Ask Tim Grey

Today’s Question: I sometimes get kicked out of Lightroom Classic for no apparent reason. When I try to reopen, I get a screen that says the catalog can’t be reopened because another application already has it opened. But if Lightroom Classic has for sure been closed, how can the catalog be open in another application? Any suggestions?

Tim’s Quick Answer: This issue is most likely the result of a “lock” file being left behind alongside the catalog. Removing that file should enable you to open the catalog in Lightroom Classic again.

More Detail: When you open a catalog in Lightroom Classic, a set of three temporary files are created, one of which is used to indicate that the catalog is in use. The other two are files related to the database the catalog represents. The files should be cleaned up when you quit Lightroom Classic, but they can be left behind if the software crashes. That can lead to an issue where the catalog can’t be opened because Lightroom Classic thinks it is already in use.

In this scenario, you’ll likely find three files in the same folder as the catalog. They’ll have the same base filename as the catalog, with filename extensions of “lrcat-shm”, “lrcat-wal”, and “lrcat.lock”. The last of these is the “lock” file, and its presence will generally prevent you from being able to open your catalog.

Fortunately, you can simply remove this file from the folder with your catalog, and you should then be able to launch Lightroom Classic normally with your catalog. Once that’s the case, you can permanently delete the “lrcat.lock” file that you moved.

Note that the default location for the Lightroom Classic catalog is in a folder called “Lightroom” within the Pictures folder for the operating system. So as long as you’ve left the catalog in its default location you can find it there, but otherwise you can navigate to whatever location you’ve saved your catalog so you can remove the “lock” file.

Today’s Question: I have changed my import workflow to add a yellow label to new imports to remind me I need to rank them. I use the Auto Advance feature to move to the next image after I give it a flag rating. Is there a way to also automatically remove the label color?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Lightroom Classic doesn’t include a feature that enables you to have a color label removed automatically when you apply a star rating, but there are a couple of approaches you could use that can streamline this process.

More Detail: In my own workflow I assign a red color label to all photos upon import using a metadata preset, which I use as a marker for photos I need to review to identify favorites and outtakes. After assigning star ratings to favorite photos and a reject flag to outtakes, I remove the red color label from the photos.

While Lightroom Classic doesn’t include a feature for removing the color label automatically in this scenario, you could simply select all the images you’ve just reviewed and then remove the color label. For example, if you’ve only reviewed some of the photos in a folder, you could leave the last image you reviewed selected and then hold the Shift key while selecting the first image. If you had already reviewed all the images in the folder, you could use the Select All command to select them all. You can then go to the menu and choose Photo > Set Color Label > None to remove the color label from the selected photos.

If you want to make sure you haven’t forgotten to remove a color label from images you’ve assigned a star rating to, you could use a smart collection to locate those images. One shortcoming of this approach is that it would only catch photos that you have assigned a star rating to but forgot to remove the color label. In other words, images you skipped over as not being a favorite or that you marked for deletion with a Reject flag would not be included in the smart collection.

To create a smart collection, click the plus (+) button to the right of the Collections heading on the left panel in the Library module, and choose Create Smart Collection from the popup menu. In the Smart Collection dialog enter a meaningful name for the smart collection in the Name field. Set the Match popup to “all” and then create just two rules in the section below. One rule can be for the Rating to be equal or greater than one star, and the other can be for images where the Label field matches the color you’ve used for this purpose. Once you create this smart collection, it will automatically contain all photos from your catalog that have a star rating assigned but still have the color label that you use to identify images that haven’t been reviewed yet. You can then remove the color label from images within the smart collection as noted above.

Of course, while Lightroom Classic doesn’t include the ability to automatically remove one metadata attribute when you apply another, it is possible to create this type of capability with custom programming. For the more technically minded, you could create a custom plugin with the scripting language that is built into Lightroom Classic. You can learn more about that option on the Adobe website here:

https://developer.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/

Today’s Question: I have two desktop computers in different locations. Both have Lightroom Classic installed, and both have the same folder structure and photos on the E drive synchronized via the cloud. Whenever I close Lightroom Classic on computer 1, I make a backup of the catalog. Is it now sufficient to call up the backup on computer 2 and continue working? Are all presets and mask presets, etc. saved in the backup?

Tim’s Quick Answer: No, the catalog backup does not include any of the presets or settings, and so this approach would not be optimal. I recommend keeping the catalog and photos on an external hard drive that you move between computers, although cloud-based synchronization could theoretically provide a solution as well.

More Detail: When you back up the Lightroom Classic catalog, only the catalog (lrcat) and catalog data (lrcat-data) files are backed up. The previews and other helper files, presets, settings, and any other files associated with Lightroom Classic are not backed up. As such, the built-in catalog backup feature does not provide a solution for using the same catalog on two different computers.

Therefore, the only option is to ensure all catalog files are available on both computers as needed. One option is to keep the catalog and related files on an external hard drive, along with the photos. You can then move the hard drive to the computer you want to work on and access the catalog directly on the external hard drive.

It is also possible to synchronize the catalog and related files via cloud-based storage. However, out of an abundance of caution I don’t recommend this approach. By synchronizing the catalog files via the cloud, there is a risk that you might work with a copy of the catalog that hasn’t yet been updated by synchronization, leading to a risk of data loss.

Note that with either of these approaches you will want to enable the option to “Store presets with this catalog”, found on the Presets tab of the Preferences dialog in Lightroom Classic. However, it is also important to note that enabling this option will not move existing presets to the location where the catalog is stored. You will therefore need to manually move existing presets to the catalog location after enabling the option. New presets you import or create will be saved in the same location as the catalog after you’ve turned on the checkbox.

Needless to say, Lightroom Classic was not designed for the catalog to be accessible from more than one computer. If this is an important issue for you, and you don’t want to move an external hard drive between computers, I would recommend looking at software that doesn’t involve the catalog (such as Adobe Bridge) or a solution that is built around cloud-based synchronization (such as the non-Classic version of Lightroom).

Today’s Question: You said you recommend using raw capture for “basically all photos”, which sounds like there are some situations where you would use JPEG instead of raw. Is that the case, and if so when would you shoot JPEG instead of raw?

Tim’s Quick Answer: In my view JPEG capture should only be used for situations where you are more concerned about file size than image quality. For example, I think it makes perfectly good sense to use JPEG capture for “casual” photos such as those you might capture with a basic point-and-shoot camera or a smartphone.

More Detail: A colleague of mine long ago was fond of saying, “If something is worth doing, it is worth doing right”. A similar notion in photography that resonates with me would be, “If a photo is worth capturing, it is worth capturing with optimal quality”.

There are, of course, many factors that can impact the quality of a photo, from the performance of camera gear, the specific exposure settings used, and photographer technique, among others. Among these many factors is the file format used to record the photo at the time of initial capture.

While JPEG captures can certainly provide an image of very good quality, they also represent a compromise in quality due to the effects of compression artifacts.

The primary advantages of a JPEG capture are relatively small file size and broad compatibility. It is quite common for a JPEG capture to have a file size that is about 90% smaller than a raw capture, for example, which can be quite significant in terms of the cumulative storage requirements for photos.

However, JPEG captures also represent a compromise in image quality. This primarily relates to visual artifacts of the compression applied to JPEG captures, but there is also an impact on overall tonal range and color fidelity.

For casual “snapshot” photos where you aren’t particularly concerned about optimal image quality, it is perfectly reasonable to use JPEG capture. However, for photos that you want to ensure will represent the best quality possible, I highly recommend using raw capture, even though doing so will increase the amount of storage space required for your photos.

Today’s Question: When stitching JPEG images together to make a panorama, does the resultant full panoramic image suffer from the multiple saving JPEG resolution reduction? If so, is it better to shoot raw and use those as the basis for the panorama?

Tim’s Quick Answer: I recommend using raw capture for composite panoramas (and basically all photos) to avoid JPEG compression artifacts. If you do assemble a composite panorama from JPEG captures, saving the resulting image in a format other than JPEG will avoid compounding the JPEG compression issue.

More Detail: JPEG images employ “lossy” compression, meaning that the compression causes a loss of fidelity and quality in the image. Even at a high setting for quality, it is possible that compression artifacts will be visible in a JPEG image. If an image is modified and re-saved as a JPEG, there is a compounding of the loss of quality due to the compression.

Therefore, I recommend opting for raw capture whenever you want to ensure maximum image quality. This includes capturing a series of photos with the intent of assembling a composite panorama.

To be sure, depending on the content of the image and how the image is shared, in many cases the artifacts of JPEG compression may not stand out very well. But once you are familiar with how those artifacts create a bit of a grid pattern texture in the image, it can be difficult not to notice the effect in a JPEG image, or an image created from JPEG originals.

The bottom line is that if image quality is a concern, I would always opt for raw capture rather than JPEG, even though the files will be considerably larger.

Today’s Question: Can you ask Adobe to add this: Set the up and down arrows for flag and unflag (like BreezeBrowser) so we can scroll through images and flag with one hand?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can already reassign keyboard shortcuts in Lightroom Classic using a plug-in, though I do think it would be great if Adobe added this option natively.

More Detail: While you can change keyboard shortcut assignments in Photoshop, doing so is currently not a feature in Lightroom Classic. However, you can use the Any Shortcut plugin (https://johnrellis.com/lightroom/anyshortcut.htm) for Lightroom Classic to change any of the keyboard shortcuts, including the ability to assign the up-arrow key to the Pick flag and the down-arrow key to “Unpick” (or Reject if you prefer). You could similarly change other keyboard shortcuts to better suit your workflow.

The Any Shortcut plugin makes it possible to change any existing keyboard shortcut, and it is relatively easy to use. This provides a great improvement over the process of mapping keyboard shortcuts through the operating system, and is a huge improvement over the process of manually making changes to the TranslatedStrings file that stores keyboard shortcuts for Lightroom Classic.

There is a 30-day free trial available for Any Shortcut, and if you like the plugin, you can buy a license for US$9.99. Learn more about the details of Any Shortcut (and how to install and use it) on the developer’s website here:

https://johnrellis.com/lightroom/anyshortcut.htm

Today’s Question: I shot a bunch of photos outside in the full sun BUT had left my camera set on the tungsten light source setting I had used previously. As you can imagine the photos all have a horrible blue cast. I realize I can quickly change that in the Develop module [in Lightroom Classic], but is there a way I can make that adjustment to all the images as I import them?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you could use a preset to apply a white balance correction to all photos as part of the process of importing them into Lightroom Classic. You could also batch process the images after the capture using the Auto Sync feature.

More Detail: One of the benefits of capturing photos in raw is that the in-camera white balance setting does not affect the original capture data. In other words, you can change the white balance setting when processing the raw capture without any negative impact on the quality of the image.

In Lightroom Classic you can apply an adjustment like this using a Develop preset during import, or by using the Auto Sync feature to batch process the images after import.

To apply the correction during import, first create a preset for this purpose. Using any image you can choose “Auto” from the WB (white balance) popup in the Basic section of the right panel in the Develop module. Note that you could also choose a white balance preset (such as “Daylight” from the popup or set a specific value for the Temp and Tint sliders if you prefer. Then click the plus (+) button to the right of the Presets heading on the left panel and choose “Create Preset”. In the New Develop Preset dialog, click the Check None button at the bottom-left, and then turn on the White Balance checkbox. You can also turn on the checkbox for any other adjustments you would like to include so they are applied to the photos you import.

Enter a meaningful name in the Preset Name field, such as “White Balance Correction”, and then click the Create button to create the preset. When importing the affected photos, you can select this preset from the Develop Settings popup in the Apply During Import section of the right panel in the Import dialog. Once you import the photos, they will all update to reflect the preset, which in this case means the White Balance adjustment will be set automatically by Lightroom Classic.

You could also batch process the images after import by selecting all of them and turning on the Auto Sync option by clicking the toggle switch on the left side of the Sync button at the bottom of the right panel in the Develop module. With Auto Sync enabled any adjustments you apply to the active image will synchronize in real time to all selected photos. You could use this approach to set a specific value for both the Temp and Tint sliders, for example, or by choosing a preset or “Auto” from the WB popup.

Today’s Question: Can I delete only the photos marked with a Reject flag in a specific folder within Lightroom Classic, and not all photos marked as rejected in the entire catalog?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The “Delete Rejected Photos” command will actually only delete photos that are currently being browsed. In other words, if you are browsing a single folder the command will only delete photos marked with a Reject flag in that folder, not in the entire catalog.

More Detail: When reviewing photos, rather than deleting photos immediately when you find one you don’t want to keep, I recommend marking them with a Reject flag and deleting them in batch later. This enables you to have a more streamlined workflow and provides an opportunity to review the photos marked as rejected one last time before you delete the source files.

After marking photos with a Reject flag, you can delete them using the Photo > Delete Rejected Photos command. This command will only affect the images that are currently being browsed, not the entire catalog.

So, for example, if you’re browsing an individual folder only photos in that folder with a Reject flag assigned to them will be deleted when you use the “Delete Rejected Photos” command. Of course, this also means that if you browse the “All Photographs” collection in the Catalog section of the left panel in the Library module then the “Delete Rejected Photos” command would affect all images in your entire catalog.

It is also worth noting that the “Delete Rejected Photos” command will not delete photos if you are browsing a collection. If you’re browsing a collection when using the “Delete Rejected Photos” command the applicable photos will be removed from the collection, without affecting the image files in the source folder.

Today’s Question: When I export a photo from Lightroom Classic for a particular project, I add a keyword to the photos to indicate which project they are being used for (based on your “fake keywords” advice). However, sometimes I forget to add that keyword. Are photos that get exported from Lightroom Classic marked as such in anyway, so I can at least find the photos I’ve exported and update the keywords as needed?

Tim’s Quick Answer: There is actually a new filter option in Lightroom Classic that lets you filter images based on those that have previously been exported versus those that have never been exported.

More Detail: A recent update to Lightroom Classic adds an Export option to the Attribute category of filters for your images, enabling you to filter photos based on those that have previously been exported or those that have never been exported.

The Export option can be found on the Attribute tab of the Library Filter bar above the grid view display in the Library module (choose View > Show Filter Bar from the menu to reveal the bar if it is hidden). You can also find the same buttons among the set of filter options at the top-right of the bottom panel above the filmstrip.

There are two buttons associated with the new Export option. Clicking the first will set a filter based on images that have previously been exported from your Lightroom Classic catalog. The second button will set a filter for those images that have never been exported.

It is possible to turn on both options at once, which means all images are shown regardless of their export status, so be sure that only one of the options is turned on when you’re looking for only photos that have been exported versus those that have not.