Month: July 2022

Today’s Question: You mentioned the info overlay for the loupe view in Lightroom Classic in your answer about cropped dimensions for a photo. I never knew about that feature and wonder if you could explain how to configure and use it and whether you have any recommended settings for this display.

Tim’s Quick Answer: The info overlay for the loupe view in Lightroom Classic can indeed be helpful. You can configure the display options in the View Options dialog, and then cycle through the two info overlay displays or no overlay at all by pressing the letter “I” on the keyboard.

More Detail: The info overlay is available in the loupe view display for both the Library module and the Develop module in Lightroom Classic. You can obviously have the info overlay turned off, or you can cycle through two different configurations for the info overlay. The letter “I” on the keyboard can be used to cycle through the first overlay configuration, the second configuration, or to turn off the display.

To configure the display options, start by choosing View > View Options from the menu. On the Loupe View tab you’ll find sections for “Loupe info 1” and “Loupe info 2”, which are the two overlay options that you can configure independent of each other.

Which information you choose to display obviously depends on what information you find most helpful. The overlay presents one line of information at a relatively large size, and two lines below that at a smaller size.

My personal preference is to have the file name for the current photo displayed on top for reference, so I set “File Name and Copy Name” for the first popup, and usually set this for both of the two info overlay configurations. Note that the “Copy Name” portion refers to the name you have assigned (or that was assigned automatically) to a virtual copy. In other words, when viewing a virtual copy both the file name for the source image and the copy name for the virtual copy will be displayed.

I tend to prefer to know the date and time of capture, as well as the general exposure settings. I therefore set the second and third popup for the first info overlay to “Capture Date/Time” and “Exposure and ISO”. For the second info overlay configuration I keep the same options set for the first two popups and set the third popup to “Camera + Lens Setting”. This latter option displays the camera model, the focal length used, and the specific lens used.

There are certainly other options that many photographers may find helpful among the various metadata fields you can display as part of the info overlay. I encourage you to look at the list of options available for the popups in the Library View Options dialog, and find the configuration settings that are most helpful for your specific needs.

Today’s Question: Why doesn’t Lightroom Classic have a function where it tells you what size an image has been cropped to? I have to use the crop tool in the Develop module and test the dimensions till it comes close. At least in Photoshop, you can see Image Size. When I go to print my photos, I don’t know what size they are. This seems like a major oversight. Unless there’s a way and I don’t know it. Thoughts?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Lightroom Classic will display the cropped dimensions in pixels, though that isn’t the most convenient approach when your intent is to print an image. You can crop to a specific aspect ratio in the Develop module, however, and you can also configure the specific print size in the Print module, cropping the image as part of that process if necessary.

More Detail: When you have cropped an image in Lightroom Classic you can then review the Cropped field to review the cropped dimensions. This Cropped field is displayed in when you have selected Default from the popup to the left of the Metadata heading on the right panel in the Library module. You can also include the Cropped Dimensions option in one of the information overlay templates for the loupe view display, which you can configure by choosing View > View Options from the menu, going to the Loupe View tab, and setting one of the info popups to “Cropped Dimensions”.

Of course, the cropped dimensions reflect the overall pixel dimensions of the image based on how it was cropped. That doesn’t directly translate to a specific print size, but there are ways to ensure you’re getting the right size when printing a cropped image.

To begin with, when cropping a photo in the Develop module you can select a specific aspect ratio for the crop. You can select the “4×5 / 8×10″ option, for example, if you want to crop the image to produce an 8″x10” print.

Perhaps even easier, you can simply use the Print module to prepare your photo for printing, with a print template that includes a cell sized for how large you want the photo to appear on the page. The image will be automatically resized (and further cropped if necessary) based on the position within the cell in order to produce the selected print size.

If you want to more generally translate the pixel dimensions for the cropped image to a print output size, you could also do a little math. A common standard resolution for printing is 300 pixels per inch (ppi), so you could divide each number in the cropped dimensions by 300 to see what the size would be for a standard print scenario. I generally use 360 ppi as the print resolution when printing with a photo inkjet printer.

However, the specific pixel dimensions aren’t critical in terms of matching a specific print size, because you can always have the image scaled to fit the intended size for the printed photo. Obviously you want to be sure that the image has enough pixels to print with good quality at the intended print size, but the pixel dimensions of the image don’t need to exactly match whatever that output size will be.

Today’s Question: How do you resize and image to fit standard formats such as 8×10?

Tim’s Quick Answer: When you want to print a photo at a standard print size that doesn’t match the aspect ratio of your camera, you’ll need to crop the image in addition to resizing it for the intended output size.

More Detail: Many of the “standard” print sizes do not match the aspect ratio of most cameras. For example, the full-frame digital format (like the 35mm film predecessor) has a 3:2 aspect ratio. That means the image would be 3-inches wide for every 2-inches tall.

That 3:2 aspect ratio matches the ratio for a standard 4″x6″ print. However, an 8″x10″ print has a 2.5:2 aspect ratio. If this print size matched the aspect ratio of a full-frame image sensor it would be 8″x12″. The 11″x17″ standard print size is a little closer, with an aspect ratio of about 3.09:2, which would translate to a print size of 11″x16.5″ if the aspect ratio matched a full-frame sensor.

When printing a photo at a size that does not match the aspect ratio of the source image, you’ll need to crop the image to make it fit the intended output size.

In Photoshop, for example, you can use the Crop tool and set the print size as the values for the width and height values on the Options bar. After cropping to that aspect ratio, you could use the Image > Image Size command to resize the image to the specific output size with the intended print resolution.

In Lightroom Classic the process is even easier, since you can simply define the specific aspect ratio for the cell that will contain the image in the print layout. The image placed in that cell can then be moved within the cell to define which specific portion of the image will be printed. So, while you could also crop to a specific aspect ratio in the Develop module in Lightroom Classic, you can also skip that step and allow the image to be cropped as part of the process of creating the print layout in the Print module.

I cover the Print module in detail in Chapter 4, Lesson 2, of my “Lightroom Lectures” course, which is included in the “Mastering Lightroom Classic” bundle that is available here on my GreyLearning website:

https://www.greylearning.com/bundles/lightroom-classic-bundle

Today’s Question: How can you tell if dust spots are on the sensor or on the lens? For sensor dust, how effective is the in-camera cleaning? Is the dust mapping feature useful? And should I consider cleaning the sensor myself or leave that to the professionals?

Tim’s Quick Answer: If you actually see a dust spot in a photo, it is most likely something on the sensor. In-camera sensor cleaning is helpful for basic dust, but won’t resolve all issues. I don’t consider the dust-mapping feature particularly helpful. Instead, I recommend cleaning the sensor yourself if you’re comfortable, or sending the camera in for a professional cleaning if you’re nervous about doing it yourself.

More Detail: When you see a clear dust spot in a photo, it is typically a clear indication that the image sensor on the camera needs some attention. If the dust is on the lens it will most likely not be visible in the photo at all. If it is, it will more often than not appear as an out-of-focus blemish that is darker or brighter than the surrounding area. For example, if there is dust on the lens and you photograph into the sun, those dust spots will create bright areas similar to lens flare.

For a blemish on the image sensor, especially if the lens aperture is closed down to a relatively small size (large f-number), the dust spot in the photo will look relatively crisp and dark (since it is blocking light from getting to the sensor).

The in-camera sensor cleaning can help remove dust that hasn’t gotten too stuck to the sensor yet, such as dry bits of dust that are mostly being held on by static. To assist with this type of dust issue I do recommend enabling the automatic in-camera sensor cleaning, which will generally run whenever the camera is turned off.

However, for dust that has combined with moisture to get stuck to the image sensor, the in-camera cleaning will likely be ineffective. In this situation the sensor needs to be cleaned directly.

If you’re comfortable performing this relatively delicate work yourself, it isn’t too difficult. However, cleaning your own sensor may void your camera’s warranty, and there is obviously a risk that you might damage some of the delicate components in your camera.

If you are comfortable cleaning your own sensor, I recommend the swabs and solution from VisibleDust (https://timgrey.me/visibledust). I use the kit that includes several swabs, the cleaning solution, and a sensor brush. Just be sure to select the correct size for your specific camera, and review some of the videos and other details published by VisibleDust to ensure you’re using the right technique when cleaning the sensor.

When cleaning the sensor yourself you want to use only a very small amount of the cleaning solution, and you should only use the swab with one swipe in each direction before discarding the swab. If that doesn’t resolve the spots on the sensor, use a clean swab to try again.

You can find the VisibleDust sensor cleaning package here, but again be sure to select the correct size for your specific sensor size:

https://timgrey.me/visibledust

And if cleaning the sensor yourself makes you nervous, you can send the camera in to the camera manufacturer or a company that specializes in cleaning camera sensors so that you don’t have to risk damaging your camera.

Today’s Question: Often I will shoot various subjects on a single memory card. When I import into Lightroom Classic I currently import each subject separately but would love to import all the photos at once with appropriate options. For example, I may have flower shots and bird shots on the same card but want them stored, keyworded, and cataloged differently. Is there a method of batching files for import of different subjects or shoots together but identifying and storing them differently if desired?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Lightroom Classic doesn’t really support the workflow you’re looking for. It is possible to import portions of the photos from a single memory card with different settings for each group, but I recommend importing all photos from the card into a “temporary” folder in one step, and then processing the batches from that temporary folder based on your workflow preferences.

More Detail: It is possible to import only a portion of the photos on a single memory card into your Lightroom Classic catalog. For example, let’s assume you want to first import the first half of the photos on a card. You could click on the thumbnail for the first photo in the second half, then hold the Shift key and click on the last photo. This would select all the photos in the second half group. You can then click the checkbox for any of those selected photos to turn off the checkbox for all of them, which will cause those photos to not be imported.

However, I don’t recommend this approach because it can create some confusion in terms of which photos have already been imported versus not, especially if you will be importing multiple groups that are not necessarily in contiguous groups on the media card.

Instead, I recommend importing all the photos on the media card into a single “temporary” folder. The photos can then be processed based on your workflow preferences from that folder.

For example, you might import all the photos into a “To Be Sorted” folder. After importing you could divide the photos into subfolders based on topic. Within each of those folders you could assign applicable keywords in batch, and otherwise process the images. When you’ve wrapped up that work you can move the subfolders as needed to a different location, perhaps rename those folders, and perform any other photo-management tasks you need.

To me it makes more sense to get all the photos downloaded and imported in a single import process, so that you don’t inadvertently skip any photos and you also ensure the photos are all backed up as quickly as possible. You can then continue refining the organization of those photos and dividing them into other folders as needed based on your overall organizational workflow.

Today’s Question: Is there a way to stop Lightroom Classic from taking me to the “Previous Import” collection when I import new photos? I prefer to continue browsing the current folder rather than the collection.

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can prevent Lightroom Classic from automatically navigating to the Previous Import collection after an import by turning off the “Select the ‘Current/Previous Import’ collection during import” checkbox.

More Detail: By default when you initiate the import of new photos into Lightroom Classic you will be taken to an automatic collection that contains the photos from that import. While the import is still active the collection will be called “Current Import”, and as soon as the import is complete the collection will be called “Previous Import”.

The idea is that you likely want to review the most recently imported photos as soon as they are imported, so you’re taken to those photos automatically. Of course, that can be a bit of a distraction if you’re browsing the folder that you’re importing to, or another folder altogether, and you don’t want to be interrupted by being taken to the collection featuring the imported photos.

This behavior can be changed with a setting in the Preferences dialog. Start by going to the menu and choosing Edit > Preferences on Windows or Lightroom Classic > Preferences on Macintosh. Go to the General tab, where you’ll find the “Select the ‘Current/Previous Import’ collection during import” checkbox. Turn the checkbox off if you don’t want Lightroom Classic to automatically navigate to the collection featuring the imported photos, and keep the checkbox turned on if you do want to have the collection selected automatically.

Today’s Question: The Select Sky command in Photoshop does a pretty good job for most images, but is there any way to adjust the settings for this selection option when it doesn’t work great on a certain image?

Tim’s Quick Answer: No, you can’t adjust any settings for the Select Sky command in Photoshop. Your only option is to refine the automatic selection after it is created by using other selection tools or commands.

More Detail: The Select Sky command (as well as the Select Subject command) is an automatic selection command in Photoshop that uses artificial intelligence to analyze the image and create a selection. Therefore, there are no settings for these selection commands, and they operate completely automatically once selected.

While the results from both commands is often quite good, they are generally at least a little less than perfect. To improve upon the selection, you would need to use other selection tools or commands.

For example, you could make use of other selection tools to add to or subtract from the initial selection. In most cases I recommend creating a layer mask based on the initial selection and then making modifications from there. Among other things you can use the options on the Properties panel for the layer mask, such as the “Color Range” or “Select and Mask” commands to further refine the layer mask to perfection.

Today’s Question: I have enabled the option to show “address suggestions” showing the name of location based on GPS metadata for my photos. But how do I take those suggestions and make them permanent? When I click in a field such as “City” the suggestion disappears.

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can make address suggestions for location metadata permanent by clicking on the label for the metadata field and clicking the suggestion on the popup that appears. Note that you can also have this information automatically added to copies of photos upon export.

More Detail: For photos with GPS coordinates embedded in metadata you can have Lightroom Classic display the city, state, and country (as applicable) as metadata suggestions. That information can then be made permanent for your source photos if you’d like and can also be included automatically in exported copies of photos that include those location suggestions.

To see the address suggestions in the first place you need to enable the feature in the Catalog Settings dialog. Start by choosing Edit > Catalog Settings from the menu on Windows or Lightroom Classic > Catalog Settings on Macintosh. On the Metadata tab of the Catalog Settings dialog turn on the “Look up city, state and country of GPS coordinates to provide address suggestions” checkbox. If you want to be able to include those suggestions in metadata automatically when exporting photos you need to also turn on the “Export address suggestions whenever address fields are empty” checkbox.

If you want to make the address suggestions permanent for a photo browse the location metadata, which you can get to quickly by choosing Location from the popup to the left of the Metadata heading on the right panel in the Library module. Address suggestions will appear as italic text in the various fields, such as City, State, and Country/Region. To apply a metadata value permanently click on the label to the left of the field (such as “City”) and click on the address suggestion text in the popup that appears.

Even if you have not made address suggestions permanent in the metadata for photos, you can still include the address suggestions in metadata for exported copies for your photos. As noted above, you’ll first need to turn on the applicable checkbox in the Catalog Settings dialog. You’ll then need to choose “All Metadata” from the Include popup in the Metadata section of the Export dialog, and make sure that the “Remove Location Info” checkbox is turned off.

Today’s Question: You’ve explained in the past that problems can occur in Lightroom Classic if you make changes to the color label definitions after you’ve already assigned color labels to your photos. Does the same issue exist for changing the definitions for color labels for folders and collections? In other words, is it safe to change the color label definitions for folders and collections as long as I don’t change them for photos?

Tim’s Quick Answer: No, there is no problem at all with changing the definitions for color labels for folders or collections. In fact, updating those definitions can be helpful in your workflow.

More Detail: Lightroom Classic includes the ability to assign color labels to folders and collections, which can be helpful for a variety of workflow purposes. For example, I use a red color label to flag folders that contain photos I still need to review. If you change the definitions of the color labels for folders and collections to reflect the reasons you are using those color labels, you can make it easier to assign the correct color label for the correct purpose to a folder or collection.

The default color label definitions in Lightroom Classic use the name of the color as the term used for the label. So, for example, a red color label has the word “Red” associated with it. In the context of a folder or collection that means if you right-click on a folder, for example, and choose “Add Color Label to Folder” from the popup menu, the submenu will show “Red” at the top of the list.

However, you could update the definition for the red color label for folders to say something like “Review Needed” so that on that popup menu you would see “Review Needed” rather than “Red”. This can make it easier to select the correct color label for the intended purpose.

Making changes to color labels for folders or collections won’t cause any problems with existing color labels you’ve assigned to folders or collections. The same isn’t true for photos because the term defined for a color label at the time it is assigned is added to metadata to the photo, so that if you change the definitions for color labels for photos that metadata would no longer match.

To change the definitions for color labels for folders or collections first go to the Library module and from the menu choose Metadata > Color Label Set > Edit. In the Edit Color Label Set dialog go to the tab for Folders or Collections and update the definitions for each color label based on your workflow preference. Click the Change button and the updates will be applied.

Today’s Question: When using the Spot Removal tool in Lightroom Classic to clean up blemishes in a photo, I always use the Heal option. Is there any reason I should ever consider the Clone option?

Tim’s Quick Answer: In most cases the Heal option for the Spot Removal tool in Lightroom Classic is the best option. I would only use the Clone setting when you find that the blending from the Heal option is causing unwanted artifacts. However, in those situations I would also strongly consider sending the image to Photoshop for further image cleanup work rather than dealing with the limitations related to image cleanup in Lightroom Classic.

More Detail: The key difference between the Clone and Heal options for the Spot Removal tool is that with the Clone option pixels are copied from source to destination without being altered, while with the Heal option the pixels are blended to better match the destination area.

In most cases the Heal option for the Spot Removal tool provides a good result, blending the source pixels into the destination area so they match more accurately. You can always move the source and/or destination area for a given cleanup area to help ensure a better match.

However, in some cases the helpful behavior of the Heal setting can lead to problematic artifacts caused by the nature of the blending. In those cases you may want to use the Clone option to perform a basic replacement of the blemish by directly copying pixels from a different area of the image. You can then use the Heal option to apply additional separate cleanup work to help the original cleanup area blend more smoothly into the surrounding area.

In most cases where the Heal option isn’t providing an adequate solution, I would recommend instead sending the image to Photoshop so you can take advantage of the Content-Aware technology that is more widely available within Photoshop. Hopefully at some point Lightroom Classic will include the same (or similar) technology to improve the power of the Spot Removal tool, but until then I consider Photoshop an important tool for image cleanup for Lightroom Classic users.