I’ve just released version 2.1 of my plugin Open Directly which allows you to send raw files directly to other programs. For example, let’s say you want to process a photo in Capture One. If you followed Lightroom’s External Editor method, Lightroom would first convert raw files to PSD or TIF and would defeat the whole purpose of sending them to Capture One. The Open Directly plugin simply sends the photo directly to the other program.

I must admit, it should have been released three years ago.

Back in spring 2020 – just after the first Covid lockdown – someone emailed me asking for a specific improvement to the plugin. As I was already working on big improvements to Search and Replace, it was a perfect time to ask – I certainly had the time, and needed any change of routine. The request was only whether I could increase the number of supported apps from 6, and that was pretty easy, and I ended up polishing a few other aspects of the plugin. As they say, the devil makes work for idle hands….

Quick menu names can display the name of the app which they launch – previously you had to remember which app would be launched

So version 2 has a range of enhancements:

  1. Number of apps increased from 6 to 15
  2. Second quick menu added, so you can send a photo to an external app without going through the dialog box
  3. The user can choose which apps can be launched via each quick menu
  4. Quick menu names can display the name of the app which they launch
  5. Added reset buttons in Plugin Manager
  6. Added a change log

I released 2.0 as a beta, but I really can’t remember why I quickly forgot about it and never released 2.0. At the time I recall mornings lining up outside supermarkets for eggs or flour, and I was pursuing a number projects to make the best of being stuck at home such improving my pasta-making skills (I hadn’t yet learnt to brew beer!). I’d like to think that I must have been thinking through another bright idea but never got round to it. Whatever happened shall remain a mystery, but the plugin is finally available.

 

The right hand column lets you decide which apps will be available in the quick menus