Month: January 2023

Today’s Question: I have my Lightroom Classic catalog on an SSD [solid-state drive]. When I delete photos from the catalog and disk, does it free up cells on the SSD to allow other photo data to fill that space?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, with one caveat. When you delete photos from Lightroom Classic the files will initially go to the Recycle Bin (Windows) or Trash (Macintosh). Once you empty that temporary holding area, the space will be freed up on the drive.

More Detail: When you remove photos from Lightroom Classic the default option is to remove them from the catalog but leave them on the hard drive. I don’t recommend this option, because it means you’ll have photos taking up space on your hard drive that you never know are actually there because they aren’t represented in your catalog.

Instead, I recommend choosing the “Delete from Disk” option in the confirmation dialog when you choose to remove photos from your catalog. This will delete the photos from the drive, in addition to removing them from the catalog.

Of course, when you delete files on Windows or Macintosh the space on the drive isn’t immediately made available. Instead, the files will be placed in the Recycle Bin (Windows) or Trash (Macintosh) so you can recover them if they were deleted accidentally. By default, deleted files will be permanently removed from these temporary holding areas after 30 days.

If you empty the Recycle Bin or Trash with the SSD connected, then the deleted files will be permanently deleted so that the space on the drive taken up by those files will be made available.

Today’s Question: Regarding the helpful option to search for keywords you addressed [using Lightroom Classic], what happens if you search and find that the keyword isn’t on the list? Can you add a keyword right from the Keyword List or do you have to go to the Keywording section?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can add keywords in the Keyword List section of the right panel in the Library module in Lightroom Classic by clicking the plus symbol (+) to the left of the Keyword List heading. This is the approach I consider the best option when it comes adding new keywords.

More Detail: There are several ways you can add new keywords and assign those keywords to photos in Lightroom Classic. I recommend using the Keyword List when it comes to adding new keywords in order to ensure you are being consistent in terms of creating new keywords.

As today’s question indicates, I previously discussed the option to search the Keyword List using the search field at the top of the list. This makes it easy to quickly locate a keyword you want to assign, and also provides the opportunity to determine if a keyword already exists. For example, if you intended to add the keyword “oxen” to a photo you might search for “ox” and discover that you already had “ox” as a keyword. You may therefore decide there is no need to add the plural form, since the singular form of the word is already a keyword in use.

Similarly, you might discover through a search that the keyword you want to add isn’t already present on the Keyword List. In that case you can simply click the plus symbol (+) to the left of the Keyword List label to bring up the Create Keyword Tag dialog.

In the Create Keyword Tag dialog you can enter the keyword into the Keyword Name field. If there are synonyms for the keyword you can add those to the Synonyms field. For example, I often include the local language as a synonym for keywords representing the name of a country. When adding “Italy” as a keyword I would therefore add “Italia” (the Italian spelling) as a synonym for the keyword.

You can also choose the preferred options for including the keyword when exporting an image using the three checkboxes representing those options. If the keyword is for a person you want to identify using the People view, you can turn on the Person checkbox.

Finally, you can turn on the “Add to selected photos” checkbox if you would like the new keyword you’re creating to be added to the currently selected photos. Then click the Create button to create the new keyword, which will then of course be added to the Keyword List.

Today’s Question: I have many photos of birds whose names I have largely forgotten. I am adding keywords to them in Lightroom Classic as I go along. When I come across another one of these birds, I don’t remember the specific species but I know it is a stork, for example. I’d like to enter “stork” and have a list of storks come up in the keyword entry window from where I can pick the one I want. Is there any way I can add the correct keyword without knowing the precise first word?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can filter the list of keywords using the search field at the top of the Keyword List on the right panel in the Library module.

More Detail: At the top of the Keyword List section (not the Keywording section) on the right panel in the Library module you’ll find a search field. You can click in that field and type the text you want to search for, such as “stork” in this example. The Keyword List will then be filtered to only display keywords that include the text you typed.

You can then turn on the checkbox to the left of the applicable keyword to apply it to the current image. You can also apply keywords to multiple images at once by selecting the applicable images, making sure you’re in the grid view rather than loupe view, and then turn on the checkbox for the keyword.

In addition to making it easier to track down specific keywords on the Keyword List by using the search field, this approach also provides the benefit of not having to type the keyword to add it to the current image. That, in turn, can help ensure you don’t accidentally spell a keyword incorrectly when typing it in the Keywording section rather than simply turning on a checkbox for the correct keyword.

Today’s Question: I use two computers to work on Lightroom Classic: a desktop and a laptop. When I edit on the desktop computer and then “synchronize” the catalog on both computers, I don’t see the file as changed on the laptop, including the settings changed in the Develop module. Can I use Lightroom Classic on two computers and see all updates on both computers?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can work with a single Lightroom Classic catalog on two computers, and when doing so I recommend storing the catalog files (and photos) on an external hard drive that you move between computers.

More Detail: While it is possible to synchronize the Lightroom Classic catalog files across more than one computer, this isn’t an approach I really recommend because of the risk of getting out of sync between the two computers.

In order to synchronize the catalog files, you would need to make sure that you quite Lightroom Classic and update the synchronization every time you use Lightroom Classic on either computer. Using an online cloud-based synchronization service for this type of workflow isn’t something I recommend, as there is a risk that you’ll update different files on different computers before the online synchronization has completed, resulting in out-of-sync data.

Therefore, I strongly recommend not using synchronization to transfer updated catalog files between computers. I am even more strong in my recommendation to not manually copy the catalog files between computers, because in this case I feel there is even greater risk of getting out of sync.

Instead, I recommend that if you want to be able to work with Lightroom Classic on more than one computer that you store the catalog files on an external hard drive. You can then connect that external hard drive to the computer you want to work on and open the catalog from the external hard drive, without having to worry about anything getting out of sync.

Note that I also recommend keeping the photos stored on the same external hard drive for convenience, and of course you’ll still want to maintain a good backup workflow to back up this hard drive and any other important data.

Today’s Question: How do you add a JPEG image you created with Export to a Collection in Lightroom Classic?

Tim’s Quick Answer: There isn’t an option to add an exported copy of a photo to a collection as part of the export process, so you would need to add the image to the collection after the export.

More Detail: Today’s question is a follow-up to the Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter of January 6th, where I explained how you can add the exported copy of a photo back to the Lightroom Classic catalog as part of the export process.

With the “Add to This Catalog” checkbox turned on in the Export dialog, the derivative image you’re creating as part of that export will be added back to the Lightroom Classic catalog. This can be a convenient option if you want to manage a derivative copy together with the source image with the catalog.

When exporting photos from Lightroom Classic, even though there is an option to add the exported copy to the catalog there isn’t an option to add the image to a collection. You’ll therefore need to add the image to a collection after the export is completed.

Fortunately, there’s an easy way to identify the images that had just been added to the catalog based on an export. In this situation an “Added by Previous Export” collection will be created (or updated) in the Catalog section of the left panel in the Library module. You can navigate to this collection to find the photo(s) that you just exported, and then add them to a collection.

Today’s Question: I use Lightroom Classic to merge images into a panorama. With a recent panorama, even though the ocean was relatively calm, there was a noticeable alignment issue with the water which made it obvious that it was a stitched panorama. I suppose I could have used a faster shutter speed or higher ISO, but I wanted the water to have a smooth appearance. Is it just not possible to create a merged panorama of a scene with moving water?

Tim’s Quick Answer: It is indeed possible to assemble high-quality composite panoramas featuring water. You just might need to use more powerful software such as Photoshop to assemble the panorama with greater flexibility.

More Detail: While Lightroom Classic (and by extension Camera Raw in Photoshop) generally does a very good job of assembling composite panoramas, there are certainly situations where the results won’t be optimal. In this type of situation, I recommend using Photoshop to assemble the composite panorama so you can exercise direct control over the blending of the individual frames in the panorama.

You can initiate the process from Lightroom Classic by selecting the images that represents the frames of the composite panorama and then going to the menu and choosing Photo > Edit In > Merge to Panorama in Photoshop.

This will open the images in Photoshop via the Photomerge feature. In the Photomerge dialog you can leave the Layout option on the left side set to Auto for most panoramas. Make sure the “Blend Images Together” checkbox at the bottom of the dialog is turned on. If the lens used tends to produce vignetting, you can also turn on the “Vignette Removal” checkbox. I generally leave the other two checkboxes turned off. Click OK to initiate the process of assembling the composite panorama.

When the panoramic image is assembled, you’ll see on the Layers panel that there are individual layers representing the frames of the composite panorama. Each image layer will include a black and white thumbnail to the right, which is a layer mask indicating which areas of that frame are visible (white) versus hidden (black).

You can click on the thumbnail of the layer mask for any image layer and then use the Brush tool to paint with a soft-edged brush, using black to block areas of that layer or white to reveal. In this way you can customize how the image layers are blended together, so that you use the mask to reveal in a way that best blends in the texture and details of the overall image.

When you’re finished working with the composite panorama in Photoshop, simply choose File > Save to save the updated version of the image, and then File > Close to close the image. The resulting panorama will then appear alongside the source images used to create it within your Lightroom Classic catalog.

Today’s Question: I have question after reading your recent Pixology article on monitors. I have a Dell monitor and I calibrate it with a DataColor Spyder 5 Pro. When prompted, I can adjust contrast to Spyder specifications. The Spyder sets the white point, color temp, and brightness. But nothing I described sets the resolution; I set that myself. So how do I know if the sharpness in my image is transportable versus unique to my monitor setting?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The display calibration does not impact the resolution setting of the display. For optimal sharpness I recommend setting your display to the native resolution through the operating system.

More Detail: Display calibration helps ensure optimal accuracy of your monitor display in terms of color and tonality. I therefore strongly recommend calibrating the display periodically with a package that includes a colorimeter device that measures the actual behavior of the display. For example, I recommend the Calibrite ColorChecker Display (https://bhpho.to/3XCDf6x), though the Datacolor products are also very good.

However, this calibration will not do anything related to the resolution, and therefore relative sharpness, of the display. The resolution needs to be set through your operating system.

While most recent high-resolution displays perform very well at just about any supported resolution, you’ll generally get the maximum perceived sharpness with the display when you set the resolution to the native value. This will be the highest resolution supported, and the resolution promoted as being the actual resolution for the display.

When you set the display resolution to something less than the maximum resolution, the image you see is scaled, which causes a slight degradation in the perceived sharpness of the image on the display.

It is worth noting, by the way, that it is also best to evaluate the sharpness of an image at a zoom setting in the software (such as Photoshop or Lightroom Classic) of 100%, or an “Actual Pixels” zoom setting. This ensures that one pixel in the image is represented by one pixel on the display, rather than the image being scaled on the display.

Today’s Question: On December 22nd you discussed issues with saving a 32-bit image. In that reply, you mentioned tone mapping. I hadn’t heard of that. Could you discuss that a bit more?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Tone mapping is a process of translating the pixel data from a high dynamic range (HDR) image to a “normal” range of tonal values. In many cases tone mapping is an automatic part of the process of assembling an HDR image, but it can also be performed as a separate step.

More Detail: Creating a high dynamic range (HDR) image involves capturing a set of bracketed exposures that cover a wider range of tonal values than could be captured in a single photo. Those bracketed exposures can then be assembled into an HDR image. Tone mapping is the process of translating the HDR image to the tonal range of a normal image at a lower bit depth again.

You can think of a “normal” photograph as having a potential tonal range that extends from black to white. When you captured a bracketed set of exposures for an HDR image, the cumulative captures represent a greater tonal range than the black to white that is possible with a normal image.

Let’s imagine a hypothetical scenario where you have captured images for an HDR that represent triple the tonal range of a normal photo. For simplicity let’s pretend that this range is represented by three photos, even though it would take more photos (with overlap in tonal range for each) to cover such a range.

In this hypothetical example we can think of the middle exposure as representing a somewhat normal range from black to white. The darker exposure covers a range that we can think of as being something like going from “double black” to black, since it is darker than the normal exposure. The bright exposure can be thought of as going from white to “double white”.

This is obviously a theoretical example just to illustrate the concept. The point is that with the photos in this hypothetical example we have captured the equivalent of a tonal range that goes from twice as dark as what can be represented in a normal photo to twice as bright. That’s where tone mapping comes in.

After processing the bracketed exposures at a very high bit depth that enables a wider range of tonal values, we generally need to convert that image to a normal range of tonal values so we can use our familiar tools to further refine the appearance of the image.

Tone mapping involves the process of taking a very wide range of tonal values and mapping them to the range of a normal photo, in the process attempting to retain maximum detail and image quality.

Again, in many cases the tone mapping is simply part of the process of assembling an HDR image, while with some software there may be two steps involved. But the overall concept is the same when it comes to mapping the tonal range of a 32-bit per channel image, for example, to the range available with a 16-bit (or 8-bit) per channel image.

Today’s Question: Further to topic of hard drive failure, how do you recommend disposing of failed drives?

Tim’s Quick Answer: I recommend using a hard drive recycling service that will both ensure destruction of any data left behind on the drive, and recycle the components that can be salvaged from the drive. Best of all, you can recycle a drive at no cost to you.

More Detail: When a hard drive fails and you have replaced it with a new hard drive (hopefully recovering from a good backup in the process) simply throwing the drive away doesn’t guarantee that someone couldn’t access the data on the drive. So if the privacy of that data is important to you, you’ll want to make sure the drive is damaged to the point that no data can be recovered.

You could conceivably destroy the drive yourself, but this is not without risk of injury since it can take quite a bit of force to significantly damage a hard drive. Therefore, I recommend using a hard drive recycling service instead. This offers the additional advantage of having some of the materials from the drive recycled so they can be used again.

You’ll obviously want to choose a reputable service for this hard drive recycling. One service I have used in the past and feel confident in the certified provider they use for the hard drive recycling is Western Digital.

The recycling program from Western Digital is free, and you can recycle any brand of hard drive with their service. Even better, they are currently offering a special where you’ll get a coupon for 15% off any purchase over $50 from the Western Digital Store.

You can learn more about the hard drive recycling program from Western Digital here:

https://www.westerndigital.com/company/programs/easy-recycle

Today’s Question: I noticed that the sort options that used to be in the toolbar just above the filmstrip [in Lightroom Classic] have vanished. I can still sort the photos by going to menu option View > Sort. Is there a way to get those options back where they used to be, on the toolbar above the filmstrip?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can bring back the Sort popup by choosing Sorting from the popup at the far right of the toolbar below the image preview area.

More Detail: By default, the Sort popup is shown on the toolbar below the image preview area in Lightroom Classic when you are in the grid view display. The Sort popup is not included with the loupe view display by default.

However, you can also customize the toolbar to add or remove various controls. That includes the ability to remove the Sort popup from the toolbar for the grid view (even if only accidentally) or to add the popup to the toolbar for the loupe view.

To change the configuration for the toolbar click the popup at the far right of the toolbar, which has a downward pointing triangle on it. On the popup that appears you’ll see a checkmark to the left of items that are currently enabled, and no checkmark for items that are hidden. Select an item from the popup to toggle its status between enabled and hidden.

Keep in mind that there are separate configurations for the loupe view and the grid view, so you can customize each individually. That includes, for example, adding the Sort popup to the loupe view if you’d like.