Category: Ask Tim Grey

Today’s Question: I’ve been reading about a new adjustment layer in Photoshop apparently called “Color and Vibrance”, but I can’t find it anywhere. How to I access (and use) this adjustment?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The new “Color and Vibrance” adjustment is currently available in the public beta version of Photoshop and is not yet available in the current general release version. This adjustment combines Temperature and Tint sliders for adjusting overall color balance along with Vibrance and Saturation sliders for adjusting color saturation.

More Detail: The new “Color and Vibrance” adjustment layer doesn’t actually add any new functionality that wasn’t in Photoshop previously, but it does provide a more efficient way to apply the most common basic color adjustments to an image. In effect, Color and Vibrance will enable you to use one adjustment layer to take the place of both Color Balance and Vibrance adjustment layers.

If you would like to try out the new adjustment before it is added to a general release of Photoshop, you will need to install the public beta version of Photoshop. To do so, go to the Creative Cloud application (the same application you use to install updates to other Creative Cloud applications), go to the Beta category, and install the Photoshop beta version.

Once you’ve installed the public beta version of Photoshop you can open an image and then on the Layers panel click the “Create New Adjustment Layer” button (the half-black/half-white circle icon) and choose “Color and vibrance” from the popup menu. Then on the Properties panel you can adjust the Temperature and Tint sliders to shift the color balance between blue/yellow and green/magenta, respectively. The Vibrance and Saturation sliders are also available for adjusting overall saturation for colors in the image.

While the new Color and Vibrance adjustment layer doesn’t add any new adjustments to Photoshop, it does provide a more convenient option for adjusting overall color in an image. I’m therefore grateful to see that it is being added to Photoshop. And keep in mind that by virtue of being an adjustment layer you can also use a layer mask to focus the adjustment only affect specific areas of an image.

Today’s Question: Recently I had heard that Denoise AI in Camera Raw and Lightroom is now capable of outputting a native RAW file instead of the usual DNG. When I tried Denoise AI in the Camera Raw Filter with a native RAW file the result was an ACR file at just 7.3 MB alongside the original untouched RAW file at 30.3 mb. What’s the real story?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Denoise no longer requires converting a raw capture to a DNG, but it doesn’t save the edits in a raw capture format. Rather, the Denoise information is effectively metadata, which gets applied to the image when it is rendered, such as by saving the processed raw image in a file format such as TIFF or JPEG.

More Detail: When the Denoise and Super Resolution features were added to Camera Raw and Lightroom, the processing required that an Adobe DNG file be created based on the original raw capture. That DNG file would include all the processing applied via Camera Raw or Lightroom.

With a recent update, a DNG file is no longer created. However, that doesn’t mean that the Denoise processing is being saved as part of the original raw capture. Camera Raw and Lightroom do not modify the original file (raw or otherwise) when you apply adjustments. That is still true with the updates for Denoise and Super Resolution.

In the case of Camera Raw the additional metadata is stored in an ACR file rather than the XMP file that is used to store other metadata updates. In Lightroom Classic that additional information is saved within the catalog files. The original raw capture is not altered. To create an image that has the pixel values updated to reflect the adjustments, you would save a derivative image in the usual way. In Camera Raw that means saving the resulting image using Photoshop, while with Lightroom Classic this would involve exporting a copy of the image.

Today’s Question: Can you explain what exactly is meant by the option to intersect a mask [or selection]? I understand the options to add or subtract, but can’t wrap my head around intersect.

Tim’s Quick Answer: The intersect option involves modifying a mask or selection to only include the overlap between the existing mask or selection and a new mask or selection. I recommend thinking of the intersect option as providing a way to say “subtract everything but this”.

More Detail: Admittedly, the intersect option for masks and selections can be a little confusing. Adding to a selection or mask is rather straightforward, as is subtracting from a selection or mask. The intersect option isn’t quite as clear.

Let’s assume you have a mask or selection of three hot air balloons in the sky, but you only want to modify the middle balloon. One approach you could take would be to subtract the balloon on the left and then subtract the balloon on the right, leaving only the balloon in the middle being included in the selection or mask.

A faster option, however, would be to subtract everything except the middle balloon in one step. That’s what the intersect option makes possible. Using the intersect option, you select only the middle balloon, and that middle balloon becomes the only balloon that is selected or included in the mask.

What’s happening in the background is that the two selections or masks are being compared, and the final selection or mask will represent only the overlap (or intersection) between both of them. However, I think it is easier to think of it as an option to “subract everything but this”. In this example that would mean you are selecting the middle balloon, effectively saying “remove all balloons from the selection or mask except this one”.

Another way you could look at this is that the intersect option is the same as subtracting the opposite of what you’ve selected. In the example above, that means intersect is the same as creating a selection of the middle hot air balloon, inverting that selection or mask, and using that to subtract from the selection of all three hot air balloons.

Today’s Question: I’d like to rename my Lightroom Classic catalog. The option for renaming asks about renaming the parent folder. When would I want to do this?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You might want to rename the folder that contains your Lightroom Classic catalog just so the folder name is more clear to you. Just be sure to NOT rename the folder if you have photos stored within the same folder structure as the catalog.

More Detail: With a relatively recent update Lightroom Classic includes an option to rename a catalog. Simply make sure you have the catalog you want to rename open in Lightroom Classic and choose File > Rename Catalog from the menu. You can then enter a more meaningful name in the New Name field, or simply update the filename such as to remove the text along the lines of “-2-2-2-v13” that may have accumulated over the years from various updates to the catalog over time.

In the Rename Catalog dialog there is also a “Rename parent folder” checkbox. If you turn this checkbox on, the folder containing the catalog will be renamed to match the new base filename of the catalog. This can be convenient, since a meaningful name for the catalog probably represents a good name for the folder containing the catalog and related files.

However, if you have any photos stored within the same folder structure as the catalog that have also been imported into the catalog, renaming the parent folder will cause the photos and any related folders to appear as missing in Lightroom Classic.

So, if you’re not sure whether you have any photos stored in the folder structure along with the catalog, it is better to not rename the folder. If you’re certain there are no photos stored in that folder structure (and there’s really no reason for there to be), you can rename the catalog folder if you’d like. If you do have photos stored in the same folder structure, you can rename the catalog as above, but then rename the parent folder from within Lightroom Classic to avoid creating any missing photos or folders.

Today’s Question: When I try to assemble an HDR [high dynamic range] panorama in Lightroom Classic, it tells me that Deghost will not be applied. Is there a way to use the Deghost feature when creating an HDR panorama?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can use Deghost for an HDR panorama, but you’ll need to merge the HDR frames first and then assemble those into a panorama.

More Detail: Lightroom Classic (and Camera Raw for non-Lightroom users!) can assemble high dynamic range (HDR) images and composite panoramas. Both applications can also combine the two techniques in a single process to create an HDR panorama.

However, when you assemble an HDR panorama the Auto-Align feature will automatically be applied (and can’t be turned off) and the Deghost feature is not available. If you want to use Deghost (or disable Auto-Align) you’ll need to assemble the HDR panorama in a two-step process.

The first step is to assemble each bracketed set if captures into an HDR image. During this process you can adjust the settings based on your preference, such as to leverage the Deghost feature. I recommend using the exact same settings for each bracketed set of images you’ll assemble into the panorama.

Once the HDR images have been assembled, you can select only the HDR images (they will be saved as Adobe DNG files) and then use the Photo > Photo Merge > Panorama command to create a panorama based on the HDR images. This will result in the final HDR panorama, requiring more steps than the fully automated approach but with more flexibility in terms of how the images are assembled.

Today’s Question: I have a photo where the People option for Distraction Removal in Lightroom Classic is not finding the people in the image and therefore can’t remove them. Is there a way to tell Lightroom Classic where the people are so they can be removed automatically?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Sort of. You can’t provide assistance to the Distraction Removal feature, but you can still remove the people by painting with the Remove tool, perhaps with the inclusion of generative AI. The same feature is available in Camera Raw, Lightroom Classic, and Lightroom.

More Detail: The options found under the Distraction Removal heading for Lightroom Classic, Camera Raw, and Lightroom are completely automatic. If the target subject (such as people with the People option) aren’t identified for a given image, then the feature simply won’t work with that image. Note that this feature is specifically looking for people that are distracting in the frame, so a person that appears as a key subject won’t be detected either.

However, you can get similar results by using the Remove tool, generally in conjunction with the generative AI feature for the best results.

In Lightroom Classic, for example, after choosing the Remove tool from the toolbar below the histogram on the right panel, make sure the Remove option (the first button) is selected for Mode. To get results consistent with what you can normally expect for the Distraction Removal feature turn on the “Use generative AI” checkbox. You can then paint over the distracting people in the photo, refine the mask you’ve painted as needed, and click the Remove button to apply the distraction removal.

While this manual approach isn’t as fast or convenient as the automatic option under Distraction Removal, it will generally provide you with similar (and generally very good) results for removing people from an image.

Today’s Question: I have an older iMac running Ventura (13.x), that cannot run a later version of MacOS. I have the Adobe Photography subscription, which includes Bridge, Photoshop and Lightroom. In your opinion do you think it will continue to run on my iMac? And do you know if an update to the mentioned software will break it? And if so, is it possible to turn off auto updates from Adobe?

Tim’s Quick Answer: I would not expect MacOS Ventura to be supported much longer for future updates to Adobe applications. However, you can disable automatic updates to provide more time before you would need to upgrade your computer by using older versions of Adobe applications.

More Detail: Backward compatibility is a particular challenge for those using a Macintosh computer. Older hardware is not supported by more recent versions of the MacOS operating system, and Adobe applications (among others) tend not to support older operating system versions.

For Macintosh users the current system requirements only support operating systems as old as MacOS Ventura (v13). At some point in the relatively near future, I expect that to change so that MacOS Sonoma (v14) is the oldest operating system version that is supported. Since your computer can’t be updated, that prevents you from updating to the latest versions of Adobe applications, once they require MacOS Sonoma or later.

To buy yourself time before you need to replace your computer, you can simply stop updating Adobe applications once the system requirements no longer support MacOS Ventura. To disable automatic updates, choose “Apps” from the toolbar along the left edge of the Creative Cloud application (where you would install applications or updates). Toward the top-center click “Manage auto-updates”. You can then turn off “Auto-update” to disable any automatic updates, or keep that option turned on and then turn off automatic updates for specific applications.

Today’s Question: I have been using Photoshop for over 20 years and early on decided to avoid using the denoise functionality because of potential loss of detail. However, recently I have been experimenting with this function and have been pleased with the results in many challenging situations, so I assume this functionality has been upgraded over time. However, I still am concerned about what the process does to the source file, as it seems to apply destructive edits. Am I correct?

Tim’s Quick Answer: No, none of the adjustments (including Denoise) in Camera Raw, Lightroom Classic, and Lightroom, will alter the original raw capture. And it is true that Denoise has gotten significantly better with recent updates.

More Detail: I suspect any concern about Denoise altering the original raw capture is the result that a recent change from Adobe enables Denoise to be applied without having to create a DNG file as part of the process. In effect, Denoise is now simply another of the many adjustments available in Camera Raw, Lightroom Classic, and Lightroom.

One of the key features of raw processing software is that it does not alter the original raw capture. Rather, the raw data is processed with the adjustment settings you’ve specified, to generate new pixels that would typically then result in a new image file. The raw capture remains unaltered. The adjustment settings are preserved in an XMP “sidecar” file. This can contribute to making it appear that the raw capture was modified, because if you open the raw capture again, you’ll see that all prior adjustments (including Denoise) are already in effect.

Rest assured that your raw capture remains unmodified. You could, for example, simply reset all adjustments to revert to the original image, or make a second copy of the raw capture (without the XMP file) and open that to start from the default settings.

Today’s Question: The size of the original raw photo (CR3 from a Canon R5) was approximately 45 megabytes. When I sent the image to Photoshop from Lightroom Classic to use Generative Fill for image cleanup, the resulting TIF file is now nearly 650 megabytes in size. Is this normal and, even if it is, do you have any suggestions that would keep resulting edits (when they become TIF’s via Photoshop) to a more “reasonable” size?

Tim’s Quick Answer: This significant increase in file size is mostly due to the use of Generative Fill in Photoshop without flattening the layers. In the absence of the use of Generative Fill in this case the resulting file would not have been anywhere near as large.

More Detail: A TIFF file will always have a considerably larger file size that a raw capture, though there are a number of factors that can dramatically increase the file size for a TIFF image.

To begin with, in most cases a raw capture only contains only one of the three RGB (red, green, blue) for each of the pixels in the final image. It is not until the raw capture is processed to create another image that the full pixel data is generated. At that time, the file will generally be at least three times larger than the raw capture based on 8-bit per channel mode. If the TIFF image was saved in the 16-bit per channel mode, that base file size increases to six times the original file size.

So, in the case of a 45MB raw capture, a TIFF saved in 8-bit per channel mode would be about 135MB in size. At 16-bits per channel that file size would increase to about 270MB.

However, the Generative Fill feature adds an additional layer with considerable data. This can lead to an image that is almost ten times larger than the original raw capture.

There are two basic strategies that can be used to reduce the file size of a TIFF or PSD image. One is to flatten layers once you’re completely confident that the image is completely finished and you don’t need to modify any of the existing layers. Of course, you always have the raw capture to go back to if you need to make changes, but this could still involve considerable work depending on what you had done in Photoshop.

The other thing you could do is convert the image to 8-bit per channel mode rather than 16-bit per channel mode. I only recommend considering this option if you are completely finished with adjustments and you have flattened all layers, because otherwise converting to 8-bit per channel can cause posterization (a loss of smooth gradations in the image).

Note that there is also compression available for TIFF files, which can help reduce the file size to some extent. This won’t make as much of a difference as the above options, but it is helpful. In Lightroom Classic you can go to the External Editing tab of the Preferences dialog and choose ZIP from the Compression popup. This will help reduce file size without any impact on image quality.

Today’s Question: When I import images into Lightroom Classic I use a user preset that includes Lightroom’s “auto” processing. I find that’s a good place to start my adjustments. I also often take bracketed exposures to create HDR [high dynamic range] images through Lightroom’s “Photo Merge” feature. Does the “auto” import processing affect the HDR creation?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Adjustments applied to bracketed exposures before merging to a high dynamic range (HDR) image won’t affect the creation of the underlying HDR image, but can affect the initial appearance of that image.

More Detail: It is not a problem to apply adjustments to the bracketed images before merging them into an HDR image in Lightroom Classic. Applying adjustments before merging will not affect the underlying HDR image that is assembled. However, many of the adjustments will carry through to the HDR image. But if you’re not happy with the results, you can always refine the adjustments after merging.

As a somewhat extreme example, let’s assume you converted a bracketed set of exposures to black and white (using the B&W treatment option in the Basic section) before merging them to HDR. The resulting HDR image will appear in black and white rather than color. However, you could then simply turn off the B&W treatment option and the HDR will magically appear in color again.

The issue is a little different with the tonal adjustments applied when you use the Auto adjustment, in that the basic tonal adjustments will not carry through to the HDR image. For example, if you shifted the exposure value for all the bracketed images, that would not cause any change in the HDR image when you merge the image. The HDR would be the same with or without the Exposure adjustment for the bracketed exposures.

Also keep in mind that you can enable the “Auto Settings” option in the HDR Merge Preview dialog, which is similar in concept to applying the Auto adjustment in the Develop module or on import via a preset. This will alter the settings based on an evaluation of the HDR image, but you can always refine the adjustment settings later with no impact on image quality.