Ask Tim Grey

Today’s Question: I believe that in the past you’ve mentioned that you use an iPhone app to determine depth of field on the go. If I’m correct would you please remind me what that app is?

Tim’s Quick Answer: There are many apps available, and I’ve never found one that I’m completely happy with, but the one I currently find most helpful is called “SetMyCamera – Depth of Field Calculator” by Bluestone Pond.

More Detail: There are many apps available for various smartphones that enable you to calculate depth of field. Some are free and many are available for several dollars, and there are varying degrees of quality and usability. Some feature many in-app advertisements, and others provide a very rudimentary interface. But in general I’ve found most of them to be reasonably accurate.

It is very helpful to choose an app that enables you to choose the type of camera you’re using, so that the sensor size and circle of confusion values can be estimated automatically for you. That way you only need to enter the distance to the subject, the lens focal length, and the lens aperture to determine the overall depth of field distances.

In most cases you will be presented with the near versus far limits of the range of depth of field, as well as the total size of the area of acceptable focus for the depth of field. Often the apps will also indicate the hyperfocal distance for the current setup, which can be helpful in many cases.

I also recommend making sure that any app you’re considering includes an actual depth of field calculator, rather than a set of tables you can use to look up specific values.

And if anyone knows of an excellent app that they find to be fast and easy to use for calculating depth of field details, please let me know.

Today’s Question: I seem to have lost my ability to paint a selection in Quick Mask mode [in Photoshop]. I switch to Quick Mask mode and select the Brush tool, but when I attempt to paint nothing happens. This has worked successfully in the past.

Tim’s Quick Answer: You will most likely find your answer on the Options bar, with the configuration settings for the Brush tool. In particular, confirm the Mode popup is set to “Normal” and than the Opacity setting is at 100%.

More Detail: You can use Quick Mask mode in Photoshop to create or modify a selection using the painting tools (such as the Brush tool) rather than the selection tools. In a very general sense this enables you to paint to define the overall shape of a selection rather than tracing along the edge of a selection. In addition, Quick Mask mode enables you to adjust the brush Hardness setting as you’re working, so you can apply a variable degree of feathering for your selection. You can also adjust the Opacity setting if you need to have some areas partially (rather than fully) selected.

When you are in Quick Mask mode and using the Brush tool, for example, all of the settings that impact the behavior of the Brush tool will impact your results in Quick Mask mode. The result, however, may be significantly different, since in Quick Mask mode you are effectively painting with only black and white (and possibly shades of gray). This can result in blending interactions that have a significantly different impact than if you were painting on a full-color image layer.

The two settings that are most likely to impact your use of the Brush tool with Quick Mask mode are the Mode popup (for the blending mode) and the Opacity setting. In general you will want to have the Mode set to “Normal” and the Opacity set to 100%. But the key is to remember that when you’re using the Quick Mask mode to create or modify a selection, the settings for the specific tool you’re using will have an impact on the results you achieve within Quick Mask mode.

For those who have signed up for the “Photoshop for Photographers” bundle or the “GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle”, you can view a video lesson about using Quick Mask mode in the “Mastering Selections in Photoshop CC” video course on the GreyLearning website (http://www.greylearning.com). The specific lesson is Chapter 5, Lessons 6, and is called “Using Quick Mask Mode”.

Today’s Question: I have avoided using the renaming function in Lightroom when downloading. When I download using Adobe Bridge, I have the option to rename and preserve the current filename in metadata.  This is valuable to me should I ever elect to go back to batch rename a series of photos with a new custom name.  I see no similar option to do in Lightroom during download. Is there a way?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Lightroom preserves the original filename in metadata automatically when you rename after importing, but not if you rename during the import. Therefore, the simple solution here would be to wait until after importing to rename your images in Lightroom.

More Detail: When you rename photos in Lightroom, the original filename is preserved automatically, and will be presented with the “Original Name” field in the Metadata section of the right panel in the Library module. This feature only applies if you rename after your photos are already imported into your Lightroom catalog. If you rename during import (or before importing) the original filename will not be displayed within Lightroom. So even if you use the feature in Adobe Bridge to preserve the original filename in metadata, that original filename won’t be displayed in Lightroom.

So, by renaming within Lightroom, but making sure to perform that renaming after you have already imported your photos into Lightroom, you’ll always be able to access the original filename within your Lightroom catalog.

Note, by the way, that if you use Adobe Bridge to rename photos and turn on the “Preserve current filename in XMP Metadata” checkbox, that filename can be found in the Raw Filename field of the Camera Raw section of the Metadata panel, which can be revealed by choosing Window > Metadata Panel from the menu.

I generally recommend making full use of the Import feature in Lightroom, which includes using Lightroom to download from your memory cards rather than using other software. Part of my reason for this recommendation is the concern that downloading images separate from the process of importing into Lightroom adds a certain degree of complexity to your workflow. I also feel that it creates a risk that you may forget to import into Lightroom some of the photos you downloaded with other software. However, as noted above, if you want to preserve the original filename for your photos, you should avoid using the file renaming feature when importing photos into Lightroom.

Today’s Question: Is there a way to only view one section of adjustments at a time in the Develop module in Lightroom?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can have all sections of a panel in Lightroom hidden except one by enabling Solo Mode. You can also hide panels altogether if there are any that you don’t use.

More Detail: You can enable Solo Mode for one or more panels in Lightroom by right-clicking on an empty area of the panel (such as the blank space next to the section titles) and choosing Solo Mode from the popup menu. The setting affects the specific panel (left or right) in the current module, so you can pick and choose which panels you actually want to enable Solo Mode for.

When Solo Mode is enabled, only one panel at a time will be expanded. When you click on the header of a panel to expand it, all other panels will be collapsed. This enables you to focus your attention on the controls within only a single section at a time, which many photographers prefer.

In addition, if you find any sections on a given panel that you don’t use (or rarely use) you can hide that section. To do so, right-click on an empty area of the panel that contains the section you want to hide. Then click the name of the section you want to hide on the popup menu.

The popup menu will show a checkmark next to all of the panel sections that are enabled, so you see at a glance which sections (if any) have been hidden from view. And of course you can use this same menu to reveal a panel section that had previously been hidden.

Today’s Question: If the Caps Lock is on, Lightroom will auto advance [when you assign an attribute to an image].

Tim’s Quick Answer: This is a follow-up to yesterday’s Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter, which addressed the Auto Advance feature in Lightroom. You can indeed turn on the Caps Lock feature to enable auto advance. In addition, holding the Shift key while using a keyboard shortcut to assign an attribute will cause Lightroom to advance to the next photo.

More Detail: Even after more than fifteen years of addressing questions from photographers, sometimes it surprises me to see which specific issues generate the most (and strongest) response. The Auto Advance feature discussed in yesterday’s email provided one of those surprises, with a large number of replies from readers.

In some respects you can think of the Caps Lock key as being an “inverter” for the Auto Advance feature. The specific result depends on whether the Auto Advance feature is already enabled.

As noted in yesterday’s email, you can enable the Auto Advance feature by choosing Photo > Auto Advance from the menu. Note, by the way, that this feature can only be found on the Photo menu if you are in the Library module.

If you have turned on the Auto Advance feature (in which case there will be a checkmark icon to the left of the Auto Advance item on the Photo menu), then turning on Caps Lock on your keyboard will actually disable Auto Advance temporarily. On the other hand, if you have the Auto Advance feature turned off, then turning on Caps Lock will enable Auto Advance.

With this “invert” option for the Auto Advance feature you can temporarily enable or disable the feature. If you prefer to use Auto Advance most of the time you can enable it, and then turn on Caps Lock if you want to disable it temporarily. Or, if you only use Auto Advance occasionally, you can turn it off on the menu and then turn on Caps Lock when you want to use Auto Advance temporarily.

Similarly, you can also add the Shift key to the keyboard shortcut for the attribute you want to assign to an image to invert the current setting for Auto Advance. So, with the Auto Advance feature turned off you can press Shift+1 to assign a one-star rating and advance to the next image. The same Shift key feature works with star ratings, pick and reject flags, and color labels.

Today’s Question: Somewhere I’ve learned to configure Lightroom is such a way that while rating/flagging Photo’s in Lightroom the next Photo in the filmstrip is selected after the present Photo was rated or flagged. After a forced reinstall of Windows and Lightroom, this setting was gone and I don’t know how to get it back. Can you please help me to configure Lightroom again in this way?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can re-enable the auto-advance feature in Lightroom by choosing Photo > Auto Advance from the menu.

More Detail: When the auto-advance feature is enabled in Lightroom, assigning a rating attribute to a photo will cause the next photo to be selected automatically. This feature works with the pick and reject flags, as well as star ratings and color labels.

So, for example, while reviewing photos if you press the “1” key on the keyboard to assign a one-star rating, the next image will be selected. You could then assign a star rating to that image, including the option of pressing the “0” key to assign zero stars (essentially no star rating) and automatically move on to the next image.

If the auto-advance feature is disabled, then you can instead use the arrow keys on the keyboard to move to the next image.

My personal preference is to keep the auto-advance feature disabled, so that I am always making an explicit decision about when I want to move on to the next photo. But it can obviously also be helpful to have Lightroom automatically advance to the next image whenever you assign an attribute as part of your review process.

Today’s Question: Perhaps this is petty, but is there a way to turn off the little text popups that appear in Photoshop when I hover my mouse over the various controls and buttons? I find them to be quite distracting.

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can disable these “Tool Tips” text banners by turning off the “Show Tool Tips” checkbox on the Tools tab of the Preferences dialog.

More Detail: I too find the tool tips text banners to be a bit annoying, though admittedly they can be quite helpful when you’re first getting to know Photoshop. I recommend that new users keep this feature turned on (or turn it on if they have it turned off) to help them get more familiar with the many features within Photoshop. But once you know your way around, it is time to disable this distraction in my view.

This option can be found on the Tools tab of the Preferences dialog. To get to the Preferences dialog go to the Edit menu on Windows or the Photoshop menu on Macintosh, and then choose Preferences followed by Tools.

This will bring up the Preferences dialog with the Tools tab active. You can then turn off (or on if you prefer) the Show Tool Tips checkbox in the Options section at the top of the Tools tab in the Preferences dialog. Then click the OK button to apply the change and close the Preferences dialog.

Today’s Question: How much extra disk space in my catalog do smart previews consume?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Smart Previews in Lightroom consume a surprisingly small amount of storage space. As a general rule you can expect Smart Previews to consume somewhere around 1MB per image, with your specific results depending on the nature of the images being processed.

More Detail: A Smart Preview is essentially an Adobe DNG file resized to no more than 2,540 pixels on the long side. Because there is lossless compression applied, the file sizes are quite small. In my testing I have found that the Smart Preview file size represents approximately 1MB per image. This total can vary considerably based on the types of image files you’re working with, and the effectiveness of compression based on the contents of the photos.

But I think the 1MB per image value represents a good general estimate. That, in turn, translates into about 1GB of storage space for every 1,000 images. For a catalog with 100,000 images, you could expect the data file for your Smart Previews to be about 100GB.

Again, these are just rough estimates, and the actual result can vary significantly based on the types of source images you’re using along with other factors. But the point is that compared to the storage requirements for the original captures, Smart Previews are quite small and manageable.

Today’s Question: You said: “On the Performance tab you can then turn on the ‘Use Smart Previews instead of Originals for image editing’ checkbox.” I do not see this check box when doing the above. What should I be doing? I generate smart previews when importing new images.

Tim’s Quick Answer: The Lightroom feature that enables you to leverage Smart Previews (rather than the source images) to speed up your workflow in the Develop module was added with version 2015.7 of Lightroom. Updating to the latest version will therefore make this feature available to you.

More Detail: One of the “workflow” changes introduced when Adobe introduced the Creative Cloud version of most of their software applications is the more frequent updates that are available. I have found that many photographers haven’t developed the habit of keeping their Creative Cloud applications up to date.

It is worth noting that a variety of small but helpful features have been released with various updates, and so it is easy to miss some important features in the context of what seems to be a “small” update.

I certainly recommend in most cases that you not update immediately when a new version becomes available. At times a new update may break an existing feature or cause other problems that can impact your workflow. It is therefore a good idea to wait at least a few days, and perhaps check to see if you can find any reports of problems related to the new update. But by updating within a reasonable time you’ll ensure you have access to all of the latest features and updates that are now provided on a more frequent basis as part of the Adobe Creative Cloud subscription model.

Today’s Question: You said [in yesterday’s Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter] that you could improve performance by preferring the use of Smart Previews in Lightroom. What does that mean and how do you enable it?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can improve (often significantly) the performance of Lightroom when optimizing photos in the Develop module by using Smart Previews (rather then the source images) as the basis of those adjustments. To enable this option turn on the “Use Smart Previews instead of Originals for image editing” checkbox on the Performance tab of the Preferences dialog in Lightroom.

More Detail: The Develop module in Lightroom makes use of the original image file as the basis of the adjustments you apply. That helps ensure you see the most accurate previews possible, but can also result in degraded performance. It is possible, however, to use Smart Previews as the basis of your adjustments in the Develop module, which will generally improve performance (sometimes quite significantly).

The first step is to generate Smart Previews for all images you want to work with in this way. You could, for example, select all images in your entire Lightroom catalog and then choose Library > Previews > Build Smart Previews from the menu to generate Smart Previews for those images. You can also build Smart Previews as part of the import process by turning on the “Build Smart Previews” checkbox in the Import dialog.

With Smart Previews built for your images, you could simply make the source images unavailable to automatically make use of the Smart Previews. For example, if the source images are on an external hard drive you could disconnect that hard drive from the computer. Lightroom will then use the Smart Previews in the place of the source images when you work in the Develop module.

In addition, you can prioritize the use of Smart Previews in the Develop module even when the source image files are available, in order to improve performance. You can enable this option in the Preferences dialog, which you can bring up by choosing Preferences from the Lightroom menu on the Macintosh version or from the Edit menu on the Windows version. On the Performance tab you can then turn on the “Use Smart Previews instead of Originals for image editing” checkbox. Lightroom will then use the Smart Preview (if available) within the Develop module, even if the source image is currently available. Note that the preview may not be as accurate, but performance will be improved.