Ask Tim Grey

Today’s Question: Is there a way to redirect Lightroom Classic to a different location for a folder? I accidentally imported photos from my backup drive rather than the primary drive, and I want to fix this without losing the metadata updates I’ve applied.

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can change the location Lightroom Classic looks for a folder using the “Update Folder Location” command.

More Detail: The most common scenario where you might need to point Lightroom Classic to a different location for a folder is when that folder is missing. This can be caused by moving a folder to a different location or renaming a folder, for example. In that case you would use the “Find Missing Folder” command to reconnect the Lightroom Classic catalog to the updated location or name for the folder.

In the scenario outlined in today’s question, however, the folder is not missing. Rather, a backup version of a folder was imported rather than the intended source. In other words, there are two copies of the same folder but Lightroom Classic is managing the incorrect folder among the two, and the folder in Lightroom Classic isn’t missing.

In this case you can right-click on the applicable folder in the Folders section of the left panel in the Library module and choose “Update Folder Location” from the popup menu. In the dialog that appears, navigate to the correct location for the folder, and open that folder so it appears at the top-center of the dialog. Then click the Choose button, and the folder location will be updated within your Lightroom Classic catalog.

Today’s Question: How do you recommend using the Contrast slider relative to the use of the Texture, Clarity & Dehaze sliders?

Tim’s Quick Answer: I actually don’t recommend using the Contrast slider most of the time, because I prefer the control that can be exercised using the other tonal adjustments.

More Detail: I should hasten to point out that there’s nothing inherently wrong with using the Contrast adjustment (available in Camera Raw, Lightroom Classic, and Lightroom) if it produces a good effect for the image. I simply prefer to leverage other adjustments that provide greater control over contrast.

While the Texture, Clarity, and Dehaze adjustments can be used enhance overall contrast in an image, I think of them more as tools for detail enhancement rather than contrast enhancement. That is, of course, a bit of an academic distinction.

For overall brightness and contrast, I recommend starting with the Exposure adjustment to fine-tune the overall look of the image in terms of overall brightness. I then suggest establishing overall contrast in the context of total tonal range using the Whites and Blacks sliders. Finally, I recommend using the Highlights and Shadows adjustments to refine overall contrast, which in part is focused on the degree to which you want to reveal or enhance detail in the image.

To be sure, it is perfectly fine to use the Contrast adjustment along with these other adjustments. The reason I tend not to use it is that it effectively applies an equal adjustment to both the highlights and the shadows. In general, I prefer to adjust these tonal ranges individually through the Highlights and Shadows adjustments. But if you find the Contrast slider helpful, there is no reason not to use it.

Beyond that, the Texture, Clarity, and Dehaze adjustments can be used to adjust overall contrast in the image, as discussed in a prior Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter.

It is worth keeping in mind that among all the adjustments mentioned above, there is overlap among all of them. In other words, there isn’t a single right answer in terms of how you approach these various adjustments. Ultimately all that matters is applying adjustments that result in a look that you’re happy with for the image.

Today’s Question: I’ll be traveling soon on a vacation with very strict size/weight restrictions, and I’d like to have a way to back-up my SD memory cards. Is it possible to plug a USB hub into a cell phone’s USB-C port and use some phone app to copy from the SD card to an SSD drive? Any other suggestions for back-up on the road, without access to WiFi?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, in most cases you can download memory cards directly to your smartphone or tablet and then transfer them to a portable storage device.

More Detail: If you’re traveling without a computer, you can use a smartphone or tablet to back up your memory cards along the way. This requires a couple of accessories to enable the data transfer but will work with most recent smartphone or tablet models. I recommend testing everything before traveling to make sure the accessories and workflow will work on your device.

The first thing you’ll need is a card reader for your smartphone, or an adapter to enable you to connect a card reader. For example, if your smartphone or tablet has a USB-C port you can connect a card reader directly to that port or use an adapter if needed for your card reader. If you’re using an iPhone with a Lightning connection, you can use a Lightning-to-USB adapter. The point is you’ll need to connect your memory card to the device.

You can then use the Apple Files app on iOS devices or the Files by Google app for Android devices to transfer your photos from the memory card to the storage on your device.

If you want an additional backup or need to remove the photos from your device, you can use another storage device for that purpose. For iPhones with a Lightning connector I recommend the SanDisk iXpand drive (https://timgrey.me/lightningdrive), which includes a Lightning connector for the iPhone and a USB-A connection for a computer. For devices with a USB-C connection I recommend the SanDisk Ultra (https://timgrey.me/luxe256).

So, the overall process would generally involve transferring photos from your memory card to your device, then copying them to another storage device (or moving them if you don’t have enough storage on your device. You could repeat the transfer to another storage device a second time to provide a backup, or be sure to bring enough memory cards so you won’t need to format your cards during the trip.

Today’s Question: How do I know when to use Texture versus Clarity versus Dehaze for a photo?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can choose between Texture, Clarity, and Dehaze based on the scale of the contrast you’re looking to enhance. Also, keep in mind that you can combine more than one of these adjustments when it suits an image.

More Detail: The Texture, Clarity, and Dehaze adjustments all relate to contrast or detail in a photo. All three are available in Camera Raw, Lightroom Classic, and Lightroom. The way I recommend thinking about them is that they’re operating at a different scale within the image.

The Texture adjustment operates at the smallest scale and is most similar to sharpening. When you have very fine textures in an image that you want to enhance, the Texture slider is the first adjustment I would try. For example, photos featuring wood grain, sand, or other very small details can often benefit from an increased value for Texture. Just be sure not to use too strong a setting, which can lead to an over-sharpened look for the image.

If you’re just looking for an overall bump in contrast and perceived detail in an image, the Clarity adjustment can be a great option. In fact, I tend to increase the value for Clarity at least slightly for just about every image. It can provide a great boost for overall midtone contrast in an image, providing a bit of extra “pop”.

The Dehaze adjustment is a bit more straightforward, in that it is primarily focused on reducing the appearance of haze in an image, as the name implies. However, it can also be used for images that don’t have haze but where you want to add a bit of a large-scale dramatic contrast effect.

So again, I would think about these sliders in terms of the scale of the contrast enhancement effect they provide and evaluate the image and therefore which adjustments to use accordingly.

Today’s Question: I’ve somehow lost the little icons that normally appear on image thumbnails in Lightroom Classic, indicating things like which images have been adjusted. Did something change in Lightroom Classic, or is there a way to get these icons back?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, the thumbnail badges are still available. They can be enabled in the grid view in the Library View Options dialog, and for the filmstrip in the Preferences dialog.

More Detail: There is a set of badge icons that Lightroom Classic can display on thumbnails of photos to indicate various attributes. These include whether images have been adjusted in the Develop module, whether keywords have been assigned, and whether there are GPS coordinates in metadata, among other options. The visibility of these thumbnail badges can be toggled individually for the grid view and the filmstrip.

To enable thumbnail badges for the grid view, start by going to the Library module and choosing View > View Options from the menu. On the Grid View tab turn on the “Thumbnail Badges” checkbox in the Cell Icons section.

For the filmstrip the option for the thumbnail badges is found on the Interface tab of the Preferences dialog. To bring up the dialog choose Edit from the menu on Windows or Lightroom Classic on Macintosh, then select Preferences. Go to the Interface tab and turn on the “Show badges” checkbox in the Filmstrip section.

If you’d like more details about what the various badge icons indicate, you can find those details in a post on the GreyLearning blog here:

https://greylearningblog.com/meaning-of-thumbnail-badge-icons-in-lightroom-classic/

Today’s Question: I have my color space in Photoshop set for ProPhoto RGB, but my monitor supports only sRGB and Display P3. How will the mismatch affect my workflow? I find a bunch of monitors that support sRGB and even Adobe RGB, but none that support ProPhoto RGB. What are your thoughts?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The key is really to optimize the image for the final output, which will always involve a color gamut that is smaller than the ProPhoto RGB color space. The reason to use ProPhoto RGB as a working color space in the first place is to provide more flexibility in your workflow for a broader range of output scenarios, such as digital display versus print on various mediums. This is helpful even when using a monitor that can’t display all the colors in an image.

More Detail: I can say definitively that there will never (ever) be a monitor that supports the full ProPhoto RGB color space. That is because the ProPhoto RGB color space is so large that it includes colors that are beyond the range of normal human vision, even to the point of including “imaginary” colors.

However, I still favor the use of the ProPhoto RGB color space, even though monitors don’t come anywhere close to being able to display the full color range of ProPhoto RGB, because doing so provides greater flexibility in your workflow. The only caveat is that because ProPhoto RGB is such a large color space, it should only be used with 16-bit per channel images to avoid the risk of posterization in an image.

While no monitor comes close to displaying the full range of colors in the ProPhoto RGB color space, it is still preferred to have a display that provides as wide a color gamut as possible. Just about every display will cover the full range of the sRGB color space, because this is a relatively small color space that was originally intended to encompass the range of colors of a monitor display.

Especially if you prepare your images for print, I suggest opting for a display with a color gamut that covers 100% (or more) of the Adobe RGB color space. A pretty good number of displays support Adobe RGB, and you don’t need to look at the most advanced—and most expensive—displays to find one that supports Adobe RGB.

Beyond having a display with as wide a color gamut as possible, and to be working in a large color space, it can be helpful to use soft proofing to get a better sense of which colors in the image are beyond the capabilities of the intended output method. This is especially important when preparing an image for print, where each combination of printer, ink, and paper will have a unique range of colors that can be reproduced. That variability is the exact reason that a large color space can be helpful, so that regardless of the output color gamut, you have optimal information in the source file. For example, if you prepared an image specifically for an uncoated matte paper, that file would not provide a good source when printing on glossy paper, where a larger color gamut is generally available.

Today’s Question: There is a great deal of info about the ProPhoto RGB, Adobe RGB, and sRGB color spaces. But what is Display P3, also listed as a Color Space option in Lightroom Classic? The specs for my BenQ monitor show a Color Gamut of 100% sRGB, and 100% Rec.709—how does that relate to the Color Space options in Lightroom Classic and Photoshop?

Tim’s Quick Answer: In my view the Display P3 color space profile can be thought of as being for cinematic or video purposes and is not an option I would generally recommend for a photo editing workflow.

More Detail: The Display P3 profile was created by Apple primarily for their wide-gamut displays and is a variant of the DCI-P3 color space profile. The DCI-P3 profile was created for cinematic workflows, in part to ensure consistent and vibrant color for digital movie theater projection. Based on this background, I think of the Display P3 profile as being primarily applicable for cinematic or video editing purposes.

For reference, in terms of color gamut the Display P3 color space is larger than the sRGB color space but smaller than Adobe RGB and ProPhoto RGB. As a result, there aren’t very many scenarios where I would recommend that a photographer use the Display P3 color space in their workflow.

In general, I recommend editing photos in the ProPhoto RGB color space, since it is the largest color space among the key options. If you’re not able to work in 16-bit per channel and you are preparing images for print, the Adobe RGB color space is a good option. If you are preparing images exclusively for digital output or with a print workflow that revolves around the sRGB color space, then obviously sRGB can be a good choice.

For photographers, the one scenario where you might use the Display P3 profile is when preparing copies of photos for sharing, in particular if you’ll be sharing those images in a cinematic workflow, such as with a high-gamut digital projector or display. Otherwise, in most cases the sRGB color space profile is the better option for digital sharing of photos, since it is much more widely supported.

Today’s Question: In my early days of using Photoshop, I would use a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to boost saturation. Since the addition of the Vibrance adjustment layer, I’ve been using that exclusively to adjust saturation. With the availability of Vibrance is there any need to use Hue/Saturation?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The Vibrance adjustment layer in Photoshop is preferred for saturation changes compared to the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. The primary reason you would use a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer is to apply a color adjustment to a specific color range within the image, such as to refine the appearance of only blue areas of a photo.

More Detail: The Vibrance adjustment is newer than Hue/Saturation and includes both a Vibrance slider and a Saturation slider. The Vibrance slider is generally the best starting point for refining saturation for an image, as it helps prevent having highly saturated colors from getting over-saturated, and it helps protect skin tones from too strong an adjustment.

With the availability of the Vibrance adjustment, I don’t recommend using Hue/Saturation for adjusting overall saturation in an image. However, Hue/Saturation can still be tremendously helpful for targeted color adjustments.

With Hue/Saturation you can choose a specific color range by clicking on one of the round color swatches below the Preset popup. You can then adjust the sliders for Hue (overall color value), Saturation (color purity or intensity), and Luminance (color brightness). You can apply different adjustments for each of the available color swatches.

In addition, you can customize the color range represented by the color swatches, such as to broadening the range for the cyan color swatch to include blue colors in addition to cyan. After selecting a color swatch, you can adjust the color range using the controls between the gradients at the bottom of the set of controls for Hue/Saturation.

Today’s Question: Is there an option to run the AI steps [in Adobe applications] locally without requiring an internet connection?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Some (but not all) of the AI-based features in Photoshop, Lightroom Classic, and other Adobe applications do require an internet connection. For the features that provide an option for local processing, choosing that option will generally result in faster processing, but with results that likely won’t be as good as with cloud-based processing.

More Detail: Whether or not an internet connection is required to use an AI-based feature differs among software applications. For example, in Lightroom Classic the generative AI option for the Remove tool as well as the Distraction Removal feature both require an internet connection. If you’re not connected to the internet, you won’t be able to use these features until you’re back online.

In Photoshop while the generative AI features such as Generative Fill and Generative expand do require an internet connection, there are some AI features that don’t require an internet connection. For example, you can choose to have the Remove Background feature process locally rather than in the cloud. This option can be selected using the “Select Subject and Remove Background” popup on the Image Processing tab of the Preferences dialog. Choose “Device (Quicker Results)” if you want to be able to work offline with this feature.

Some features that leverage AI in Photoshop don’t leverage an internet connection at all, however. These include Sky Replacement, the Object Selection tool, and Neural Filters, among others.

So, the case is a bit mixed, but the generative AI features do require an internet connection, while other AI-based features often include an option to process locally or don’t require an internet connection at all.

Today’s Question: Is it possible to move only the original or virtual copy of an image to a different folder [in Lightroom Classic]? When I tried to move either to a different folder both copies moved. I eventually exported the virtual copy to desktop as a JPEG, then reimported to the folder of choice. Any easier way?

Tim’s Quick Answer: No, you can’t move an original image and its virtual copy in Lightroom Classic independently. The easiest way to be able to move one without the other would be to generate a derivative image based on the virtual copy, such as by using the Export feature in conjunction with the “Add to This Catalog” option.

More Detail: Virtual copies in Lightroom Classic can be tremendously helpful for a variety of purposes in your workflow, such as to have more than one interpretation of an image. However, a virtual copy is simply an extra set of metadata for the original image, and therefore the two are connected and can’t be moved independent of one another.

If you want to move a virtual copy to a different folder than the original image it relates to, you’ll need to create a new derivative image. You can do so by selecting the virtual copy and then clicking the Export button at the bottom of the left panel in the Library module. In the Export dialog you can configure all the options based on your preferences, including exporting in the same file format as the original (including for raw captures), and choose a location where you want to save that derivative copy.

In the Export Location section at the top of the Export dialog you can turn on the “Add to This Catalog” checkbox, so the new derivative image will be added to the current catalog. You can then click the Export button, and the new image will be created in the applicable location with the settings you used, and it will reflect all the metadata and Develop adjustments that had been applied to the virtual copy. At that point you could remove the virtual copy to avoid confusion, since you have a new file based on the settings for that virtual copy.