Author: Tim Grey

Today’s Question: Enlarging the thumbnails on the Layers panel in Photoshop made it easier to see the layers and layer masks, but there is still a small intrusive thumbnail appearing on the mask. I was hoping to get rid of the layer mask icon altogether, but I guess this isn’t an option?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The new badge that appears at the bottom-right corner of layer masks in Photoshop is a new feature of Photoshop version 25.1. The public beta version of Photoshop includes an option to remove the badges.

More Detail: Today’s question is a follow-up to Monday’s question, where I addressed the option to enlarge the thumbnails for layers and layer masks on the Layers panel in Photoshop. However, with the latest update to version 25.1 of Photoshop there is a new badge feature that puts an icon on the layer mask for any layers that include a mask.

Several readers have reached out to me about this, as they find the badge gets in the way of evaluating a layer mask. I completely agree that the new badge icon isn’t all that helpful and can interfere with evaluating layer masks.

In Photoshop version 25.1 there isn’t an option to remove the badges on layer masks. However, there is such an option in the current public beta version of Photoshop. So, if you want to get rid of the badge icons you could either revert to an earlier version of Photoshop or use the public beta while we await an update to Photoshop that will include the option to remove the badge.

If you install the public beta version of Photoshop (via the “Beta apps” category on the Apps tab of the Creative Cloud application), you can click on the panel popup menu button at the top-right of the Layers panel and choose “Panel Options” to bring up the Layers Panel Options dialog. There you’ll find a “Show layer mask badges” checkbox that you can turn off to remove the badges on layer masks.

I would assume that this option in the public beta will soon be available in an update to the production version of Photoshop soon. At least I hope so, because I certainly don’t think the badges on layer masks provide a benefit, and I suggest disabling them.

Today’s Question: I am working on a book in the Book module in Lightroom Classic and when I try to delete a photo from the book page it only removes it from that page and puts it into the filmstrip. When I go to the filmstrip to delete it the popup is grayed out. If I go to the Library Module, I am able to delete any photo as in the past. Any suggestions for this issue would be welcomed.

Tim’s Quick Answer: The Book module in Lightroom Classic is the only module where you’re not able to delete a photo. You can remove a photo from the page layout, remove a photo from a collection if you’re working with a collection, but not delete a photo if you’re working with a folder.

More Detail: In general, you can delete a photo in Lightroom Classic by right-clicking on the photo and choosing “Remove Photo” from the popup menu. However, this command is only available when browsing a folder rather than a collection, and it isn’t available in the Book module.

I recommend using collections to group together the photos you want to include in a book project, in which case the option to delete the source photo wouldn’t be available. Instead, if you right-click on a photo while browsing a collection you’ll have the option to remove the photo from the collection. You would need to go to the source folder (such as by right-clicking on the image and choosing “Go to Folder in Library” from the popup menu) in order to be able to delete the source image.

However, even if you’re working with images in a folder rather than a collection, the “Remove Photo” command is not available in the Book module. The Remove Photo command can be found on the Photo menu on the menu bar, but only when you are in the Library or Develop modules. Right-clicking on a photo in a folder will bring up a popup that includes the “Remove Photo” command, but it will be disabled if you are in the Book module.

I’m not sure why the Book module seems to have a unique status in terms of not being able to access the “Remove Photo” command. But again, I do recommend using a collection to group photos for a project such as for the Book module, rather than working directly with folders.

Today’s Question: I’ve noted since the last Photoshop update that layers that have a layer mask now appear with the layer mask icon rather than the black and white thumbnail reflecting the layer mask. Is there any way to change this?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can enable the thumbnails for your layer masks in the Layers Panel Options dialog.

More Detail: You can choose the size for thumbnails on the Layers and Channels panels based on your preference, including a “None” option where image layers and layer masks will simply have an icon rather than a thumbnail that provides a preview of the layer or mask contents.

Start by clicking on the panel popup menu, which is an icon showing four horizontal lines found at the top-right corner of the Layers panel. Choose “Panel Options” from that popup menu, which will bring up the Layers Panel Options dialog.

In this case you’ll want to change the Thumbnail Size option from None to one of the thumbnail options. I personally prefer the largest thumbnail size, but you can try the different options to see what you prefer. Note that you do need to click the OK button in order for the Layers panel to update based on the setting you’ve chosen.

The same thumbnail options are available for the Channels panel as well, which you can access by choosing “Panel Options” from the panel popup menu for the Channels panel.

Today’s Question: Why not download [photos from a smartphone] with Lightroom Classic? It is the same process and saves a step.

Tim’s Quick Answer: The main reason I don’t import photos into Lightroom Classic directly from a smartphone is that there isn’t an option to delete the photos from the smartphone once the import is complete. Therefore, I download smartphone photos using other software that allows for deletion, importing into Lightroom Classic as part of this process.

More Detail: With most cameras you can import photos directly from the memory card (or directly from the camera) into Lightroom Classic, and then format the card in the camera to delete the photos so you’re ready to capture new images. That process can be a bit cumbersome on a smartphone, especially with an iPhone, since there isn’t a simple “format card” option for deleting all photos that you’ve downloaded.

Normally I would very much prefer to import into Lightroom Classic directly from the media used to capture the images, but for smartphones I make an exception.

As addressed in yesterday’s Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter, you can use Adobe Bridge to download photos to your computer. For example, you could initiate the download using the Photo Downloader feature in Bridge, with the option to delete photos enabled. Once the download is complete, don’t click on a button in the confirmation dialog for deleting photos, but rather switch to Lightroom Classic. Import the photos into Lightroom Classic, taking advantage of the option to make a second copy of the photos in another location. After that import is complete you can return to Bridge to confirm the deletion of the photos that were downloaded.

I wrote an article that goes through this workflow in detail for the April 2022 issue of Pixology magazine. Pixology is included at no additional cost in the GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle (http://timgrey.me/atg99bundle), but is also available as a standalone subscription (with back issues included) here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/pixology-magazine

Today’s Question: In my Lightroom Classic preferences the “Treat JPEG files next to raw files as separate photos” checkbox isn’t checked. My old Sony R1 camera had two modes: JPEG and RAW+JPEG (no RAW only). Each photo has an SR2, XMP, and a JPEG file. Is there a simple way to find and remove the JPG files?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can most certainly delete the JPEG captures so you’ll be left with only the raw captures (and their associated XMP files). The specific approach you can use depends on the workflow you’ve used, and whether you’ve used that workflow consistently.

More Detail: With the “Treat JPEG files next to raw files as separate photos” checkbox turned off, Lightroom Classic will not import the JPEG images that are part of a Raw+JPEG pair into your catalog. It will, however, copy the JPEG images to the same folder as the raw captures. This creates a situation that isn’t ideal, where you have a potentially large number of JPEG images on your hard drive that aren’t visible in your catalog.

The potential challenge with deleting the JPEG images is that you might have captured other JPEG images that are not part of a Raw+JPEG pair. In other words, you probably don’t want to simply delete all JPEG files on your hard drive, so you’ll need to use an approach that enables you to confirm you’re only deleting the files you don’t need.

If you’re completely sure that you never captured standalone JPEG images with the camera in question, so that all JPEG images from that camera are definitely from a Raw+JPEG pair, then the process can be quite simple. You can synchronize the folder(s) that contain the Raw+JPEG pairs so the JPEG images will be added to your Lightroom Classic catalog. You could then set a filter on the Metadata tab of the Library Filter bar so that you are only seeing JPEG files that were captured with the camera in question (using the File Type and Camera options for two of the columns for filtering). With that filter set you could select all the images and delete them.

If you don’t have the confidence that all the JPEG images from that particular camera were part of a Raw+JPEG pair, then you’ll have a bit more work to do. In that case I would still suggest synchronizing the folder (even if you synchronize the top-level folder that represents the hard drive, for example) to bring the JPEG images into Lightroom Classic. You could then sort by capture time and review the images to ensure there is an associated raw capture right next to them, and mark for deletion (such as with a Reject flag) only the JPEG images that do have a corresponding raw capture. You could then delete all the photos you marked for deletion once you’re finished with that review.

Today’s Question: You showed how to use Bridge to import from your phone before importing to Lightroom Classic catalog. Can I assume you have your phone physically attached to your laptop for Bridge to include it the list of devices?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you need to have your smartphone physically connected to the computer to download photos, unless your smartphone has a removable memory card you can put into a card reader.

More Detail: I prefer to treat my smartphone as “just another camera”, meaning that when I download photos from my smartphone, I put them into my normal workflow along with all other photos. That also means that I delete the photos from my smartphone after download, just as I format my media cards after downloading the images from my other cameras.

One of the options for downloading photos from your smartphone is to use the Photo Downloader feature in Adobe Bridge, which can be found by going to the menu and choosing File > Get Photos from Camera. This will bring up the Photo Downloader dialog, where you can select the source of photos for the download and configure the settings for that download.

To use Adobe Bridge (or similar software) to download photos in this way you need to physically connect the smartphone to the computer, typically via a USB cable. An exception to this would be smartphones with a removable media card, which is available on some Android-based smartphones, for example. In that case you could simply download from the media card and then delete the photos from the media card after downloading and incorporating the photos into your normal workflow.

Regardless of the specifics of your workflow for downloading smartphone photos, I do highly recommend making sure the photos are backed up to another hard drive as part of the download process, and before actually deleting the original captures from your smartphone.

Note that I covered the process of downloading smartphone photos using Adobe Bridge to then import into Lightroom Classic in the article “Smartphone to Lightroom Classic”, which is featured in the April 2022 issue of Pixology magazine. Pixology is included in the GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle (http://timgrey.me/atg99bundle), but is also available as a standalone subscription here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/pixology-magazine

Today’s Question: If I have my [Lightroom Classic] catalog on my hard drive and I want to back up, can I choose my external hard drive as the backup location? Do I have to create a backup folder first?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can change the backup location to a different hard drive by clicking the Choose button in the Back Up Catalog dialog. There’s no need to create a folder before using this option to change the destination for the backup.

More Detail: Lightroom Classic will prompt you to back up your catalog based on the frequency set on the General Tab of the Catalog Settings dialog. You can access the Catalog Settings dialog by choosing Edit > Catalog Settings from the menu on Windows or Lightroom Classic > Catalog Settings on Macintosh.

When the Back Up Catalog dialog appears, you can configure the options for the backup. This includes the option to specify the location where you want the catalog backups saved. For example, if you have your catalog on the internal hard drive you can specify an external hard drive for the backups so those backups will be on a different physical drive than the catalog that’s being backed up.

Simply click the Choose button in the Back Up Catalog dialog. In the window that appears navigate to the location where you want to save the backups, such as an external hard drive. You can click the New Folder button to create a folder to contain the individual backups.

Note that each backup will be placed in a folder that is named based on the date and time of backup. Therefore, as part of the process of selecting the backup location you may want to create a folder to contain the individual backup folders.

Once you’ve changed the backup location that will become the new default for all future backups. Just note that if you select an external hard drive as the destination for the catalog backups, that drive will obviously need to be connected to the computer in order to perform the backup.

Today’s Question: Do you recommend RAW or cRAW capture, with high resolution cameras such as the Canon R5, in fast action wildlife using servo with high frame rate?

Tim’s Quick Answer: While the Canon compressed raw (cRAW) provides very good quality with file sizes that are about half that of uncompressed raw captures, in the case of Canon’s cRAW the image data is compressed with a lossy algorithm that can result in reduced image quality and increased noise.

More Detail: Various cameras offer compression options for raw capture. That can be lossless compression that preserves image quality, or lossy compression that results in some degree of image degradation. In the case of Canon’s cRAW option, the compression is lossy.

The benefit of this lossy compression is that file sizes are greatly reduced. With the Canon cRAW format for example the file size is typically about half that of an uncompressed raw capture.

The drawback of lossy compression for a raw capture is reduced image quality. To be sure, this is generally extremely minimal. However, I have seen loss of quality in dark shadow areas and increased appearance of noise as side effects of the compression.

Personally, I would be comfortable using a lossless compression raw format if storage space were the priority. I prefer not to use raw captures with lossy compression. The results with lossy compression are still very good, but in my mind part of the reason for using raw capture is to ensure optimal image quality, and I’d prefer not to risk degrading that quality right at the time of capture.

Today’s Question: Regarding process versions in Lightroom Classic, when switching to a newer version it asks for permission to convert the catalog to the new version format. Does that automatically bring all the photos up to the current process version?

Tim’s Quick Answer: No, when you update the catalog for a new version of Lightroom Classic the process version for existing photos does not get updated.

More Detail: With some versions of Lightroom Classic the catalog needs to be updated to reflect changes or new features in the new version. In addition, with certain changes in the Develop module a new process version is added to reflect the changes. However, when you update a catalog for a new version of Lightroom Classic, the process version for existing photos is not changed.

You can think of the process version as representing a particular version of the Develop module. For example, with process version 1 you have sliders in the Tone area of the Basic section on the right panel in the Develop module of Exposure, Recovery, Fill Light, Blacks, Brightness, and Contrast. In process version 6 (the current process version) you instead have Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, and Blacks.

In many cases changing from one process version to another can cause at least a minor (and sometimes significant) change in the appearance of an image. Therefore, when you update to a new version of Lightroom Classic that has a new process version, the process version for existing photos is not updated. This is to preserve the appearance of the underlying image.

If you want to take advantage of the latest features or processing options for an existing photo, you can update the process version to the latest version. In the Develop module if a photo is set to an older process version you’ll see a lightning bolt symbol in the Histogram section at the top of the right panel. That lightning bolt will appear at the bottom-right of the histogram if it is expanded, and to the left of the heading if the histogram is collapsed.

You can click on the lightning bolt icon to bring up a dialog that will enable you to update the process version, or you can choose the latest process version from the popup in the Calibration section of the right panel. Note, however, that you really only need to update the process version for images you want to adjust in the Develop module if you want to take advantage of the latest updates. For existing images there’s no real need to update the process version until you want to work with the image again in the Develop module (and even then doing so is optional).

Today’s Question: Do you shoot in raw only or raw and JPEG? If you shoot in both formats, do you include only raw in Lightroom Classic?

Tim’s Quick Answer: I shoot in raw only, not raw+JPEG. In the context of Lightroom Classic in particular, I generally recommend against the use of raw+JPEG capture.

More Detail: I recommend using raw capture to ensure optimal quality for your photos. Some photographers find it convenient to use the raw+JPEG option so they have a JPEG copy of each photo right out of the camera, which can make it easier to quickly share or review their photos.

However, in the context of a workflow that revolves around Lightroom Classic, there really isn’t a benefit to using the raw+JPEG capture option. That’s because Lightroom Classic will build the equivalent of JPEG previews when you import photos, and you can easily export JPEG copies of your raw captures if you want to share the images.

In addition, I recommend importing new captures directly into Lightroom Classic as the first step in your workflow, rather than downloading the images and reviewing them before importing them into your catalog. In other words, I don’t recommend using a workflow where you might review the JPEG copies from raw+JPEG pairs to decide which images you’ll import into Lightroom Classic.

If you prefer to use raw+JPEG capture for some reason, it is also important to note that by default Lightroom Classic won’t even import the JPEG images from the raw+JPEG pairs. If you want to import both the raw and JPEG images you would need to turn on the “Treat JPEG files next to raw files as separate photos” checkbox on the General tab of the Preferences dialog.

But again, from my perspective there isn’t any real benefit to using raw+JPEG capture when using Lightroom Classic to manage your photos and workflow.