Author: Tim Grey

Today’s Question: Is there any way to make the Camera Raw Filter in Photoshop automatically mirror the way I have things set up in Lightroom? Everything is there, but it’s often in a different place or has a different look. I would like it if opening the Camera Raw filter in Photoshop was virtually indistinguishable from Lightroom.

Tim’s Quick Answer: Unfortunately, no, it is not possible to change the Camera Raw interface match Lightroom Classic, as it is designed by Adobe to match the interface for the cloud-based version of Lightroom.

More Detail: I often explain that Camera Raw and the Develop module in Lightroom Classic are “the same”, meaning that feature all the exact same adjustments that are compatible with each other. For example, if you had processed a raw capture in Lightroom Classic and exported with the “Original” option for the Image Format, you would end up with a copy of the source raw capture and an XMP “sidecar” file that contained metadata including the Develop module adjustments. If you then opened that raw capture via Camera Raw in Photoshop, the image would look exactly as you had adjusted it in Lightroom Classic.

However, while the adjustments are the same for Camera Raw and Lightroom Classic, the interface is quite different between the two. That is because the interface for the cloud-based version of Lightroom is different from Lightroom Classic, and Camera Raw in Photoshop is designed to match the cloud-based version of Lightroom.

I’ll admit that Adobe seems incredibly determined to confuse photographers when it comes to the entire Lightroom ecosystem, and it is certainly frustrating that this confusion exists. But despite these issues, I do consider Lightroom Classic to be the better choice for most photographers compared to the cloud-based version of Lightroom.

The Camera Raw filter in Photoshop, by the way, is the focus of an article in the current February 2022 issue of Pixology magazine. Pixology magazine 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: I have a question about printing from Lightroom Classic. I get more consistent good results using color management “Managed by Printer” versus using ICC profiles for specific paper/printer combinations. Should I just stick with this since it’s “working”, or could I get even better results figuring out why the ICC profiles don’t work as well?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Ultimately you can use either approach to color management that provides great prints. The use of ICC profiles should enable the most accurate results, but if you’re not finding that to be the case then using the printer controls is a reasonable workaround.

More Detail: Generally speaking, you’ll produce the most accurate prints by obtaining (or creating) a custom ICC profile for the specific printer, ink, and paper combination you’ll be using to print a photo. There are tools available for building your own profiles, but you can also generally get good ICC profiles through the website of the manufacturer of the paper you’re using. When using an ICC profile, you need to disable color management with the printer driver to avoid a situation where color compensations are being applied twice, resulting in inaccurate color.

If you use a custom ICC profile and don’t get accurate results, it is worth confirming that all your workflow settings are correct. For example, be sure that your monitor display is properly calibrated, that the ink nozzles on your printer aren’t clogged, that you’re using the correct profile and settings within Lightroom Classic, and that you’ve disabled color management in the printer driver.

If you’re not able to get good results using an ICC profile, you can instead set Lightroom Classic to “Managed by Printer”. You will then need to configure the optimal settings in the printer driver to ensure an accurate print. In most cases you’ll also find that the printer driver includes custom adjustment controls so you can compensate for a print that isn’t completely accurate. Generally speaking, those same settings will then work well for any photo printed with the same printer, ink, and paper combination, so once you’ve found good settings your workflow will still be relatively streamlined.

Ultimately, if you’re able to achieve good prints without difficulty, then I’d say the workflow you’re using is working. I prefer that a color-managed workflow for printing involve a custom ICC profile, but what matters most is a print you’re happy with.

You can learn more about color management in my video course called “Color Management for Photographers”, which you can get for half of by using this link to get started:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/color?coupon=color

Today’s Question: I’m coming back from overseas travel where I forgot to change my camera’s time, while the time on my iPhone automatically changed. Now my photos are all mixed up. Is there a way, in Lightroom, to automatically set -5 hours to a batch of photos took with my camera?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can use the Edit Capture Time command in Lightroom Classic to update the capture time by a set number of hours very easily for a batch of photos.

More Detail: The first step is to select only the photos you need to update the capture time for. In this case, for example, only photos from the camera (not from the smartphone) need to be updated. You can use the Library Filter bar in the Library module to filter by camera model and then select all of those photos.

With all the photos that require a time correction selected, make sure you are in the grid view (thumbnails) display, not the loupe view. This will enable you to update all the selected photos at once very easily, not just the single photo shown in the loupe view, for example.

Next, go to the menu and choose Metadata > Edit Capture Time. In the Edit Capture Time dialog set the Type of Adjustment option to “Shift by a set number of hours (time zone adjust)”. In the New Time section, you can then select the number of hours you need to adjust by, which in this example is negative five (-5) hours).

Click the Change All button and the capture time for all the selected photos will be updated. Note that while you can’t use the “Undo” command to undo the time zone adjustment, you could always apply a corrective second adjustment if an error was made. For example, if you later realized that you needed to adjust the capture time by negative four hours rather than negative five hours, you could apply another correction of positive one (+1) hour to correct the photos.

Note that this topic was covered in greater detail in the November 2021 issue of Pixology magazine, which you can learn more about here:

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

Today’s Question: Regarding the question [from Monday, January 10th] dealing with the 8-bit versus 16-bit bug, I just checked and when I open an image from Lightroom Classic to Photoshop it opens in 16-bits per channel. I see that you did state the Camera Raw workflow [was affected by this bug] but I wanted to make sure it didn’t also happen in a Lightroom Classic to Photoshop workflow as well.

Tim’s Quick Answer: The bug referenced in an earlier Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter only relates to Camera Raw in the context of Photoshop. If you send a photo from Lightroom Classic to Photoshop the bit depth is determined by the setting established in Preferences, with a default of 16-bits per channel.

More Detail: In the Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter from January 10th (https://asktimgrey.com/2022/01/10/bit-depth-bug-in-camera-raw/) I referenced a bug in Camera Raw that causes the workflow settings to reset to 8-bit per channel for the bit depth, rather than 16-bits per channel. This issue does not affect images sent to Photoshop from Lightroom Classic using the Photo > Edit In command on the menu.

Instead, Lightroom Classic sets the bit depth for derivative images created with the “Edit In” command based on a setting in Preferences, which defaults to 16-bit per channel mode.

To check this setting you can bring up the Preferences dialog, which can be access from the Edit menu on Windows or the Lightroom Classic menu on Macintosh. Within the Preferences dialog go to the External Editing tab. At the top of that tab you’ll find settings specific to Photoshop, including the bit depth setting, color space, and more.

You can also configure other external editors, such as for plug-ins that support Lightroom Classic. For each external editor that you use you can configure individual settings for how the derivative image should be created.

Today’s Question: Do you recommend backing up the whole Lightroom presets folder (Appdata > Roaming > Adobe > Lightroom)?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, it is a good idea to back up the full Lightroom (Classic) folder where the various presets are stored by default, just to make it easier to recover should anything go wrong with Lightroom Classic, or you need to transition to another computer.

More Detail: By default Lightroom Classic stores a variety of presets and templates in a “Lightroom” folder that is somewhat buried in the operating system. For Windows users the folder is in the Users > [username] > Appdata > Roaming > Adobe folder structure, while on Macintosh it is in Users > [username] > Library > Application Support > Adobe structure.

The “Lightroom” folder in question contains a variety of additional folders where prests and templates are stored. That includes, for example, presets that you create in the Develop module as well as templates saved in the sharing modules (such as Print), among other data.

While you don’t generally need to interact with the files in the “Lightroom” folder directly, you may want to be able to recover those files if you run into a problem with Lightroom Classic or you want to transition to a different computer.

In general, as long as you’re regularly backing up your internal hard drive (where Lightroom Classic is installed) these files should be getting backed up. However, I would confirm that the files are included in such a backup, just to be sure you have a backup in case it is ever needed.

Today’s Question: A photographer can let the camera convert to a black and white image or shoot in color and then convert it to black and white during post-processing. What are the pros and cons of each method? Which do you recommend?

Tim’s Quick Answer: If you’re capturing in raw, you’ll end up with color even if you set the camera to black and white. If you’re not capturing in a raw format I suggest converting to black and white after the capture.

More Detail: While a black and white photo only contains shades of gray, creating a black and white image from a color photo provides greater flexibility in terms of how you interpret that image. Therefore, I recommend capturing photos in color and then converting to black and white after the capture.

As noted above, for raw captures the photo will be in color even if you set the camera to black and white. The preview on the camera will appear in black and white, but when you process the raw capture on the computer it will be in color. Setting the camera to black and white can be an advantage in terms of having a basic black and white preview of the capture, rather than having to try to imagine what the black and white version of a color photo might look like.

If you’re capturing in a non-raw capture format such as JPEG, setting the camera to black and white will truly produce a monochromatic image with no color. That reduces the flexibility for interpreting the black and white image later in your workflow. Therefore, with a non-raw capture I suggest shooting in color and converting to black and white later.

If you capture a color photograph you will have more flexibility when later interpreting the image in black and white. You can, for example, adjust the individual brightness values for pixels based on their source color. You can darken all the blue pixels, for example, to darken the sky, and brighten the yellow and green pixels to brighten foliage. This translates into great creative flexibility in terms of using color information to better convert the image to black and white.

So, for raw capture you can set the camera to black and white if you prefer, as you’ll still have color images for processing. For non-raw captures I suggest capturing in color and converting to black and white during photo processing later.

Today’s Question: I understand the workflow for sending a raw capture to Photoshop from Lightroom Classic. But when I want to edit a JPEG capture, I must choose an option when the image is initially sent to Photoshop. For that do I want to edit the original or make a copy?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Generally speaking, when sending a JPEG (or other non-raw capture) to Photoshop from Lightroom Classic I recommend using the “Edit a Copy with Lightroom Adjustments” option in the dialog that appears. If you then send the TIFF or PSD file that results back to Photoshop again, you’ll generally want to use the “Edit Original” option.

More Detail: You can send a photo from Lightroom Classic to Photoshop for editing by selecting Photo > Edit In > Edit in Adobe Photoshop from the menu. When you send a raw capture from Lightroom Classic to Photoshop using this command, a derivative image will be created from the raw capture with the adjustments you’ve already applied included in that derivative image. The file will be a TIFF or PSD file depending on the options you’ve set for External Editing in Preferences.

For non-raw image formats if you send the image to Photoshop from Lightroom Classic you’ll be prompted to choose how you want that image processed as part of this process. If you choose “Edit a Copy with Lightroom Adjustments” a new derivative image will be created as a TIFF or PSD (depending on your Preferences setting) with all adjustments from Lightroom Classic included as part of that new image.

If you choose “Edit a Copy” a duplicate image will be created of the same file format as the original, but with the Lightroom Classic adjustments only applied within Lightroom Classic and therefore not visible while you’re working with that duplicate image in Photoshop. The Lightroom Classic adjustments will still be applied when you return to Lightroom Classic with that image after working in Photoshop.

If you choose the “Edit Original” option the source image you have selected will be opened in Photoshop, but the Lightroom Classic adjustments won’t be visible while you’re working in Photoshop. Those adjustments will appear again when you’re back in Lightroom Classic. This is the option I recommend using for derivative images you had previously created by sending a photo to Photoshop, so that you can continue working with any layers or other special features you may have created using Photoshop.

In all cases, when you are finished working with the image in Photoshop you should only use the “Save” command, not “Save As”. If you use Save As and use a different file name or folder location, there is a good chance Lightroom Classic will lose track of the new image and it won’t be included in your catalog.

Today’s Question: I saw your eNewsletter where you talk about calibration. So, I thought you might be interested in this recent exchange I had with [the Datacolor] Spyder 5 Pro team. I recently purchased the new MacBook Pro with M1 chip and Spyder was not working on it – that’s what caused me to reach out to them. It seems that Apple has disabled the ability to do external calibration on their new computers.

Tim’s Quick Answer: The issue here relates specifically to the new Liquid Retina XDR display on the newest MacBook Pro computers (https://bhpho.to/31HhhrE) and does not affect other computers such as earlier models with the Apple M1 processor.

More Detail: The newest MacBook Pro computers (https://bhpho.to/31HhhrE) feature a Liquid Retina XDR display, which does not support the traditional display calibration workflow. In other words, products such as the Calibrite ColorChecker Display (https://timgrey.me/calibrite) or similar products from Datacolor can’t be used to calibrate the new XDR display.

Instead, you would need to use a custom calibration option that is available in the Display section of System Preferences for computers with the new display type. Apple has provided some details on the process on their website here:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212851

Note that this issue only affects the XDR display. At the moment that only includes the latest models of MacBook Pro computers, but I’m sure this will be an issue for additional models when Apple releases them. Additional external displays can still be calibrated normally using the various tools available, however.

Today’s Question: I had heard somewhere along the line that having a lot of presets in Lightroom Classic will cause Lightroom to slow down. Is that still true?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, having a very large number of Develop presets can slow overall performance in Lightroom Classic. However, this is generally not a significant issue unless you have thousands of presets.

More Detail: While too many Develop presets in Lightroom Classic can degrade performance, this isn’t likely to be a significant issue for most photographers.

To begin with, Adobe has indicated that performance does not become a significant concern until you have around 2,000 or more Develop presets. In my experience most photographers do not have anywhere near this number of presets. That said, if you have a large number of presets you don’t use, I do recommend removing them to avoid a degradation in performance.

The more significant issues involve overall system performance. That includes using a fast computer with an adequate amount of memory (RAM) and a fast hard drive especially for the catalog. It can also be helpful to optimize the catalog periodically, which is an option available when you use the built-in catalog backup feature in Lightroom Classic.

So, while having a very large number of Develop presets installed can certainly slow down Lightroom Classic, for most users this isn’t a significant concern and the more impactful issues relate to hardware configuration.

Today’s Question: What are the pros and cons of checking the “Store presets with this catalog” checkbox in Lightroom Classic?

Tim’s Quick Answer: I recommend that most photographers leave this checkbox turned off. The potential advantage of turning it on is that presets can be easier to find and share across more than one computer. However, turning the option on is not a universal solution and can cause some confusion.

More Detail: By default, Lightroom Classic stores presets in a somewhat “hidden” location within your user folder for your operating system. However, there is an option on the Presets tab of the Preferences dialog to instead store presets with the catalog. This can make it a little easier to find your presets and enables you to share presets across more than one computer if you’re moving your catalog between them, such as on an external hard drive.

However, there are some issues that cause me to recommend leaving the “Store presets with this catalog” checkbox turned off.

To begin with, turning on the option to store presets with the catalog won’t affect all presets, with certain categories of presets still stored within your user folder structure on the operating system hard drive.

In addition, turning on the option to store presets with the catalog will only affect new presets, and will not cause existing presets to be moved. So, you would need to move the presets manually, which creates its own set of challenges.

As many readers know, I recommend using a single Lightroom Classic catalog to manage all photos. If you store presets with the catalog, that means you would have individual sets of presets for each catalog you use. If you’re using more than one catalog this could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your perspective.

Ultimately, I recommend leaving all presets in their default location. You can always get quick access to the location where presets are stored by clicking the “Show Lightroom Develop Presets” or the “Show All Other Lightroom Presets” button on the Presets tab of the Preferences dialog.