Today’s Question: I would like to create a document combining imagery originating in Lightroom Classic with text. Say, a descriptive paragraph accompanying an image. Any suggestions?
Tim’s Quick Answer: I think one of the most convenient options for this type of project would be to use the Book module in Lightroom Classic. You could then produce a printed book, or simply output to a PDF for the equivalent (mostly) of an eBook.
More Detail: The Book module in Lightroom Classic provides a relatively easy way to combine photos and text with a template-based approach. There are a wide variety of templates to choose from, including page layouts that include only text or only photos, or a combination of the two.
I recommend starting off creating the text in a word processing application, in part so you can take advantage of spell check and other helpful features as you finalize your text. This text can obviously be created based on having already selected the images you’ll include in the project.
You can then create a book layout in the Book module, placing photos and copying and pasting text for each page you create. Note, by the way, that for brief captions for photos you could also make use of the Title or Caption fields, which can be automatically added to photos in some of the templates.
When you’re finished creating the layout you could certainly create a printed book from the Blurb printing service (https://www.blurb.com), which is the primary purpose of the Book module in Lightroom Classic. However, there is also an option to produce a PDF document based on your book layout.
The only caveat to keep in mind when creating a PDF is that the front and back covers of the book will be rendered as a separate PDF from the interior of the book. In other words, if your intent is to generate your own PDF to use as a form of eBook, you will probably want to skip the front and back covers altogether when creating the book layout.
