Category: Ask Tim Grey

Today’s Question: I have noticed as I import photos into Lightroom Classic the images initially appear better exposed, with the display shows “loading”, and as it finishes the photo automatically gets darker. Any idea why?

Tim’s Quick Answer: This behavior is caused by Lightroom Classic initially showing the embedded preview from the camera, then updating to the preview generated by Lightroom Classic. You can likely improve the results by applying a preset during import, such as one including the Auto adjustment.

More Detail: When you initially import photos into Lightroom Classic (or when there otherwise is not a preview built by Lightroom Classic) you will initially see the embedded preview for the image. This is the preview generated by your camera and can include any adjustments you had applied in-camera. For example, in many cases cameras enable you to apply adjustments to boost the contrast or saturation of photos, among other options.

While Lightroom Classic will initially show you the embedded preview in these cases, that preview will be replaced by a Standard preview generated by Lightroom Classic whenever you browse photos that don’t already have a Standard preview. Because the Standard preview is generated by Lightroom Classic without taking into account any adjustments applied in-camera, the Standard preview can look different from the camera’s preview.

The Standard preview in Lightroom Classic does take into account any adjustments that have been applied in the Develop module, of course. When importing new photos you obviously won’t have applied adjustments in the Develop module, but you can apply a preset during import to apply adjustments that will impact the Standard previews.

For example, you could create a preset in the Develop module that includes the “Auto Settings” option, so that the Auto adjustment will be applied as part of the import. You can also include any other adjustments you’d like to apply to images upon import. For example, I apply Lens Corrections, Clarity, and Vibrance as part of the preset I typically apply to photos during import.

Applying a preset during import can help improve the initial preview for your images, especially for situations where you had adjustments applied in the camera that won’t be applicable in Lightroom Classic. And, of course, you can also apply the same preset to images after import to update those photos with the same adjustments.

Today’s Question: Is there any difference in the adjustment effect when you choose between the HSL or Color option on the Adjust popup in the Color Mixer section [in Lightroom Class, Camera Raw, or Lightroom]?

Tim’s Quick Answer: No, choosing between the HSL and Color options for the Color Mixer adjustment only changes how the sliders are displayed, and does not impact the effect of your adjustments.

More Detail: There are a couple ways you can change how the Hue, Saturation, and Luminance sliders for the various colors are displayed on the Mixer tab of the Color Mixer adjustment, which is available in Lightroom Classic, Camera Raw, and Lightroom. Changing the slider configuration based on these options, however, does not in any way affect how the adjustments change the appearance of a photo.

The first way you can change the slider display configuration, as noted in today’s question, is to choose between HSL and Color from the Adjust popup. If you choose HSL then the sliders for each color range will be grouped based on hue, saturation, and luminance. So, you’ll have Hue sliders for each of the colors grouped together, followed by the Saturation sliders, and then the Luminance sliders.

If you instead choose Color from the popup, the sliders will be grouped in sets for each color, with a Hue, Saturation, and Luminance slider for Red, then a Hue, Saturation, and Luminance slider for Orange, and so on.

The other way you can change the configuration of the sliders is to filter them by group. When you have selected the HSL option, for example, you will see links that enable you to only see the Hue sliders, only see the Saturation sliders, only see the Luminance sliders, or see all sliders. With the Color option selected the same basic concept applies, except that you’re filtering sliders based on colors. So you can choose a color by clicking the circle of the applicable color, for example, to only see the Hue, Saturation, and Luminance sliders for that color. You can also click the circle that shows a rainbow gradient to view all sliders for all colors.

The behavior of the sliders is exactly the same in all cases. For example, if you change the value for the Red slider for Hue, and then switch from HSL to Color, you’ll see that the Red value remains exactly the same, and the effect on the image does not change.

Today’s Question: In your answer about the exported JPEG copies that were added to the catalog and didn’t sort in the correct order, you didn’t mention why the exported copies might be added to the catalog [in Lightroom Classic]. Is there any real reason to do this? I didn’t realize it was an option, and my exported photos are never added to my catalog.

Tim’s Quick Answer: The only reason to add a photo to the current catalog when exporting is to continue managing the derivative image in the context of Lightroom Classic. For example, if you export a photo for purposes of sending to a printer, you may want to retain that derivative copy so you can easily send the exact same image again later.

More Detail: I generally don’t add exported images to my Lightroom Classic catalog. That’s because those derivative copies are generally intended for some temporary purpose, I don’t want the additional clutter of those “extra” files in my catalog, and if I need to export the same image again I normally want to be sure that any changes I’ve made since the previous export are included in the new export.

That said, many photographers do prefer to add at least some derivative images back to their Lightroom Classic catalog. This can be done by turning on the “Add to This Catalog” checkbox in the Export Location section of the Export dialog. Note that in general when using this option you may want to choose the “Same folder as original photo” option from the “Export To” popup so the derivative image will be stored in the same folder alongside the original it is based on.

As noted above, one of the reasons you may want to add an exported image to the catalog is to be able to have access to the exact same version of an image. For example, if you offer images for sale as prints, it is common to retain a specific print version of the image so you know the print will be based on the exact same file with the exact same appearance very time you print the image.

My recommendation is to consider whether you’re creating a derivative copy that you want to continue to manage in your catalog with the ability to access that exact version of the image, or whether the derivative is for a temporary purpose that doesn’t require the image to be added back to the catalog. For example, if you’re exporting a JPEG copy to post to social media sites, there probably isn’t a reason to retain that derivative copy in your catalog.

Today’s Question: Is there a way to rename a single image in Lightroom Classic without having to use the Rename Photo command that involves renaming based on a template? I just want to add something like “8×10 print” to the end of a filename for images I’ve sent to Photoshop to prepare for printing.

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can rename a single photo easily by making changes in the File Name field in the Metadata section of the right panel in the Library module. Just be sure not to change the filename extension when doing so.

More Detail: Lightroom Classic includes a template-based option for renaming photos either during import or later in your workflow (using the Library > Rename Photo” command). This provides a convenient and flexible way to rename photos, with a consistent approach assuming you use specific templates based on how you want to rename your images.

However, in some cases you may want to simply rename a single photo, such as to add descriptive text to the end of the filename. You can do this very easily by making changes to the File Name field found in the Metadata section of the right panel in the Library module. Simply click into the field and make any changes you’d like. As noted above, just be sure not to change the filename extension, as that can cause compatibility issues with some software.

Today’s Question: I have JPEG copies of my raw captures, which I created by exporting to the same folder and added to the catalog. However, when I sort the images by capture time, the JPEGs are all at the end of the list of thumbnails rather than alongside the related raw capture. Why isn’t the sort working for exported copies?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The most likely explanation here is that the images were exported with limited metadata, so that there isn’t a value for the capture time in metadata and the image is therefore sorted based on the date it was created instead of the capture time of the original image.

More Detail: When you export photos from Lightroom Classic, you have several options for which metadata will be included in the derivative copy created as part of being exported. If you choose an option other than “All Metadata”, some metadata fields will be left blank in the exported copy.

For example, if you choose “Copyright & Contact Info Only” from the Include popup in the Metadata section of the Export dialog, only specific metadata fields related to copyright and contact information (from IPTC metadata) will be included. All EXIF metadata from the camera will be excluded, for example, which includes things like the camera equipment and settings fields, as well as the capture time.

Therefore, if you want to include the capture time in metadata for your exported images (including exported copies that you add back to the catalog) you’ll need to include EXIF metadata, which means choosing one of two options from the Include popup when exporting. If you choose the “All Metadata” option then all metadata will be included unless it is otherwise excluded, such as if you also then turn on the “Remove Person Info” or “Remove Location Info” checkboxes. If you choose the “All Except Camera Raw Info” option, then all metadata will be included (other than special exceptions) except for the settings for adjustments you applied in the Develop module.

Note, by the way, that if EXIF metadata is included, that does mean that in addition to capture time all other metadata from your camera will be included, such as the specific equipment and camera settings that were used. Also note that it is possible to always exclude specific keywords from metadata on export if you turn on the “Include on Export” checkbox in the Edit Keyword Tag dialog, which you can access by right-clicking on a keyword in the Keyword List and choosing “Edit Keyword Tag” from the popup menu.

Today’s Question: I’ve noticed that some of my photos have a white color label in Lightroom Classic, rather than the actual colors I assign to mark photos for workflow tasks. What is a white color label if there’s no way to assign white as a color label?

Tim’s Quick Answer: When a photo appears in Lightroom Classic with a white color label rather than one of the available colors for labels, that is an indication that the value in metadata does not match the current definitions for the color labels.

More Detail: When you assign a color label to an image, you’re not actually assigning a color, but rather adding text to the Label field in metadata. Because of this issue, it is possible to have color labels assigned to images that don’t match the applicable definitions of color labels. In Lightroom Classic, an image with a color label assignment that doesn’t match the current definitions will appear with a white color label.

You can review or modify the color label assignments in Lightroom Classic by going to the menu while in the Library module and choosing Metadata > Color Label Set > Edit. It is worth noting that Lightroom Classic and Adobe Bridge use different definitions for the color labels, so for example if you had assigned color labels in Bridge prior to importing photos into Lightroom Classic, there would be a mismatch for those images if you hadn’t changed the definitions of color labels.

By default, Lightroom Classic adds the name of the color to the Label field when you assign a color label to an image, such as “Red” for a red color label. With Bridge the red color label results in the word “Select” being added to the Label field.

I recommend keeping the default color label definitions in Lightroom Classic since they are logical. You can then update the metadata for images with Label values that don’t match those definitions.

For example, you can navigate to the All Photographs collection in the Catalog section of the left panel in the Library module to browse all photos, and then choose the Metadata tab on the Library Filter bar. Set one of the columns to “Label”, and select one of the non-standard values from the list. For example, if you have “Select” as an option based on assigning a red color label in Bridge, you could select that from the list to view only those images.

Once you’ve set a filter for images that have a non-matching color label assignment, select all photos by choosing Edit > Select All from the menu, and then assign the correct color label. For example, in this case you could go to the menu and choose Photo > Set Color Label > Red.

Because the color label feature is really a method for displaying an image attribute based on the text added to metadata, in this case for the Label field, it is important to ensure you’re using a consistent workflow for updating the Label field based on the color label definitions in Lightroom Classic. Fortunately, if you have images with values in the Label field that don’t match the color label definitions, you can select those images and assign the correct color label to update the text in the Label field and therefore cause the appropriate label color to appear for the images.

Today’s Question: When using the Remove tool in Photoshop, when I paint to remove a dust spot it is not removed immediately. Instead, if I keep painting on additional dust spots the color overlay appears, and then I have to click the checkmark button to apply the cleanup. Is there a way to remove each dust spot as I paint on it, like the other cleanup tools behave?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can have each brush stroke apply cleanup immediately by turning on the “Remove after each stroke” checkbox on the Options bar before you start painting in the image with the Remove tool.

More Detail: The Remove tool in Photoshop includes an option to either remove a blemish every time you paint with the tool, or to allow you to paint over multiple areas and then apply the cleanup all at once. This is controlled by the “Remove after each stroke” checkbox.

If you have the checkbox turned on, each time you paint with the Remove tool the area you painted will be cleaned up, similar to how many of the other image cleanup tools in Photoshop behave. If you turn off the checkbox, you can paint in multiple areas to define where you want cleanup to apply, whether that is to create one relatively large area or multiple smaller areas around the image, for example.

If you have turned off the “Remove after each stroke” checkbox, once you’ve painted on all areas you want to apply cleanup to you can click the Apply button (the checkmark icon) on the Options bar to apply cleanup to the areas you’ve painted based on the other settings on the Options bar.

In general, I prefer to have the cleanup applied after each brush stroke, so I can evaluate the results along the way and undo or otherwise refine the result as needed. However, in some cases you may find it preferable to not apply the cleanup for each brush stroke, such as when you need to use multiple brush strokes to define a shape for a relatively large area that you want to apply cleanup to.

Today’s Question: Your answer about exporting video mentioned editing the video, but video isn’t supported in the Develop module. How is it possible to edit video in Lightroom Classic?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can edit video in Lightroom Classic by trimming the video, applying adjustments with Quick Develop in the Library module, or applying a saved preset with limited options for the adjustments that are supported.

More Detail: While support for video in Lightroom Classic isn’t exactly robust overall, there are enough features that make Lightroom Classic useful for managing videos alongside still photos for the photographer who is primarily focused on still photography.

The first way you can edit videos in Lightroom Classic is to trim the video, removing portions at the beginning and end of the video. This can be done by clicking the gear icon on the playback controls below the video preview in the Library module to bring up the trim controls. You can then drag the trim handles inward from the left and right sides to trim the video as desired.

You can also adjust the overall appearance of the video, though the controls available for video are limited. The primary way you can apply adjustments is with the controls in the Quick Develop section of the right panel in the Library module. Note that not all controls there will be available, because they are not supported for video.

Another option is to apply a Develop preset to the video, which can be done by selecting the preset from the Saved Preset popup in the Quick Develop section. Note, however, that only supported adjustment options will actually be applied. This does make it possible, however, to apply a wider range of adjustments than is possible with Quick Develop.

The adjustments supported for video that you can include in a preset applied to a video are: the Auto adjustment, White Balance, Exposure, Blacks, Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, Vibrance, Tone Curve, Treatment (color versus black and white), Color Grading, Process Version, and Calibration.

Today’s Question: When I export videos from Lightroom Classic, such as to include in a photo slideshow, I have to choose an option for Video Format. Which option should I use?

Tim’s Quick Answer: If you haven’t edited the video in Lightroom Classic, and you know the current video format is supported by the software you’ll be using, I would choose “Original, unedited file”. If you have edited the video or are concerned about compatibility, I would choose “H.264”.

More Detail: In general, if there isn’t a particular need to render a video to a new format, I suggest simply keeping the video in the format it was captured in. This would involve choosing the “Original, unedited file” option from the Video Format popup in the Video section of the Export dialog.

If you have edited the video in Lightroom Classic, you need to render to a new format to include your edits in the exported video. In that case you can choose between DPX and H.264. Both are perfectly fine, but H.264 is more widely supported so I consider it a “safer” option.

Note that rendering a new video will take more time than simply copying the source video file. That won’t be a significant issue for relatively short videos and modest resolutions, but could be quite time-consuming for high-resolution videos that are relatively long.

Note, by the way, that depending on which software you’re using for your photo slideshow, you may be able to apply at least basic edits and trims to the video with that software. If so, there’s no need to edit in Lightroom Classic if you haven’t already.

Today’s Question: I use Photoshop a lot and frequently enough get the metadata mismatch error in Lightroom Classic. When is it best to use “overwrite settings” or “import settings from disk” [when resolving these metadata mismatches]?

Tim’s Quick Answer: I recommend avoiding these metadata mismatches by making sure to send images from Lightroom Classic directly to Photoshop rather than opening a raw capture in Photoshop via Camera Raw. Otherwise, choosing the appropriate option depends on where you made the latest changes and whether you want to keep them.

More Detail: If you’re getting a metadata mismatch error in Lightroom Classic after opening an image in Photoshop, that most likely means that you opened a raw image directly in Photoshop rather than sending the image from Lightroom Classic, thus triggering Camera Raw to update the metadata for the image based on the adjustment settings.

If you open a raw capture in Photoshop, either directly or using Adobe Bridge for example, that raw capture will be opened in Camera Raw as an intermediate step. Even if you don’t make any changes to the adjustment settings in Camera Raw, the XMP sidecar file for the raw capture will be updated to reflect the settings for Camera Raw. That, in turn, will cause a metadata mismatch in Lightroom Classic, since the adjustment settings are stored in metadata.

In this case, if you want to update the adjustments in the Develop module to match what you used in Camera Raw, you can use the “Import Settings from Disk” option for resolving the metadata mismatch. If you want the settings in Lightroom Classic to replace the settings in the XMP file on the hard drive, you can choose the “Overwrite Settings” option. These options can be accessed by clicking the icon with three lines and an upward-pointing arrow at the top-right of the image thumbnail in the grid view, which is the indication of a metadata mismatch.

To avoid this issue in the first place, rather than opening a raw capture in Photoshop and then saving the result as a new file, you can send an image directly from Lightroom Classic to Photoshop. Simply select the image, and from the menu choose Photo > Edit In > Edit in Adobe Photoshop. When you’re done working in Lightroom Classic, simply save the image and close it, and it will appear alongside the original image in your Lightroom Classic catalog.