Ask Tim Grey

Today’s Question: In Lightroom Classic there are two options for assembling a high dynamic range (HDR) image. There’s Photo Merge > HDR and Edit in > Merge to HDR Pro in Photoshop. What’s the difference? Is one preferred over the other?

Tim’s Quick Answer: These two options represent two very different tools for assembling HDR images, and I have consistently found the Lightroom (or Camera Raw) option to produce better results.

More Detail: The “Merge to HDR Pro” command found on the Photo > Edit In menu in Lightroom Classic leverages the HDR Pro feature in Photoshop. This feature has been around longer than the HDR merge feature of Lightroom (or Camera Raw). If you send a group of bracketed exposures to Photoshop from Lightroom Classic using the Photo > Edit In > Merge to HDR Pro in Photoshop command, you’ll be accessing this HDR Pro feature.

If you instead select Photo > Photo Merge > HDR from the menu, you’ll be using the HDR feature that is built into Lightroom (and Camera Raw). This is a more recent engine for assembling HDR images, and in my experience consistently produces better results than HDR Pro in Photoshop.

In addition, merging HDR images with Lightroom or Camera Raw provides a workflow advantage, in that you can apply the tone-mapping and adjustments directly on the DNG file created as part of the HDR merge process. This enables a more streamlined and flexible workflow.

I think of HDR Pro in Photoshop as being somewhat dated compared to the HDR merge feature of Lightroom and Camera Raw. For those using Lightroom Classic, that means I recommend assembling HDR images directly within Lightroom Classic. If for some reason Lightroom Classic doesn’t produce a good result for an HDR image, I would be more inclined to use software such as Luminar Neo (or my original favorite, Nik HDR Efex Pro) rather than using Photoshop.

Today’s Question: I noticed that Camera Raw [via Photoshop] has a feature for the Remove tool that automatically removes dust spots. This option doesn’t exist in Lightroom Classic. Am I looking in the wrong place? Or can I invoke Camera Raw from Lightroom Classic?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The dust detection feature for the Remove tool is currently only available for Camera Raw as an “Early Access” feature. I expect the same feature will be added to Lightroom Classic (and Lightroom) in the near future.

More Detail: Generally speaking, Adobe maintains parity across Camera Raw, Lightroom, and the Develop module in Lightroom Classic, in terms of having the same features for optimizing photos. Lately, there have been some features added to Camera Raw before they are available in Lightroom or Lightroom Classic. I expect that is what’s currently happening with the dust detection feature for the Remove tool in Camera Raw.

The Dust option can be found in the Distraction Removal section of the right panel for the Remove tool in Camera Raw. When you expand the Dust section you’ll see that there is an “Early Access” banner to the right of the “Apply” checkbox, which indicates this is in effect a beta feature that isn’t quite ready for full release.

My testing has shown that this feature works remarkably well. It essentially identifies where dust spots exist in the image and adds a removal spot for the Remove tool based on that detection.

For the time being, if you want to use this feature, you’ll need to open an image in Camera Raw, such as from Photoshop or Adobe Bridge. You could also send an image from Lightroom Classic to Photoshop as a Smart Object. This is done by selecting the image in Lightroom Classic and then from the menu choosing Photo > Edit In > Open as Smart Object in Photoshop. You can then apply the Camera Raw filter (Filter > Camera Raw Filter) to the image to access Camera Raw and the dust removal feature. However, based on past experience I am confident Adobe will add this feature to both Lightroom Classic and Lightroom in the relatively near future.

Today’s Question: Do you know if there’s a way to use Lightroom Classic when you’re in a remote location where you can’t have it verified by Adobe?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Most users will have about a three-month grace period for offline use of Adobe applications. Prior to a trip where you know you’ll be offline, I recommend signing out of the Creative Cloud application and then signing back in so that you are sure your account has been validated to maximize the amount of time you’ll have offline.

More Detail: Your Creative Cloud subscription needs to be validated via an internet connection to maintain access to the applications in your plan. For most users there is about a three-month grace period, but this varies by plan. For example, there is a 99-day grace period for annual subscribers (even if you’re paying monthly) but only a 30-day grace period for month-to-month subscribers. This can also vary based on how you signed up for your Creative Cloud plan.

To ensure you will have as much offline access to Adobe applications as possible when you know you’ll be offline for an extended period of time, I recommend signing out of the Creative Cloud application (the application you use to install updates to the applications included in your plan, for example) and then sign back in. This will effectively reset the clock for the validation requirement, maximizing the amount of time you’ll be able to use the applications offline.

You can learn more about the requirements for online validation on this page on the Adobe website:

https://helpx.adobe.com/au/creative-cloud/kb/internet-connection-creative-cloud-apps.html

Today’s Question: Is it possible to change the criteria for a smart collection in Lightroom Classic, such as to change the star rating required for an image to be included in the smart collection?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can modify the criteria for a smart collection in Lightroom Classic by either double-clicking on the smart collection or by right-clicking and choosing “Edit Smart Collection” from the popup menu.

More Detail: As noted in yesterday’s Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter, smart collections can help streamline the process of viewing images matching specific criteria, such as those with a particular keyword and star rating. In addition, smart collections are more discoverable than simple filter criteria, in terms of being on display in the Collections section of the left panel in the Library module.

If you want to modify the criteria for an existing collection, you can go to the Collections section of the left panel in the Library module and either double-click on the smart collection or right-click on it and choose “Edit Smart Collection” from the popup menu. This will bring up the Edit Smart Collection dialog, where you can adjust any of the settings for the smart collection.

For example, if you had used a combination of keyword and star rating for a smart collection, you may later want to increase the star rating requirement to reduce the total number of photos included in the smart collection. In addition to modifying existing rules, you can add new rules or even delete rules to update the criteria for the smart collection.

Depending on the extent to which you’ve modified the criteria for a smart collection, you may also want to modify the Name field to better reflect the purpose of the smart collection. For example, if you’ve changed which keyword is being used as one of the rules for a smart collection, it is a good idea to change the name of the smart collection to reflect that change, since the contents of the smart collection will be different from when you originally created the smart collection.

Today’s Question: As a follow on to today’s question would you consider a collection [in Lightroom Classic] useful for gathering common subjects from across folders? Occasionally I wish to go back over time and “collect” all my photos of birds or cetaceans or street scenes, etc., in cases where I previously applied a relevant keyword. Or is there a better way?

Tim’s Quick Answer: This is an example of where a smart collection in Lightroom Classic can be helpful, such as to create a smart collection that contains all photos with a specific keyword (perhaps in addition to a minimum star rating).

More Detail: While you could certainly create a “normal” collection in Lightroom Classic and add all photos of a particular subject to that collection, if you’ve assigned keywords to the images, it is much faster and easier to create a smart collection instead.

To get started, click the plus icon (+) to the right of the Collections heading on the left panel in the Library module and choose “Create Smart Collection” from the popup menu. Enter a meaningful name in the Name field and then configure the criteria for the smart collection.

In this case I would start by clicking the first popup in the large rules area of the Create Smart Collection dialog and choose Other Metadata > Keywords. You can choose “contains” from the second popup and then enter the applicable keyword in the textbox to the right. If you want to add additional criteria, you can click the plus button to the right of the first rule and configure that new rule below. For example, you might choose “Rating” from the first popup, then choose “is greater than or equal to” from the second popup and select the minimum star rating you want to filter by to the right of the popups.

You can add as many rules as you’d like to define the images you want to have included in the smart collection. In most cases you’ll want to select “all” from the Match popup above the definition of rules, so that only photos matching all the rules will be included in the smart collection.

Click the Create button, and the new smart collection will be created. The collection will automatically include all images that match the criteria you defined. In addition, as you update metadata for photos, they will automatically be added to or removed from the smart collection depending on whether they currently match all the criteria you defined for the smart collection.

Today’s Question: I recently moved my photo folders from the “D” drive to a new folder on the “C” drive, while maintaining the same folder structure. It did not go so well in Lightroom Classic! I am wondering how I should have handled this.

Tim’s Quick Answer: In this scenario you can copy the photos to the new drive, disconnect the old drive, and then use the “Find Missing Folder” command to reconnect the top-level folder in Lightroom Classic.

More Detail: When you want to migrate your storage for photos being managed by Lightroom Classic, there are two basic ways you can go about this. You can move the photos from within Lightroom Classic, or you can copy the photos outside of Lightroom Classic and then reconnect the missing folder structure.

While moving within Lightroom Classic is preferred at least in general concept, there can be some challenges involved when you’re moving a large number of photos. Therefore, it is often easier to copy the photos and then update the folder location in Lightroom Classic.

Let’s assume you are moving photos from a folder structure on an external hard drive to a dedicated location (the Pictures folder) on an internal hard drive. The first step would be to copy the full folder structure exactly as it is from the external hard drive to the Pictures folder.

Next, you want to make sure that the photos in their original location are not available. If the photos are on an external hard drive, you can simply disconnect that drive from the computer. If the photos are on an internal hard drive, you can rename the top-level folder outside of Lightroom Classic so the folders and photos will appear as missing.

You can then reconnect the top-level folder that Lightroom Classic is expecting with the new top-level folder. In this case, for example, you could right-click on one of the top-level folders in the Folders list in Lightroom Classic and choose “Show Parent Folder” so the parent folder is revealed, which in my example means revealing the external hard drive as though it were a folder at the top of the Folders list. Right-click on that folder and choose “Find Missing Folder”. In the dialog that appears, navigate to the updated location, such as the Pictures folder in this example. Click the Choose button once you’ve opened that folder, and Lightroom Classic will reconnect the source folders and photos. In this case that means that instead of looking for the folders on the external hard drive, Lightroom Classic would be looking for the same folder structure in the Pictures folder of the internal hard drive.

Note that you can learn more about resolving various issues and problems in Lightroom Classic in my recently updated video course “Cleaning Up Your Mess in Lightroom Classic”, which you can find on the GreyLearning website here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/cleaning-up-your-mess-in-lightroom-classic-2025

Today’s Question: If you delete a photo [in Lightroom Classic] while not having an external hard drive connected, when you reconnect the drive will the file be deleted? In other words, can you cull images when the drive is not connected or do you need to just reject and delete later?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can only delete photos when the source files are available. If you try to delete when an external drive is disconnected, for example, your only option will be to remove the photo from the catalog, and it won’t be deleted from the hard drive even when the drive is reconnected.

More Detail: One of the advantages of the catalog used by Lightroom Classic to manage photos is that as long as you’ve generated previews for photos you can browse them even when the source files aren’t available. For example, you can review photos and update metadata even when an external hard drive containing those photos is not connected to the computer.

However, you can’t delete photos from an external hard drive that isn’t connected. In fact, if you attempt to delete a photo that isn’t available by using the Remove Photo command, your only option is to remove the photo, not delete it from the hard drive.

If you remove a photo from Lightroom Classic without deleting the source file, that file will still be on your hard drive taking up space, even though the image won’t be included in your Lightroom Classic catalog.

This issue is among several reasons I recommend assigning a Reject flag to photos you want to delete, rather than deleting them directly. You can then review the rejected photos, and then delete them when you’re sure you want to permanently remove them and that the source files are available. So, in the context of today’s, I would assign a Reject flag when reviewing the photos to identify those I want to delete. Then, when the external hard drive is connected and I’m sure I want to permanently delete the photos, the Delete Rejected Photos command (found on the Photo menu) can be used to delete only the rejected photos in the current folder location. Note that you then want to click the “Delete from Disk” button in the confirmation dialog so the source files are deleted and the images are removed from the Lightroom Classic catalog.

Today’s Question: I tried opening an image of someone spending money in Photoshop but was unable to open the image. Instead, I was met with a message that Photoshop was unable to print banknote images, directing me to a website that doesn’t seem to exist. How can I work around this limitation?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The key issue here is that there are limitations on printing copies of US currency, and Photoshop (among many other software applications, printers, and copiers) have similar limitations.

More Detail: The issue with creating images that feature US currency (with similar issues related to other currencies around the world) primarily relates to printing. Some time ago there were updates introducing restrictions in Photoshop, but you’ll find similar challenges in other software, or when trying to print or copy currency.

Interestingly enough, while Adobe Photoshop prevents you from opening images that include currency (even when, as in the case of the image shared by the photographer who posed today’s question, only a very small portion of the currency is shown), other applications such as Lightroom Classic enable you to open, edit, and print such images.

Perhaps even more interesting is that you can find numerous images of currency (including US currency) on the Adobe Stock website, including images that feature complete bills that aren’t cut off at all. But if you download one of those images, you won’t be able to open them in Photoshop. To my knowledge, there is no workaround for this issue in terms of being able to open such an image directly in Photoshop.

What I also find amusing is that from what I can find most of the restrictions on reproducing images of US currency relate specifically to printing images, not sharing them digitally. For example, when printing images of currency, that currency must appear at 75% or less of the original size or 125% or greater than the original size.

While there isn’t an easy solution for using Photoshop for such images, there are other applications that can be used. But if you’d like to learn more about some of the limitations that led to the inability to work with images of currency with the flexibility you have with other images, you can find a brief summary here:

https://www.uscurrency.gov/media/currency-image-use