Ask Tim Grey

Today’s Question: How can you send images to labs so they do not get cropped?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The first step is to crop the image precisely the way you want it printed, and to resize the image to fit within the final print size. Even better, if possible you should employ a “canvas” for the image so that the cropped image fits completely onto the canvas, with that canvas sized based on the actual final print size.

More Detail: When you print an image that is not cropped to the same aspect ratio as the paper you’re printing to, you will have two options for how the image will fit on the printed page. You can either fit the image within the limits of the paper size, or crop the image to fill the available space.

For example, let’s assume you have retained the original aspect ratio for an image when cropping, but will be printing to an 8″x10″ sheet of paper. For simplicity, we’ll assume a print where the image extends all the way to the edge of the paper. At the original aspect ratio, you will have likely an image that is sized to about 6.7-inches by 10-inches.

In other words, your options are to have empty space of about 0.67 inches on both sides of the shorter dimension of the print, or to crop the image so you are losing one inch at both ends of the longer dimension of the print. Of course, as noted in today’s question, the intent is to not have the image cropped based on the print size.

So, the first approach would be to simply size the image so it will fit on the intended paper size. For an 8″x10″ sheet of paper, for example, you might resize to 10-inches on the longer dimension (or likely a little smaller to provide some space around the print), letting the shorter dimension fall wherever it does based on the cropped aspect ratio. In other words, you simply resize the image to fit the size of the paper it will be printed on. Then you would need to make sure to communicate to the print lab that you want the image printed to fit the page, not enlarged to fill the entire printable area of the page.

You can help improve the chances that the image will indeed be printed without cropping, however, if you enlarge the canvas size for the image based on the paper size that image will be printed to. For example, if you have an image cropped and resized to dimensions of 6.67 inches by 10 inches, you could enlarge the canvas size to a full 8″x10″ so the image will print properly on the paper size to be used for the print.

In Photoshop it is quite easy to enlarge the canvas after cropping and resizing the image you are preparing for print. Simply choose Image > Canvas Size from the menu, and set the desired dimensions.

Lightroom doesn’t offer a simple way to accomplish this same task, but one approach you could use would be to configure a print in the Print module, and then save the result as a JPEG image for printing. You could configure the paper size and place a single cell on the page to print at the desired dimensions, and then make sure the “Zoom to Fill” checkbox in the Image Settings section of the right panel is turned off. When you have configured the print as desired, in the Print Job section of the right panel you can choose “JPEG File” from the Print To popup, and then click the “Print to File” button at the bottom of the right panel to save the print layout as a JPEG image that can then be sent to the lab.

Today’s Question: How do you create a new folder from within Lightroom?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can create a new folder in any location by choosing “Add Folder” from the popup associated with the “plus” (+) button to the right of the Folders heading on the left panel in the Library module in Lightroom. You can add a folder within the currently selected folder by choosing “Add Subfolder” from that popup.

More Detail: There are a variety of reasons you might want to create a new folder from within Lightroom. You might simply want to create a folder so you can divide images from one folder into multiple folders. You might also need to create a new folder in order to be able to move photos to a different storage location, such as to move some (or all) photos to a new (and perhaps larger) external hard drive.

If you want to create a folder within an existing folder, you can use the “Add Subfolder” command found on the popup associated with the “plus” (+) button to the right of the Folders heading on the left panel in the Library module. Before choosing this command you’ll want to select the folder where you want to create the new folder, as that new folder will be placed inside the currently selected folder.

So, for example, you may want to place a subset of photos from a given trip into a subfolder. Perhaps you took a side trip to a different location, and just want to organize the photos from that side trip into a subfolder. Simply select the desired “parent” folder, and choose the “Add Subfolder” command to define a name for the new folder that will be created inside the selected folder.

In some cases you may want to add a new folder in a location that isn’t currently visible on the Folders list. This would be the case, for example, if you’re adding a new external hard drive to your overall storage structure, and you want to be able to move photos to that drive. Because Lightroom is initially not managing any photos on that new drive, you won’t see the drive or any folders on that drive within Lightroom. If you create a new folder on that drive from within Lightroom, however, that folder will be visible so you can move photos to that drive.

To create a new folder, click on the “plus” (+) button to the right of the Folders heading on the left panel, and choose “Add Folder” from the popup that appears. In the dialog that is presented, navigate to the location where you want to create the new folder. Then click on the “New Folder” button at the bottom-left of the dialog and provide a name for the new folder. When you are finished creating that folder (and click the “Choose” button to close the dialog), the new folder will appear in the applicable location in the Folders list on the left panel in the Library module.

Once creating a new folder, of course, you can drag and drop photos or folders to that new folder location to refine your overall organizational structure.

Today’s Question: I import both RAW and JPG files [into Lightroom]. Do Develop presets apply to JPG files when imported even though the photos had in-camera adjustments made such as aberration and distortion corrections?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Develop presets applied during import would affect all photos regardless of file format. However, the net result will be different since the JPEG captures will have had in-camera adjustments applied, while raw captures would not have.

More Detail: Quite frankly, as a general rule I recommend not using the Raw+JPEG capture option in the camera if you’re using Lightroom to manage your photos, other than to serve a specific purpose such as to provide a reference from the in-camera adjustments to be used while optimizing your raw capture.

By default, Lightroom actually doesn’t import JPEG images that are part of a Raw+JPEG pair. In order to actually import those JPEG captures into your Lightroom catalog you need to turn on the “Treat JPEG files next to raw files as separate photos” checkbox in the General tab of the Preferences dialog in Lightroom.

If you apply the same preset during import (or later in your workflow) to both images in a Raw+JPEG pair, the same adjustments will (for the most part) be applied in the same way. Of course, there are some adjustments that apply based on the actual image, such as the “Auto” adjustment for the Basic adjustments.

Of course, for many of the other adjustments, you could be doubling up on the effect. In many cases that doubling up of adjustments won’t cause any significant issues. For example, applying the chromatic aberration correction twice shouldn’t result in any problems in the photo. But for more general adjustments, there could be issues.

And, of course, the simple fact that applying the same preset to both a raw and a JPEG image from the same capture pair will result in images that don’t match each other could create confusion or other challenges in your workflow.

In general though, I don’t consider there to be a significant advantage to importing both the raw and the JPEG of a Raw+JPEG pair into Lightroom. I prefer to simply work with the original raw captures, optimize to suit my vision for the photo, and then export copies of the image (such as to create a JPEG copy) as needed when sharing the images.

Today’s Question: [In regards to soft proofing covered in a prior Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter], is the idea to make adjustments to the soft proof so it looks like the finalized original?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Conceptually, soft proofing does indeed provide the opportunity to apply adjustments to the image in order to ensure the print will be as accurate as possible. In actual practice, I tend to think of it more as a tool for understanding what to expect rather than for necessarily changing the actual output.

More Detail: As noted in a previous Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter, soft proofing involves software altering the appearance of an image on your display in an effort to simulate what the actual print will look like. This preview is based on the specific printer, ink, and paper combination you will intend to use to print the image.

Just to illustrate the point, imagine a scenario where you were printing a color image to a printer that only includes black ink. A profile for that particular printer (taking into account the ink set for the printer as well as the type of paper you’re printing to) would reflect the grayscale capabilities of the printer. That, in turn, means that soft proofing would cause the preview of the image on your monitor to appear in black and white rather than color.

The soft proofing preview can be helpful for understanding what to expect in your final print. For example, an uncoated matte paper will produce a print with less contrast and saturation than a glossy print, and the soft proofing preview would reflect that.

Conceptually you can also use the soft proofing display as the basis for adjustments to compensate for the output conditions. For a print to a matte paper you might boost the contrast and saturation of the image, for example. Or the soft proof preview might show a color shift, which you can compensate for with adjustments.

However, it is important to keep in mind that issues discovered via the soft proofing preview may not be issues that can actually be overcome. In the example scenario of soft proofing a color photo with a profile for a black and white printer, for example, no amount of adjustment to the image will cause the print to be produced in full color.

Similarly, if a printer is not able to produce highly saturated colors in the paper you’re using for printing, increasing the saturation would not magically improve the capabilities of that printer.

That said, within reason adjustments you apply based on the soft proof preview can indeed help improve the appearance of the final print. It is just important to keep in mind that soft proofing provides a preview of what the printer is capable of, not a magical way to overcome limitations of the printer, ink, and paper combination you’re using to print a photo.

Today’s Question: After completing a lot of adjustments [in Lightroom], where do I find my original?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Because Lightroom employs a non-destructive workflow, your original capture remains unaltered on your local storage. In addition, you can always reset the adjustments (perhaps using a virtual copy as part of this process) to return to Lightroom’s original version of your capture.

More Detail: One of the features of Lightroom that is arguably one of the most important features is a non-destructive workflow for optimizing your photos. Note, by the way, that this same non-destructive workflow is applicable in Adobe Camera Raw.

A non-destructive workflow means that your original capture is not actually altered when you apply adjustments to an image. In the context of Lightroom, what that means is that all of your adjustments are really just metadata updates, preserved in your Lightroom catalog (and possibly in an XMP sidecar for your raw captures if you have chosen to save metadata out to the image files).

As a result, you could always return to your original capture by navigating directly to the applicable image on your hard drive. Of course, in the context of a Lightroom-based workflow, you would not really want to work directly with your image files (unless you’re very careful about how you approach the task).

You can, however, create a virtual copy so you can have a non-adjusted version of the photo in question. Naturally you could simply use the “before and after” view option if you just wanted to see what the original looked like. In the Develop module, for example, you can press the backslash key (\) on the keyboard to switch between the “before” and “after” versions of the current photo.

A virtual copy enables you to have two (or more) versions of a photo in Lightroom. To create a virtual copy, simply right-click on the image and choose “Create Virtual Copy” from the popup menu that appears.

Assuming you’ve already applied adjustments to the image, the new virtual copy will include those adjustments. If so, you can then select the new virtual copy and then click the “Reset” button at the bottom of the right panel in the Develop module to reset the virtual copy (or the original) to the original interpretation of the image with no additional adjustments applied.

In this way you can have an adjusted version as well as an “original” version of the image, switching back and forth as needed. Note, of course, that even with all of the adjustments in Lightroom reset to the defaults, you’re still seeing Lightroom’s default interpretation of the original image, which is certainly not the same result you would achieve if you used, for example, the software from the manufacturer of your camera to interpret the same raw capture.

Today’s Question: How do I add a photo to a place on the map [in Lightroom] if the photo doesn’t have any GPS info?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Put simply, in the Map module in Lightroom you can add location information to the metadata for a photo by dragging the photo from the filmstrip to the correct location on the map.

More Detail: Some photos, of course, will appear on the map in Lightroom automatically, if they have been captured with a camera that includes a GPS receiver. You might also use the option to synchronize a GPS track log (assuming you have recorded such a log) to add location information to a group of photos, and therefore add them to the map. But you can also manually add location information to photos by simply dragging and dropping them to the map.

To get started, make sure you can view the photos you want to work with on the filmstrip. That may simply mean navigating to a specific folder, but you might also want to use various filter criteria. Then switch to the Map module so you can view the map and add photos to the map.

Next, navigate to the correct location on the map. You can use the zoom controls for the map, and also click-and-drag on the map to move to the intended location. In addition, you can use the Search field at the top-right of the map to navigate more quickly to a specific location.

When you can view the correct location on the map display, you’re ready to drag-and-drop photos to the map. You can first select multiple photos if they were captured in the same location on the map. Then drag and drop the selected photo (or photos) from the filmstrip to the correct position on the map.

When you drop one or more images on the map, the GPS coordinates for that position on the map will be added to the metadata for the images.

Today’s Question: I saw some information that suggested a recent update to Lightroom provided a big improvement to the “Auto” adjustment option. With this update, do you now recommend using the Auto adjustment?

Tim’s Quick Answer: While I’m generally not a big fan of “automatic” adjustments, I do have to admit that the recent update to Lightroom did greatly improve the utility of this feature. I actually think it may now be worthwhile to apply as a standard adjustment during import, for example.

More Detail: One of the problems I’ve always had with “automatic” adjustments for photographic images is that these adjustments are based on specific algorithms, which aren’t really able to take into account the specific nature of the photo or your specific intent for the interpretation of the photo.

That said, the new Auto adjustment feature in Lightroom (and Adobe Camera Raw) is quite impressive. This new update makes use of the Adobe Sensei technology, employing a neural network with artificial intelligence and machine learning, to make the most of these adjustments. What that really means is that Adobe is able to analyze a huge number of images, along with the adjustments that had been applied to them, to better calculate the optimal adjustment settings for a given image.

Perhaps most importantly, the automatic adjustments simply involve changing the existing settings for the slider controls found in the Basic section of adjustments on the right panel in the Develop module. In other words, you can always refine those adjustment settings later, with no penalty in terms of image quality.

Because of these latest updates to the “auto” adjustment, I actually feel that for many photographers it may be worthwhile to include this automatic adjustment for all images upon import. The result will generally be an image with a bit more “pop”, with the flexibility to refine those adjustments later in your workflow.

Today’s Question: Can you explain a little about the Highlight Priority, Color Priority, and Paint Overlay options in the Post-Crop Vignetting setting [in Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom]? How do they differ?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The Highlight Priority and Color Priority options are very similar, enabling you to have bright highlights overpower the vignette effect. The Paint Overlay option causes a simple black or white overlay, which carries the risk of having areas with the vignette effect appearing very muddy.

More Detail: In theory the Highlight Priority and Color Priority options for the Style popup in the Post-Crop Vignetting are slightly different, but in actual practice you likely won’t see any significant difference between them. The Color Priority option ostensibly preserves more natural colors in the vignette areas, while the Highlight Priority retains higher saturation. In practice, the difference between these two options tends to be extremely subtle.

The Paint Overlay option will produce a result where either black or white (depending on whether you’re darkening or lightening with the vignette effect) will create an overlay at the corners of the image. The result is a relatively muddy appearance in those areas, which I personally find is not a pleasing effect in most cases.

With both the Highlight Priority and Color Priority styles the Highlights slider will be available once you have applied a negative (darkening) value for the Amount slider for the Pont-Crop Vignetting effect. When you increase the value for Highlights, any bright (highlight) areas that have been darkened by the vignette effect will be brightened up to “shine through” the vignette.

A somewhat extreme example of the value of the Highlights slider would be having the sun at the corner of the frame. The vignette effect would darken the sun to some extent, but you can brighten it up again to have it “overpower” the vignette effect by increasing the value for the Highlights slider. When you have very bright areas of an image being darkened by the vignette effect, this can create a more realistic (and pleasing) result.

I generally use the Highlight Priority option for the Style popup, in large part because it is the default setting and is virtually indistinguishable from the Color Priority setting. I don’t like the Paint Overlay setting because more often than not it tends to create a muddy appearance (with poor contrast) in areas where the effect is applied. In addition, the Highlights slider is not available with the Paint Overlay mode.

Today’s Question: [In Lightroom] how can you find the original folder for an image that is in a collection?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can navigate to the source folder for any image in Lightroom by right-clicking on the image and choosing “Go to Folder in Library” from the popup menu.

More Detail: The “Go to Folder in Library” command can be tremendously helpful in a variety of situations, where you have located a particular image but you don’t know which folder that image is contained in. As noted in today’s question, this solution is helpful when you have located an image in a collection but don’t know which folder the image is stored in. Similarly, when you search for an image within your Lightroom catalog it may not be clear which folder the image is in.

With the “Go to Folder in Library” command you will be taken directly to the folder for the image you right-clicked on. That means the folder in question will be highlighted on the Folders list on the left panel in the Library module. In addition, the image you right-clicked on will be selected, so it is the active image and therefore readily visible.

Today’s Question: What is soft proofing?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Soft proofing involves changing the appearance of an image on your monitor display to simulate what that image will look like when printed using a specific printer, ink, and paper combination.

More Detail: As most photographers have probably realized by now, sometimes it can be difficult to anticipate exactly what a given image will look like when printed using a particular paper type with a specific printer and ink setup. Soft proofing enables you to simulate on your monitor display what that print will look like.

Obviously in a perfect world soft proofing would be completely unnecessary, as the print would be a perfect match of the image as you’ve optimized it based on your monitor’s display. Of course, in the real world there is a somewhat significant difference between what an image looks like with the emitted light of a monitor display compared to the reflected light from a print. And that doesn’t even take into account the tremendous difference the paper type can make, such as the difference between a glossy versus matte print.

Various software tools (such as Photoshop and Lightroom) enable you to employ soft proofing to simulate the printed output on your monitor display. You simply specific the profile for the printer, ink, and paper combination you intend to use for printing the image, and the presentation of the on-screen image is altered to simulate what the print will look like.

To be sure, soft proofing isn’t perfect, because you are still using a monitor display to present what a print is expected to look like. But soft proofing can be helpful for troubleshooting problems with a print, getting a sense of what a print will look like, and choosing which paper might provide the best results for printing a given image.