iCloud to Lightroom Classic

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Today’s Question: I’ve been wanting to have some favorite images taken with the iPhone camera (all done raw) put into a Lightroom catalogue. Looking at directions online, this looks daunting. I have many thousands of images taken with the iPhone, which I guess are all stored in the Cloud. Is there a way to import selected images from my iPhone into Lightroom?

Tim’s Quick Answer: If your photos are being synchronized to iCloud, you’ll need to ensure that all photos are on your iPhone before you attempt to import to Lightroom Classic, or otherwise ensure that all photos are actually available for import.

More Detail: If you have enabled photo synchronization to iCloud, by default iPhone photo storage will be “optimized”. What that means is that in order to maintain more available storage on your iPhone the full-resolution copies of your photos will be stored in the cloud on Apple’s servers. Only when you attempt to work with a photo directly, such as by editing a photo, will the full-resolution version be downloaded.

What this means is that your photos won’t necessarily be available locally on your iPhone, which in turn means the photos won’t be available to import into Lightroom Classic. For example, when you go to import into Lightroom Classic directly from your iPhone you will only see a fraction of the photos that are on your iPhone in the Import dialog.

You can force photos to remain on your iPhone even with iCloud synchronization enabled, so that you will be able to import all photos into Lightroom Classic. This setting can be changed in the Settings app.

To get started, open the Settings app on your iPhone (or iPad). Then tap on your name at the top of Settings, which will take you to your Apple ID account. Next, tap iCloud, and then choose Photos. Under the iCloud Photos setting as long as you have that option turned on you will see an option below where you can choose between “Optimize iPhone Storage” and “Download and Keep Originals”. Make sure the “Download and Keep Originals” option is selected.

If this setting had been off, you’ll need to allow time for all of your photos to be downloaded from iCloud before you’re able to import into Lightroom Classic. Photos that are still stored in iCloud will have a small cloud icon to indicate that status. Once all photos have downloaded, you’ll be able to import from your iPhone directly into Lightroom Classic.

All of this assumes that you want to keep your photos on your iPhone but also be able to import from your iPhone into Lightroom Classic. If so, you’ll also want to enable the “Don’t Import Suspected Duplicates” checkbox in the File Handling section of the right panel in the Import dialog.

My personal preference is to treat my iPhone like every other camera I use, which means I download all new photos from my iPhone and then delete them after they have been imported into Lightroom Classic. Because Lightroom Classic doesn’t enable you to delete all photos after import I use other software (in my case the Image Capture application included with MacOS) in order to download and then delete all photos from my iPhone, with a workflow that is effectively the same as I use for any other camera.

Converting a PNG Image

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Today’s Question: I have a PNG file that I would like to convert to a JPEG or TIF in Photoshop. Is this possible?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, absolutely. You can convert an image to any other supported image format with either the “Save As” or “Save a Copy” commands in Photoshop. The same is possible from Lightroom Classic using the Export command.

More Detail: Photoshop enables you to save a copy of an image into any other supported image format. The only issue in Photoshop relates to whether the image you are trying to save in a given format includes features that are not supported by the format you’re trying to save in.

For example, the PNG (Portable Network Graphics) image format supports both 8-bit per channel and 16-bit per channel mode, while you can only save a JPEG image in the 8-bit per channel mode. TIFF images can be saved in all supported bit depths in Photoshop.

Understandably, most photographers are accustomed to using the “Save As” command when they want to save the current image as a new file, possibly in a different file format. However, with a recent update to Photoshop you will only see file formats that support all features of the current image if you use the “Save As” command.

Instead, I recommend using the “Save a Copy” command, which enables you to save a new copy of an image in any supported image format, even if the current image includes features that are not supported by the format you intend to save in.

For example, the PNG image you’re trying to save to a different file format may be set to a bit depth of 16-bits per channel. If that is the case, using the “Save As” command you would not see the JPEG file format as an option. You could, however, use the “Save a Copy” command instead, which enables you to save in any format supported by Photoshop, even if the source file includes features not supported by the destination format.

The reason the “Save a Copy” command is helpful in this context is that the source image will remain as it is. You’ll simply be creating a new file in the selected format in addition to the source file you’re saving from.

Image for a Client

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Today’s Question: Many of my clients want a JPEG as a deliverable. Am I better off to shoot the original photo in raw, using Lightroom and Photoshop to develop it and then render the final JPEG image in the size they want? I have tried both ways and the raw seems to win every time; but it could just my bias.

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, I recommend capturing in raw, and then processing the image and exporting as a JPEG for the client.

More Detail: As I’m sure every photographer knows, there are a variety of benefits to raw capture compared to JPEG. With a raw capture you have higher bit-depth, greater dynamic range, and expanded dynamic range. In addition, with raw capture you avoid the issue of JPEG compression artifacts in the original capture, which could be worsened when exporting a new JPEG copy.

In short, a raw capture provides you with the best capture from the start. You can then optimize that photo with greater image quality compared to a JPEG capture. If relatively strong adjustments are needed, a JPEG capture will be more likely to display posterization, or a loss of smooth gradations of tone and color. This is due to the lower bit-depth of a JPEG capture compared to a raw capture.

The only reason a JPEG capture might be preferred over a raw capture is that there is the potential that a JPEG capture might be ready to send to a client right out of a camera, without any processing required. However, in my view the quality benefits of a raw capture outweigh the potential workflow advantage of a raw capture.

This issue, by the way, is one of the reasons some photographers prefer to use Raw+JPEG capture. With this approach you get a raw capture for optimal image quality, along with a JPEG capture that could potentially be sent to the client before you even start processing the raw capture.

Keep in mind, however, that Lightroom Classic does not import the JPEG from a Raw+JPEG pair by default. If you want to import both the raw capture and the JPEG generated by the camera, you’ll need to turn on the “Treat JPEG files next to raw files as separate photos” checkbox on the General tab of the Preferences dialog.

Automatic Display Calibration

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Today’s Question: How do you rate the MacOS Display Calibrator Assistant [instead of using a calibration device]?

Tim’s Quick Answer: I do not recommend the Display Calibrator Assistant in MacOS for adjusting the appearance of a monitor display. Instead, I recommend using a hardware solution such as the Calibrite ColorChecker Display (https://timgrey.me/calibrite).

More Detail: The Display Calibrator Assistant available in the System Preferences dialog under Displays depends upon you evaluating the display as you apply adjustments, rather than using a calibrated device to actually measure the output from your display. This is problematic in terms of trying to adjust the display by your perception rather than physical measurements.

If you want to take a look at the Display Calibrator Assistant, you can first select System Preferences from the Apple logo menu on the menu bar. Then go to Displays, click the Color Profile popup, and choose Customize from that popup. In the dialog that appears click the plus (+) button at the bottom-left, and the Display Calibrator Assistant dialog will appear. This will take you step by step through the process of adjusting your display, but the process does not provide precision in that process.

Instead, I recommend using a package that includes a colorimeter, which is a calibrated hardware device that can measure the actual tonal and color output of your display. This enables you to make precise adjustments to the display behavior, and generate a profile that describes the behavior of the device so that the operating system can compensate accordingly.

By calibrating with a hardware solution you can feel confident that what you’re seeing on your monitor display is as accurate a representation of your actual photos as possible. You can learn more about the Calibrite ColorChecker Display package that I recommend here:

https://timgrey.me/calibrite

Shortcuts for Hidden Tools

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Today’s Question: I know there are keyboard shortcuts for the tools in Photoshop. But these shortcuts only work for the top tool for each button on the toolbar. Is there a way to access the other tools, such as the Pencil tool rather than the Brush tool when using a keyboard shortcut?

Tim’s Quick Answer: If pressing the keyboard shortcut for a set of tools doesn’t cycle through the various tools associated with a single button you can hold the Shift key to cycle through those tools. You can specify whether the Shift key is required with a setting in Preferences.

More Detail: You can use keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop to access a wide variety of commands and features, including being able to activate a particular tool. For example, you can press the letter “B” to access the Brush tool.

Associated with the same button as the Brush tool you also can find the Pencil tool, the Color Replacement tool, and the Mixer Brush tool. It is possible to use the letter “B” to cycle through these tools, but this is not my preferred setting. When you can navigate through all of these tools using the “B” key on the keyboard, if you already have the Brush tool active but don’t realize that, and then you press “B” intending to activate the Brush tool, you’ll instead be switching to the Pencil tool.

Therefore, I prefer to enable a setting in Preferences so that you must hold the Shift key to switch between the various tools associated with a single button, and therefore associated with a given keyboard shortcut.

In the Preferences dialog you can go to the Tools tab. You can then turn on (or off) the “Use Shift Key for Tool Switch” checkbox. With this checkbox turned on you must use the Shift key in conjunction with the applicable keyboard shortcut if you want to switch among tools associated with the same keyboard shortcut. If you simply press the keyboard shortcut without the Shift key, the current tool that is on top on the button will be activated.

For example, with the checkbox turned on you must hold the Shift key while pressing the letter “B” to switch from the Brush tool to the Pencil tool. If the Brush tool is active if you only press the letter “B” without the Shift key, you’ll simply be keeping the Brush tool active.

With the checkbox turned off, pressing the letter “B” would switch between the four tools associated with the Brush tool button one by one, each time you press the letter “B”.

Blurb Book Too Dark

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Today’s Question: My problem is that when I send a book created in Lightroom Classic to Blurb to be printed it comes back at least 1/2 to 1 stop too dark. Now I have to go in and adjust all my photos by that amount to assure that my books will be printed correctly. Any thoughts on why? Also, how can I adjust only the exposure on a group of photos by the same amount to correct this issue?

Tim’s Quick Answer: It sounds like you may have prepared the book with a monitor display that is too bright, leading to dark printing. I would make sure to calibrate your display (https://timgrey.me/calibrite) and then adjust the images. You can use the Quick Develop section in the Library module to quickly apply a relative adjustment to multiple photos.

More Detail: In my experience the results with Blurb photo books have been very good, meaning the printed photos are a close match to what I see on my calibrated display. Because a typical uncalibrated display is about one stop too bright, I suspect that is the issue leading to dark printing for your Blurb books.

The first step would be to calibrate your display, using something like the Calibrite ColorChecker Display package (https://timgrey.me/calibrite). I would expect that the adjustment to the brightness as part of the calibration process will reveal that the images are too dark.

Regardless of whether the calibration is to blame, if the images that appear in the book are too dark you can brighten them in batch to produce a new book. Start by going to the collection that contains the images from the book, which would generally mean the collection created when the book was saved in Lightroom Classic.

Select all of the photos, and then go to the Library module and make sure you are in the grid view display, not the loupe view display, so you are viewing thumbnails of the selected images in the main preview area. Then go to the Quick Develop section on the right panel in the Library module and adjust the Exposure as needed.

Clicking on the double left or right arrow for Exposure in Quick Develop will decrease or increase exposure by one stop, respectively. The left and right single arrow buttons adjust exposure in one-third of a stop increments. With the Quick Develop adjustments you are applying a relative adjustment to each image, rather than an absolute change in value, which makes Quick Develop perfect for this type of scenario.

Workflow with Two Computers

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Today’s Question: I am using Lightroom Classic. I have a Windows laptop and a Windows desktop. I load new photos to the laptop, and sync to the desktop once a while to keep all photos. How can I use both computers at the same time, without having to sync them every time I finished using one?

Tim’s Quick Answer: If you want to be able to work with Lightroom Classic on two (or more) computers, I highly recommend keeping both your catalog and your photos on an external hard drive.

More Detail: While there are various approaches you could use to work with the same Lightroom Classic catalog on more than one computer, in my view the best approach is to keep the catalog and photos on an external hard drive.

Lightroom Classic does not support storing the catalog on a network. It is technically possible to use a cloud-based storage service such as Dropbox for the catalog, but I do not recommend this approach due to the risk of the catalog getting out of sync.

By keeping your Lightroom Classic catalog on the same external hard drive as your photos, you can very easily switch between computers by moving the hard drive to the computer you want to use. You can then open the Lightroom Classic catalog directly from the external hard drive on the computer you are currently working from.

You’ll just need to make sure that the drive letter (for Windows) or volume label (for Macintosh) assigned to the external hard drive is the same on both computers, so that the path to your photos will remain the same as well.

You can copy the entire folder containing your Lightroom Classic catalog to the external hard drive that contains your photos, and then open that catalog directly from either computer.

Sharing to an Uncalibrated Display

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Today’s Question: When you say, “In addition, you’ll want to ensure that the monitor display is properly calibrated…”, I assume you mean on your own monitor, since you may not have control over the receiving monitor? I guess having the embedded color profile and having your own monitor calibrated will be sufficient to control the display on the possibly uncalibrated receiving monitor, right?

Tim’s Quick Answer: No. If you are sending an image to someone with an uncalibrated display, the appearance of the image will be somewhat unpredictable. But embedding the sRGB color profile will help increase the chances of relatively accurate color for the image.

More Detail: Most digital monitor displays are reasonably accurate in terms of color, and to some extent accurate in terms of brightness, even if they are not calibrated. However, if the display is not calibrated the appearance of the image will be much less predictable and may be rather inaccurate.

The ideal solution would be to convince anyone you are sending an image to that they should obtain and use a display calibration tool, such as the Calibrite ColorChecker Display (https://timgrey.me/calibrite) that I recommend. Odds are, however, that a non-photographer is not likely to calibrate their display.

Most monitor displays tend to have behavior that is relatively close to the sRGB color profile. This is the primary reason I recommend using sRGB as the color profile you embed in images that will be shared on a digital display such as a monitor or projector.

With this approach, if the software being used to display the image supports color management, the color will be reasonably accurate even if the display is not calibrated. If color management is not being used there is a higher risk of an inaccurate image display, but in this type of context there isn’t much you can do to improve the accuracy of the image, since you don’t have any way of knowing the behavior of the specific display configuration being used by the recipient of the image.

Media Card as Storage Supplement

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Today’s Question: Some newer laptops are coming with only Micro SD card readers/slots. I think most of these Micro SD readers/slots can store up to 1 TB. If faced with space constraints on the internal hard drive, would you consider storing photos on a Micro SD card? Would Lightroom Classic performance be limited or different if the photos were on a Micro SD card versus an external drive?

Tim’s Quick Answer: While MicroSD (or other flash-based memory cards) can offer about the same performance and reliability of typical external hard drives, I would tend to not use a memory card for primary storage simply because I consider it far too easy to lose one of these very small cards.

More Detail: Flash-based memory cards, including MicroSD and other formats, have much in common with SSD drives in terms of performance and reliability. As a result, I am perfectly comfortable with the general notion of storing data on a flash-based memory card. For example, I’m don’t worry very much about using media cards in my camera to capture photos.

However, for more permanent storage I prefer to use external hard drives rather than media cards, simply because I’m more worried about losing a media card because it is so small. That said, if you are comfortable with the issue of keeping the memory card physically safe, and as long as you buy a high-quality memory card, you can store data very reliably on these cards.

My personal tendency would be to use memory cards in this scenario as a backup for primary storage, or to use the cards for temporary storage needs. For example, I would be perfectly comfortable using memory cards for transferring data between computers, or as an additional cache storage, such as adding such a card as a scratch disk in Photoshop.

As always, regardless of what type of storage device you’re using to store your photos and other important data, I highly recommend maintaining a good backup workflow. For example, I use GoodSync (http://timgrey.me/greybackup) to locally back up my storage devices, and Backblaze (https://timgrey.me/onlinebackup) to create an additional cloud-based offsite backup.

Storing a Catalog Copy

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Today’s Question: A question about the answer regarding where to store Lightroom Classic catalog. Can one keep the catalog on the internal drive but have a copy on the external where the photos are stored too—not working in the one with the photos on the external but just storing a copy there?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can keep an additional backup copy of your Lightroom Classic catalog anywhere you’d like. Just be sure not to accidentally open a backup catalog in place of your master catalog.

More Detail: Since the Lightroom Classic catalog contains considerable information about your photos, including metadata updates, adjustments, and more, you naturally want to make sure you keep your catalog safe. That means, among other things, making sure you maintain a good backup copy of the catalog.

I do recommend using the built-in catalog backup feature in Lightroom Classic to create backup copies, in part because it includes options to check the catalog integrity and to optimize the catalog to improve performance. But regardless of how you are backing up your catalog, you can store that backup anywhere you’d like.

First and foremost, of course, you want to store the catalog backup on a hard drive other than the drive the catalog is on. That is so that if the hard drive fails you don’t lose both the master catalog and backup copies. So, if the catalog is on the internal hard drive, backing up to an external hard drive makes perfect sense.

You can also copy the catalog to a cloud-based storage solution, such as Dropbox, or by using an online backup service such as Backblaze (https://timgrey.me/onlinebackup), which is what I use and recommend for a cloud-based backup solution.