Today’s Question: I was intrigued by your mention of “the default panel configuration” in the Develop module in Lightroom Classic. I didn’t think there was a way to change the panel configuration, but is that actually possible?
Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, it is possible to reconfigure all panels in Lightroom Classic by choosing which sections will be visible. For the right panel in the Develop module you can also change the order of the panel sections.
More Detail: For all modules in Lightroom Classic you can choose which panel sections you want to hide or reveal. By default all panels are revealed, but you can hide panels that you know you’ll never need to use. To do so, right-click on the header for any panel section to view a popup with all sections listed. You can choose a panel by name to turn it off or on. A checkmark icon appears to the left of panels that are currently visible, so it is easy to review the current configuration.
With the right panel in the Develop module you have even greater flexibility, in that you can change the order of the panel sections. To get started, right click on a section header on the right panel in the Develop module and choose “Customize Develop Panel” from the popup menu.
In the Customize Develop Panel dialog you can then configure the panel sections. There is a checkbox to the right of each section name, and you can turn the checkbox off to hide a section or on to reveal a section. You can also drag the handle (the three horizontal lines icon) to the left of any section name and drag the section upward or downward in the list to change the section order.
When you’re finished configuring the right panel you can click the Save button to apply the changes. Note that there is also a “Default Order” button you can click to reset the panel section order to the default configuration.
Hiding or rearranging panels can help reduce clutter and streamline your workflow within Lightroom Classic. Just keep in mind that it also means your interface won’t look the same as for other Lightroom Classic users. For example, if you watch my video training courses, I generally have the panels in the default configuration, and that can lead to a little bit of confusion if you’ve changed your configuration.
