Ask Tim Grey

Today’s Question: Is it possible to use parameters from the EXIF metadata on import to put into the keywords? When importing my photos into Lightroom Classic, I would like to add the camera make as a keyword automatically with the import preset.

Tim’s Quick Answer: This can’t be done completely automatically in Lightroom Classic, but you could create individual metadata presets for each camera make.

More Detail: There isn’t a way to add keywords automatically based on existing metadata values in Lightroom Classic. However, since your intent is to simply add keywords based on camera model, it would be easy to create a set of metadata presets that include the camera model.

Note that you can also easily filter images based on camera model. So, for example, on the metadata tab of the Library Filter bar you could set one of the columns to Camera, and then select all cameras of a given make by clicking on the first model and then holding the Shift key while clicking on the last model.

But if you want to also add a keyword based on the camera make using metadata presets. Using the Edit Metadata Presets command on the Metadata menu in the Library module, you could create individual presets for each camera make you want to add keywords for. For example, you could create individual metadata presets for Nikon, Fuji, and Sony. Just be sure to name the presets with a reference to the camera make, so you know which preset to apply for each import.

Then, when importing photos, select the applicable preset from the Metadata popup in the Apply During Import section of the right panel in the Import dialog based on the camera model you’re importing photos from. This will cause the metadata you included in the preset to be added to all photos during import, which in this case would include adding a keyword based on the camera make for the images.

Today’s Question: I saw on Adobe’s website that they are changing the plans and pricing for the Creative Cloud All Apps subscription, but I don’t see anything about the Photography Plan I’m currently using. Will the changes affect me?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The newly announced changes to plans and pricing for Adobe Creative Cloud subscriptions do not affect the Photography Plan at least for now. For the All Apps plan the changes primarily relate to the use of Generative AI features and the pricing, but for now only affects customers in North America.

More Detail: For photographers who are subscribed to the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan, the recent changes announced by Adobe don’t affect you. You will continue to have the same subscription price and the same number of monthly Generative AI credits. Obviously with the changes to the All Apps plan it would be reasonable to assume there may be additional changes to the Photography Plan, but there have not been any announcements related to that.

For those (including myself) who subscribe to the Creative Cloud All Apps plan, there are some noteworthy changes. First and foremost, if you want to have unlimited Generative AI credits the price will increase by $10 per month, from $59.99 to $69.99. Note that prices may vary by region and are also different for monthly versus annual plans. If you only need minimal access to Generative AI features, the price is actually going down to $54.99 from $59.99.

These plans will also be renamed to “Creative Cloud Pro” with unlimited credits for standard Generative AI features and “Creative Cloud Standard” with only 25 standard Generative AI credits per month. The Pro plan includes 4,000 credits per month for premium Generative AI features such as high-resolution video generation, while the Standard plan does not have access to premium Generative AI features.

There are also limits in terms of which mobile and web-based apps are available to those in the Standard plan, while Pro plan subscribers have access to all such apps.

You can learn more about the changes on the Adobe website here:

https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/policy-pricing/changes-to-individual-plan.html

Today’s Question: I’d like to add an important note about Backblaze. With a recent update, Backblaze is unable to back up files that are stored in OneDrive. This appears to be an issue even if files are removed from OneDrive, as they are flagged by OneDrive if they were ever stored there.

Tim’s Quick Answer: While there are published workarounds for this issue, it doesn’t appear to have been completely fixed. Therefore, if you store files in OneDrive that aren’t being backed up through other means, you may want to find an alternative to Backblaze.

More Detail: I’m still working on getting more complete information about this issue, but since it affects the reliability of the Backblaze backup, I wanted to get the information I do have to my readers.

The primary issue seems to be caused by changes made to OneDrive, which limit the ability to ensure files are always stored locally. In other words, OneDrive uses cloud-based storage as the primary storage location for files, which means they may not be present on your local computer. Therefore, those files would not be visible to Backblaze, and as a result can’t be backed up.

Backblaze includes a purported fix for Windows users on their website, but I have seen indications that the fix doesn’t actually work. Similarly, a suggested solution for Macintosh users is inaccurate, and I have confirmed that Backblaze is not backing up most OneDrive files on Macintosh. For reference, the Windows-based information can be found on the Backblaze website here:

https://www.backblaze.com/computer-backup/docs/back-up-onedrive-windows

The reader who shared this information with me had done some research on alternatives that enable you to back up OneDrive files. One solution allows you to back up directly from OneDrive cloud-based storage rather than only from your computer. That is pCloud, which you can learn more about here:

https://www.pcloud.com/cloud-storage-pricing-plans.html?period=year

Note that pCloud offers plans that are priced based on a storage capacity limit, rather than the unlimited storage offered by other services such as Backblaze. However, it does include some other helpful benefits, including being back to back up from cloud-based storage such as OneDrive.

I will continue trying to get more definitive information related to this issue and will publish an update when I’m able to get those details.

Today’s Question: In your answer [on May 12th] about dots under the buttons for adjustment tools in Lightroom Classic, what is the meaning of “the AI masks may need to be updated“?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The indication that AI masks need to be updated means the overall image has been altered in a way that could cause an AI mask to no longer be accurate, such as when pixels were changed with the Remove tool.

More Detail: The masks that are based on artificial intelligence (AI) technology in Lightroom Classic (or Camera Raw or Lightroom desktop) analyze the image to determine what the shape of the mask should be. For example, you can use the Select Sky option to have a mask created automatically that matches the shape of the sky in the image, so that an adjustment can be applied to only the sky.

While the AI-based mask options tend to perform very well, there are situations where you need to reprocess the image to update the mask, based on having made changes to the underlying image.

For example, let’s assume you used the Select Sky feature to create a mask of the sky for an image that included a power pole that extended into the sky. In this case the shape of the mask would reflect the sky excluding the area of the power pole. The targeted adjustment would therefore affect the sky without affecting the area covered by the power pole.

If you then used the Remove tool to remove the power pole from the sky, the mask for the sky adjustment would no longer be accurate. In other words, when the power pole was removed from the image that area would be replaced by sky, the sky mask would not include that “new” area of sky. Therefore, the mask would need to be updated based on a new analysis of the image.

When this type of situation occurs, the dot below the Masking button (the dashed circle icon) on the toolbar below the histogram would appear red, indicating that the AI masks need to be updated. You can update the masks by choosing Settings > Update AI Settings from the menu, or by clicking on the more button (the three dots) to the right of one of the masks and choosing “Update AI Masks” from the popup menu. In the example above, that would cause the sky mask to be updated to include the portion of the sky where the power pole had previously appeared before being removed.

Today’s Question: You mentioned that Adobe Bridge is available for free for anyone to use. How does one obtain the software?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Adobe Bridge is indeed available for free and can be downloaded via the Adobe Bridge product page on the Adobe website.

More Detail: You can initiate the process of installing Adobe Bridge by clicking the “Download app” button on this page on the Adobe website:

https://www.adobe.com/products/bridge.html

Note that as part of the process of installing Bridge you will need to create an Adobe Creative Cloud account if you don’t already have one. You do not, however, need a paid subscription. You can create an account and install Bridge completely free of charge.

My recent mention of Adobe Bridge as a free product was in the context of making photos including metadata available to others. If there are friends or family that you want to provide photos to, along with the metadata you’ve added to the images, Adobe Bridge is a good solution that is free. Granted, Bridge may be a little complex for some users, but it does provide an effective way of browsing and reviewing photos, as well as reviewing the metadata details for the images.

Today’s Question: I’m scanning old photos that have detail on the back. I’ve been entering everything into the Title and Caption fields in Lightroom Classic. Last night it dawned in me that unless a future generation has Lightroom, the details I’m adding to the Title and Caption fields will be lost. Is there a way to add these details into a file type so it doesn’t get lost?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can absolutely preserve the updates to the Title and Caption fields (as well as other fields included in the various metadata standards) by saving the metadata to the source files in addition to the catalog, or by exporting copies of the photos with metadata included.

More Detail: By default, the metadata updates you apply in Lightroom Classic are only stored in the catalog, not the source images on the hard drive. That would create a potential challenge for others to be able to access the information you’ve added to metadata at a later date, unless they had access to and were familiar with Lightroom Classic. Fortunately there are a couple of things you can do to ensure the information is available.

First, you can enable the option to automatically write metadata updates to the source files. To do so, go to the menu and choose Edit > Catalog Settings on Windows or Lightroom Classic > Catalog Settings on Macintosh. Go to the Metadata tab and turn on the “Automatically write changes into XMP” checkbox. Note that this will only cause metadata fields in established standards, as well as Develop module settings, to be saved to the source images. For proprietary raw captures the information will be saved to an XMP “sidecar” file, and for other supported file formats the original file will be updated.

Another option is to export copies of photos in a more widely supported format with the metadata included. You can select the images you want to export copies of, and then click the Export button at the bottom of the left panel in the Library module to get started.

In the Export dialog, you can specify the location where you want to save the exported copies and choose among a variety of other settings. In this context I suggest exporting the images as JPEG files. In terms of the metadata, I suggest choosing the “All Metadata” option from the Include popup in the Metadata section. You can adjust the other settings based on how you want to create copies of the selected photos, and then click the Export button.

Once the metadata is included in the images, that information can be accessed through various software applications (including Adobe Bridge, which is free for anyone to use), or even by browsing the file info in the operating system using the Get Info command on Macintosh or the Properties command on Windows.

Today’s Question: I’ve discovered that Backblaze has not backed up my Lightroom Classic catalog files (.Ircat). I have this problem on several desktops running Windows 10/11 and have multiple Lightroom Classic catalogs on each that have not been backed up!

Tim’s Quick Answer: Backblaze will back up the Lightroom Classic catalog files by default. You just need to make sure you don’t have an exclusion or file size limit, and that you’ve allowed enough time for the backup.

More Detail: With the default settings, Backblaze will back up all your Lightroom Classic catalog files to their servers, providing an offsite backup of those files. However, there are some settings that can limit which files are being backed up.

Note, by the way, that some of the files associated with the Lightroom Classic catalog are “container” files and therefore will appear as a subfolder when browsing via Backblaze even though they appear as individual files on your computer.

The first thing to do is make sure that there isn’t a file size limit affecting the files you’re not finding in your backup. Bring up the Backblaze Preferences dialog by clicking on the icon for Backblaze and choosing “Backblaze Preferences” from the popup menu. Then click the Settings button and go to the Exclusions tab. At the bottom of the tab, make sure the “Do no backup files larger than” popup is set to “No Limit” (or an adequately high limit for your needs if you do want to exclude very large files).

The other thing to confirm is that the file type exclusion list doesn’t include file types you want to back up. In this case, for example, you would want to be sure that “lrcat” is not listed in the text box associated with the “The following file types will not be backed up” label.

In this case you are obviously backing up at least some of the files in the folder containing your catalogs, so obviously there is not a folder exclusion. But it is worth noting that you can also exclude specific folders on the Exclusions tab as well.

Assuming everything is configured so that the catalog files will be backed up, it is just a matter of allowing enough time for the backup to complete. Files are processed from smallest to largest, and so your largest files won’t be backed up until all smaller files have been backed up successfully. It can take considerable time to complete the initial backup, so if that has not completed yet it may simply be a matter of more time being required for the backup to complete.

Today’s Question: When scanning photos is it best to scan to TIFF format?

Tim’s Quick Answer: While the TIFF format is arguably the best choice for saving scanned photos in terms of image quality, that doesn’t make it the best choice for all situations.

More Detail: The TIFF file format enables you to save images with maximum quality, which can be helpful in terms of providing the best quality when the scanned images are printed. However, TIFF files will also be considerably larger than other formats such as JPEG. Depending on your priorities for the images, in some cases you may prefer to save as JPEG rather than TIFF.

If image quality is your top concern, I recommend saving scanned images in the TIFF file format. I also recommend scanning from a slide or negative rather than a print whenever possible, as the latter contains far less information than the original film.

However, if you are simply trying to digitize photos so they can be reviewed and shared more easily, it may not be necessary to preserve those images with maximum quality with TIFF files that will consume considerable hard drive space. For example, an image scanned from an 8″x10″ print and saved in the TIFF format would produce a file size of around 40MB, while a JPEG image even at maximum quality would result in a file size of around 3MB.

The primary issue with saving as a JPEG image is that there will always be some degree of compression artifacts that can appear as a grid pattern that is visible when viewing the image closely. If you are simply digitizing images for easier review and sharing, the JPEG compression artifacts may not be a concern. If quality is your top concern, the saving TIFF files will achieve that goal, though with considerably more storage space required.

Today’s Question: Can you get the original capture from an iPhone shooting in Raw to your computer by using AirDrop? That is what I have been doing so hope I haven’t been losing quality.

Tim’s Quick Answer: You may have been losing quality. In some cases, you will need to manually choose the option to share the original file format to ensure the image is not converted to a JPEG, for example. In other cases you may need to revert adjustments first.

More Detail: The iPhone Camera app offers several possible capture format options, including JPEG and HEIC, along with Apple ProRAW for compatible iPhone models. The default option when sharing images via AirDrop is “Automatic”. However, in some cases this will cause the file to be shared with a different format than the original on your device, such as a JPEG image.

If you want to be sure to copy the photos with the same file format as they were captured in, I recommend setting the Format option to “Current” rather than “Automatic”. To do so, select the photos you want to send via AirDrop, and tap the share button. At the top of the sharing screen click the Options button. Then, in the Format section, choose “Current”.

However, there’s an additional potential issue if you’re capturing in Apple ProRAW on a compatible iPhone model. If you have edited the image on your iPhone with the Photos app you’ll need to revert the adjustments in order to send the original capture via AirDrop.

In this case I recommend creating a copy of the original ProRAW capture. To do so, tap on the photo, tap the “More” button (the three dots) at the top-right, and choose Duplicate. Then go to that duplicate photo and tap the Edit button, then tap Revert. You can then share this copy of the image using AirDrop to retain the original file format in the process.

Needless to say, Apple hasn’t made it particularly easy to ensure you always retain the original file format when sending photos via AirDrop. I therefore recommend instead connecting your iPhone to a computer via a USB cable and then using an application such as Adobe Bridge or Apple Image Capture to download the images in their original file format to your computer.

Today’s Question: I rarely use the “sky replacement” feature in Photoshop. But, on occasion, I just need to do “something”. I just realized that I can actually take my own photos (of the sky) and use them if I’m so inclined. While I haven’t done this (yet), I like the idea of not having to use and re-use the same, finite skies that Photoshop offers. Can you offer any suggestions for taking and using my own sky photos for this purpose? Would Photoshop be able to use a raw image or would I have to save it in some other format?

Tim’s Quick Answer: For sky replacement images I recommend capturing photos where the sky fills the frame, and with a variety of different configurations and conditions. And yes, you can use a raw capture or other image formats for this purpose.

More Detail: The Sky Replacement command (Edit > Sky Replacement) streamlines the process of replacing the sky in the current image using a different photo that includes the sky. For photographers who are inclined to use this feature, it can be helpful to assemble a library of photos that feature the sky.

There are a few things I would tend to focus on if you set out to capture photos for a library of sky photos to use with the Sky Replacement feature. First, to the extent possible, I recommend filling the frame with the sky, so you don’t have to worry about non-sky areas of the image you’re using showing up in the sky area of the photo you’re applying the adjustment to.

I also recommend capturing a variety of images, both in terms of the overall composition and the sky conditions.

In terms of composition, I suggest having photos captured at various focal lengths, from wide angle to telephoto. You can also vary the angle, such as pointing the lens more toward the horizon versus perhaps straight up. The key is to try to ensure that you have a sky photo that matches the perspective of the sky you’re replacing. You can consider your typical photography habits in this regard to get a sense of whether you should focus on specific focal lengths or perspectives.

It can also be very helpful to have photos that feature the sky with various weather conditions and times of day. It is quite common, for example, to replace a dreary sky with a more dramatic sky. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you want to focus exclusively on beautiful and colorful sky conditions. If you are replacing the sky in a photo captured during overcast conditions, for example, it won’t look very realistic to replace the sky with a beautiful sunset with scattered clouds, as there will be a mismatch between the color and contrast for the sky versus landscape. You could obviously apply adjustments to the non-sky portion of the image, but even then there may be a clear mismatch.

Keep in mind, by the way, that after replacing the sky using the Sky Replacement feature, you’ll still be able to modify the replacement sky, such as by using the Free Transform command (Edit > Free Transform) to alter the shape and perspective of the sky you’ve added to the image.