Ask Tim Grey

Today’s Question: How do I preserve my catalog and presets when uninstalling and reinstalling Lightroom Classic?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Your catalog will not be removed when you uninstall Lightroom Classic. To retain preferences and other settings you’ll just want to be sure to choose the “Keep” option when uninstalling.

More Detail: There are a variety of reasons you may want to uninstall and reinstall Lightroom Classic (or other software applications), such as to troubleshoot odd behavior or other issues. Uninstalling and reinstalling Lightroom Classic is often recommended when plug-ins aren’t working properly, along with reinstalling the affected plug-ins.

You can uninstall Lightroom Classic (or other applications in your Creative Cloud subscription) using the Creative Cloud application. If you select “All apps” from the left side of the Creative Cloud window you’ll see your installed applications at the top of the list on the right side of the window.

To uninstall an application within the Creative Cloud application click on the ellipsis button (the three dots) to the right of the name of the application you want to remove. From the popup that appears choose “Uninstall”.

In the confirmation dialog that appears be sure to click the “Keep” button, which will cause preferences and other settings to be retained. If you click the “Remove” button those preferences will be removed and therefore reset when you reinstall Lightroom Classic.

After the uninstall is complete you can go to the Photo category on the left side of the Creative Cloud window and click the “Install” button to the right of Lightroom Classic. When the installation is complete you can launch Lightroom Classic, and you’ll find that your existing catalog and all settings will be just as you had left them.

Today’s Question: Is Backblaze better than Apple Time Machine for restoring images?

Tim’s Quick Answer: I wouldn’t necessarily say that Backblaze (https://timgrey.me/onlinebackup) is better than Time Machine for restoring photos. Each of these backup solutions has strengths and weaknesses depending on context.

More Detail: I use both Time Machine (which is built into the Macintosh operating system) and Backblaze to backup my internal hard drive. I also use GoodSync (http://timgrey.me/greybackup) to backup my external hard drives. While there are differences between Time Machine and Backblaze, I wouldn’t choose one over the other and instead use both.

The key advantage of Backblaze is that it provides an offsite backup. A local backup is great, but it does mean that if a physical location has a serious problem (such as a fire) you might lose your original data and your backup data all at once. Having a backup offsite helps overcome this sort of issue.

Time Machine is what I consider a “local” backup solution, though you could obviously take the backup drive used for Time Machine to a different physical location. The main advantage to Time Machine is that it provides an incremental and historical backup, so I can recover files from various points in time as long as my backup goes back far enough.

For example, let’s assume I had been working on a document but made a critical error a few days ago, and I continued to make changes to the document over the several days since without realizing my prior error. With Time Machine I could go back in time several days to find a version of my document without the error, and I could recover the necessary text from that earlier version of the document (or recover the entire document if necessary). Similarly, Time Machine makes it relatively easy to restore a file that was erased accidentally.

Backblaze is more focused on maintaining a current backup in a remote location. If you need to restore individual files from a Backblaze backup, you can do that through their website. You could also recover an entire set of backup data, such as the backup of an entire hard drive, either via an internet download or by paying to have a hard drive shipped to you with the recovery data.

So, in some respects Time Machine makes recovery of files a little easier, but Backblaze provides the advantage of an offsite backup. I therefore use both in concert with each other, supplemented by GoodSync to back up my external hard drives locally.

Today’s Question: I have watched several YouTube videos where it is explained how to select colors outside the Lightroom Classic window. You can simply click and hold on the eyedropper, in the color picker, and then drag your mouse over any color on your screen, even those colors outside the Lightroom Classic window. I can’t seem to get this to work on my Mac (macOS 12.3) using the current version of Lightroom Classic (v 11.2). Any suggestions?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Based on your description I suspect you have a permissions issue that is preventing colors from being sampled with the eyedropper outside the Lightroom Classic interface.

More Detail: There are various situations in Lightroom Classic where you will want to select a specific color, such as when adding text to photos when sharing them. In those cases, you can use the eyedropper tool within the color picker to sample a color. While you might assume that the color could only be selected from a photo, you can actually sample a color from anywhere on your screen, including the Lightroom Classic interface or another application or within your operating system.

For Windows users this feature usually works perfectly fine. Simply click within the color picker and hold the mouse button down. Then, still holding the mouse button, drag the eyedropper to the color you want to sample from anywhere on your screen. When the mouse is hovered over that color, release the mouse button and the color will be sampled.

If this behavior isn’t working for you on a Macintosh computer, then a setting in the System Preferences is probably getting in the way.

Start by clicking the Apple logo at the far left of the menu bar and choosing “System Preferences”. In the System Preferences dialog choose “Security & Privacy”. Then go to the Privacy tab and select “Screen Recording” from the list on the left side of the dialog. You’ll then need to click the lock icon at the bottom-left of the dialog and enter your system password to enable changes. Then turn on the checkbox for Lightroom Classic in the list on the right side of the dialog.

You can then close the System Preferences dialog, and at that point you should be able to successfully sample a color with the eyedropper from anywhere on your screen, even outside the Lightroom Classic interface.

Today’s Question: My external hard drive Photos folder contains 16,633 photos in a couple of dozen folders. However, when I browse that folder the notation at the top-left of the filmstrip says “16,596 of 16,633”, which indicates 37 photos missing. From the menu I selected Library > Find All Missing Photos, but the dialog box came back with “No Missing Files”. What am I doing wrong, and what could be the problem?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The issue here is that some photos are hidden from view within Lightroom Classic, but the source photos are not actually missing.

More Detail: When photos are “missing” in Lightroom Classic that means that the source photo can’t be found where it is expected. For example, if you renamed a folder outside of Lightroom Classic then the folder (and all the photos within the folder) would appear missing because the folder has a different name than is expected within the catalog.

If you use the Library > Find All Missing Photos command and no photos appear missing, I’d say that is a cause for celebration. After all, many photographers have ended up with photos that are missing (or disconnected) in the context of their Lightroom Classic catalog.

Of course, I understand that you still want to uncover the cause for the photos that appear to be missing even though they aren’t truly missing in the context of the catalog.

In this case the most likely cause for the photos being excluded from the count is that the photos are part of a stack of photos that has been collapsed. When photos are in a collapsed stack, the photo count will only include the top photo in the stack, not the photos that are hidden from view by virtue of being in a collapsed stack. If you expand the stack the photo count will increase accordingly.

So, for example, you could navigate to one of the folders that shows a shortage of photos, and then go to the menu and choose Photo > Stacking > Expand All Stacks. This will expand all stacks within the current folder location, updating the count for how many photos are being displayed out of the total that are actually in the current folder.

Another possibility is that there is a filter applied that is causing only some of the photos in the folder to be displayed. You may have a filter set based on star ratings, color labels, or other metadata. To ensure there aren’t any filters applied go to the Library Filter bar at the top of the grid view display in the Library module and choose “None” so that no filter is applied.

The point is that in this case while you aren’t seeing all the photos that are actually contained in the current storage location, that doesn’t mean the photos are actually missing. Rather, it means that not all photos that are in the current folder location are being shown on the filmstrip or within the grid view display.

Today’s Question: I have a follow-up on this. On March 25 you answered a question about moving a catalog and said, “Next, be sure to quit Lightroom Classic, because there is a risk of the catalog being corrupted if it is copied (or moved) while it is in use.” Is there a difference in manually copying the catalog vs the system/software doing it (GoodSync, Backblaze, etc.)?

Tim’s Quick Answer: While there isn’t a risk of corruption of your Lightroom Classic catalog by backing up while the catalog is in use, and most backup software will cache files prior to backing them up so there won’t be issues if the file changes during the backup process. That said, in general it is best if files are not being updated while a backup is running.

More Detail: The primary concern related to copying (or backing up) files that are currently in use is that the files will be corrupted at their destination. In other words, if you copy the files the source version would be fine, but the destination copy could be corrupted. If you move the files while they are in use, there is a risk that the files will be corrupted during that process. The chances of such a problem are relatively slim, but there is still a risk.

When backing up files you are copying the source files, but there isn’t any real risk to those source files. Rather, there is some degree of risk that the backup copy will be corrupted.

Most backup software uses caching and checksums to avoid these types of problems, and so it isn’t something that you really need to worry about. That said, out of an abundance of caution I recommend that files not be in use when they are being backed up.

Of course, for software such as Backblaze (https://timgrey.me/onlinebackup) it isn’t exactly easy to quit the applications you’re using while the backup is running, since the backup basically runs continuously in the background. In addition, for large files Backblaze only updates the backup every 48 hours, which for many photographers would include the catalog files for Lightroom Classic. Therefore, it would be virtually impossible to time your use of Lightroom Classic to match an online backup such as with Backblaze.

So, while there are minor issues involved with files being in use while they are being backed up, this isn’t a significant enough issue that I would alter your backup workflow to avoid those issues. The more important thing is to make sure you’re backing up your photos and other important data regularly.

Today’s Question: I understand that we should be deleting our Lightroom Classic backups periodically to save disc space. Could you explain how to do this?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can delete older backups of your Lightroom Classic catalog by deleting the folders associated with those backups, which by default are stored in a folder called “Backups” within the folder that contains your catalog.

More Detail: Deleting catalog backups is one of the few situations where you actually need to work outside of Lightroom Classic, rather than within Lightroom Classic. The first step is determining where your catalog backups are being stored. You can get this information in the Back Up Catalog dialog.

Start by selecting Edit > Catalog Settings from the menu on Windows, or Lightroom Classic > Catalog Settings on Macintosh. Go to the General tab and from the “Back up catalog” popup choose “When Lightroom next exits”. Close the Catalog Settings dialog and quit Lightroom Classic, and the Back Up Catalog dialog will appear.

In the Back Up Catalog dialog you’ll see a reference to the Backup Folder location. By default, the backup folder will be a “Backups” folder within the folder that contains your catalog.

Within the operating system navigate to the folder that contains the backups of your catalog. There you’ll find folders for each of the backups, with a folder name that includes the year, month, day, and time of the backup. This information can be used to determine which backup folders to delete.

I recommend retaining at least a few recent backups, a backup from perhaps a month or so ago, and a backup from several months ago. As long as Lightroom Classic seems to be behaving normally, all other backups (especially older backups) can be deleted. Simply select the backup folders you want to delete, then right-click and choose “Delete” from the popup menu on Windows or “Move to Trash” on Macintosh.

Note that on Windows deleting these folders will move them to the Recycle Bin, and on Macintosh the folders will be move to the Trash. You’ll need to empty the Recycle Bin or Trash to actually free up the space that had been consumed by the backups.

Today’s Question: I have two cameras that number the files from 1 to 9,999. I shoot many flying birds. When I download all the photos, the computer stops when an identical filename is encountered. These photos are not identical since they are shot on different days. I have come up with several clunky solutions, such as loading them into separate folders. Do you have a different, simpler solution in Lightroom Classic?

Tim’s Quick Answer: I recommend importing the photos directly into Lightroom Classic and using a file renaming structure that will ensure there is not any duplication of filenames for different photos being copied to the same folder.

More Detail: The first issue here is that the photos are being downloaded into the same folder directly from multiple media cards where there are duplicate filenames among different photos on different cards. As a first step I recommend downloading as part of the process of importing these photos into your Lightroom Classic catalog. This enables you to apply renaming to the photos during download and provides a more streamlined solution for dealing with any duplicate filenames.

You can define (or refine) a template for renaming photos in the File Renaming section on the right panel in the Import dialog. Turn on the Rename Files checkbox, and then choose “Edit” from the Template popup. In the Filename Template Editor that appears, you can choose an option that seems like a good starting point for a file renaming template from the Preset popup. You can then customize the template using a series of tokens representing metadata along with text you can enter.

To begin with, the file renaming template can use a sequence number that is up to five digits, whereas most cameras only include a sequence number of up to four digits. That enables you to have up to 99,999 photos with the same basic filename structure but with a unique overall filename, compared to only 9,999 such filenames from the camera.

Note that you’ll need to set the sequence number value individually for each import. So for the first import for a given folder you might set the value to “1”, but after importing 3,000 photos, for example, you would need to set the sequence number for the next import manually to “3001”.

Since you’re shooting with more than one camera you could also include the camera serial number as one of the components of the filename. You might also want to include the date of capture as part of that structure, such as with a “YYYY-MM-DD” format.

These are just a few examples of details you might include to ensure that when you download photos during the process of importing them into your Lightroom Classic catalog, all files will more than likely have a completely unique filename. You can obviously define your own structure based on the details that would be most helpful in the filenames for your photos, especially in the context of ensuring unique filenames.

However, you’ll also be happy to know that even if there are duplicate filenames because you used the same structure with the same starting sequence number for two imports, Lightroom Classic is smart enough to work around this automatically. When you import a photo into the same folder as another photo with the same filename, Lightroom Classic will automatically add a parenthetical number (such as “(1)”) to the filename for the newer photo.

Today’s Question: In Lightroom Classic, how can you selectively and subtly blur words in an image so they are not legible, while retaining clarity and sharpness everywhere else? Example: an image taken in a cemetery where out of respect you don’t want the names on headstones to be legible.

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can blur a specific area of a photo in Lightroom Classic with the masking feature, defining a mask for the area and then using a negative value for Sharpness to apply a blur. You can then duplicate the mask as needed to strengthen the blur effect.

More Detail: The masking feature of Lightroom Classic includes the ability to define a mask for the area you want to apply a targeted adjustment to, and then apply adjustments that only affect the area defined by the mask. To blur the area you’ve defined you can use a negative value for the Sharpness slider.

The first step would be to create a mask that defines the area you want to blur. Click on the Masking button (the dashed circle icon) on the small toolbar below the histogram on the right panel in the Develop module. Choose the type of mask you want to create based on the area you want to blur. In this case the Brush option may be best, so you can simply paint on the image to define the areas you want to blur.

Once you’ve created a mask for the area you want to blur, within the adjustment controls for the Masking feature on the right panel you can reduce the value for Sharpness. More than likely you’ll need to reduce all the way to the minimum value of -100, and even that likely won’t be strong enough.

To strengthen the blur effect, you can duplicate the mask on the Masks panel, which will duplicate both the shape of the mask as well as the adjustments applied for the mask. On the Masks panel click the ellipsis button (the three dots) to the right of the mask you created and choose the “Duplicate” command from the popup menu. Note that the name of the mask will be included with the command, such as “Duplicate Mask 1”. Depending on the nature of the area you are selectively blurring you may need to duplicate the mask several times.

Today’s Question: I just closed Lightroom Classic and had it back up the catalog. However, the backup folder for today only has one ZIP file in it. It used to back up the catalog, a review file, helper file, etc. Did something change or am I not getting a full backup?

Tim’s Quick Answer: When you back up the catalog in Lightroom Classic only the actual catalog and the related catalog data file (with version 11 or later) are backed up. Those files are included in the ZIP file that is created when you back up the catalog.

More Detail: It is worth keeping in mind that the backup feature in Lightroom Classic only backs up the catalog, and not all the “helper” files associated with the catalog. It also doesn’t backup other files, such as presets and settings.

Obviously the most important file in the context of a workflow that revolves around Lightroom Classic is the actual catalog. That is the file with the “.lrcat” filename extension, and as of version 11 of Lightroom Classic the file with the “.lrcat-data” file is also important to include.

The other helper files associated with the catalog are not generally critical to include. For example, the previews files aren’t critical because previews can always be rebuilt based on the source images again if needed.

However, there are other files beyond the Lightroom Classic catalog that can be important to back up. That includes any presets you’ve created or purchased, for example. It can also be helpful to back up the various other files related to preferences within Lightroom Classic.

I consider the included backup feature in Lightroom Classic to be very helpful for backing up the catalog. I highly recommend using this backup feature because it includes options for testing the integrity of the catalog and optimizing the catalog. However, backing up the catalog doesn’t back up all important data related to your Lightroom Classic workflow. Most importantly, that backup doesn’t include your photos.

So, it is important that you have a complete backup workflow that includes all files you care about. For example, I use the Time Machine feature of the Macintosh operating system to back up my internal hard drive. I also use GoodSync software (http://timgrey.me/greybackup) to back up my hard drives locally, and I use the Backblaze service (https://timgrey.me/onlinebackup) to create an additional backup of my important data in the cloud for offsite storage.