Month: March 2017

Today’s Question: When optimizing a RAW file in Lightroom, I am aware that the typical Camera Raw tools are non-destructive. Since there are many other adjustment tools in Lightroom, am I still working with RAW data or has Lightroom converted my image to pixels at some point? If Lightroom is working on pixels, wouldn’t I be better off to take that image out to the Photoshop Editor and work in Layers?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Lightroom is working with the RAW capture data when applying adjustments to your images, but some of the adjustments are applied after the process of rendering pixel values. But ultimately I wouldn’t worry too much about the complexities of what is happening in Lightroom, and instead focus on workflow efficiency and quality of results when defining your approach to optimizing photos.

More Detail: Much has been made about the notion of applying adjustments at the time of converting a RAW capture to actual pixel values. However, many of the adjustments you might apply with RAW-processing software are actually applied to pixel data after it has been rendered from the RAW capture. In other words, for many of the adjustments you might apply there isn’t a significant advantage to applying those adjustments with RAW-processing software rather than pixel-based tools such as Photoshop.

The specific details will vary among different software that enables you to work with RAW captures, and so it can be very difficult to get a clear sense of which adjustments are being applied at which specific stage of processing your photos. Furthermore, in many cases the timing of applying those adjustments relative to RAW data versus pixel data isn’t especially critical. In other words, I wouldn’t use this issue as the key consideration in your workflow.

Instead, I would focus on workflow efficiency, flexibility of your workflow, and the results you are able to achieve.

In many cases, for example, I simply find the results I’m able to achieve with Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw are superior to what I could achieve within Photoshop directly. Noise reduction in Lightroom and Camera Raw are superior to the filters available in Photoshop, as are the lens correction and perspective adjustments in my experience. As a result, even with images that have already been converted to pixels rather than RAW data, I’ll often use Lightroom or the Camera Raw Filter in Photoshop to apply these adjustments to my photos.

More importantly, perhaps, is the greater power and flexibility of selections and layer masks in Photoshop as compared to Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw. Therefore, when it comes to targeted adjustments I am quick to shift my focus to Photoshop.

I do recommend trying to get the overall tonality and color fidelity optimized as much as possible when applying adjustments with RAW-processing software. For most other adjustments, I recommend focusing on which tools provides the best results in terms of quality, the best ease-of-use, the greatest flexibility, and a workflow that feels comfortable to you.

Today’s Question: You made reference to “Lightroom Web”, which is not something I’ve ever heard of. I know about Lightroom, of course, and the mobile version of Lightroom, but what is “Lightroom Web”?

Tim’s Quick Answer: There is indeed a “web” version of Lightroom you can access through your web browser. Photos you have synchronized for access from the version of Lightroom for mobile devices can also be viewed and updated on any Internet-connected computer by pointing your web browser to: https://lightroom.adobe.com

More Detail: The workflow for managing your photos in Lightroom revolves around a computer, where you can access your Lightroom catalog to organize, optimize, and share your photos. You can also access some of your photos from mobile devices that have the Lightroom Mobile app installed, as well as through a web browser.

Once you have enabled synchronization within Lightroom on the desktop, you can enable synchronization for specific collections you have created within your catalog. Those collections will then be synchronized via the Adobe Creative Cloud, so that the images and related metadata can be accessed and updated from elsewhere.

Many photographers are aware that you can install a mobile version of Lightroom on your Apple or Android mobile devices. When you sign in with your Adobe ID to Lightroom on such a device, you’ll be able to review, edit, and update the photos you have synchronized from Lightroom on the desktop.

In addition, you can access those synchronized photos from within a web browser on any Internet-connected computer. Start by pointing your web browser here:

https://lightroom.adobe.com

Then sign in using your Adobe ID, and you’ll be able to access all of your synchronized photos right there within the web browser. All updates applied via Lightroom Mobile or using Lightroom in a web browser will be synchronized back and reflected within your Lightroom catalog on the desktop.

Today’s Question: I have started using smart previews [in Lightroom] so I can do most of my editing on a mobile device or on my laptop with the photos drive detached so it doesn’t spin all the time.

When I open Lightroom with the photos drive attached, will the XMP sidecar files that have new data from Lightroom Mobile editing or from editing with the smart previews get updated automatically or do I have to do something to ensure that they get updated?

Tim’s Quick Answer: If you have enabled the option to have Lightroom automatically update the XMP sidecar files, those updates will begin as soon as the source image files are available. The Lightroom catalog will be updated based on changes made via Lightroom Mobile (or Lightroom Web) as soon as Lightroom is connected to the Internet for synchronization.

More Detail: There are now a variety of ways you can work with your images in Lightroom, including the use of a feature-limited version of Lightroom on mobile devices and the ability to work with Smart Previews in Lightroom on a computer even when the source photos aren’t available.

In terms of working on mobile devices and with Smart Previews, the Lightroom catalog will be updated to reflect the changes you’ve applied as soon as synchronization is possible. That basically means that as soon as all of the devices in question have been connected to the Internet, updates will be synchronized. So, for example, when you apply an adjustment to an image with the mobile version of Lightroom, once your mobile device and your computer have been connected to the Internet Lightroom will be able to synchronize the data.

If you want the XMP files for RAW captures (or the actual image files for other captures) to be updated in addition to the Lightroom catalog, you can enable automatic updates. To enable automatic updates, go to the Metadata tab in the Catalog Settings dialog, which can be found on the Edit menu on Windows or the Lightroom menu on Macintosh. Then turn on the “Automatically write changes into XMP” checkbox, and Lightroom will update the source images with metadata updates based on changes you apply in the Lightroom catalog.

It is important to note that not all changes you apply in Lightroom can be written out to the XMP sidecar files (or source images). In general, features that are specific to Lightroom (such as pick and reject flags, collections, virtual copies, and more) cannot be saved in this way, and will only exist within the catalog.