Ask Tim Grey

Today’s Question: Could you please address the best ways to do local dodging and burning, in Lightroom Classic vs. Photoshop?

Tim’s Quick Answer: In Lightroom Classic you can dodge and burn using the Adjustment Brush to paint adjustments into specific areas of a photo. In Photoshop I recommend a technique that involves painting with black and white at a reduced opacity on a separate layer set to the Overlay blend mode.

More Detail: Dodging and burning involves lightening and darkening specific areas of an image, often to enhance detail or refine the mood of an image. The concept comes from the wet darkroom, where you could dodge and burn by adjusting how much light reached the photographic paper during exposure with an enlarger.

In Lightroom Classic the Adjustment Brush tool can be used to lighten and darken specific areas of a photo. After selecting the Adjustment Brush from the toolbar below the histogram display on the right panel in the Develop module you can set a slight increase or decrease for the Exposure control. Then paint within the image to apply that lightening or darkening to specific areas of the photo. You can add additional edits to enable lightening in some areas while darkening in others, for example.

In Photoshop I recommend a technique that involves painting on a separate layer. Start by holding the Alt key on Windows or the Option key on Macintosh while clicking on the Create New Layer button (with the plus symbol) at the bottom of the Layers panel. In the New Layer dialog that appears, set the Mode popup to Overlay and turn on the “Fill with Overlay-neutral color” checkbox. Click OK to create the new layer.

Next, choose the Brush tool, and set the colors to their defaults of black and white by pressing the letter “D” on the keyboard. On the Options bar set the brush to a 0% value for Hardness and reduce the Opacity for the brush (not the layer) to about 15%.

You can then paint with black on the new layer to darken areas of the image, and paint with white to lighten. Note that you can press “X” on the keyboard to switch between the foreground and background color, which means switching between black and white in this case.

It is possible to apply effective dodging and burning with either Lightroom Classic or Photoshop. However, my preference is to use Photoshop because I find it a little more streamlined to work on a single layer, painting with black or white to switch between darkening and lightening. With Lightroom Classic it can be a little more complicated since you need to work with more than one edit pin in order to be able to both lighten and darken.

Today’s Question: I have a problem with Lightroom Classic in the develop module. If it is my lucky day, I can process an image and it will stay in its position on the filmstrip along with the original. If it is not my lucky day when I process an image both the processed image and the original jump to the end of the filmstrip. Can you explain what is happening and how I can ensure that my images stay in place in the filmstrip during processing?

Tim’s Quick Answer: It sounds like the sort order for the images is to blame here. For example, you may be sorting the images by Edit Time or Edit Count. I would recommend sorting either by Capture Time or File Name to help ensure a consistent sort order.

More Detail: Lightroom Classic provides a variety of options for adjusting the sort order of your photos. Some of the sorting options are perhaps more useful and commonly preferred, such as sorting by Capture Time or File Name. Other sort order options are a little more esoteric but can provide a potential workflow benefit in certain situations.

For example, the Aspect Ratio sort order will cause images to be sorted based on the relationship between width and height, so that vertical and horizontal images will be sorted into separate groups. This may not be the most helpful sort order, but there are certainly situations where it could be helpful.

Of course, if you have the sort order set to an unexpected setting, the way images get sorted could be a bit confusing.

The “Edit Count” sorting option, for example, will cause images to be sorted in order based on how many times they have been edited in the Develop module or updated in the Library module. This enables you to sort images based on how much work you’ve done (or not done) with them in Lightroom Classic. That also means that as you apply edits to a photo, the image may jump to a different position based on the current sort order.

I recommend using the Capture Time sort order as the default setting, switching to other sort orders when they prove useful in your workflow. And when you’re finished using a different sort order, I recommend switching the sort order back to Capture Time to avoid confusion.

Today’s Question: I sometimes use the Auto adjustment in Lightroom Classic to set an initial starting point for a photo. Is there a way to apply the Auto adjustment but only for certain adjustments rather than all of the tonal adjustments?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can apply an automatic adjustment for an individual adjustment by holding the Shift key while double-clicking on the text label (or the slider handle) for Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, Blacks, Vibrance, or Saturation, in the Basic section of the right panel in the Develop module in Lightroom Classic.

More Detail: The Auto button in the Basic section of the right panel in the Develop module in Lightroom Classic will cause the image to be evaluated and automatic adjustments applied. If you prefer, however, you can apply an automatic adjustment to individual adjustments.

As noted above, you can apply that automatic adjustment to an individual adjustment by holding the Shift key on the keyboard while double-clicking on the label (or slider handle) for one of the supported adjustments.

However, it is worth noting that applying an automatic adjustment to each adjustment control individually will not produce the exact same result as clicking the Auto button, because of the way the image is evaluated. That is because in effect different values are being evaluated by the automatic adjustment.

For example, let’s assume the Auto adjustment causes the Exposure value to increase to +0.50, and for the Whites value to increase to +7. If you reset the adjustments and then hold the Shift key while double-clicking on the label for Whites without adjusting Exposure, the Whites value might decrease to a value of -15 rather than increasing as it would with the Auto adjustment. That’s because the Whites slider is now being adjusted based on an image that was not brightened with the Exposure adjustment, or otherwise affected by various automatic adjustments.

So, you can most certainly pick and choose which supported adjustments you want to apply an automatic adjustment to. You are just likely to get different results for each individual adjustment compared to what you would end up with if you simply clicked the Auto button.

Note, by the way, that you could also use Auto to apply all of the automatic adjustments, and then double-click (without the Shift key) on either the label or slider handle for an adjustment to reset that individual adjustment back to the default value.

Today’s Question: In Lightroom Classic, is there a way to filter on “Copy Name” for virtual copies? I want to find and delete these duplicate versions of my photos.

Tim’s Quick Answer: The images with text in the “Copy Name” field will generally be virtual copies. You can filter for virtual copies on the Attribute tab of the Library Filter bar. In addition, you can search for specific text in the “Copy Name” field using the Text tab of the Library Filter bar.

More Detail: When you create a virtual copy in order to have more than one interpretation of the same source image, by default Lightroom Classic will add the word “Copy” and a number (starting with “1”) to the Copy Name field in metadata. You can review this field in the Metadata section of the right panel in the Library module.

In addition, you could simply add text to the Copy Name field if you wanted to for any reason. You could, for example, update the name assigned to virtual copies by Lightroom Classic, or define your own use of the Copy Name field even when you haven’t created virtual copies.

The first option that might provide a solution in this case is to filter for only virtual copies. In the grid view display, make sure the Library Filter bar is visible at the top. If not, choose View > Show Filter Bar from the menu. Then go to the Attribute tab of the Library Filter bar. At the far right of the Attribute section, you’ll find the “Kind” setting. There are three buttons. The first enables you to filter by original images, meaning not virtual copies. The second button enables you to filter by virtual copies, which is what you want in this case. The third button enables you to filter by video clip rather than still photo.

If you want to filter based on the actual Copy Name field in metadata, that is an option found on the Text tab of the Library Filter bar. After selecting the Text tab (and closing the Attribute tab if you don’t want to use the settings there as part of your filter) you can first set the option on the first popup to the right of the Text label to “Copy Name”.

From the second popup you can choose how you want to evaluate the text in the Copy Name field. For example, you might want to choose “Contains” from this popup so you can filter for any image that includes the word “copy” in the Copy Name field. You can then enter the text you want to search for in the text field to the right.

Note that for all of the above filtering options you will be filtering based on the images you are currently browsing. So, you may want to navigate to a particular folder or collection first, or you might want to choose the “All Photographs” collection in the Catalog section toward the top of the left panel in the Library module so you can search across your entire Lightroom Classic catalog.

Today’s Question: Can you please explain how to best use the Quality Slider (under File Settings) when Exporting Images from Lightroom Classic. I am wondering how to best balance the quality with the resulting file size when exporting for online sharing. I assume that for printing I want to keep the quality at 100%.

Tim’s Quick Answer: The Quality slider under File Settings in the Export dialog for Lightroom Classic only applies to JPEG images. I only recommend using JPEG for images that will be shared online, not printed. For those images, I find that a setting of about 80% provides a good compromise between image quality and file size.

More Detail: JPEG images always have “lossy” compression applied to them, which means image quality can be degraded as the image data is compressed. The Quality setting determines how strong the compression is, and therefore the degree to which quality may be degraded.

The actual results will vary based on the contents of the image. For example, images that are very “simple” will compress to a smaller file size with less degradation of image quality. Images that are somewhat “complex” (such as with greater texture and detail) will not compress to as small a file size and will have a greater risk of degradation of quality.

When sharing images online, the JPEG file format provides the ability to balance file size (to reduce download time) with image quality. In my experience a setting of about 80% for image quality provides a very good balance.

Quality settings that are higher than 80% will result in larger file sizes but generally with little to no visible improvement in image quality. If you set the Quality much below 80%, the file sizes won’t be dramatically smaller but the degradation in image quality may become somewhat obvious.

For images that will be printed, I recommend saving as a TIFF image rather than a JPEG, so that you aren’t losing additional print quality by rendering a JPEG image with lossy compression applied to it.

Today’s Question: Is it possible to move the User Presets up to the top of the Presets panel in the Develop Module of Lightroom Classic?

Tim’s Quick Answer: While you can’t exactly arrange the presets on the left panel in the Develop module in Lightroom Classic, there are a few ways to make it easier to access your favorite presets and hide preset groups you don’t use.

More Detail: One of the quickest ways to make sure the presets you use most are readily available at the top of the Presets section of the left panel in the Develop module is to mark those presets as favorites. When you mark a preset as a favorite, it will be added to a “Favorites” group at the top of the Presets list. To mark a preset as a favorite, simply right-click on the preset and choose “Add to Favorites” from the popup menu.

It can also be helpful to hide groups of presets you don’t use, such as perhaps some (or all) of the default presets that are included automatically in Lightroom Classic. To hide (or reveal) groups of presets, right click on one of the preset groups in the Presets section and choose “Manage Presets” from the popup menu. In the Manage Presets dialog you can then turn off the checkbox for any groups you want to hide or turn on the checkbox for any groups you want to reveal. Click the Save button to update the Presets list based on your changes.

It is also worth noting that the preset groups you create are sorted alphabetically. You can therefore rename your preset groups in a strategic way to have the most important groups on top, for example. Simply right-click on a preset group and choose Rename to change the name of that preset group.

Similarly, the individual presets are sorted alphabetically within the preset group they are contained in, so you could also use an approach to naming your presets (such as with leading numbers) to have those presets sorted in your preferred order.

Today’s Question: What’s your strategy to avoid others from re-using your images when they are shared online?

Tim’s Quick Answer: I suppose if I’m being honest, I don’t really have a strategy for “protecting” my images online. Rather, my view is that I’m accepting a certain amount of risk that my photos will be stolen, in the interest of gaining some benefit from showcasing my photography to others.

More Detail: When it comes to sharing photos online, the simple fact is that your photos can be stolen by others. There are some steps you can take to mitigate that risk, but you can’t eliminate the risk completely.

I think it is worth keeping in mind that while it is much easier to steal images in digital form when they are shared online, it was always possible to steal non-digital images in other ways. For example, you could take a photograph of a printed photograph hanging in a gallery.

From the very early days of online sharing many photographs have asked me how to protect their photos. Whenever I would share my answer in a public forum, I was sure to hear from photographers who had a solution. In response, I created a challenge a number of years ago, offering some prize (I don’t recall what that prize was) if anyone could show me a method of truly protecting photos shared online. The only “rule” was that the solution needed to, in my view, preserve a good experience for the viewer.

I had more than a few people point me to images they had shared online that they believed I couldn’t steal, and I proceeded to email them a copy of the image.

There are many ways to steal such an image, from screen capture to navigating to the actual image file by reviewing the source code of the web page, among other options. The point is that if an image is shared online, it can be stolen. So, the focus should instead be on getting a benefit from sharing, while mitigating the risk of theft.

In my view one of the best ways to help mitigate the risk of sharing online is to only share relatively low-resolution images. For example, if you size an image to about 600 pixels on the long side it will still appear at a reasonable size when viewed online, but the image can only really be printed at great quality at a size of around 4×6 inches. Another option is to add a watermark to the image. If the watermark is relatively small and inconspicuous, it can probably be removed relatively easy either by cropping or applying image-cleanup techniques. If the watermark is strong enough to render the image unusable by would-be image thieves, then the experience for those who view your photos is degraded.

The point is that photos shared online can always be stolen in some form. I believe there is value to be gained by sharing your photos online. So, to me the priority is to share photos, with a secondary goal being to take efforts to minimize the impact of someone stealing the photos you share.

Today’s Question: How do you convert an HEIC image to a JPEG?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Many software applications now support the HEIC image format, making it relatively easy to convert HEIC images to JPEG or another file format. So, for example, you could open an HEIC image in Photoshop and choose File > Save As to save as a JPEG, or export the HEIC image from Lightroom Classic to create a JPEG copy.

More Detail: When Apple added support for the HEIC image format (a version of the HEIF format) with the release of iOS 11, support for this file format was extremely limited. Fortunately, that support has improved, especially now that additional cameras are supporting HEIF as a capture format.

The HEIC image format is now supported in Adobe software including Photoshop, Lightroom, and Lightroom Classic. Some software from other companies also supports this relatively new image file format.

As noted above, in Photoshop you can now open the HEIC images and work with them directly, or use the Save As command to save in a different file format. With Lightroom Classic you could import the photos into your catalog, and then use the Export command to export to another file format.

Over time we’ll surely see additional camera models that support the new HEIF format, and additional software will likely add support as well.

Today’s Question: If a digital camera only captures color for each pixel, then where does the final image obtain full color information?

Tim’s Quick Answer: For cameras that capture only one color value (generally red, green, or blue) for each photosite (pixel), the “other” color values for each pixel are calculated based on the values from neighboring pixels.

More Detail: Most cameras do not capture full color for each pixel in a photo. Rather, they capture a single color value for each pixel, and the “other” color values need to be calculated either at the time of capture (for a JPEG capture) or in post-processing (for a raw capture).

Most cameras capture in RGB (red, green, blue) color and use a Bayer pattern sensor array. That means for each grid of four pixels, one pixel will record only red light, two pixels will record only green light, and one pixel will record only blue light.

If you think about the notion of capturing only one of the three necessary color values for each pixel, it might seem implausible that full color details could be calculated for the photo. However, I think it can be helpful to try to envision what each individual color channel would look like.

For example, the red and blue channels are only represented by one-quarter of the pixels on the image sensor. Imagine you are viewing that image, where three-quarters of the pixels are blank, but you know what one-quarter of the pixels look like. What you have is a relatively course image, but an image nevertheless.

You can probably then envision how it is possible for sophisticated software to “fill in the blanks” in the empty pixel values. This is easiest for the green channel where half of the pixels have values, and so you only need to fill in the other half. But even for the red and blue channels, this can obviously be done quite effectively.

Today’s Question: If you expand many subfolders contained within parent folders in the Folders list in Lightroom Classic, is there a trick to collapse them all at once?

Tim’s Quick Answer: If you hold the Alt (Windows) or Option (Macintosh) key while clicking on the arrow to expand or collapse a parent folder, all subfolders below that parent folder level will also be expanded or collapsed.

More Detail: In Lightroom Classic the Folders list on the left panel in the Library module reflects the folder structure on your hard drive for those folders that contain photos being managed by Lightroom Classic. Therefore, you can have folders with subfolders represented in Lightroom Classic, including multiple layers of subfolders depending on how you have defined your folder structure.

You can expand or collapse a folder to reveal or hide subfolders by clicking on the triangle icon to the left of a parent folder. However, you can expand or collapse all subfolders in a single step by holding the Alt/Option key while clicking on the triangle icon for the parent folder.

Let’s assume a date-based folder structure, where you have a folder for each calendar year. Within each year folder you have folders for each month, and within each month folder you have folders for each day.

By default, if you simply click to expand the year folder, you’ll only see the month folders within that year folder. You would need to click the triangle to the left of a month folder to see the day folders contained within that month folder.

However, you can hold the Alt/Option key will clicking the triangle for a parent folder to expand or collapse all subfolders at all levels below that parent folder. So, for example, if you have expanded some of the month folders within the year folder, you could Alt/Option click on the triangle to the left of the year folder to collapse all folders. If you then click on the triangle to expand, you’ll once again only see the month folders.

You can also expand all folders in this way. So, rather than simply clicking on the triangle for the year folder to expand that folder, you can Alt/Option click on the triangle and you will then see all of the month folders and all of the day folders are visible because all subfolders have been expanded.

So, using this Alt/Option keyboard shortcut can be helpful for quickly reducing clutter for the folder display, and also for quickly revealing all levels of folders in a particular location.