Ask Tim Grey

Today’s Question: I was watching your video about importing photos into Lightroom Classic, and you mentioned the option for automatic date-based folders. What I’m confused about is why there is even an option to have folders with the name of the month, since those folders would then not sort in chronological order. Shouldn’t the only available option be to use folder names with numbers for the months?

Tim’s Quick Answer: In general, I recommend using numbers to represent the year, month, and day (as applicable) for date-based folders, so that the folders will sort in chronological order when sorted in alphabetical order. However, some users may prefer using the names of months if they prefer to sort by name rather than number.

More Detail: I am not personally a fan of using date-based folders for organizing my photos, in large part because I don’t tend to remember the year (let alone month or date) that particular photos were captured. But many photographers do prefer to use date-based folders for a variety of reasons.

When using date-based folders, I recommend using numbers to represent the year, month, and day. For example, I would recommend using a folder structure of ” 2024/11″ rather than “2024/November”, so that the folders for the months will sort in chronological order when sorted in alphabetical order. If the names of the months are used instead of numbers, then when sorted alphabetically within a year folder the December folder would appear before the January folder even though December comes after January chronologically.

Of course, not everyone is comfortable with scanning folders where the months are represented by numbers rather than the name of the month. Therefore, for some it may be preferable to use the month names for the folders instead of numbers, so they can scan alphabetically looking for the name of a particular month.

So, in general I recommend using number-based names for folders in a date-based folder structure, rather than names. But for those who find it easier to locate a particular folder by having the names of the months spelled out, that is perfectly reasonable as far as I’m concerned.

Note, by the way, that while there are limitations in terms of the folder structure options available for date-based folders when importing into Lightroom Classic, it is possible to later rename the folders to add additional information, such as to add the name of the location for a particular month-based folder to reflect where the photos in that folder had been captured.

Today’s Question: Isn’t it possible to assign color labels to folders in Adobe Bridge, not just mark them as favorites?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can assign a color label to a folder in Adobe Bridge, as long as you select (or right-click) the folder within the Content panel rather than the Folders panel.

Today’s question is a follow-up from an answer last week where I recommended marking folders as favorites in Adobe Bridge to provide quick access to frequently used folders via the Favorites panel. I incorrectly mentioned the lack of support for color labels for folders in Bridge. You can indeed assign color labels to folders in Bridge, you just need to do so via the Content panel rather than the Folders panel.

If you right-click on a folder in the Folders panel you’ll find an option for “Add To Favorites”, so you can have the folder appear on the Favorites panel. On that menu you will not, however, find the option for color labels. The option will appear, however, if you right-click on the folder in the Content panel, at which point you can choose Label followed by the desired color label option. In addition, you can select the folder on the Content panel and then go to the menu bar and choose Label followed by the desired color label.

So, I had merely confused myself by not finding the color label option on the popup menu when right-clicking a folder on the Folders panel. Hopefully Adobe will update Bridge in the future to include the color label option within the Folders panel. And hopefully I won’t forget again that the option exists as long as you use the Content panel rather than the Folders panel!

Today’s Question: I recently downloaded photos from my iPhone to my computer and on looking at them realized that all were in the JPEG format and none of the raw [Apple ProRAW] captures came as raw. What did I do wrong and what can I do to get my raw captures?

Tim’s Quick Answer: If you use the Apple ProRAW capture option on an iPhone, you’ll need to use specific workflow options for transferring those captures to your computer to retain the raw capture format.

More Detail: Certain of the higher-end recent models (Pro and Pro Max of Apple iPhone (since the iPhone 12) support shooting in raw via the Apple CameraRAW format, which is actually a variation on the Adobe Digital Negative (DNG) format. However, simply downloading those captures directly to your computer will result in images converted to JPEG rather than the original raw capture format.

One option for retaining the original raw capture format for Apple ProRAW captures is to make use of iCloud synchronization. That will cause the images to appear in the Photos application on your Macintosh computer (assuming both are set to synchronize photos with the same Apple ID). You can then export the original captures from the Photos application on your computer using the menu command File > Export > Export Unmodified Original.

Note that for Windows users, the same workflow above could be used, except that instead of using the Apple Photos application (since it isn’t available for Windows) you can access your photos by signing in using your Apple ID at iCloud.com and go to the Photos app to download the original photos.

You can also retain the raw capture format by sending the ProRAW captures to your computer using AirDrop. If the photo had been edited on your device, it will be shared as a JPEG via AirDrop. In that case you’ll need to first use the Duplicate option on the sharing options, edit that duplicate and choose the Revert command, and then use AirDrop to send the image.

While it could be argued that automatically converting shared ProRAW captures to JPEG represents a convenience, it also represents a workflow challenge for photographers who want to retain the original raw capture format. Fortunately, there are a couple of ways you can transfer the raw captures to your computer without too much difficulty.

Today’s Question: I noticed there are “1” and “2” icons at the top-left of the bottom panel in Lightroom Classic. Clicking the “1” button reveals a popup that lets me change the view mode, which of course can be changed in other ways too. When I click the “2” button a new window appears, with just a few controls. Why would I want this second window?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The feature you’ve discovered is primarily intended on enabling you to have two different windows on two different displays for Lightroom Classic. This can be used to streamline your workflow, such as being able to navigate among images on a secondary display while optimizing the selected photo on the primary display.

More Detail: Working with dual displays can be quite helpful in a photographer’s workflow, enabling you to have two different working areas. For example, I’ve long favored using Photoshop with dual displays, putting all the panels on a second display so I can focus almost exclusively on the image on the primary display.

Lightroom Classic also provides support for dual displays, which is a feature I find many photographers overlook. The controls (found at the top-left of the bottom “filmstrip” panel) are two simple buttons, one representing the primary display (with the number “1” on it) and the other representing a second window (with the number “2” on it). While using these options is aimed at the use of dual displays, you don’t actually need to have a second display to bring up the secondary window.

The idea is that you can click the “2” button to bring up a window that you can drag to your secondary display. This secondary window is primarily focused on browsing your photos. For example, the top panel only includes options for the grid, loupe, compare, and survey views.

Therefore, the secondary display is generally focused on selecting photos among those you’re currently browsing. For example, you can have a full-screen grid showing thumbnails of the current photos, while working in the Develop module for the selected photo on your primary display.

Today’s Question: You’ve mentioned the ability to mark folders with color labels or stars in Lightroom Classic, but is there a similar feature for those of us using Adobe Bridge to provide faster access to folders we use more frequently?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can indeed mark folders as favorites in Adobe Bridge to provide faster access.

More Detail: Perhaps the easiest way to get fast access to folders you’re most likely to browse in Adobe Bridge is to mark those folders as favorites. You can then access your favorite folders quickly and easily by going to the Favorites panel.

To mark a folder as a favorite, go to the Folders panel and right-click on a folder, then choose “Add To Favorites” from the popup menu. This will mark the folder as a favorite, so it will appear on the Favorites panel. This will also cause the popup menu to change for that folder, so that when you right-click on it you will instead see a “Remove From Favorites” option, which can obviously be selected to remove the folder from the Favorites panel.

You can then navigate to the folder quickly by going to the Favorites panel and clicking on the applicable folder there. When you click on the folder in Favorites, you’ll be able to see subfolders in the Content panel, as long as “Show Folders” is enabled on the View menu. However, you can’t simply expand the folder to see subfolders on the Favorites panel. But if after selecting a folder on the Favorites panel you switch to the Folders panel, the selected folder will be highlighted, and you can then click the caret symbol to the left of the folder to expand to reveal subfolders.

The Favorites panel is included by default in the Essentials and Filmstrip workspaces, which can be selected from the Window > Workspace submenu. You can also enable the Favorites panel in a workspace that doesn’t include it by choosing Window > Favorites from the menu.

Today’s Question: To rename a catalog in Lightroom Classic, is it really as easy as going to File > Rename Catalog and entering a new name? Do you turn on the “Rename parent folder” checkbox?

Tim’s Quick Answer: It is very important to check your overall storage structure before using the “Rename parent folder” option. But yes, renaming your Lightroom Classic catalog is as easy as entering a new name in the Rename Catalog dialog. I recommend leaving the “Rename parent folder” checkbox turned off unless you’ve checked the folder structure in advance.

More Detail: Renaming the various files associated with your Lightroom Classic catalog is now incredibly easy, thanks to the addition of the Rename Catalog command in version 14. However, if you enable the option to rename the parent folder that contains the catalog, you can potentially run into some serious challenges.

The risk here applies to those who have photos stored in folders within the same folder as the catalog itself. Some photographers have used this approach particularly when storing their catalog and photos together on an external hard drive that can be moved between more than one computer.

If, for example, your photos are all stored in folders within the same parent folder as your catalog, enabling the “Rename parent folder” option will cause the path to your photos to change, which in turn can cause every single folder and photo being managed by Lightroom Classic to suddenly appear to be missing.

If your Lightroom Classic catalog is stored in a standalone folder with no photos stored within that folder (including subfolders), then it is safe to enable the “Rename parent folder” option. And since by default the folder has the same name as your original catalog, it can be helpful to confirm your overall storage structure before enabling the option to rename the parent folder that contains the catalog.

Today’s Question: You have periodically referred to settings for Lightroom Classic in the Preferences and Catalog Settings dialogs. Why couldn’t all the options be consolidated into a single dialog? It doesn’t seem like it should be necessary to have two places for settings when one would do.

Tim’s Quick Answer: The key distinction between Catalog Settings and Preferences in Lightroom Classic is that Catalog Settings applies only to the catalog that is currently in use, while Preferences applies to the full installation of Lightroom Classic on the computer, affecting all catalogs you might open on that computer.

More Detail: Most applications include a Preferences dialog where you can configure various settings and options based on your personal preferences. With Lightroom Classic, in addition to the Preferences dialog there is a Catalog Settings dialog with additional settings.

While it would be reasonable to merge all the settings in Preferences and Catalog Settings in Lightroom Classic, I do think it is good that they are separate since they affect Lightroom Classic differently. The settings in the Catalog Settings dialog will only apply to the catalog that is currently in use, which enables you to have different settings for different catalogs. The settings in the Preferences dialog apply to the Lightroom Classic installation on your computer, so the same settings will apply regardless of which catalog you have open.

In general, I recommend using a single catalog to manage all photos, which would make the distinction of the Catalog Settings dialog irrelevant. However, if you use more than one catalog, you can configure different settings for each within Catalog Settings. The fact that there are two dialogs rather than one serve as a bit of a reminder of that distinction.

Today’s Question: In the context of working in Lightroom Classic when the source photos aren’t available, you said “If you build Smart Previews you can even apply adjustments in the Develop module.” Can you clarify how this works and what I need to do to enable me to apply adjustments to images that aren’t currently available?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can build Smart Previews in Lightroom Classic on import or later in your workflow. Those Smart Previews enable you to work in the Develop module and export copies of photos even when the source files aren’t available.

More Detail: Working in Lightroom Classic primarily revolves around viewing Standard Previews for your photos, which are effectively JPEG copies of the original images created at a reduced resolution (based on the setting established for Standard Preview Size on the Previews tab of the Catalog Settings dialog). While these previews enable you to view your images and apply metadata updates even when the source files aren’t available, you can’t work in the Develop module based on a Standard Preview.

However, you can use Smart Previews to work on your images in the Develop module. These are previews that are generally at a higher resolution than Standard Previews at 2,560 pixels on the long side, without JPEG compression applied. As such, they are more suitable as a proxy for your original image and can be used in the Develop module.

You can build Smart Previews for all photos during import by turning on the “Build Smart Previews” checkbox in the File Handling section of the right panel in the Import dialog. You can build Smart Previews at any time later in your workflow by selecting the applicable photos in the Library module and then going to the menu and choosing Library > Previews > Build Smart Previews.

Once you’ve built Smart Previews for images, you can optimize those images in the Develop module or export copies based on the Smart Preview. Just keep in mind that the Smart Previews won’t have the full fidelity of the original images, in large part due to their reduced resolution. When you want to be more critical about the adjustments you apply in the Develop module, I recommend working based on the original image files.

Today’s Question: If I neglect to disable lens corrections when I import my photos [into Lightroom Classic], can this be undone after importing? When I import photos taken with a fisheye lens, I don’t want Lightroom to correct the distortions.

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can disable the Lens Corrections adjustment in Lightroom Classic by turning off the “Enable Profile Corrections” checkbox after the photos had been imported. You can even apply this change in batch by enabling the Auto Sync feature.

More Detail: I prefer to apply a variety of adjustments using a preset when importing new photos into my Lightroom Classic catalog, as a way to change the default settings for certain adjustments. For example, I apply profile-based lens corrections and a bit of a boost for both Vibrance and Clarity. However, in some cases I may not want to apply those adjustments at import.

If a preset was applied by mistake on import, you can simply turn off the adjustment (as in the case of turning off the “Enable Profile Corrections” checkbox for Lens Corrections), reset an adjustment, or even reset all adjustments.

When changing an adjustment that was applied using a preset during import, there’s a good chance that if you didn’t want those adjustments applied that you need to disable the adjustment for all the photos that had been imported. You can do this using the Auto Sync feature.

To get started, select the photos you want to update. For example, this might be as easy as selecting all photos in the “Previous Import” collection in the Catalog section of the left panel in the Library module. Then go to the Sync button at the bottom of the right panel in the Develop module and turn on the toggle switch on the left side of the button so the button updates to read “Auto Sync”. This indicates that Auto Sync is enabled.

With Auto Sync enabled, all adjustments you modify will update automatically for all selected photos. So, you can turn off the “Enable Profile Corrections” checkbox, turn off the Lens Corrections section altogether, or otherwise update the adjustments for the selected photos.

When you’re finished, I recommend turning off the Auto Sync feature, just to make sure you don’t inadvertently apply updates to multiple photos unexpectedly if you have selected more than one image while working in the Develop module.

Today’s Question: As a follow up to editing photos when the source drive is not connected, how does Lightroom deal with it when write to XMP sidecar files is enabled? Does it wait until the drive is connected and write them then? Automatically?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, as soon as the source files are available again, Lightroom Classic will automatically save any updates you had made while the files were offline as long as you have turned on the option for these updates to be applied automatically.

More Detail: One of the advantages of the catalog in Lightroom Classic is that you can browse your photos (as long as previews had been built) and apply metadata updates even if the source files aren’t currently available. For example, if you store your photos on an external hard drive that isn’t connected to the computer, you can still review those photos, assign star ratings, add keywords, and more. If you build Smart Previews you can even apply adjustments in the Develop module.

If you turn on the “Automatically write changes into XMP” checkbox on the Metadata tab of the Catalog Settings dialog, Lightroom Classic will also save standard metadata updates to the source files. If you have applied updates while the source files were offline, Lightroom Classic will automatically start saving any metadata updates to the XMP sidecar files for raw captures (or to the files themselves for other image formats) once the files are available again.

If you’re not feeling confident that the updates were saved to the source files, or if you haven’t turned on the “Automatically write changes into XMP” checkbox, you can also manually save metadata updates to the source files. Simply go to the Library module and select the photos you want to update, then choose Metadata > Save Metadata to Files from the menu.