Category: Ask Tim Grey

Today’s Question: I’m strictly a long time Camera Raw and Bridge user. Is there any compelling reason to switch over to Adobe Lightroom? Or is sticking to what I’m used to a better plan?

Tim’s Quick Answer: While Adobe Lightroom provides a slightly more seamless workflow than the combination of Adobe Bridge and Camera Raw and the ability to synchronize selected images to cloud-based storage, it is important to consider the potential learning curve involved in switching to Lightroom.

More Detail: Adobe Lightroom provides approximately the same feature set as the combination of Adobe Bridge and Camera Raw. There are obviously some differences, but there are many similarities as well. While the similarities make a transition relatively easy between the two, you need to consider whether the benefits of Lightroom will be meaningful to you.

If it would be helpful in your workflow to synchronize some (or even all) of your photos to cloud-based storage, that would be a strong argument in considering Adobe Lightroom instead of Adobe Bridge. That synchronization, for example, enables you to have photos available from virtually anywhere, via the Lightroom desktop app, the Lightroom app for mobile devices, or by accessing Lightroom through a web browser on any internet-connected computer.

I also like that the workflow is a little more streamlined in Lightroom, by virtue of effectively having Camera Raw built right into Lightroom. That means you can switch seamlessly between organizing and optimizing photos within a single interface, rather than switching between Bridge and Camera Raw, for example.

In my view Adobe Lightroom provides enough advantages over Bridge and Camera Raw that I think it is worth considering switching to Lightroom (or to Lightroom Classic if you’re not opposed to using a catalog to manage your photos). However, if you’re concerned about the learning curve involved, that might be reason enough to stick with what you know, as long as you feel that workflow is serving you well.

And of course, if you’re interested in learning to make the most of Adobe Lightroom, even if you’re not yet sure if you want to incorporate it in your workflow, my comprehensive video course on “Mastering Adobe Lightroom” can help. You can get all the details of this course on the GreyLearning website here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/mastering-adobe-lightroom-cloud-2024

Today’s Question: Is it possible to create a collection in Lightroom Classic (probably a smart collection) which filters for year, rating (5 stars), flagged. and color labels (green and yellow)?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can create a smart collection in Lightroom Classic based on multiple metadata criteria, such as photos captured during a specific year with a 5-star rating, pick flag, and particular color labels.

More Detail: A smart collection in Lightroom Classic can be thought of as a saved search result. You can specify multiple criteria based on metadata, and only the photos that match the criteria will be included in the smart collection. As the metadata for photos gets updated, the contents of the smart collection will update automatically, so only photos matching the criteria will appear in the smart collection at any time.

You can get started by clicking the plus symbol to the right of the Collections heading on the left panel in the Library module and choosing “Create Smart Collection” from the popup menu. In the Create Smart Collection dialog you can enter a meaningful name for the smart collection in the Name field. You can also add the collection to a collection set if you’d like with the controls in the Location section.

You can then specify the criteria for the smart collection. In this example you might start by choosing Date > Capture Date from the first popup in the criteria area. You can then choose “is in the range” from the second popup so you can specify the date range you want to filter by. This will enable two fields where you can enter the starting and ending dates. For example, if you want to include only photos from 2023 you could enter “2023-01-01” in the first textbox and “2023-12-12” in the second textbox.

You can then add additional rows to the set of criteria, clicking the plus button at the far right to add a new row. To add a star rating to the filter you could then add a row with “Rating” selected from the first popup, “is” from the second popup, and select the five-star rating to the right of that.

If you want to create a smart collection based on multiple values for the same metadata field, you’ll need to take advantage of an additional conditional option. For example, if you want to include images with either a green or yellow color label, the standard criteria options won’t work, because you can only compare the various criteria using the “all” or “any” options.

To add conditional items, you can hold the Alt key on Windows or the Option key on Macintosh, which will cause the add buttons to change from showing a plus symbol to a pound symbol. While holding Alt/Option click the button with the pound symbol, which will add two more rows below. From the first row specify how you want the values below to be evaluated, such as by choosing “Any of the following are true” in this example. Then set the popup below to “Label Color” for the color label field, set the second popup to “is”, and choose a color (such as green in this case) from the third popup. Click the plus button to the right of this color label row, and create another rule, which in this case would be for a yellow color label.

In this way you can define the overall criteria, as well as a set of conditional criteria, giving you more flexibility in defining the smart collection. Assuming you want to only include images in the smart collection if they meet all criteria you’ve specified, you can choose “all” from the Match popup. Then click the Create button, and the new smart collection will appear in the Collections list of the left panel in the Library module, populated with all images from the catalog that match the criteria you specified.

Today’s Question: I’m intrigued by the changes to Adobe Lightroom you’ve referenced. However, I’m wondering if Lightroom is still missing the Map module that is available in Lightroom Classic, as like you I do like to have my photos displayed on the map based on capture location.

Tim’s Quick Answer: While Lightroom (cloud) does not contain a Map module with the features found in Lightroom Classic, it does display a small map showing photo location for images with embedded GPS metadata, and you can click that map to open the applicable location in Google Maps in a web browser.

More Detail: Because the location where I capture my photos tends to be information that is meaningful and helpful to me, I very much appreciate the Map module in Lightroom Classic. In the Map module I can browse a map showing the location for all photos in the current storage location (including my entire catalog) with a pin on the map showing the location of all photos that have GPS coordinates in metadata.

In the cloud-focused version of Lightroom there isn’t a Map module, but there is a small map. When browsing metadata for a photo that includes GPS coordinates in metadata, you will see the coordinates reflected in the GPS field of metadata and a small map with a pushpin that shows the location of the photo.

While you don’t have the ability to navigate on that map shown on the Info panel in Lightroom, you can click on the map thumbnail to open a window in your default web browser showing the location of the photos in Google Maps.

So, while you’re not able to browse a map of all photos in Lightroom the way you can in Lightroom Classic, you can still review the location of photos with GPS metadata in the context of the map, and browse that specific location in Google Maps in a web browser by clicking on the map thumbnail in Lightroom.

My upcoming comprehensive course on the cloud-focused Lightroom desktop application (including coverage of GPS and other metadata) is currently in production and available at a discounted price until all lessons are published. You can get all the details on the GreyLearning website here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/mastering-adobe-lightroom-cloud-2024

Today’s Question: I was intrigued to read about your new course on the cloud-based version of Lightroom, in particular because you indicated it now supports working with local photos. Does that mean you could use the updated Lightroom without uploading any photos to the cloud?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Correct. With the cloud-focused version of Adobe Lightroom (meaning not Lightroom Classic) it is now possible to store photos locally, in the cloud, or any combination of both. In addition, Lightroom does not involve the use of a catalog the way Lightroom Classic does.

More Detail: For photographers who have followed any of the developments related to Lightroom and Lightroom Classic, and in particular those who have noted the challenges photographers have faced with Lightroom Classic that I’ve addressed in my email newsletter, the recent update to Lightroom is certainly a reason to pay attention.

Put simply, in addition to being able to import photos into the Lightroom desktop application and have them stored primarily in the cloud, with the latest update to Lightroom you can also now browse photos stored locally.

This enables a completely new approach to your workflow with Lightroom, and may even convince photographers who have been frustrated by the catalog to switch from Lightroom Classic to Lightroom. You could use Lightroom to manage photos that you only store locally, for example, similar to using Adobe Bridge to browse photos, but with the added benefits of a more integrated workflow.

You could also use Lightroom primarily to manage photos stored locally in a folder structure you define and manage, and then only import selected photos that you want to have available across the full Lightroom ecosystem by storing those photos in the cloud.

And of course, some photographers may prefer to import all photos into Lightroom so that every photo is synchronized to the cloud, so they are available from virtually anywhere with an internet connection, using the Lightroom desktop app, the Lightroom mobile app, or Lightroom in a web browser.

In part because of the new possibilities afforded by this recent update to Adobe Lightroom, I am back in the studio to produce a comprehensive new video course focused on organizing, optimizing, and sharing photos with Adobe Lightroom. You can learn more about this course (and get a pre-order discount of over 50% off) on the GreyLearning website here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/mastering-adobe-lightroom-cloud-2024

Today’s Question: In Photoshop, the Stroke option is available both under Edit on the menu and as a layer style. What is the difference between the two? When I add a Stroke as a layer style it does not always show up on my image even though it shows up on the Layers panel. What am I doing wrong?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Choosing Stroke from the Edit menu in Photoshop applies the stroke directly as pixels on the image, while using the layer style adds a non-destructive stroke that is editable. If a stroke isn’t appearing on the image, it is most likely because it was added outside the image area.

More Detail: A stroke is a border around the perimeter of an image (or image layer), which can be added in a couple of different ways in Photoshop.

The approach I recommend is to add a stroke as a layer style, so that you maintain greater flexibility. With this approach you can think of the stroke as being similar to an adjustment layer, in that the image layer is not altered directly. Instead, the stroke is applied as an effect to the applicable layer, and you can always double-click on that effect to bring up the dialog that enables you to change the settings for the stroke.

If you choose the Stroke command from the edit menu the stroke is applied as pixels directly to the current image layer. You aren’t able to modify the stroke after the fact, other than using the Undo command to remove the stroke and then add it again with different settings.

If you add a stroke and it doesn’t appear on the image, the most likely reason is that the Location/Position setting was set to Outside, which adds the stroke outside the current image layer. If that image layer fills the entire canvas, your stroke will be hidden from view. You can choose Image > Reveal All from the menu to expand the canvas to reveal the additional stroke, but you can also set the Location/Position option to Inside so that the stroke will be positioned within the image area. Just keep in mind that with the Inside setting the stroke will cover up pixels around the perimeter of the image.

It is also possible that you reduced the setting for Opacity or used an option for Blend Mode that makes it difficult or impossible to see the stroke effect. By adding the stroke effect as a layer style you’ll maintain the option to easily refine the settings for the stroke as needed. Note that you can add a stroke as a layer style by clicking the “fx” button at the bottom of the Layers panel or by going to the menu and choosing “Layer > Layer Style > Stroke.

Today’s Question: I was reading your very interesting article on bit depth in Pixology magazine, and wanted to follow along by doing the math involved with bit depth. However, the calculator on my iPhone only provides basic functions without support for exponents. Is there an app you recommend that provides more advanced functions?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can actually calculate exponents and other advanced math operations by simply rotating your iPhone to horizontal when using the built-in Calculator app.

More Detail: At first glance the default Calculator app included on the iPhone seems to only offer the very basic mathematical operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. However, that’s only the case when holding the iPhone vertically, in which case you’re only seeing the basic calculator.

If you rotate your iPhone to horizontal (making sure that rotation isn’t locked) the Calculator app will switch to scientific mode. This will provide you with significantly more options for calculations, including exponents and roots, trigonometric functions, and more.

In the article on bit depth in the December 2023 issue of my Pixology magazine, I outlined the math involved with calculating how many tonal and color values would be available at different bit depths.

For example, with 8-bit per channel you can calculate the number of shades of gray available on each channel by raising two to the power of eight. On a scientific calculator that would involve using the “x to the y” button, which shows the letter “x” with the letter “y” in superscript to indicate an exponent. You can press the number 2 (the base in this case), then the “x to the y” button, and then the number 8 (the number to raise to), which will provide you with the result of 2 raised to the power of 8, which is 256.

To calculate the total number of color values available for an 8-bit RGB image, you need to take the value of 256 and raise it to the power of three. This is represented as the “x to the power of 3” button, which shows the letter “x” with the number “3” in superscript. So, you can simply enter “256” and then press the “x to the power of 3” button to get the result of 16,777,216 total possible tonal and color values for an 8-bit per channel RGB image.

Today’s Question: I’m seeing a lot of references to 4K resolution, especially for video capture on cameras and monitors. But what does 4K translate to in terms of camera resolution in megapixels that is more familiar to photographers?

Tim’s Quick Answer: 4K resolution is equivalent to about 8.3 megapixels, for both video cameras and monitor displays that feature 4K resolution.

More Detail: Most 4K displays and video capture have a resolution of 3,840×2,160 pixels, though there is some variation in the specific pixel count in both directions. To determine the number of megapixels based on pixel resolution, you simply multiply the number of pixels across by the number of pixels down, and divide by one million.

So, in this case, assuming a resolution of 3,840×2,160 pixels, the total number of pixels is 8,294,400. Divided by one million (or moving the decimal to the left six places) yields 8.2944, or about 8.3 megapixels.

Today’s Question: Am I loosing anything by converting files from Canon raw format to Adobe DNG? I’ve read that it is better to use the camera manufacturer’s raw format rather than DNG because the camera manufacturer may include data that DNG doesn’t include or support. Yet, I’ve never seen anyone name any such data. Do you know of any examples of data that are in native raw files that are excluded from a derived DNG file?

Tim’s Quick Answer: If you convert raw captures to Adobe DNG files and discard the original captures, the only potential information that could be lost would be “private” metadata. This is generally information that requires software from the camera manufacturer to access, with one example being the automatic sensor dust spot cleanup feature available on some models of Canon cameras.

More Detail: When you convert an image from a proprietary raw capture format to an Adobe DNG file you are retaining the original capture data as well as the standard metadata recorded at the time of capture. That metadata would include things like the details about the camera and lens used, the exposure settings, and more.

In addition to the standard metadata fields that are recorded by the camera, there may be some “private” metadata that is created by the camera but not necessarily openly documented. This type of metadata is often referred to as “maker notes” because they are a form of notes recorded by camera for purposes of the company that made the camera.

As noted above, one example of information saved in maker notes supported by some Canon cameras relates to the feature for automatic dust spot removal. When this feature is enabled, the camera determines where there are dust spots or other blemishes on the image sensor, and what amounts to a map of where those spots are is recorded into the maker notes for the capture. That metadata is not available to third party software, which means you need to use Canon’s software to make use of the data to perform an automatic image cleanup.

If you’re not making use of any features that can only be accessed using software from your camera manufacturer, and you don’t anticipate needing to make use of such a feature later, then it is safe to convert your raw captures to Adobe DNG files.

Today’s Question: I know that when you take photos with your phone you don’t keep them there. But surely you do have photos on your phone and I’m wondering what your workflow is for that and where you keep them. Do you use a synched Lightroom Mobile album or something else?

Tim’s Quick Answer: I happen to synchronize selected photos to my smartphone directly from my computer through the operating system. However, in general I consider synchronizing collections from Lightroom Classic to the Lightroom mobile app to be an excellent approach.

More Detail: In my view one of the most convenient ways to synchronize selected photos to a smartphone is to enable synchronization for selected collections in Lightroom Classic. Those collections and the photos they contain will then appear as albums in the Lightroom app on your smartphone.

The only reason I don’t make use of the option to synchronize photos from Lightroom Classic to the cloud so they are available in the Lightroom mobile app is that you can only synchronize a single catalog, and I need to be able to use that feature when teaching Lightroom Classic. I therefore have synchronization enabled for my current demo catalog, not the primary catalog that I use to manage all my photos.

If not for this issue, I would simply turn on synchronization for the collections in my Lightroom Classic catalog that I want to share, and those collections would appear as albums in the Lightroom app on my smartphone.

Therefore, I find it easiest to use computer-based synchronization for this purpose. I use an iPhone, and so I’m able to configure synchronization settings through the operating system when my iPhone is connected to the computer via USB. After connecting my iPhone to the computer, I can select it through the operating system similar to selecting an external hard drive. I can then go to the Photos tab and configure the settings for which images I want to synchronize. I maintain various folders to which I export copies of photos from Lightroom Classic that I want to be able to share.

My preference is to not keep new photos on my smartphone for very long. I download new photos, import them into Lightroom Classic, and delete them from my smartphone. I then use synchronization to make only selected photos available on my smartphone so I can easily share them with others directly on my device.

Today’s Question: In reading the article on collections in Adobe Bridge [in the November 2023 issue of Pixology magazine] I wondered, is doing this an alternative to Collections in Lightroom Classic for someone who doesn’t use Lightroom?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, collections in Adobe Bridge function much the same as collections in Lightroom Classic, including both normal collections and smart collections.

More Detail: In Adobe Bridge you can create collections to group photos together beyond the folder structure in much the same way that you can create collections in Lightroom Classic. This includes the ability to create a normal collection that you manually add photos to, as well as the ability to create a smart collection that is essentially a saved search result based on metadata criteria you define.

Adding photos to a collection is simply a way to group those photos together. The images in a collection are simply references to the original, so you aren’t making copies of the source files or moving them to a different storage location, for example.

There is one potentially significant limitation of collections in Bridge compared to Lightroom Classic. Because Bridge doesn’t employ a catalog the way Lightroom Classic does, you can only view the photos in a collection if the source files are currently available. For example, if you store your photos on an external hard drive and that drive is not connected to the computer, Bridge will show the images as missing, and you won’t be able to see thumbnails for the photos within the collection until the source files are available again.

Lightroom Classic, on the other hand, enables you to see all photos in folders and collections even if the source files are not currently available, provided previews have already been generated for the images. That’s because the information about the photos as well as previews for the photos are stored as part of the catalog.

Despite this limitation in Bridge compared to Lightroom Classic, the ability to create collections in Bridge is a very useful feature. I discussed collections in Bridge in detail in an article in the November 2023 issue of my Pixology magazine for photographers, which you can learn more about here:

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