The order of the sliders in PV2012 is very deliberate. PV2012 is a new way of looking at processing your images. There are numerous other posts here and elsewhere that discuss the hows and they whys. Julianne Kost has a nice video about the process. Summarized, you work from the top down and in pairs (Exposure/Contrast, then Highlights/Shadows, and lastly Whites/Blacks). Once you get used to it, you will find this much more powerful. Read a little more and watch a video or two about it and you will see why they are the way they are.

As to your Noise slider naming question. Real Estate, pure and simple, is the answer. The interface is limited by the space available. While Noise Reduction might squeeze in, it won't in other languages necessarily.  This is why White Balance is called WB.

Firillu wrote:

 

Yes I saw the video, but I still cannot see any sense in the sliders go from H to S then to W and B.

You'll often need to adjust Highlights and Shadows, and much more rarely need to adjust Whites and Blacks.  That's why.

You are free to use them in what ever order you like. As you gain experience with the new control set you may find a completely different order suits your workflow.

I know we can get used to this order but it is not a goo idea! It's like trying to learn to drive a stick shift with the gears out of order! IT IS HORRIBLE! I know I can get used to it but don't want to. I've gotten used to bad interface before, but that does not mean it is a good idea. PLEASE GIVE US AN OPTION IN PREFERENCES TO CHANGE THIS!!!

They make more sense to me the way they are - quite elegant I think.  But it's not a big deal.  Adapt.

To me the new order is far more logic than the alternative proposed here. My feeling is that the order is in accordance of how much the impact is on an image's appearance. So first exposure, then contrast, then fine tuning the highlights and shadows and in the end the last subtle effects with blacks and whites. To me very intuitive.

It would be totally illogical to treat an image in a sequence according to the brightness level a slider represents. So, Adobe, definitely leave the sliders as they are, and don't clutter the option interface with a UI to configure the sequence of the sliders. It isn't necessary.

Conrad Chavez wrote:

 

That is also why having them in "histogram order" doesn't make a lot of sense, nor does setting a preference to rearrange the sliders. The current order of the sliders is what best represents the way the develop controls are designed to be used. It isn't just because it's top down, or because "you should." It's top down because the order resolves the contrast in each of the main tonal ranges moving progressively out from the midtone.

Conrad...correct.

Unless there's an obvious need to the contrary, the order that the setting are ordered is useful to understand and embrace. Theres nothing written in stone that you MUST do anything in any particular order–that's the benefit of parametric editing.

It doesn't matter what order you do the adjustments in, just the final resulst–which will be better with PV 2012 in almost any case (if you have any examples where PV 2012 is NOT better, post it–there's still time for certain changes).

Jeff Schewe wrote:

 

It doesn't matter what order you do the adjustments in, just the final resulst–which will be better with PV 2012 in almost any case (if you have any examples where PV 2012 is NOT better, post it–there's still time for certain changes).

If it does not matter in which order you do the adjustments, than I still think it is better to have the tools in order. When I look at a photo I think of the tonal ranges in order, I'm not looking at the controls, and when I decide which tonal range I want to adjust and reach for the controls they are out of order, I have to stop and read the control names to find the one I want to use. I never have to do that in curves or most other tonal correction tools.

Firillu wrote:

 

Yes we can get used to it and adapt like other Lr quirks. But it is still bad and it is a shame that Adobe thinks that this uncenventional way is 'better' for us.

And how long have you been using LR4? How many images have you processed? Come back and report when you've spent a lot of time in the app and can make a valid judgement based on extensive experience...

Firillu wrote:

 

The order one uses the sliders is subjective, and usually also depends on the photograph itself. Every guru has his magic way.

 

What is not subjective however, is the standard way a histogram is layed out on all things photographic from cameras to software. It goes for white to highlights to shadows to black from one end to the other.

 

Yes we can get used to it and adapt like other Lr quirks. But it is still bad and it is a shame that Adobe thinks that this uncenventional way is 'better' for us.

Well, I would suggest you can actually have it both ways.  If you interact directly with the histogram, pushing and pulling it back and forth, you can work more in the order you prefer (albeit right to left).  Adjusting the histogram directly is actually a very intuitive way to operate vs. using sliders - be one with the histogram!

HEAD Productions wrote:

 

Firillu wrote:

 

I don't want the sliders to follow my workflow or anyone elses for that matter - just folllow histogram conventions.

 

I think that's the point. I don't need Adobe to inpose a workflow on me, thank you, I am capable of doing that myself.

I think that the way in which each control works, and their order, has been designed to produce the most effective rendering of the raw file. You may of course use them in a different order, but you may not be rendering the file in the best way. You may find that turning the histogram off, and concentrating on the image itself, helps to appreciate the research and design behind the new setup. After all, a histogram is only one of many mathematical representations of an image; it is not the image which is what we are trying to render to the best effect.

Bob Frost

Mark Alan Thomas wrote:

 

Maybe there should be a divider line between Shadows and Whites so that the pairing is clear.

That makes sense.