Category: Ask Tim Grey

Today’s Question: In Adobe Lightroom [not Lightroom Classic] on the Local tab is there a way to browse photos from multiple folders at once? I downloaded photos into folders by day during a three-week trip and need to correct the capture time for the photos from five days of the trip.

Tim’s Quick Answer: On the Local tab in Adobe Lightroom you’re only able to select a single folder at a time, and there isn’t an option to see the contents of subfolders. The easiest solution in this case might be to simply apply the capture time correction individually to each of the five folders.

More Detail: I have to assume that at some point Adobe will update Lightroom to include the option to select multiple folders (as you can do in Lightroom Classic) or to show all photos from all subfolders (as can be done in both Bridge and Lightroom Classic).

If the five folders in question share a common parent folder that doesn’t contain any other folders, you could use Adobe Bridge to update all the photos in one step. Simply select the parent folder and turn on the option on the menu at View > Show Items from Subfolders.

If the folders don’t share a common parent folder, you can create a new collection on the Collections panel and add the photos from the five applicable folders to the collection. Then select all photos in the collection and update the capture time for all of them there.

Note, by the way, that while you can mix and match the use of Bridge and the Local tab in Lightroom, I do not recommend adding Lightroom Classic to the mix. If you’re using Lightroom Classic you should only use Lightroom Classic to manage your photos, and if you’re using something else you should not use Lightroom Classic. That’s because Lightroom Classic involves the use of a catalog, whereas Bridge and the Local tab in Lightroom are browsers that don’t use a catalog.

Today’s Question: In my early digital days, I set my cameras to save raw + JPEG. I’ve since stopped that, but my Lightroom Classic catalog contains lots of those pairs. Is there any reason I might need those JPEG files? And can you suggest a way to find and delete those presumed extraneous files?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You more than likely don’t need to keep the JPEG images that were part of a Raw+JPEG pair. However, there isn’t really an easy way to remove them all without manually reviewing the images.

More Detail: In my view you don’t need to retain the JPEG images from Raw+JPEG pairs unless you had applied adjustments in the camera that you want to be able to reference. Those adjustments would not be applied to the raw capture.

Unfortunately, there isn’t an easy way to remove the JPEG images without the risk of accidentally deleting JPEG images that weren’t part of a Raw+JPEG pair.

By default, Lightroom Classic will download the JPEG image for each Raw+JPEG pair, but won’t add the JPEG images to the catalog. If you had kept the “Treat JPEG files next to raw files as separate photos” checkbox turned off on the General tab of the Preferences dialog, the JPEG images will be in the applicable folders but not in the Lightroom Classic catalog.

In this situation you can right-click a folder and choose “Synchronize Folder” from the popup menu. Turn on the “Import new photos” checkbox, and turn off the “Remove missing photos from catalog” and “Scan for metadata updates” checkboxes. There will be a number to the right of the first checkbox if there are actually images in the folder that aren’t in the catalog. Click Synchronize to import those photos. Then go to the “Previous Import” collection in the Catalog section of the left panel in the Library module, which will contain the images just imported. Under ideal circumstances those will represent only the JPEG images that were excluded based on Raw+JPEG pairs, and can be deleted.

If the JPEG images had originally been imported along with the raw captuers you could sort by filename and scan to confirm that all JPEG images relate to a raw capture. If so, you can set a filter by file type for JPEG images and then select and delete them. I would perform this task one folder at a time, however.

There had been some plugins that purported to find the JPEG images from Raw+JPEG pairs, but the ones I’m familiar with have either not been updated recently or have gotten mixed reviews from photographers.

Today’s Question: Where has the Camera Raw preferences option to apply sharpening to preview only gone? I have toggled off Output Sharpening, but it still seems the Camera Raw sharpening is getting applied to the PSD file I save from the RAW. I am also finding lately that images that look nicely sharpened when examined at 100% in Camera Raw look far too over-sharpened when I open the saved PSD file.

Tim’s Quick Answer: The option to apply sharpening only to previews has been removed from Camera Raw. Output Sharpening can be disabled in the Camera Raw Preferences dialog. Keep in mind sharpening can also be applied in the Detail section of the right panel in Camera Raw.

More Detail: The “Apply Sharpening To” option is no longer included in the Camera Raw Preferences dialog, though I don’t have any information on why it was removed. This option previously enabled you to only apply sharpening to the preview image, not to the final image processed by Camera Raw.

If you don’t want output sharpening applied, make sure the Sharpen For checkbox under the Output Sharpening heading on the Workflow tab in Camera Raw Preferences is turned off. This sharpening is never shown in the preview in Camera Raw but does apply to the processed image.

Keep in mind there is also sharpening available in the Detail section of the right panel in Camera Raw. This sharpening will appear in the preview image within Camera Raw.

If an image processed with Camera Raw immediately appears over-sharpened when opened in Photoshop, most likely there had been output sharpening applied in Camera Raw. Since that sharpening does not appear in the Camera Raw preview, having output sharpening enabled would cause the image opened in Photoshop to appear with more sharpening than the preview in Camera Raw.

If you have confirmed that output sharpening is disabled and a raw capture opened via Camera Raw still appears over-sharpened, I would check to make sure you aren’t using any other software or plug-ins that might be applying sharpening to those processed copies of the images.

Today’s Question: Apparently when downloading photos from camera/card with Adobe Bridge the files cannot be renamed using dates in the format YYYY-MM-DD, as all my previous photos are named (and sorted!). Also, I cannot separate Raw photos from JPG’s during the import. Do you see any solution to my wishes?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can most certainly rename photos using Adobe Bridge in a year-month-day format, either during download or later in your workflow. While you can’t automatically separate raw captures from JPEG images during import, you could easily filter the images by file type after the import.

More Detail: Adobe Bridge enables you to rename photos either during the process of downloading using the Photo Downloader feature, or later in your workflow by selecting the images and choosing Tools > Batch Rename from the menu.

If you simply want to use the date and a sequence number for the filename of each photo, and you don’t mind not having dashes between the date values, you can choose the “Shot Date (yyyymmdd)” option from the Rename Files popup. If you want to include other components in the filename structure or want to include dashes in between the year, month, and day values, you can instead choose Advanced Rename from the popup.

In the Advanced Rename dialog you can specify a filename structure that includes the year in four-digit format, a text field including a dash, the month in two-digit format, another dash, and then the day in two-digit format. I used this exact example (with additional text and a sequence number) as the file renaming example in Chapter 2, Lesson 5, on “Renaming Photos” in my video course “Adobe Bridge for Photographers”.

When downloading photos with Photo Downloader in Bridge you’re not able to automatically filter raw versus JPEG captures. However, you could download all photos to the same folder, and then use the File Type option on the Filter panel to filter based on only the raw captures or only the JPEG images. You could us this approach to move all the JPEG images to a subfolder, for example, or otherwise deal with the different file types individually.

You can learn more about using Adobe Bridge to download or rename photos (and much more) with my “Adobe Bridge for Photographers” video course. More details can be found on the GreyLearning website here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/adobe-bridge-for-photographers

Today’s Question: Many, many years ago I was taught (by you! LOL!) that after working on a 16-bit image in Photoshop, I should first flatten the layers, then use Convert Profile to change the color space from RGB to sRGB before saving the image as a JPEG. I have been doing this for about 25 years! Are the “flatten layers” and “Convert Profile” steps still necessary? Or does choosing Save As do those steps “behind the scenes”?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The “Save As” (or “Save a Copy”) command in Photoshop doesn’t provide an option to convert the image to a different color space. However, if you use the Export command you can accomplish all the steps for creating a derivative copy in what is basically a single step.

More Detail: The Export command in Photoshop can be thought of as an automated way to adjust image settings as part of saving a derivative image. In addition to being able to choose which file format you want to save the new derivative image in, you can adjust settings such as the pixel dimensions and the color space to use. Note that none of the file formats available for the Export feature support layers, so the derivative image you create will always be flattened (without flattening the source image you’re working on, of course).

With the master image open you can get started by choosing File > Export > Export As from the menu. On the right panel of the Export As dialog you can choose the file format (JPEG in this case) that you want to use for the derivative image you’re saving. You can adjust the pixel dimensions in the Image Size section. In the Metadata section choose whether you want to include copyright and contact info in metadata or exclude all metadata. Under Color Space I recommend turning on the “Convert to sRGB” checkbox for images that will be shared digitally, and I always recommend turning on the “Embed Color Profile” checkbox.

After configuring the desired settings, click the Export button, which will bring up the Save As dialog. You can specify a filename and folder location and click the Save button to export the copy of the photo. The new file will be saved in the location you specified and with the settings you configured.

Today’s Question: I’d like to move a file with Lightroom Classic adjustments to ImagePrint for printing, without having a duplicate TIFF file added to Lightroom Classic every time it is exported.

Tim’s Quick Answer: In this case you want to export the image with the normal export feature rather than sending it directly to other software, and you want to make sure the option to add to the catalog is disabled in the Export dialog.

More Detail: When you send a raw capture to software outside of Lightroom Classic, such as when editing in Photoshop or sending the image to a plug-in using an export preset, a derivative image will be created. In this scenario, the derivative image will always be added to the Lightroom Classic catalog. This can obviously lead to a bit of clutter with numerous derivative images if you’re sending images to other applications somewhat frequently.

To avoid having the derivative image added to the Lightroom Classic catalog, use the regular export feature rather than sending the file directly to another application. For example, don’t use the Photo > Edit In option from the menu, and don’t use the File > Export with Preset command.

Instead, simply click the Export button at the bottom of the left panel in the Library module to initiate the export. In the Export dialog you can configure the settings for the new file that will be created, such as to specify the file format and other details of the image to be created.

To ensure the new derivative image is not added to the Lightroom Classic catalog, make sure that “Add to This Catalog” checkbox in the Export Location section at the top of the Export dialog is turned off. Then export the image, and a file will be created that you can open in the applicable software (such as ImagePrint for printing in this case) without that image having been added to your Lightroom Classic catalog.

Today’s Question: Is there a particular app you recommend for optimizing photos on a smartphone? Sometimes I want to be able to edit a photo on the go without waiting until I’m at my computer.

Tim’s Quick Answer: I consider Snapseed to be one of the best options available for optimizing photos in a wide variety of ways using a smartphone. In addition, for photographers who are making use of the Adobe Lightroom ecosystem, the Lightroom mobile app provides a good solution for basic editing.

More Detail: Snapseed is a remarkably powerful mobile app for optimizing photos. Originally developed by Nik Software (original makers of the Nik Collection), it is currently owned by Google. The app includes a range of simple presets under the Looks heading, as well as powerful adjustment options under the Tools heading.

The available adjustments range from basic tone and color, special effects, image cleanup and correction, and much more. While it can take a little getting used to Snapseed considering the large number of adjustments options it includes, I do consider it an excellent app for optimizing photos on a mobile device.

Another very good option is the Lightroom mobile app. The adjustment options within the Lightroom mobile app match those found in Camera Raw, the Lightroom desktop application, and the Develop module in Lightroom Classic. You can optimize photos that have been synchronized to the cloud via the Lightroom ecosystem, including photos synchronized via collections from Lightroom Classic. You can also use the Lightroom mobile app to import photos from your device or to capture photos with the built-in camera feature.

There are, of course, a large number of apps that provide various editing features for mobile devices. In my experience, however, Snapseed is among the best when it comes to providing a range of powerful features, and Lightroom provides a good solution for photographers already using other tools within the Adobe Lightroom ecosystem.

Today’s Question: Is there some setting in Lightroom Classic that needs to be on in order to download folders of focus-stacked images? When I downloaded photos from a memory card that included a mixture of single images and focus-stacked bursts into Lightroom Classic, the folders that my camera had put each focus-stacked burst into were overlooked. Is there some simpler route I am overlooking?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can preserve the folders created by your camera when importing photos into Lightroom Classic by using the “By original folders” option in the Destination section of the right panel in the Import dialog.

More Detail: Many cameras will create various folders containing the photos you have captured. For example, some cameras will group photos into folders in groups of 100 or 1,000 captures. As noted in today’s question, some cameras will also use folders to separate bursts of photos, such as those used for focus stacking.

When importing photos into Lightroom Classic, by default all photos from all folders on a media card will be downloaded into a single folder. In many cases this might be exactly what you want. But in some cases, such as with the focus-stacking example, you may very much want to preserve the folders created by the camera.

To do so, specify the destination for the photos you’re downloading in the normal way within the Import dialog. However, be sure to select the “By original folders” option if you want to retain the folder structure from the camera when downloading your photos as part of this process.

For example, if you captured these photos during a photo trip to a specific destination, you might be downloading the captures into a folder named based on the trip. But by using the “By original folders” option, subfolders will be created based on the folders present on the media card as they were created by the camera.

Today’s Question: How dependable do you feel Time Machine is for backing up the internal hard drive on a Macintosh computer? Put another way, if you needed to wipe the hard drive on a Mac, would you trust Time Machine to restore the computer without losing any personal data?

Tim’s Quick Answer: I consider the Time Machine backup to be very dependable and have used Time Machine to configure each new Macintosh computer I have purchased based on a backup of the computer I was replacing.

More Detail: Time Machine is the built-in backup feature of the Macintosh operating system, and in my view it provides two key benefits that I think make it very worthwhile use Time Machine to back up the internal hard drive for any Macintosh computer.

The first benefit of Time Machine is that it provides a complete backup of all user files on your computer. This means you can use a Time Machine backup to completely restore a computer. For example, if you buy a new Macintosh computer you can restore from a Time Machine backup of your previous computer to configure the computer with all user data intact. I have used this feature on numerous occasions when configuring a new computer, as well as when I need to erase a hard drive for maintenance purposes and want to restore from a Time Machine backup.

The second benefit is that Time Machine maintains a historical backup of user files on your computer. This includes versions of documents, though the availability of older versions depends upon the storage capacity. For example, let’s assume you that for the past few months you have had an important document on the desktop, and you’ve been updating that document on a regular basis. Then you realize that a few days ago you deleted the document.

In this type of situation, you could simply launch the Time Machine application, navigate to the storage location where the file you want to recover exists, and scroll back in time to the most recent point when the document still existed. You would then be able to recover the file by copying it back to the desktop. This feature would even enable you to recover an older version of a document even if the updated version hadn’t been backed up.

Many readers know that I use GoodSync (http://timgrey.me/greybackup) to back up my external hard drives, and that I use Backblaze (https://timgrey.me/cloudbackup) for an online (and therefore offsite) backup of my internal and external drives. But I also maintain a Time Machine backup for the internal hard drive on my computer (though Time Machine can also backup your external hard drives if you’d like).

Today’s Question: When I’m changing the resolution of a photo in the Image Size dialog in Photoshop, I’m not able to select the Pixels option for the Width or Height. How can I resize based on specific pixel dimensions rather than using another option such as inches?

Tim’s Quick Answer: To enable the Pixels option from the popup for Width or Height in the Image Size dialog in Photoshop you need to turn on the Resample checkbox. Note that this checkbox always needs to be turned on to be able to change the pixel dimensions for an image.

More Detail: As odd as it may sound, in the Image Size dialog it is possible to change the output size of an image without actually changing the pixel dimensions for the image. This is why you need to have the Resample checkbox turned on to be able to adjust the image size based on pixels rather than a different unit of measure such as inches or centimeters.

If the Resample checkbox is turned off the pixel dimensions for the image can’t be changed. Instead, if you for example change the dimensions of the image in inches, the pixel per inch resolution will be adjusted accordingly, so that the same number of pixels remain in the image. In most cases, however, you would want to resize the actual pixel dimensions if you’re preparing an image to be shared at a particular size.

With the Resample checkbox turned off, you aren’t changing the number of pixels in the image, so instead making a change to either the dimensions or the resolution will cause the other value to update accordingly, so the same number of pixels remain. In this case the Pixels option is disabled on the popup for Width and Height because you’re not able to change the pixel dimensions.

If you turn on the Resample checkbox, you’re able to alter the pixel dimensions, so the Pixels option will be enabled on the popups. This can be helpful when resizing an image for digital output, such as sizing based on the resolution of a digital projector. For output such as a print, it is generally easier to specify the dimensions in inches or centimeters, along with designating the pixel per inch (or centimeter) resolution based on the capabilities of the printer being used.