


Today’s Question: Your mention of applying Auto during import in Lightroom Classic reminded me of an issue I’ve run into. If I apply Auto to an image after import, the adjustment is no longer available. But if I apply Auto as part of a preset during import, after the import the Auto adjustment is available, and clicking it causes the appearance of the image to change. What’s going on here?
Tim’s Quick Answer: This behavior is a known issue in Lightroom Classic, and my understanding is that this is due to how the images are processed during import versus after import.
More Detail: When you apply the Auto adjustment during import (by including the “Auto Settings” adjustment when creating a preset that you apply during import) that adjustment will still be available for images after they have been import, and applying Auto after import will generally result in different adjustment settings than were assigned at import.
My understanding is that this behavior is due to Lightroom Classic using the embedded preview when applying Auto during import, versus evaluating the source image (such as a raw capture) when applying a preset after import. My assumption that this is done to speed performance, and therefore that it may not be an issue that will be fixed. In other words, it may not be considered a bug by Adobe.
I generally treat the Auto adjustment as simply providing an updated look for a photo based on an analysis of the image. In other words, when I apply Auto I consider it to be just providing a better starting point for the image preview, and I will then refine all adjustments for the image based on how I want to interpret the image. However, if you want to update the Auto adjustment after applying it with a preset on import, you would need to apply Auto again after the import.