Category: Ask Tim Grey

Today’s Question: In an “Ask Tim Grey” in November you discussed the subject of moving your Lightroom Classic catalog to an external drive. I will soon be ordering a new fast external SSD drive so I’m confident I will not have any speed issues. What I was wondering is, other than moving the catalog and my photos, are there any other files that need to reside on the external storage device, like presets or third-party plugins? Also, what is the best way to go about moving those files or folders?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can move the Lightroom Classic catalog files without needing to move anything else, as long as you move the entire folder that contains the catalog. If you also want to move photos, you should do that within Lightroom.

More Detail: The Lightroom Classic catalog can be stored on an external hard drive, as long as that drive has excellent performance. If the external hard drive isn’t fast, overall performance within Lightroom can suffer significantly when the catalog is on an external drive.

To move the catalog to another location, you actually just want to move the folder that contains your catalog. That will ensure all of the support files will be included in the same location. If you have turned on the option in Preferences to store presets with the catalog, those will be included in the same folder.

Before you move the folder containing your catalog, be sure to quit Lightroom. Then move the entire folder containing the catalog to the desired location. After moving the folder, double-click the catalog file (it has a filename extension of “lrcat”) to launch Lightroom with your catalog in the new location.

If you also want to move photos to a different hard drive, that should be done within Lightroom. With a new external hard drive you would first need to create an empty folder on the drive, so that that folder (and therefore the hard drive itself) will be visible within Lightroom.

To create a new folder, click the plus (+) button to the right of the Folders heading on the left panel in the Library module and choose “Add Folder” from the popup that appears. In the dialog, navigate to the new hard drive, and click the New Folder button at the bottom-left of the dialog. Type a name for the folder, such as “Photos”, and click the Create button. Then click the Choose button to close the dialog.

With the new folder created, you can then drag-and-drop the folders containing your photos to that new folder. You can move multiple top-level folders (and their contents) at once by clicking on one of the folders on the list and then holding the Shift key while clicking on the last folder in a series. You can then drag-and-drop the one of the selected folders to the folder you created on the new hard drive to move all of the selected folders at once.

Today’s Question: I just noticed the “Purge Unused Keywords” on the Metadata menu in Lightroom Classic. How would you have any unused keywords in the first place, since they are created by being added to a photo? Do you recommend using this command?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Unused keywords would result from either removing a particular keyword from all photos it had been assigned to or importing keywords that you haven’t yet assigned to any photos. As long as you don’t use a controlled vocabulary in your workflow, I would generally consider it safe to purge unused keywords from Lightroom Classic to reduce clutter on the Keyword List.

More Detail: When you add a keyword to a photo in Lightroom Classic, that keyword will be added to the Keyword List if it wasn’t already on the list. In addition, it is possible to import keywords from a “controlled vocabulary”, so that you can pick and choose keywords without having to type them in yourself. In either case, you can populate the list of keywords on the Keyword List found on the right panel in the Library module in Lightroom Classic.

You can, of course, also remove keywords from photos. If you remove a given keyword from every photo it had been assigned to, that keyword will obviously then not be assigned to any images in your catalog. That would represent an unused keyword.

Similarly, if you import a keyword list (by choosing Metadata > Import Keywords from the menu) you will find all of those imported keywords on the Keyword List. It is quite possible to import a large number of keywords that you never end up adding to any photos, which again would result in unused keywords.

On the Metadata menu, as noted in today’s question, you can find a “Purge Unused Keywords” command. If you issue this command, any keywords on the Keyword List that have not been assigned to any photo will be removed from the list. Note that on the Keyword List the number to the right of each keyword indicates how many photos that keyword has been assigned to.

If you have unused keywords because you removed keywords from some photos, you may very well want to purge those keywords from the list. If you have imported a keyword list as a controlled vocabulary, you may not want to purge unused keywords, because you may eventually put some of those keywords to use.

Note, by the way, that it is also possible to delete individual keywords from the Keyword List by right-clicking on a keyword and choosing Delete from the popup menu. Keep in mind that deleting a keyword from the Keyword List will also cause that keyword to be removed from metadata for any photos to which the keyword has been assigned.

Today’s Question: I planned to sync 20 photos to put on the web [in Lightroom Classic]. Instead, 248 photos started syncing to the cloud. I can’t get it to stop and it goes on and on. Is there any way to stop this and also get my photos out of the Lightroom cloud? Thanks for all you do.

Tim’s Quick Answer: In Lightroom Classic synchronization of photos to the cloud is managed by collections. You can simply turn off synchronization for the applicable collections to disable synchronization and remove the photos from your cloud storage.

More Detail: Because synchronization to the cloud in Lightroom Classic revolves around collections, you must first create a collection and add photos to that collection if you want to synchronize images. You also need to enable synchronization for the collection. It is easy to enable some of these options without intending to, because there are options for adding selected photos and enabling synchronization in the dialog for creating a new collection.

Any “normal” collection (as opposed to “smart” collections) can be set to enable or disable synchronization. When you hover over a collection in the Collections list on the left panel in the Library module, you’ll see an icon to the left of the collection. If synchronization is not enabled, that icon will look like a checkbox that is turned off (meaning just a square). If synchronization is enabled, the icon looks like a lightning bolt turned on its side.

You can click where that icon appears to enable or disable synchronization. So, in this case you would see the lightning bolt icon for the affected collection, since synchronization is obviously being attempted in the background. You can click that lightning bolt to turn off synchronization. That will stop the attempted synchronization, and also remove the applicable photos from your cloud storage if some of them had already been synchronized.

Note that you can also pause synchronization by clicking on the identity plate at the top-left of the Lightroom Classic interface and then clicking the option to pause synchronization.

Today’s Question: A follow-on question [to the question about Lightroom Classic no longer being available with a perpetual license]. What happens if I stop paying the monthly charge for Creative Cloud? I assume I can no longer utilize Photoshop, but how about my Lightroom catalog information that I have invested a lot of time in?

Tim’s Quick Answer: When you cancel an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, you will actually still have access to Lightroom Classic on your computer, though some features would be limited. Photoshop would no longer be available after your subscription ends.

More Detail: I think many photographers would be surprised to learn that they can continue to make use of Lightroom Classic to manage their photos, even after they have canceled their subscription to the Adobe Creative Cloud. Of course, some features would be unavailable, and you would not be able to upgrade the software. That means, for example, you would not be able to get the latest updates for new camera raw capture formats.

Here is how Adobe describes the limitations of using Lightroom Classic after you’ve canceled your subscription:

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You continue to have access to all your photos on your local hard drive through Lightroom [Classic] for the desktop. You can continue to import and organize photos and output your edited photos through Export, Publish, Print, Web, or Slideshow. Access to the Develop & Map modules and Lightroom for mobile is not available after your membership ends.

After cancellation, your allowed cloud storage is reduced to 2 GB. If you are over your storage limit, you have 90 days to reduce your online usage.

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What this all means is that you would be able to continue managing your existing catalog of photos with some limitations, and your online storage allowance would be reduced. However, the feature that remain available would enable you to continue managing your workflow as you transition to other software.

Today’s Question: You recommended testing out a camera with an electronic viewfinder before making a decision about buying that camera. But for those of us who don’t have a camera store nearby, how can we actually test gear before ordering it?

Tim’s Quick Answer: I think one of the best ways to test out camera gear in general, or to use specialty gear for a short period of time, is to use a rental service such as LensRentals.com (https://timgrey.me/lensrentals).

More Detail: Reading specifications and reviews about camera gear can obviously be helpful in terms of choosing which particular product might be the best fit in your camera bag. But in my mind there is simply no replacement for getting your hands on the gear and getting a chance to try it out before you make a final purchasing decision.

If you have a camera store nearby, you can obviously visit the store to try out a wide variety of cameras, lenses, and other equipment. Another great option is to rent gear for a short period of time, both for evaluation and to supplement your gear with something you only need for a short period of time.

If you are thinking about buying a lens, for example, you could rent that lens and try it out in the real world. You could even rent a couple of different lenses to compare them as you work toward your final decision.

In some cases I have found I wanted a particular lens for a special trip or project, but I didn’t feel I would use the lens enough to justify spending the money to purchase the lens. This is another example of a great reason to rent camera gear.

There are a variety of options for renting camera gear, but one I’ve had a great experience with is LensRentals.com, which enables you to go online, select the gear you want to rent, and have it shipped to you to arrive by a particular date. As part of the rental, a return shipping label is included so you can easily send the gear back at the end of your rental period.

You can learn more about LensRentals.com by following this link:

https://timgrey.me/lensrentals

Today’s Question: One of the reasons I’ve been avoiding the switch to a mirrorless camera is that I prefer an optical viewfinder rather than electronic. Have the quality of electronic viewfinders improved to the point that this should no longer be a concern?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Overall I would say that the electronic viewfinder (EVF) in many of the latest cameras does provide high enough resolution that it is no longer critical to favor an optical viewfinder. That said, it is a good idea to see the EVF for yourself before making a buying decision.

More Detail: In the early days of mirrorless cameras, the quality of the electronic viewfinder (EVF) was generally rather poor, primarily because the resolution of the display was quite small. As you can imagine the viewfinder in a camera is considerably smaller than the typical LCD display on the back of a camera. When you consider that the same image might be displayed on either an LCD or an EVF, you can appreciate that resolution is a key concern with the small display of an EVF.

As display technology has improved over the years, we have gotten to the point that many of the EVF displays in the latest digital cameras offer very good quality.

Of course, looking at an EVF is not the same as looking directly through the lens with an optical viewfinder. There are differences in terms of the viewing experience. However, an EVF also offers some advantages in terms of being able to present more information on the display compared to what can be done with an optical viewfinder.

Using an EVF can take some getting used to. More importantly, there is still some degree of variation in overall display quality for electronic viewfinders, so I highly recommend testing out a camera before you make a purchase decision.

Today’s Question: Is it still possible to buy the “forever” version of Lightroom without a subscription? I can’t seem to find it on the Adobe website.

Tim’s Quick Answer: No. Both Lightroom Classic and Lightroom Cloud now require an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, with no perpetual license available any longer.

More Detail: The last version of Lightroom Classic that was available with a perpetual license was Lightroom 6. It has been a couple of years since Adobe updated this version of Lightroom. A subscription is now required to use Lightroom Classic. The cloud-based version of Lightroom has always required a subscription.

More to the point, Adobe has recently made efforts to shift toward a subscription-only model for Lightroom. Initially it was just a bit more difficult to find the perpetual license for Lightroom Classic on the Adobe website.

More recently, Adobe has simply stopped offering the perpetual license for Lightroom. You may be able to find a DVD copy of Lightroom 6 that would enable you to install and run the software without a subscription, but that is surely getting increasingly difficult. For example, Amazon no longer offers the DVD version of Lightroom 6.

At this point, if you want to only use software available with a perpetual license, your only Adobe solution would be Photoshop Elements. Otherwise you would need to look at other software from different companies.

If you do want to stick with Lightroom as your workflow solution, you can review the various Adobe Creative Cloud plans available by following this link:

https://timgrey.me/ccplans

Today’s Question: In the Detail section for Adobe Lightroom or Camera Raw what do you suggest for the different slider values for both reducing noise and sharpening the image?

Tim’s Quick Answer: As a general rule, the sharpening applied to the initial raw capture (not for final output) should be minimal, so that it is just enough to compensate for a loss of fine detail in the original capture. Noise reduction should generally be applied in moderation as well, to avoid reducing the sharpness and color accuracy of the image.

More Detail: In some respects, sharpening and noise reduction are performing opposite tasks, and so it is important to be careful not to get too aggressive with one at the detriment of the other.

For sharpening, the key settings are Amount and Radius. The Amount value controls the strength of the sharpening effect, and in Lightroom or Camera Raw I recommend keeping the value for Amount below about 75. Generally, a value somewhere between 25 and 50 will work well for most images.

For the Radius slider, you will generally want to use a value of 1.0 or lower. For images with significant fine detail you may want to use a lower value of around perhaps 0.6 to 0.9, using a slightly higher value for Amount to compensate. For images without much fine detail, you might want to use a higher value for Radius (perhaps as high as 2.0), but with a lower value for Amount to compensate for the larger size of the sharpening effect.

The Detail and Masking controls enable you to limit the sharpening to only the areas that contain detail and texture. Increasing the value for Detail will result in more enhancement of details in the photo. By contrast, increasing the value for Masking will enable you to focus the sharpening effect to only areas with texture, so that smooth areas of the photo will not be sharpened.

For noise reduction, the key settings are Luminance (for noise exhibited by variations in tonal values) and Color (for noise exhibited by variations in color values). The Luminance and Color sliders control the strength of the noise-reduction effect. Obviously you want to make sure you apply enough noise reduction to improve the appearance of the photo. It is important, however, not to use a value that is too high, as doing so can degrade image quality.

The Luminance slider is the more critical of these two, because increasing the value for Luminance to a high value will seriously degrade the texture and detail in a photo, adding what is essentially a blur effect. I try to limit the value for Luminance to around 10 or so, recognizing that this is a compromise when noise is significant in the photo.

You can be a little more aggressive with the Color slider, and I consider values up to around 60 or so to be safe in most cases. Going too high can result in some unwanted blending of colors in the photo, especially along edges where different colors meet.

For both the Luminance and Color noise reduction adjustments, I recommend using a rather low value for Detail. I try to keep this setting below about 25. When using a higher value for Detail you’ll want to make sure that you aren’t seeing individual pixels appearing that strongly contrast with surrounding areas, as this is a common side-effect of a value for Detail that is too high.

For Color noise reduction you can generally use a rather high value for Smoothness, which can help blend color variations left behind by color noise reduction, and greatly enhance the final effect. I often use a value of 80 or more for the Smoothness slider.

It is important to keep in mind that all of these settings will vary based on the content of the image you’re working on, your own preferences and priorities for the image, and other factors. Use the above information as a guide, and fine-tune as needed based on the individual image you’re working on at any given time.

Today’s Question: If I set my camera (Canon 6D) to correct for the lens used and set this also on Lightroom, will the photo become “double corrected”?

Tim’s Quick Answer: For raw captures you don’t need to worry about a “double” correction for the lens corrections. For JPEG images this could be an issue, however.

More Detail: Various software tools (including Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw) enable you to apply corrections for the behavior of individual lenses. For example, vignetting caused by light falloff with a wide-angle lens can be corrected based on the actual measured behavior of a specific lens model.

More recently, some cameras have started offering in-camera lens correction, so that the behavior of the lens can be compensated for right at the time of capture. For raw captures the information about these changes is written to metadata, while for JPEG captures the image is directly altered within the camera.

If you are using raw capture, you would need to use the software from your camera manufacturer to process the images based on the in-camera lens correction information that was written to metadata. Note that this is “private” metadata, which means the software from the camera manufacturer can access it, but other applications such as Lightroom or Camera Raw cannot.

What that means is that if you are using raw capture, you don’t need to worry about applying the lens correction adjustment twice, since if you are working with the raw capture by definition it won’t have been modified by other software.

If, on the other hand, you are working with something other than a raw capture file, it is possible to double-process the lens corrections. For example, if you applied in-camera lens correction for a JPEG capture, you could apply additional corrections to the JPEG image that could be problematic. Similarly, if you processed the raw capture with the software from the camera manufacturer and saved as a TIFF or JPEG image, it would be possible to apply a double correction to that derivative image.

The bottom line is that for raw captures you don’t need to worry about duplicating the lens correction adjustments for the original image.

Today’s Question: How do I get the firmware update into my camera? Is there an app to do that?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Generally speaking, firmware updates for cameras can be installed in one of two ways. You can either install the update via a memory card inserted into the camera, or by using a connection (such as USB) to install the update to the camera.

More Detail: Today’s question is a follow-up to Friday’s question about a critical issue that calls for a firmware update for certain Canon cameras.

In my experience the most common method for updating the firmware on a digital camera is via a memory card inserted into the camera. You will first need to download the firmware update from the camera manufacturer’s website, and that update can generally be found in the “Support” section of the site. The file is then copied to a memory card, which you can insert into the camera.

Making sure that the camera’s battery is fully charged, you then turn on the camera with the memory card containing the firmware update inserted. You can then follow the prompts on your camera’s display to complete the update.

I’ve also seen cameras that can be updated via a physical connection, such as by connecting the camera to a USB port on a computer and updating either via a special software download or the software that came with your camera. In some cases it is also possible to update via a WiFi Internet connection, if your camera is so equipped.