Ask Tim Grey

Today’s Question: I remember a long time ago seeing you demonstrate a technique where you could combine two images based on brightness values, so that you could reveal only the brightest areas of one image in another. In your example you were combining bright clouds into another image. Can you remind me how that is done?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The technique you’re referring to involves the use of the “Blend If” sliders in Photoshop to blend two layers based on brightness values for each layer.

More Detail: While the “Blend If” sliders technique only works well under relatively specific conditions for combining two images into a composite, when it does work it can seem quite magical. The key is to use the “Blend If” sliders when there is a very clear separate in tonal values among the areas of an image you want to hide versus reveal in the composite image. Note that at the end of this answer I’ll reference a video tutorial that is available on this subject.

For example, let’s assume you want to create a composite image where a subject photographed against a bright sky is combined with a better sky in another image. You would first open these images as layers in Photoshop. From Adobe Bridge you can select the two images and then from the menu choose Tools > Photoshop > Load Files into Photoshop Layers. From Lightroom Classic you can select the images and from the menu choose Photo > Edit In > Open as Layers in Photoshop.

As you’d like, you can rearrange the order of the layers by dragging the thumbnails into a different order on the Layers panel. In this case we’ll assume the image of a subject against a bright sky is the upper layer and the replacement sky is the lower layer.

At this point you can select the upper image layer and then click the “Add new Layer Style” button (the “fx” icon) at the bottom of the layers panel and choose “Blending Options” from the popup menu.

In the Blending Options tab of the Layer Style dialog go to the Blend If section and make sure the popup next to the “Blend If” label is set to Gray so you’re blending images based on brightness values. Since at this point we want to hide portions of the current layer, we’ll drag the black slider if we want to hide dark areas and the white slider if we want to hide bright areas. In this example we want to hide the bright sky in this layer to reveal the better sky below, so we would drag the white slider toward the left.

After finding the optimal position for the slider in terms of hiding and revealing pixels to create a good composite image, some feathering or blending will be needed to improve the quality of the result. To enable this feature, hold the Alt key on Windows or the Option key on Macintosh while dragging one side of the white slider outward. This will split the slider into two smaller handles, and the gap between those handles represents feathering for the composite image. Adjust the position of both halves of the slider to optimize the composite and blending of the images.

If you want to reveal additional areas from the image below you can use the “Underlying Layer” sliders. For example, if there are bright clouds in the image of the sky for the lower layer, you might want to have some of those clouds appear over the relatively dark subject, to make it appear the subject is partially hidden among the clouds. To reveal pixels from the underlying image you drag the black slider to reveal dark areas or the white slider to reveal bright areas. So, in this example you would drag the white slider for Underlying Layer to reveal some of the bright clouds below, splitting the slider into two halves as outlined above so you get a blended result.

If you’re a GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle subscriber, you can watch the recording of my presentation on “Creating Composite Images” in my Photoshop Ultimate Live Learning series. After signing in to the GreyLearning website (https://www.greylearning.com/users/sign_in) you can follow this link to view the recording (the Blend If topic starts at about 34:22 in the recording):

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/take/photoshop-ultimate-live-learning/lessons/74839010-creating-composite-images-ps-27-6-0

If you’re not already a GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle subscriber, you can sign up for just $99 per year by using the link below to get started. You’ll then have full access to all content in the GreyLearning library, including all recordings from the Ultimate Live Learning series. Here’s the link:

https://www.greylearning.com/bundles/greylearning-bundle?coupon=golive

Today’s Question: Is there a way to combine two (or more) photos into a composite image in Lightroom Classic?

Tim’s Quick Answer: To combine two or more images into a composite image you would need to send the images to Photoshop from Lightroom Classic. The only options for merging multiple images together directly in Lightroom Classic are to create a high dynamic range (HDR) image, a composite panorama, or an HDR panorama.

More Detail: Lightroom Classic can blend multiple exposures into an HDR or multiple frames into a composite image. It can even perform both tasks in one process to create an HDR panorama. However, it isn’t able to combine images into a composite, such as if you were replacing the sky in one image using the sky from another image. That type of composite image would require Photoshop.

To get started in Lightroom Classic you can select the two (or more) images you want to combine into a composite image. Then go to the menu and choose Photo > Edit In > Open as Layers in Photoshop. This will open the selected images into a single layered document in Photoshop.

At that point you can use layer masks to combine various image elements, blend modes to combine the images such as for a multiple exposure effect, or otherwise work with the layers to create a composite image. When you’re finished simply choose File > Save to save the resulting image with layers intact (based on the External Editing settings in Preferences in Lightroom Classic) and close the image.

When you go back to Lightroom Classic the composite image can be found in the same folder as the source images used to create the composite.

Today’s Question: I’m relatively new at using Lightroom Classic, and so I’m sometimes nervous to perform certain tasks in my catalog. Is there a way to use a “test” catalog separate from my “real” catalog for purposes of practicing various techniques to build confidence before do the work in my real catalog?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you could create a separate catalog for test purposes, using copies of some of your photos to populate that catalog to use for practice. Just be sure that your real catalog is set as the default in Preferences to help make sure you’re always using your real catalog for your real workflow.

More Detail: If you’re just getting started with Lightroom Classic (or you lack confidence using some of the features) it can be a good idea to create a test environment to enable yourself to practice without any concern that you’ll cause problems with your primary catalog.

The first step would be to create a new catalog, which you can do by selecting File > New Catalog from the menu in Lightroom Classic. Navigate to the location where you want to save the catalog, enter a meaningful name in the Save As field, and click the Create button. This will create a folder and catalog files in the designated location. You can then open that catalog, which initially will be empty without any images.

I then recommend copying some of your photos to a test folder, separate of your primary photo storage, for testing purposes. For example, you could copy (not move!) a handful of folders containing photos to a “Lightroom Classic Test” folder. Then in your test catalog you can click the Import button at the bottom of the left panel, select your top-level folder containing test images, and turn on the “Include Subfolders” checkbox, all on the left panel of the Import dialog. At the top center choose the “Add” option, adjust settings as desired on the right panel, and click the Import button at the bottom right.

Within this test environment you can practice any techniques and make use of any features you’d like, without having to be concerned about impacting your real catalog and photos.

I also strongly recommend setting your primary catalog as the default catalog in Preferences if you haven’t done so already. This can be set using the Default Catalog popup on the General tab of the Preferences dialog in Lightroom Classic. Doing so will cause Lightroom Classic to open that catalog automatically whenever you launch the software, rather than just opening the catalog that was opened most recently. This can help avoid confusion, as you’ll always know that your primary catalog is opening every time you launch Lightroom Classic. If you want to open your test catalog, you can simply choose File > Open Recent and choose the test catalog from the menu.

Today’s Question: I was reading a tutorial about editing raw images from Lightroom Classic in Camera Raw by selecting the Edit menu and selecting Photoshop. There is supposed to be a screen that comes up allowing me to choose if I want to use Camera Raw to perform the edits which is supposed to provide easier to understand and use options.

Tim’s Quick Answer: The screen that asks about editing the image in Photoshop only appears for non-raw image files, not raw captures. It also only relates to Photoshop rather than Camera Raw, though you could use Camera Raw as a filter once the image is opened in Photoshop.

More Detail: When you send a raw capture from Lightroom Classic to Photoshop using the Edit > Edit In > Edit in Adobe Photoshop command, you will not be prompted about how you want to process the image. Instead, the raw image will be processed based on any adjustments applied in the Develop module and then saved as a TIFF or PSD file based on the settings established on the External Editing tab of the Preferences dialog in Lightroom Classic.

If you send a non-raw image (such as a PSD, TIFF, or JPEG image) you’ll be prompted about whether you want to create a new derivative copy of the image or simply edit the source (original) file you’ve selected.

However, in both cases the image will not open directly in Camera Raw before opening in Photoshop. That’s because the Develop module in Lightroom Classic is the equivalent of Camera Raw, and therefore Camera Raw is not needed to process the image. If it is a raw capture, for example, the raw will be processed to a TIFF or PSD file and therefore Camera Raw isn’t needed.

If, however, you want to use the Camera Raw interface to apply adjustments to an image that you’re working on in Photoshop (regardless of whether it was sent from Lightroom Classic or opened directly) you can use the Camera Raw filter by choosing Filter > Camera Raw Filter from the menu.

Today’s Question: Every time I launch Adobe Bridge I now get a message saying that Bridge would like to access data from other apps. I click “Allow” each time, but is there a way to get the message to go away?

Tim’s Quick Answer: This error message indicates that Adobe Bridge does not have full access to the hard drive. By enabling access, you will no longer see the message, and Bridge will be able to browse and update all files.

More Detail: The issue reflected in today’s question only affects Macintosh users, not Windows users. It relates to a security setting that selectively enables applications to access hard drives with full read and write privileges.

To resolve this issue, first click the Apple logo at the far left of the menu bar and choose System Settings. In the System Settings dialog scroll down on the left side and choose Privacy & Security. On the right side choose Full Disk Access, locate Adobe Bridge on the list, and turn on the toggle switch to the right to enable access for Bridge.

If you don’t see Adobe Bridge on the list, click the plus (+) symbol at the bottom-left of the list. In the dialog that appears you’ll be browsing the Applications folder. Open the Adobe Bridge folder and then either double-click on the Adobe Bridge application or select Adobe Bridge and click the Open button. This will add Bridge to the list, with Full Disk Access enabled.

Once the Full Disk Access option is enabled for Adobe Bridge, you’ll no longer see the message about accessing data from other apps when you launch Bridge.

Today’s Question: Is it really true that it is totally safe to delete the previews file for a catalog in Lightroom Classic? Is there no problem at all caused by doing so?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, it is perfectly safe to delete the file that contains your standard previews for Lightroom Classic. The only drawback is that the experience of browsing your photos will be slower due to the lack of previews, though they will be generated as you work.

More Detail: You can think of the previews for photos in your Lightroom Classic catalog as being merely a cache that helps improve browsing performance. When standard previews have been generated for photos, it is much faster to browse those images in the Library module because the smaller JPEG previews can be loaded rather than rendering based on the full raw capture, for example. Without previews, you might initially see no image at all, then a low-resolution image based on an embedded preview, and then a normal image once the standard preview has been created.

As a result of the previews being a cache for improved performance, it is perfectly safe to delete the file containing the standard previews. For example, you may need to quickly recover hard drive space or there may be issues with corrupted previews.

If you want to delete the previews file, first navigate to the folder containing your catalog. From within Lightroom Classic you can go to the Catalog Settings dialog (from the Edit menu on Windows or the Lightroom Classic menu on Macintosh) and select the General tab. Click the Show button to the right of the displayed path for the catalog files, which will bring up a window in your operating system with the folder containing your catalog files highlighted.

Open the highlighted folder, and look for the file that has the same base filename as the primary catalog file (that’s the one with the .lrcat filename extension), but with “Previews” appended to the base filename. For example, if your primary catalog file is named “My Lightroom Classic Catalog.lrcat” the file containing the standard previews will be called “My Lightroom Classic Catalog Previews.lrdata”.

I recommend that you first quit Lightroom Classic, at which point you can delete that previews file. Don’t forget to empty the Recycle Bin (Windows) or Trash (Macintosh) to actually free up the hard drive space from the deleted previews file.

You can then launch Lightroom Classic again. Just note that initially there won’t be any previews available, but they will be generated as you browse your photos. That will cause the browsing experience to be slower until previews have been built. For example, if you browse a folder and wait for Lightroom Classic to generate previews for all images in that folder, the browsing experience will be fast again. But when you navigate to another folder that doesn’t have previews yet, the browsing will be slower until previews have been built.

Today’s Question: I deleted the Previews file associated with my Lightroom Classic catalog when I was urgently out of hard drive space. Now that I’ve cleared up plenty of space, is there a way to rebuild previews again for all photos? Right now it is really slow to browse images when I select a folder.

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can select all photos in the All Photographs collection and build previews for all of them. This will take considerable time, but it will then speed up browsing once the previews have been generated.

More Detail: The file that contains the standard previews for your Lightroom Classic catalog can get quite large, making it a prime choice for deletion if you need to free up considerable hard drive space quickly. For example, the previews file for my catalog is over 200GB in size.

The standard previews generated by Lightroom Classic help improve the speed with which you can browse through your photos. If you delete the previews file then browsing can become quite slow because Lightroom Classic needs to generate previews on the fly as you browse various folders of photos.

Therefore, if you’re able to free up adequate storage space on the drive that contains your Lightroom Classic catalog, it can be very helpful to build previews for all photos again. This is true whether you had deleted the previews file or you neglected to have standard previews built during import, for example.

To build previews for all photos, first select the “All Photographs” collection in the Catalog section of the left panel in the Library module. Then be sure to choose “None” from the Library Filter bar above the grid view to ensure all photos are displayed. If the Library Filter bar doesn’t appear above the grid view you can choose View > Show Filter Bar from the menu.

Next, choose Edit > Select All from the menu to select all photos. If your photos are stored on one or more external hard drives, be sure those are connected to the computer so the photos are available. Then choose Library > Previews > Build Standard-Sized Previews from the menu to start building the previews.

The process of building all previews can take considerable time, from hours to days depending on how many images you have and the hardware configuration for your computer and storage. But once the previews are built, you’ll be able to browse your photos much more quickly again.

Today’s Question: I tried the multi-image editing method you described [in Tuesday’s answer] in Lightroom Classic. It did not work until I clicked the Sync button. Does Lightroom Classic need the extra step?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Sort of. You can enable automatic synchronization in the Develop module to apply adjustments in batch to multiple selected images. When you do so there’s no need to click the Synch button after applying adjustments.

More Detail: In Tuesday’s answer I explained how you can batch process multiple images in Camera Raw by opening the images and selecting them all on the filmstrip within the Camera Raw interface. It is similarly possible to batch adjust multiple images in the Develop module in Lightroom Classic, though it does require one minor additional step.

After selecting multiple images in Lightroom Classic, at the bottom of the right panel in the Develop module you can click the toggle switch on the left side of the Sync button. This will turn on automatic synchronization, which is reflected by the fact that the button will then be labeled “Auto Sync”.

While Auto Sync is enabled, all adjustments you apply in the Develop module will affect all images that are selected on the filmstrip. This includes advanced adjustments such as targeted adjustments using masks. For example, if you use the masking feature to create a mask for the sky for multiple selected images, each image will have a unique mask based on the sky that was detected individually.

Once you’re finished applying batch adjustments using the Auto Sync feature, if you leave the option enabled it will automatically activate again anytime you select more than one image. If you think you might have a situation where you have selected multiple images but only want to adjust one, I suggest turning off the Auto Sync feature to avoid accidentally affecting multiple images. In that case you could simply turn Auto Sync back on when you want to apply adjustments to multiple selected images.

Today’s Question: Is there a way to just change the default adjustment settings in Lightroom Classic so I don’t even need to apply a preset during import?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, with some notable exceptions, you can change the default settings for the Develop module in Lightroom Classic so those settings will apply to photos on import.

More Detail: Develop presets enable you to save specific adjustment settings so they can be applied to other images later. That includes being able to apply the preset to all images during import or selected photos after import.

In addition, however, you can set a preset as the default settings in the Develop module, so they will automatically apply to images on import without having to select a preset during import. However, there are some notable exceptions to keep in mind.

When you change the default settings for the Develop module, the updated defaults will only apply to raw captures during import. Existing images in your catalog won’t be affected by the change, and non-raw images (such as JPEG or TIFF images) will not be affected by the updated defaults. In addition, if you import a raw image that already has adjustment settings (contained in an XMP sidecar file), the existing adjustments will be retained, and your updated defaults will not apply.

That said, if you change the defaults and then import a batch of raw captures right out of your camera, they’ll all be affected by your updated settings.

The first step is to make sure you have a Develop module preset reflecting the updated settings you want to use as the new defaults. Then go to the Preferences dialog in and choose the Presets tab. In the Raw Defaults section click the Global popup and choose the desired Develop preset. From that point forward that preset will then apply to all raw images that don’t have existing Develop settings, without the need to select a preset during import.

Today’s Question: Is it possible to apply adjustments in batch to multiple photos using Camera Raw, such as for the profile-based lens correction adjustment you recommend for all photos?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can batch process multiple images at a time in Camera Raw by opening the photos with camera raw, selecting them all on the filmstrip, and applying the desired adjustments. Your adjustments will then apply to all selected photos on the filmstrip.

More Detail: I find that many photographers are not aware that it is possible to batch process multiple photos at a time in Camera Raw. The process is very straightforward and offers great flexibility.

To get started, simply open multiple photos in Camera Raw, whether you do so by selecting multiple images and opening them from Adobe Bridge or select multiple photos to open within Photoshop using the File > Open command.

When you open multiple photos in Camera Raw, you’ll see a filmstrip at the bottom of the interface (or on the left side if you’ve selected “Vertical” from the Orientation popup on the General tab in the Camera Raw Preferences dialog). You can toggle the visibility of that filmstrip by clicking the filmstrip button to the right of the zoom controls at the bottom-left of the Camera Raw window.

On the filmstrip you can select multiple photos you want to edit. You can press Ctrl+A on Windows or Command+A on Macintosh to select all photos on the filmstrip, for example. You can also click one thumbnail and then hold the Shift key while clicking another thumbnail to select those two images and all images in between. You can also hold the Ctrl key on Windows or the Command key on Macintosh while clicking a thumbnail to toggle the selection of that image.

With more than one image selected on the filmstrip in Camera Raw, all adjustments you apply will affect the selected images. As you apply those adjustments, you’ll notice the thumbnails on the filmstrip update accordingly.

One of great things about this capability is that it provides considerable flexibility in terms of which images are affected by a given adjustment. You could, for example, select all images and apply adjustments to them all. You could then select a smaller number of photos that need a little refinement and apply additional adjustments to those. You can even go back to selecting a single image and further refine the adjustments for that individual photo.

This set of features makes it easy to take a group of photos that were captured under similar conditions and optimize them all in batch. You can then refine the adjustments for some of the photos as needed. When you’re all finished, you can select all the images again and then open them or save them for further processing in Photoshop.