Category: Ask Tim Grey

Today’s Question: The original files and folders I imported into Lightroom Classic are all still visible in Bridge, but many lack metadata entered in Lightroom Classic? Can you help with this?

Tim’s Quick Answer: To be able to see metadata updates outside of Lightroom Classic you need to enable the option to automatically write metadata updates to the source images within Lightroom Classic.

More Detail: By default, Lightroom Classic only saves metadata updates within the catalog, not to the source image files on your hard drive. Therefore, other applications such as Adobe Bridge will not display the updated metadata by default.

However, you can enable an option to automatically save metadata updates to the source images, which will both provide a backup of the key metadata you update in Lightroom Classic and enable you to view the updated metadata in other applications.

To enable the option to automatically save metadata updates to the source images, first bring up the Catalog Settings dialog by choosing Edit > Catalog Settings on Windows or Lightroom Classic > Catalog Settings on Macintosh. In the Catalog Settings dialog go to the Metadata tab and turn on the “Automatically write changes into XMP” checkbox.

It is important to understand that enabling this option will not save all metadata from Lightroom Classic to the source images. Metadata fields that are part of established standards, such as keywords and star ratings, will be written to the source files when this option is turned on. Features that are specific to Lightroom Classic such as pick and reject flags, virtual copies, collections, and the history in the Develop module, will not be included in these updates.

Today’s Question: All the images imported into Lightroom Classic appear in “Previous Import” under Catalog [on the left panel in the Library module]. Only some of the photos appear below in the hard drive folders where the photos had been imported from.

Tim’s Quick Answer: The Previous Import collection can contain photos from multiple folders, which can lead to confusion when browsing the individual folders that were the source of the images. You can navigate to the source folder for an image in the Previous Import collection by right-clicking on the thumbnail and choosing “Go to Folder in Library” from the popup menu.

More Detail: If you import photos from multiple folders into your Lightroom Classic catalog with the “Add” option selected at the top-center of the import dialog, the photos will be imported without altering the existing folder structure. For example, if you imported from a parent folder with the “Include Subfolders” checkbox turned on, all photos from all subfolders would be imported.

Let’s assume you had a parent folder that didn’t contain any photos, but that had three subfolders, and that each subfolder contained 100 images. If you imported from the parent folder with the “Include Subfolders” option enabled, the Previous Import collection would contain all 300 photos.

However, the parent folder you imported would contain zero photos, and each of the subfolders would contain 100 photos. Those numbers would be reflected in the Folders section of the left panel in the Library module.

Note, of course, that if you have the “Show Photos in Subfolders” option enabled on the Library menu, the parent folder would show the sum of all photos in the subfolders. In this example that would mean the parent folder would show that 300 photos are included, even though the folder itself doesn’t directly contain any photos.

Today’s Question: [As a follow-up to the question about the brush settings popup] On Windows when I hold down the Alt key and right mouse button simultaneously, I can change the size of the brush by moving the mouse left or right, and I can change the hardness by moving the mouse up or down. Is that not available on Macintosh?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The interface you’re referring to is the HUD (head-up display) control for brush settings. It can be accessed on Macintosh by holding the Control and Option keys while clicking with the left mouse button. On Windows you hold the Ctrl and Alt keys while clicking with the right mouse button.

More Detail: The HUD interface for adjusting brush settings in Photoshop can be very convenient. When you activate this display, you’ll see a preview of the brush overlayed on the image. You can then drag right or left to increase or decrease the size of the brush and drag up to decrease the hardness of the brush and down to increase brush hardness.

The color overlay that is the key part of this HUD option will indicate the size and hardness of the brush. You can change the color for this overlay on the Cursors tab of the Preferences dialog. To adjust the setting for the overlay color start by choosing Photoshop > Settings > Cursors on Macintosh or Edit > Preferences > Cursors on Windows. In the Brush Preview section click the color swatch and choose the color you’d like to use. I generally recommend using a highly saturated color that doesn’t typically appear in photos, such as a very saturated magenta.

Today’s Question: I am using Photoshop on a Mac, but previously used it on Windows. One feature I really miss is being able to change the brush size or hardness with a right-click while holding the Alt key. Everything I read says you can do the same thing on the Mac with the Control and Option keys, but whenever I press those keys (or actually any combination of the special keys), the brush circle just converts to a move icon. Does this feature not work on Mac or am I doing something wrong?

Tim’s Quick Answer: For Macintosh you can access the brush settings popup quickly by right-clicking on the image (with or without the Option key). You don’t need to include the Control key unless you’ve disabled the right-click feature.

More Detail: On Macintosh you can achieve the same result as a right-click of the mouse by holding the Control key on the keyboard while clicking the left mouse button. This was originally a helpful option for those using a mouse that only included one button. In addition, on Macintosh you can disable the right-click feature if you find it distracting, in which case you could also hold the Control key while clicking to get the same result as you could have with a right-click.

I prefer to have the right-click option enabled, and so I don’t need to use the Control key to access the right-click feature. In other words, if you see a shortcut that calls for holding the Control key while clicking the mouse, you can skip the Control key and just right-click instead.

So, in this case you can simply right-click (or Option+right-click) on the image when using the Brush tool to bring up the Brush properties panel, where you can adjust the brush size, hardness, and other settings.

Today’s Question: The popup for Preset in the Metadata section in the Library module [in Lightroom Classic] shows my import preset for some images, but shows “None” for other images. I’m pretty sure I applied the preset to all photos, so why doesn’t it appear for all photos?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The Preset popup shows the name of the metadata preset that had been applied to the selected image. However, if you change the metadata for an image after applying a metadata preset, or you neglected to apply a preset to some images, the Preset popup will then show “None”.

More Detail: You can create metadata presets that preserve specific metadata values, such as your copyright and contact information, and then apply a preset to photos to add the applicable metadata. You can apply a preset to all photos during import, for example, or apply a preset to selected photos using the Preset popup found in the Metadata section of the right panel in the Library module.

If you have applied a preset to a photo, the name of the preset will appear on the Preset popup. However, as soon as you add or update metadata for a photo, the popup will change to “None” rather than showing the name of the preset, because the metadata no longer matches what had been assigned using the preset.

For example, I use a red color label to identify photos that need to be reviewed to identify favorites versus outtakes. I use a metadata preset during import to assign the red color label as well as my copyright and contact information. Right after import, the Preset popup therefore shows “Tim Grey Import” as the name of the preset.

If I then remove the red color label from a photo, the Preset popup will then show “None” rather than the name of the preset. Even if I then add the red color label back to the image to get it back to the metadata values assigned by the preset, the Preset popup will still show “None”. I could, of course, choose my “Tim Grey Import” metadata preset from the Preset popup, which will update the image with the metadata included in the preset and show the name of the preset again on the Preset popup.

Today’s Question: As something of a follow-up to your answer about Flow versus Opacity for the Brush tool in Photoshop, can you help me understand the difference between Opacity and Fill on the Layers panel? I believe you’ve addressed this in the past, but I can’t figure out the difference.

Tim’s Quick Answer: Both the Opacity and Fill controls on the Layers panel in Photoshop enable you to reduce the opacity of the current layer. When you reduce the value for Fill, however, the opacity of layer effects is not reduced.

More Detail: If you perform a simple test of the Opacity and Fill controls found on the Layers panel in Photoshop, you might reasonably conclude that they both do the exact same thing. With a simple image layer, for example, both of these controls would reduce the opacity of the layer in the exact same way. That’s because both Opacity and Fill will reduce the opacity of pixel layers with the same effect.

However, as noted above, the Fill control will not reduce the opacity of layer effects, such as a drop shadow or border stroke applied to an image layer. So, for example, you could reduce the opacity of the image using the Fill slider and the border effect created with the Stroke layer style would remain at full opacity.

This flexibility can be helpful in creating some interesting effects. With a composite image you can reduce the opacity of one or more image layers using the Fill control so the layer effects you’ve applied at full strength. And of course if you want to reduce the opacity of the layer effects in addition to the pixels, you can use the Opacity control rather than Fill.

One creative way that I sometimes take advantage of the behavior of the Fill control is to apply layer effects to a text layer and then reduce the opacity of the text with the Fill control. This will reduce the opacity of the text, while leaving the layer effects at full strength. Sometimes I’ll even set the Fill setting to 0% so the text completely disappears, but with the layer effects such as drop shadow at full strength. This creates an interesting result where you can only read the text because of the effects that surrounded the text, since the text itself isn’t visible at that point.

Today’s Question: Generally, photographers and photo retouchers will have a preference for using either Flow or Opacity to modify a brush stroke [in Photoshop]. Are there any circumstances where modifying both offer the ideal control?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, there are certainly situations where you may want to adjust the value for both Flow and Opacity in Photoshop. While these two options for the brush tools have similarities, there are important differences between them that make both of them useful in different situations.

More Detail: The Flow and Opacity settings for the brush tools in Photoshop share a similarity in terms of their behavior. In fact, if you tested each out without being careful about your technique, you might conclude that they are exactly the same. But there is an important difference.

Both Flow and Opacity affect the opacity of your brush stroke. For example, if you set either Flow or Opacity to 50% and paint a single stroke using black set against a textured white background, you would effectively be painting with 50% gray based on the reduced opacity of the black “ink”. In addition, because the opacity rather than the actual tonal value has been adjusted, the textured background would show through the translucent stroke you painted.

The difference with these settings relates to what happens when you paint over the same area more than once, and how you go about applying the brushstroke.

If you reduce the value for Opacity to 50% but keep Flow at 100%, if you paint with black you will effectively be painting with the equivalent of 50% gray, but with transparency. If you keep the mouse button held down and paint back and forth over the same area, you’ll still only be painting with 50% gray, without having the painting effect building up based on passing over the same area multiple times.

If, on the other hand, you reduce the value for Flow to 50% while keeping the Opacity setting at 100%, you’ll initially get the same result in terms of painting with a translucent 50% gray. However, if you keep the mouse button held down and paint back and forth over the same area, the “paint” will build up in those areas. You don’t need to release the mouse, in other words, to apply a stronger effect in areas if you paint over them more than once.

In this respect the two settings differ primarily in terms of the behavior related to painting over the same area more than once. However, you could also use the two settings on conjunction with each other to achieve greater control.

For example, you could set the Opacity value to 50%, and set the Flow value to a lower value, such as perhaps 10%. If you paint back and forth without releasing the mouse, you’ll build up the effect in all areas that you paint over more than once, but that build up will never exceed 50% strength based on the Opacity setting. So you can paint with greater flexibility by using the Flow to enable a buildup of “paint” in areas you pass over more than once with a single mouse stroke, while using Opacity to control the maximum strength for a single brush stroke.

Even with the Opacity set to a reduced value, however, if you release the mouse and then paint over the same area again, the effect will build up. So again, the key difference between these settings relates to the behavior in the context of painting with a single brush stroke, but you can use the difference between the two to exercise greater control over your painting.

Today’s Question: Is there any way in LR Classic to do an Auto color (Tone) treatment adjust on a selected set of photos in Develop module [in Lightroom Classic]?  I don’t see anything in the Sync dialog that doesn’t just copy existing settings. I can do it with Tone Control: Auto in the Library module without Sync, so maybe there’s no reason to do it in Develop.

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can apply the Auto adjustment to a batch of images in Lightroom Classic by enabling Auto Sync before clicking the Auto button. You could also use a preset for this purpose in a similar way.

More Detail: As noted in today’s question, when you synchronize adjustments between images the effect is to copy the adjustment settings from the active image to the other selected images. If you had applied the Auto adjustment to the active image, the resulting adjustment settings would be applied to the other images, rather than having the Auto adjustments be recalculated for the selected images.

If, on the other hand, you use the Auto Sync feature, you can simply apply the Auto adjustment to the active image, and a unique automatic adjustment will also be applied to each of the other selected photos. So, you can click the toggle switch on the left side of the Sync button at the bottom of the right panel in the Develop module to enable the Auto Sync feature. Then select the photos you want to apply the Auto adjustment to and click the Auto button to the right of the Tone heading within the Basic section of the right panel. Each image will have the Auto adjustment applied individually, with different settings based on an analysis of each image.

However, if you had previously applied the Auto adjustment to the active photo, the Auto button will no longer be available since it was already applied. That means you won’t be able to automatically synchronize an Auto adjustment to the other selected images. In this case you can use a preset as a workaround.

You can get started creating the preset for this purpose with any image selected, because you won’t actually be copying any adjustment settings. Click the plus (+) button to the right of the Presets heading on the left panel in the Develop module and choose “Create Preset” from the popup menu. In the New Develop Preset dialog give the new preset a meaningful name, such as “Auto Tone Only”. You can also choose which group you want to save the preset to using the Group popup.

Next, click the “Check None” button so that none of the adjustment categories are selected. Then turn on the checkbox for only the “Auto Settings” checkbox in the Auto Settings section near the top-left of the dialog. Click the Create button to save the preset.

You can then select the images to which you want to apply the Auto adjustment. Turn on the Auto Sync feature using the toggle switch on the left side of the Sync button at the bottom of the right panel, and then select the preset that includes the Auto Tone adjustment from the Presets section of the left panel. Each image will have the preset applied, causing a unique adjustment for each of the images based on an analysis of each of the selected photos.

Today’s Question: I’ve been putting off updating [Adobe] Bridge and Photoshop new versions for various reasons and now need to catch up. Do I need to add all the earlier missed versions one by one, or can I just go ahead to the latest version without missing anything?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You do not need to install any of the intermediate updates to the Adobe applications. You can simply install the most recent version so you can take advantage of all the latest updates.

More Detail: If you’ve skipped a couple versions of an application in your Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, you can simply install the latest version without installing any intermediate versions.

I recommend keeping the existing version installed until after you’ve installed the latest versions and confirmed everything is working properly. You can then uninstall the older version assuming you don’t need to keep it installed, such as to support older plug-ins that don’t work with the latest version.

Once the latest version is installed, you’ll have access to all the new and updated features that had been added to various intermediate versions in between.

Today’s Question: I took video in a 16×9 aspect ratio with the long side horizontal, as one would expect. Oddly, some of them show up in Lightroom as horizontal and some show up as vertical. Unlike a photo, the little rotate arrows don’t appear in the Grid View. Any idea how I can rotate these things 90 degrees to look like they should?

Tim’s Quick Answer: I would first confirm that the source videos really are in the wrong orientation. If so, you can use the free Handbrake (https://handbrake.fr) utility to rotate the videos.

More Detail: Lightroom Classic does not include an option for rotating videos. However, I have seen situations where the video appears in the wrong orientation relative to what the actual video contains. I therefore recommend first confirming whether the video truly needs to be rotated. To do so, right-click on the thumbnail for the video and choose “Show in Finder” on Macintosh or “Show in Explorer” on Windows. Double-click on the video file to open it in the default player application and determine if the video orientation is correct.

If the orientation of the video is indeed wrong, you can use software outside Lightroom Classic to rotate the video. I recommend the free video transcoder Handbrake (https://handbrake.fr) for this purpose.

In Handbrake you can first open the source video. On the Preset tab in Handbrake, you can select an option for the overall video rendering settings. For the best quality I recommend choosing the Production category on the Preset popup and then selecting “Production Max” as the preset. This will retain the existing video settings such as resolution, while ensuring maximum output quality. You can also choose different options if you prefer.

The key setting in this case will be the video rotation option. In the Orientation & Cropping section you can click the Rotation popup and choose the necessary degree of rotation, which is available in 90-degree increments.

At the bottom of the Handbrake dialog, you can adjust the filename and location for the output file that will be rendered. Then click the Start button on the toolbar at the top of the Handbrake interface to start rendering.

Because you are creating a new file with this process, you’ll need to import this updated version into Lightroom Classic. You may, of course, want to delete the original capture that had the wrong orientation set.