Ask Tim Grey

Today’s Question: I sometimes have images I am preparing for a project, but that I don’t need to keep in Lightroom Classic. This usually involves sending an image to Photoshop to work on. Afterward the resulting image is in Lightroom Classic of course, but is there a way to avoid that? I just want the final image saved in a project folder, and not have it in the Lightroom Classic catalog.

Tim’s Quick Answer: In this scenario my recommendation would be to follow the normal workflow for sending the image from Lightroom Classic to Photoshop, move the image to a project folder within Lightroom Classic if you’d like, and then remove the photo from the catalog without deleting it.

More Detail: In most cases when you want to send a photo from Lightroom Classic to Photoshop you will want to continue managing the new derivative image within your Lightroom Classic catalog. Even if you ultimately don’t want the derivative image in your catalog, I recommend using the same initial workflow.

So, in Lightroom Classic you can select the image you want to edit in Photoshop, then from the menu choose Photo > Edit In > Edit in Adobe Photoshop. This will send the image to Photoshop, where you can use any of the tools and features to finalize the derivative image. When you’re done simply save the image and close it.

At this point the image will be alongside the original within the Lightroom Classic catalog. If you want to move it to a project folder, you can do that directly within your catalog. Simply drag-and-drop the image to the desired destination folder within the Folders list on the left panel in the Library module. If you’d like, you can also create a new folder in any location by clicking the plus button to the right of the Folders heading and choosing “Add Folder”.

After you drag-and-drop the derivative image to a new folder location, you can remove it from Lightroom Classic if you’d like. Just be sure that you haven’t applied any adjustments in Lightroom Classic after creating the derivative image in Photoshop, as those won’t be retained in the source file on the hard drive.

To remove the derivative image from Lightrooom Classic you can simply right-click on it and choose Remove Photo from the popup menu. In this case you would click the “Remove from Lightroom” button (rather than the “Delete from Disk” button) because you are simply removing the image from your Lightroom Classic catalog without deleting the source image file.

Moving forward, of course, you could open the derivative image on your hard drive directly into Photoshop to perform any additional adjustments you may need.

Today’s Question: If I use one of the Remove tool options in Lightroom Classic, say Heal, then change the tool type to Clone, the result changes from Heal to Clone [for an existing cleanup area]. How do I use Heal, then switch to Clone, without changing the setting for the previous action?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The key to avoid changing the Mode setting for cleanup areas when using the Remove tool in Lightroom Classic (or Camera Raw or Lightroom), simply press the Escape (Esc) key on the keyboard to ensure no cleanup area is selected before making the change.

More Detail: With the Remove tool in Lightroom Classic (or Camera Raw or Lightroom) you can change the Mode setting for a selected cleanup area. For example, if you used the Clone option for Mode but then realize that it isn’t providing a good result, you can switch the Mode to Heal or Remove instead.

Of course, if your intent is to switch to a different setting for Mode for the next cleanup area rather than the current cleanup area, this behavior can be frustrating. The key is to ensure that no cleanup area is active before making a change to the Mode setting. To do so simply press the Escape (Esc) key on the keyboard before changing the setting for Mode. This will enable you to change the setting before initiating a new cleanup area.

It is also possible, of course, to simply paint a new cleanup area on the image, which will inherit the Mode setting from the cleanup area that had previously been selected. You can then change the Mode setting for the new cleanup area after creating it. But again, if you want to change the Mode first, you can simply press the Escape key before creating the new cleanup area.

Note that I have published an updated video lesson on performing image cleanup work in Lightroom Classic to my “Mastering Lightroom Classic” video course. The updated lesson is “Removing Blemishes and Distractions”, which is Chapter 3, Lesson 3 of this course. You can get all the details about this course on the GreyLearning website here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/mastering-lightroom-classic-2023

Today’s Question: I saw your recent post about changing the capture time for a series of images, doing so in Adobe Bridge. I recently took some pictures in Europe and neglected to change the time zone until after the first day. However, I have already imported all the images into Lightroom Classic. Is there a way to change the capture time for these images?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can easily correct the capture time for selected photos in Lightroom Classic using the “Edit Capture Time” command.

More Detail: The previous answer about adjusting the capture time using Adobe Bridge related specifically to updating the metadata for photos that had not been imported into a Lightroom Classic catalog. After photos have been imported into Lightroom Classic you should only update metadata within the catalog. That includes updating the capture time, which can be done using the “Edit Capture Time” command.

To get started, simply select the photos you need to correct the capture time for. In this case that would involve only selecting the photos from the first day of your trip, but it could also involve selecting all photos in a given folder, for example.

Once you’ve selected the applicable photos, go to the Library module and from the menu choose Metadata > Edit Capture Time to bring up the Edit Capture Time dialog.

In most cases, including in the context of today’s question, you’ll want to use the “Shift by a set number of hours” option. This enables you to shift the capture time for the selected photos by a specific number of hours, such as for a time zone correction. Select the number of hours from the popup on the right side of the “New Time” section, selecting a positive value if you need to increase the time or a negative value if you need to decrease the time.

Once you have configured the settings for the capture time change for the selected photos click the Change button to apply the change.

Note, by the way, that there is a message at the bottom of the Edit Capture Time window that indicates you can’t use the Undo command to revert to the original capture time if you change the capture time incorrectly. However, you can always apply a corrective change. For example, if you accidentally apply a time zone change of negative five hours when the correct adjustment would be negative four hours, you could always apply a positive one hour change to update the images to the correct capture time.

Today’s Question: I’ve been seeing a lot of chatter about Adobe trying to “steal” our images based on the terms of service related to their AI [artificial intelligence] technology. Can you address this issue, and do you think this is something we should be worried about?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Especially with the updates Adobe recently made to their terms of service, I don’t think photographers have anything to be concerned about with regard to the use of their images by Adobe.

More Detail: There has been a lot of buzz lately about some changes Adobe made to the terms of service for accessing their Creative Cloud software and services. Having been on both sides of these types of issues, I don’t think the situation called for anywhere near as much alarm as it seemed to cause among some photographers. For example, based on my experience I don’t believe that Adobe would intentionally steal images from photographers to use for their own profit.

First off, consider a situation where you want to share your photos online, perhaps in an effort to gain new customers. In order for the service provider to be able to publish your images, they need a license from you. That license understandably needs to be relatively broad, since when you share your photos online, they can generally be viewed by just about anyone anywhere on the planet, possibly for an indefinite time period. The point is that terms of service often by necessity need to have relatively broad rights granted to the service provider.

The recent uproar over Adobe’s terms of service was a little different, in that part of the issue was the notion that your images could be used to train Adobe Firefly, which is at the core of their AI (artificial intelligence) technology. This caused a bit of concern among photographers. For example, what if you were working on images that were covered by a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), but now the images might partially appear in images generated by AI? Would that potentially mean you had violated the NDA?

Fortunately, after the backlash, Adobe has updated the terms of service to clarify that your images will not be used to train AI unless you submit those images to Adobe Stock. In the case of Adobe Stock, you are bound by different terms of service, which do provide Adobe the right to use your photos to train their AI technology.

To be sure, when terms of service are unclear or seem particularly onerous, it is reasonably to be concerned about the potential ramifications of agreeing to those terms. In this case I don’t believe there was anything nefarious about Adobe’s intent. I just think they should have been a bit more careful about how their terms of service were worded.

Today’s Question: Would there be any detriment if I copy my Nikon NEF [raw capture] files manually to a folder on my computer, rename them manually, then import them into Lightroom versus letting Lightroom Classic import them directly from the memory card and then renaming them in Lightroom Classic?

Tim’s Quick Answer: I don’t recommend this type of workflow because it adds an element of complexity to the process. If you follow a consistent workflow with this approach it can certainly work fine, but in my view there’s a greater risk of being inconsistent due to the slightly cumbersome nature of this type of workflow.

More Detail: If you’re going to manage your photos using Lightroom Classic, you must import those photos into the Lightroom Classic catalog. My view is that it therefore makes the most sense to import directly from your media cards into Lightroom Classic, without using any other software as part of this workflow.

When importing photos into your Lightroom Classic catalog you can copy them from the media card to the intended storage location, create an additional backup copy in another location, rename the photos, add metadata using a saved preset, apply a Develop preset to all photos, apply keywords to all photos being imported, and more.

Furthermore, by importing photos directly from your media cards you are getting those photos into your normal workflow as quickly as possible. You’re also using a more streamlined workflow that will help you avoid issues such as downloading photos but then neglecting to import them into Lightroom Classic.

If you’re thorough and consistent, you can certainly use a more complicated workflow in the context of Lightroom Classic. I recommend, however, keeping that workflow streamlined and importing directly from your media cards into your Lightroom Classic catalog.

The full workflow I recommend for importing photos into Lightroom Classic is covered in great detail in my lesson “Importing Photos and Videos”, which is Chapter 2, Lesson 1 of my comprehensive “Mastering Lightroom Classic” video course. This course is included in my GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle, and you can learn more about it on the GreyLearning website here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/mastering-lightroom-classic-2023

Today’s Question: The Layers panel [in Photoshop] that I always have open used to “dock” on the right side of the screen. Now it’s floating and could be dragged around. One of the nuisances of this is that the image is partially hidden by the Layers panel. How can I get the panel to dock on the right again and stay that way?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can simply drag the floating panel (or panel group) to the edge of the Photoshop interface to dock it. In addition, if you saved a workspace in Photoshop you can reset that workspace to restore the panel configuration.

More Detail: In Photoshop it is possible to have the various panels be docked to an edge of the main interface window or floating so they can be positioned anywhere you’d like (including on a secondary monitor).

If you have a floating panel (or set of panels) you can simply drag it to the edge of the interface. If it is a single panel you want to dock you can drag on the tab that shows the name of the panel. If it is a set of panels grouped together you can drag the bar at the top of the group. This bar looks like a title bar of a small window, but without a title on it.

You can drag the panel or group to any edge of the Photoshop interface, or to be docked within an existing panel or group. Once you drag close to an edge, you’ll see a highlight line or box depending on where you have moved your mouse, which indicates the position the panel will be docked when you release the mouse.

If you had previously saved a workspace, you can also revert to the original configuration of that workspace by going to the menu and choosing Window > Workspace > Reset, which will show the name of the current workspace after “Reset”. You can also simply switch to a saved workspace by choosing it from the Window > Workspace submenu.

If you haven’t saved a workspace, you can do so after configuring all the panels to your liking by choosing Window > Workspace > New Workspace from the menu.

I covered the many options for configuring panels and other aspects of the Photoshop interface in the lesson “Configuring the Photoshop Interface”, which is Chapter 1, Lesson 4 of my “Photoshop for Photographers” video course. This comprehensive course is included in the GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle, and you can learn more about it on the GreyLearning website here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/photoshop-for-photographers-2024

Today’s Question: I edit my photos in Lightroom 12 on Macintosh and sometimes in Lightroom 13 on Windows. I get the message that metadata was changed externally, with two choices (Overwrite Settings or Import Setting from Disk). I have XMP files related to all photos, so which one should I choose?

Tim’s Quick Answer: In this context I recommend changing your workflow to avoid the metadata mismatches in the first place. I never recommend using two different catalogs, especially for managing the same photos.

More Detail: A metadata mismatch of the type described in today’s question indicates that an image was changed outside of Lightroom Classic. In other words, the metadata in the source image file (or XMP sidecar file in the case of a proprietary raw capture) doesn’t match the information in the Lightroom Classic catalog.

Under more typical circumstances you would choose to import the settings from the disk if you know the latest updates were made outside of Lightroom Classic, and you would choose to overwrite the settings if you knew the information in the catalog was the most.

In this case the issue is that two different catalogs are being used with two different versions of Lightroom Classic (and on two different operating systems) to manage the same photos. This is not something I would ever recommend, as doing so can lead to mismatched and conflicting metadata for photos.

It is perfectly fine to work across more than one computer with Lightroom Classic. However, when doing so you should always use the same catalog. That generally involves storing the catalog on an external hard drive along with your photos, so you can move the catalog between computers. However, for this to work you would also need to ensure that the same version of Lightroom Classic is being used on both computers so that the catalog version matches the software.

Today’s Question: Can you clarify why you use both GoodSync and Backblaze to back up your photos, rather than just using one of the two?

Tim’s Quick Answer: I use both of these backup solutions because GoodSync (https://www.timgreyphoto.com/goodsync) is a good tool for backing up locally, and Backblaze (https://timgrey.me/cloudbackup) is a good tool for backing up remotely via cloud storage.

More Detail: When it comes to a reliable workflow for backing up photos and other important data, I recommend following the “3-2-1” rule. This calls for maintaining three copies of your data, with two copies stored locally and one copy stored remotely.

I actually take this a little further, maintaining two local backups in addition to a remote backup. So, I use GoodSync to back up my primary drives to two additional drives. Each of those backup drives can easily replace the primary drive should I experience a failure of other issue with the drive.

To supplement my local backup workflow, I make use of Backblaze for an online backup, which serves as my primary offsite backup. This provides a backup that I can recover from even if I experience a disaster that causes all my local storage to be damaged or destroyed. As unlikely as this scenario may be (I hope!), the online backup provides additional peace of mind.

I covered my full backup workflow and provided much more information about defining and executing a workflow for backing up your photos in a GreyLearning Ultimate Event last year. Recordings of all presentations from this online event are available here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/greylearning-ultimate-event-backing-up-your-photos-may-2023

Today’s Question: I know you can click on an arrow for a keyword on the Keyword List [in Lightroom Classic] to set a filter for photos that include a keyword. But that includes all photos with that keyword in my entire catalog. Is there an easy way to only filter by that keyword for the folder I’m currently browsing?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can easily filter by keyword within a folder by using the Keyword List shortcut, making sure the filter is locked, and then navigate to a different folder to view only the photos with the applicable keyword in the selected folder.

More Detail: I find that many photographers overlook the filter lock button on the Library Filter bar in Lightroom Classic, which is unfortunate because I find it to be an incredibly helpful option. When you enable the filter lock, when you navigate to a different folder or collection the filter settings will remain, so you’re only seeing the photos within the folder or collection that match the criteria you’ve established.

In the context of today’s question, the first step would be to click on the arrow to the right of the filter you want to search for on the Keyword List on the right panel in the Library module. Note that the arrow icon only appears when you hover your mouse pointer over a keyword within the Keyword List. You can, of course, use any of the filter options available when it comes to locking filter criteria.

Clicking the arrow to the right of a keyword on a Keyword List actually serves as a shortcut for the Library Filter bar, while also switching you to the All Photographs collection in the Catalog section of the left panel in the Library module. When you click the arrow, the first column of the Metadata tab of the Library Filter bar is set to Keyword, with the applicable keyword selected. You can add or change any of the criteria from any of the tabs, such as if you wanted to filter by star rating in addition to the selected keyword.

Once the criteria are set, you can click the padlock icon at the top-right of the Library Filter bar to lock the criteria. When the padlock appears unlocked (open), switching to a different folder or collection will reset the filter to None, so that all images are displayed. With the padlock locked (closed), the filter criteria will remain locked so that as you navigate to a different folder or collection, you’ll still only be seeing the images in that location that match the criteria you’ve established.

So, in the case of today’s question, the process would simply involve clicking the arrow for the applicable keyword on the Keyword List, making sure the lock is enabled for the Library Filter bar, and then navigating to the desired folder or collection.

Today’s Question: What is the impact of noise reduction in terms of the degradation of image quality?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Noise reduction can reduce the apparent sharpness and level of detail in a photo and can also cause colors to become less saturated and potentially bleed into surrounding areas within the image.

More Detail: Noise reduction essentially involves averaging neighboring pixel values in an image to reduce the appearance of noise. The specific process is a bit more complicated than this, but if you think about it as a process of averaging neighboring pixel values you can get a better sense of the potential degradation in image quality that can result.

Luminance noise reduction can be particularly problematic, because it involves averaging tonal values in an image. This can quite literally involve reducing contrast between neighboring pixels, which reduces perceived sharpness and can also result in a loss of fine detail. It is therefore critically important to be very careful when applying luminance noise reduction. You will need to compromise between the level of noise reduction being applied and the degradation in image quality.

With color noise reduction the risk relates to altering color values. With modest color noise reduction, the primary risk is that colors may become less saturated. However, with strong color noise reduction you can also create a situation where colors bleed into each other. For example, if you have a photo with vibrant green leaves on a tree set against a bright blue sky, along those edges you may see the greens blending into the sky and the blues blending into the leaves.

The key is to carefully evaluate the image, and to only apply enough noise reduction to mitigate the effect of the noise without using such strong settings that the image quality is significantly degraded.