, using “Andrew S. Gibson | Fine Art Photography”.
How to create a new Identity Plate
If you don’t have a suitable Identity Plate already you can create one.
1. Click the white triangle in the preview field and select the Identity Plate that’s closest to what you need.
2. Click the white triangle again and select Edit from the menu (it’s at the bottom).
3. This opens the Identity Plate Editor. Create your new Identity Plate, then click the Custom menu and select Save As. Give the new Identity Plate a name and click Save, then OK.
Your new Identity Plate replaces the old one. Click and drag until you’re happy with the position. Here’s what mine looks like. I’m going to use it as a cover for a zine with my photos of Spain.
Create custom Templates
You can turn any of these Print module layouts into a custom Template for future use.
Go to the Template Browser panel and click the Plus icon to open the New Template window. Give your template a name, select the folder to add it to and click Create.
Use your imagination
Hopefully the ideas in this article have opened your eyes to what’s possible in the Print module. Now it’s time to use your imagination and come up with your own Print module layouts.
It takes a bit of practice, but once you’ve got the hang of it you’ll find that laying out photos in the Print module is much easier than sending photos to Photoshop.
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