Ask Tim Grey

Today’s Question: I keep all my images on a mirrored hard drive setup, so I have ready access to my images regardless of which computer I’m using. The “issue” has to do with the Lightroom Classic catalog: how do I make sure I’m always using the same catalog without having to keep current copies on both computers? I’m thinking that putting the catalog on a small, external, SSD that I plug into the computer I’m using at the moment would be the solution?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, in my view the best solution for using Lightroom Classic on more than one computer is to store the catalog (and generally the photos) on an external hard drive that you transfer between the computers.

More Detail: With Lightroom Classic the catalog is used locally to manage the information about your photos, and the catalog can’t be stored on a network drive. It is possible to store the catalog on a synchronized cloud-based storage service, such as Dropbox or Google Drive, but I do not recommend using this approach due to the risk of the catalog files getting out of sync when used across more than one computer.

Therefore, I consider the safest approach to be storing the catalog on an external hard drive. You can quit Lightroom Classic and then copy the entire folder containing the catalog and related files to an external hard drive. If you have your photos on an external hard drive, you could use that same drive for the catalog folder.

Once the catalog is stored on an external hard drive, you can simply open the catalog from that external hard drive from whatever computer you’re currently using. If the photos are also on that same hard drive, this provides a convenient way to manage all your photos and catalog files in one location. The important thing is that on each computer the path to the photos remains the same. That means, for example, having the same drive letter assigned to the drive on each computer if you’re using Windows, or making sure the volume label remains the same if you’re using Macintosh.

So, if you keep the catalog on an external hard drive, you can simply move that hard drive between computers and open the catalog from the external hard drive, so you never need to worry about using the wrong copy of the catalog when you switch between computers.

Today’s Question: I accidentally hit Video instead of Photo while taking iPhone photos of my grandchildren, and would like to know how to retrieve single photos from the video.

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can extract a still image from a video clip by opening the video in Photoshop, by using the Capture Frame option in Lightroom Classic, or even by capturing a screenshot on your iPhone.

More Detail: There are several ways you can extract a still image from a video clip, but it is important to keep in mind that the resulting photo may be at a lower resolution than a still image, depending on the video format that was used. When selecting which frame of the video to use, be sure to confirm that frame is sharp. Video is generally recorded with a relatively slow shutter speed, so there is a chance that some frames will be slightly blurry even if the video doesn’t seem blurry during playback.

You can open a video file in Photoshop, and then use the playhead slider on the Timeline panel to go to the frame you want to save as a still image. Then go to the menu and choose File > Save a Copy, which will enable you to save the current frame as a new image.

If you’re using Lightroom Classic you can also use the Capture Frame command to create a still image. Browse the video in the Library module using the loupe view, and drag the playhead to the position of the desired frame in the video. Then click the frame icon to the right of the timecode showing the minutes and seconds, and choose “Capture Frame” from the popup menu. This will create a still image from the current frame, which will be saved alongside the video.

You can also capture a screenshot on the iPhone to create a still image based on the video. To do so, open the video in the Photos app and pause at the point in the video you want to capture a still image from. Tap the screen to hide the controls, and then press the power button and the volume up button at the same time.

If you use Photoshop or Lightroom Classic to create a still image from the video, the still image will have the same resolution as the original video. That would be either 4K (approximately 4,000 pixels across) or 1080p (1,080 pixels across) depending on the setting for the Camera app in Settings on your device. If you create a screen capture the resolution will depend on the display resolution of your specific iPhone model.

Today’s Question: Based on your research, how does the Adobe version of AI-driven Denoise feature stack up against the Topaz Photo AI tool? The Topaz tool has many folks saying it does a better job of both sharpening and “denoising” than Adobe.

Tim’s Quick Answer: Overall I would say that Adobe’s AI Denoise feature is a little better than Topaz DeNoise AI, though both do offer very good results.

More Detail: Topaz DeNoise AI is certainly impressive, but my testing has demonstrated that Adobe’s new Denoise feature (available in Camera Raw and Lightroom) is a little better.

In general, I have found that Topaz DeNoise AI is too aggressive with smoothing of images, resulting in too much loss of texture. I also found that it tends to leave behind more color noise artifacts, even though the smoothing is more aggressive. In addition, Topaz DeNoise AI requires more input from the user in terms of noise-reduction settings, compared to a single slider for the Denoise feature from Adobe.

To be sure, Topaz DeNoise AI is very good at noise reduction. Some photographers may even prefer the Topaz solution because they prefer smoother images. However, I do find the aggressive smoothing in Topaz to be problematic most of the time.

I should hasten to add that while I feel the Adobe Denoise feature is a little better than the Topaz software, I am still generally able to get better results with most images using the manual noise reduction features in Adobe software (Lightroom Classic and Camera Raw) compared to both Adobe’s new Denoise feature and Topaz DeNoise AI. Of course, as these products continue to improve, I suspect we’ll soon get to the point that the AI noise reduction will exceed the quality of the manual approach for all images.

Today’s Question: I see that Adobe has added an AI noise reduction feature to Lightroom Classic [and Camera Raw in Photoshop]. Do you recommend using this new option over the manual approach to noise reduction?

Tim’s Quick Answer: While I find that the new AI-based noise reduction available in Lightroom Classic as well as Camera Raw in Photoshop is very good, I do find that I’m able to get slightly better results with the manual noise reduction controls.

More Detail: The new AI-based Denoise feature from Adobe is impressive, to be sure. With a careful adjustment of the strength of the effect you can get a very good result with minimal effort. However, there are some drawbacks based on my testing.

First, when you use the Denoise feature you will be creating a new Adobe DNG file rather than applying noise reduction to the existing raw capture. This can be a minor disadvantage in terms of having an “extra” file to manage, but I don’t consider this to be a major barrier.

I’ve also found that the default value of 50 for the Amount slider is far too aggressive, resulting in considerable loss of detail and texture in the image. I recommend starting at a value of around 20 for Amount, fine-tuning based on the specific image you’re working on, and the results you’re seeing in the preview. But in my testing a value of around 20 for Amount was far superior to the results I achieved with the default value of 50.

The results with the new Denoise feature compared to the manual noise reduction controls were rather mixed. I was consistently able to retain better texture and detail in images with manual noise reduction, but I was able to retain more of the natural colors, especially in small areas, using the new AI-based Denoise feature.

Based on my experience, I would say that the manual approach is best when your priority is to minimize the appearance of noise while retaining texture and detail in the image. If the priority is to retain even the finest color details and you’re willing to slightly degrade texture and detail, then the AI-based Denoise feature may work better. I’ve also found that the best solution varies depending on the image, so it isn’t a bad idea to test both options for images that exhibit considerable noise.

I think it is worth keeping in mind that the new Denoise feature is new and will certainly be improved over time. In addition, because the image is based on artificial intelligence, as more images are processed the quality of the results will surely improve over time as well.

The Denoise feature is found in the Detail section where the existing noise reduction controls are found. You simply click the Denoise button, adjust the Amount setting in the Enhance dialog, and click the Enhance button to process the image and create the new DNG file. The process is simple, but I do find that I’ve been able to achieve better results in general using the existing manual controls for noise reduction.

Today’s Question: I’m trying to rotate one image layer in a composite image in Photoshop by 180 degrees. However, when I use the rotation command all layers in the entire image rotate. Is there a way to only rotate a single image layer?

Tim’s Quick Answer: To rotate an individual image layer in Photoshop you need to use a command found on the Edit > Transform menu, rather than on the Image > Image Rotation menu.

More Detail: In Photoshop you’ll find a set of rotation commands on the Image > Image Rotation menu, which includes options for a 180-degree rotation, a 90-degree rotation either clockwise or counter-clockwise, and an Arbitrary option for rotation by any number of degrees. However, these options are for rotating the entire image, including all image layers, not just the currently selected layer.

If you want to rotate an individual image layer, start by clicking the thumbnail for that layer on the Layers panel so the applicable layer will be selected. Then from the menu choose Edit > Transform. There you’ll find options for a 180-degree rotation or a 90-degree rotation either clockwise or counter-clockwise. These commands will only rotate the currently active layer on the Layers panel, not the entire image.

Note, by the way, that there are also options to flip the image either horizontally or vertically on both of these menus. As noted above, the commands on the Image > Image Rotation menu will flip all layers for the entire image, while the commands found on the Edit > Transform menu will only flip the currently selected layer on the Layers panel.

Today’s Question: In response to your answer about photos stored in iCloud rather than on the iPhone, it seems to me that Apple is intentionally making it difficult to get photos out of the cloud. Is that your sense as well?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, I absolutely believe that most companies offering cloud-based storage solutions intentionally make it difficult to remove data from that online storage. In most cases this seems to be aimed at ensuring users will need to start paying for more cloud-based storage space more quickly.

More Detail: I have become increasingly convinced (and frustrated) that companies offering cloud-based storage solutions take steps to ensure you use up greater storage capacity, so you’ll need to pay a higher recurring subscription fee for the storage.

This often takes the form of making it difficult to remove files from cloud-based storage, such as by making it difficult to easily and safely download the content so it can be stored locally instead of in the cloud. It can also take the form of defaulting to the use of cloud-based storage rather than local storage, or prompting you to store more files in the cloud.

If cloud-based storage makes sense for you, then it can be very helpful. For example, some photographers prefer the cloud-based storage employed by the cloud-focused version of Lightroom. Other photographers, such as myself and many others, prefer to manage the storage of our photos locally, preferring Lightroom Classic or Adobe Bridge to manage that local storage, for example.

There is certainly a convenience aspect to storing photos and other data in the cloud, such as to make those files more easily accessible from virtually anywhere. And to be fair, in many cases the subscription fees for additional cloud-based storage are often reasonable. However, I do with that companies offering cloud-based storage solutions were more transparent about the options available, and made it easier to migrate away from cloud-based storage for those that decide to make this change.

Today’s Question: I have been unable to download photos from my iPhone or iPad into Lightroom. Only one or two appear, despite there being a few thousand. Is this problem unique to me? Is there a solution?

Tim’s Quick Answer: It sounds like most of your photos are currently being stored in the cloud rather than on your devices. You’ll need to download the photos to the device before they can be discovered by Lightroom.

More Detail: When you enable iCloud synchronization for photos on an iOS device, the primary storage for your photos becomes Apple’s servers rather than your device. If the storage is getting full on one or more of your devices, the original photos will be removed from the device to free up space. It will still appear that the photos are there, meaning you’re able to see the images, but the source files aren’t actually on the device.

When photos are stored in the cloud rather than on your device, there will be a small cloud icon on the photo. This is the indication that the photos are not stored locally, but are stored in the cloud via Apple’s servers.

In the Settings app on your device you can go to your iCloud account and select Photos, you can choose the “Download and Keep Originals” option. However, this requires that you have enough storage space on your device for the photos to be downloaded. If you don’t have enough space you could remove other apps or data to make enough space available.

You can also download photos from the cloud using the Photos app on your computer, or by signing in to iCloud.com. However, you are limited to selecting and downloading less than 1,000 at a time, so you may need to go through several steps to get all your photos downloaded.

Once you have your photos downloaded either to your device or to your computer, they will be available locally so you can import them into Lightroom, for example.

Today’s Question: If you have taken a photo and want to make a print, but it has a blown-out highlights area, what will that look like on a print and is there anything that can be done in Lightroom Classic or Photoshop to fix it? I’ve been told that blown out highlights are unrecoverable, but in this time of AI has that changed?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Areas of a photo that are blown out will have no ink on the paper in the print, causing the area to look odd both in terms of tone and texture. This can be fixed by either pulling back the white point or using image cleanup techniques to fill in the area.

More Detail: When areas of an image are blown out to pure white, there is no texture in those areas. When printed, these blown out areas of the photo will not have any ink on the paper. That results in a complete lack of texture in the area, but also means the paper in that area will be exposed. This can look a bit odd, because the texture and degree of gloss can vary somewhat significantly between areas with ink versus no ink.

There are two basic ways to resolve this issue in the print. The first (and simpler) approach is to pull back the whites so that areas that are pure white are a very bright shade of gray instead. This can be done by reducing the value for the Whites slider in Lightroom Classic or Camera Raw. You could also adjust the white slider for Output Levels with a Levels adjustment in Photoshop. The result is that there will be ink on the paper in the areas that are blown out, but there still won’t be any texture in those areas.

Therefore, in many cases the better approach is to fill the blown-out areas using image cleanup techniques. This can be done with the Healing tool (with the Content-Aware option) in Lightroom Classic, or with the Spot Healing Brush tool or the Content-Aware Fill command in Photoshop.

If the blown-out areas are relatively small, image cleanup techniques can work remarkably well. If the areas are relatively large, it can be a little more difficult to clean up the area in a way that looks natural. However, with a bit of work you can fill those areas in so they will look better in the final print, to the point that (hopefully) nobody would recognize that any work had been done in those areas at all.