Ask Tim Grey

Today’s Question: The popup for Preset in the Metadata section in the Library module [in Lightroom Classic] shows my import preset for some images, but shows “None” for other images. I’m pretty sure I applied the preset to all photos, so why doesn’t it appear for all photos?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The Preset popup shows the name of the metadata preset that had been applied to the selected image. However, if you change the metadata for an image after applying a metadata preset, or you neglected to apply a preset to some images, the Preset popup will then show “None”.

More Detail: You can create metadata presets that preserve specific metadata values, such as your copyright and contact information, and then apply a preset to photos to add the applicable metadata. You can apply a preset to all photos during import, for example, or apply a preset to selected photos using the Preset popup found in the Metadata section of the right panel in the Library module.

If you have applied a preset to a photo, the name of the preset will appear on the Preset popup. However, as soon as you add or update metadata for a photo, the popup will change to “None” rather than showing the name of the preset, because the metadata no longer matches what had been assigned using the preset.

For example, I use a red color label to identify photos that need to be reviewed to identify favorites versus outtakes. I use a metadata preset during import to assign the red color label as well as my copyright and contact information. Right after import, the Preset popup therefore shows “Tim Grey Import” as the name of the preset.

If I then remove the red color label from a photo, the Preset popup will then show “None” rather than the name of the preset. Even if I then add the red color label back to the image to get it back to the metadata values assigned by the preset, the Preset popup will still show “None”. I could, of course, choose my “Tim Grey Import” metadata preset from the Preset popup, which will update the image with the metadata included in the preset and show the name of the preset again on the Preset popup.

Today’s Question: As something of a follow-up to your answer about Flow versus Opacity for the Brush tool in Photoshop, can you help me understand the difference between Opacity and Fill on the Layers panel? I believe you’ve addressed this in the past, but I can’t figure out the difference.

Tim’s Quick Answer: Both the Opacity and Fill controls on the Layers panel in Photoshop enable you to reduce the opacity of the current layer. When you reduce the value for Fill, however, the opacity of layer effects is not reduced.

More Detail: If you perform a simple test of the Opacity and Fill controls found on the Layers panel in Photoshop, you might reasonably conclude that they both do the exact same thing. With a simple image layer, for example, both of these controls would reduce the opacity of the layer in the exact same way. That’s because both Opacity and Fill will reduce the opacity of pixel layers with the same effect.

However, as noted above, the Fill control will not reduce the opacity of layer effects, such as a drop shadow or border stroke applied to an image layer. So, for example, you could reduce the opacity of the image using the Fill slider and the border effect created with the Stroke layer style would remain at full opacity.

This flexibility can be helpful in creating some interesting effects. With a composite image you can reduce the opacity of one or more image layers using the Fill control so the layer effects you’ve applied at full strength. And of course if you want to reduce the opacity of the layer effects in addition to the pixels, you can use the Opacity control rather than Fill.

One creative way that I sometimes take advantage of the behavior of the Fill control is to apply layer effects to a text layer and then reduce the opacity of the text with the Fill control. This will reduce the opacity of the text, while leaving the layer effects at full strength. Sometimes I’ll even set the Fill setting to 0% so the text completely disappears, but with the layer effects such as drop shadow at full strength. This creates an interesting result where you can only read the text because of the effects that surrounded the text, since the text itself isn’t visible at that point.

Today’s Question: Generally, photographers and photo retouchers will have a preference for using either Flow or Opacity to modify a brush stroke [in Photoshop]. Are there any circumstances where modifying both offer the ideal control?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, there are certainly situations where you may want to adjust the value for both Flow and Opacity in Photoshop. While these two options for the brush tools have similarities, there are important differences between them that make both of them useful in different situations.

More Detail: The Flow and Opacity settings for the brush tools in Photoshop share a similarity in terms of their behavior. In fact, if you tested each out without being careful about your technique, you might conclude that they are exactly the same. But there is an important difference.

Both Flow and Opacity affect the opacity of your brush stroke. For example, if you set either Flow or Opacity to 50% and paint a single stroke using black set against a textured white background, you would effectively be painting with 50% gray based on the reduced opacity of the black “ink”. In addition, because the opacity rather than the actual tonal value has been adjusted, the textured background would show through the translucent stroke you painted.

The difference with these settings relates to what happens when you paint over the same area more than once, and how you go about applying the brushstroke.

If you reduce the value for Opacity to 50% but keep Flow at 100%, if you paint with black you will effectively be painting with the equivalent of 50% gray, but with transparency. If you keep the mouse button held down and paint back and forth over the same area, you’ll still only be painting with 50% gray, without having the painting effect building up based on passing over the same area multiple times.

If, on the other hand, you reduce the value for Flow to 50% while keeping the Opacity setting at 100%, you’ll initially get the same result in terms of painting with a translucent 50% gray. However, if you keep the mouse button held down and paint back and forth over the same area, the “paint” will build up in those areas. You don’t need to release the mouse, in other words, to apply a stronger effect in areas if you paint over them more than once.

In this respect the two settings differ primarily in terms of the behavior related to painting over the same area more than once. However, you could also use the two settings on conjunction with each other to achieve greater control.

For example, you could set the Opacity value to 50%, and set the Flow value to a lower value, such as perhaps 10%. If you paint back and forth without releasing the mouse, you’ll build up the effect in all areas that you paint over more than once, but that build up will never exceed 50% strength based on the Opacity setting. So you can paint with greater flexibility by using the Flow to enable a buildup of “paint” in areas you pass over more than once with a single mouse stroke, while using Opacity to control the maximum strength for a single brush stroke.

Even with the Opacity set to a reduced value, however, if you release the mouse and then paint over the same area again, the effect will build up. So again, the key difference between these settings relates to the behavior in the context of painting with a single brush stroke, but you can use the difference between the two to exercise greater control over your painting.

Today’s Question: Is there any way in LR Classic to do an Auto color (Tone) treatment adjust on a selected set of photos in Develop module [in Lightroom Classic]?  I don’t see anything in the Sync dialog that doesn’t just copy existing settings. I can do it with Tone Control: Auto in the Library module without Sync, so maybe there’s no reason to do it in Develop.

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can apply the Auto adjustment to a batch of images in Lightroom Classic by enabling Auto Sync before clicking the Auto button. You could also use a preset for this purpose in a similar way.

More Detail: As noted in today’s question, when you synchronize adjustments between images the effect is to copy the adjustment settings from the active image to the other selected images. If you had applied the Auto adjustment to the active image, the resulting adjustment settings would be applied to the other images, rather than having the Auto adjustments be recalculated for the selected images.

If, on the other hand, you use the Auto Sync feature, you can simply apply the Auto adjustment to the active image, and a unique automatic adjustment will also be applied to each of the other selected photos. So, you can click the toggle switch on the left side of the Sync button at the bottom of the right panel in the Develop module to enable the Auto Sync feature. Then select the photos you want to apply the Auto adjustment to and click the Auto button to the right of the Tone heading within the Basic section of the right panel. Each image will have the Auto adjustment applied individually, with different settings based on an analysis of each image.

However, if you had previously applied the Auto adjustment to the active photo, the Auto button will no longer be available since it was already applied. That means you won’t be able to automatically synchronize an Auto adjustment to the other selected images. In this case you can use a preset as a workaround.

You can get started creating the preset for this purpose with any image selected, because you won’t actually be copying any adjustment settings. Click the plus (+) button to the right of the Presets heading on the left panel in the Develop module and choose “Create Preset” from the popup menu. In the New Develop Preset dialog give the new preset a meaningful name, such as “Auto Tone Only”. You can also choose which group you want to save the preset to using the Group popup.

Next, click the “Check None” button so that none of the adjustment categories are selected. Then turn on the checkbox for only the “Auto Settings” checkbox in the Auto Settings section near the top-left of the dialog. Click the Create button to save the preset.

You can then select the images to which you want to apply the Auto adjustment. Turn on the Auto Sync feature using the toggle switch on the left side of the Sync button at the bottom of the right panel, and then select the preset that includes the Auto Tone adjustment from the Presets section of the left panel. Each image will have the preset applied, causing a unique adjustment for each of the images based on an analysis of each of the selected photos.

Today’s Question: I’ve been putting off updating [Adobe] Bridge and Photoshop new versions for various reasons and now need to catch up. Do I need to add all the earlier missed versions one by one, or can I just go ahead to the latest version without missing anything?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You do not need to install any of the intermediate updates to the Adobe applications. You can simply install the most recent version so you can take advantage of all the latest updates.

More Detail: If you’ve skipped a couple versions of an application in your Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, you can simply install the latest version without installing any intermediate versions.

I recommend keeping the existing version installed until after you’ve installed the latest versions and confirmed everything is working properly. You can then uninstall the older version assuming you don’t need to keep it installed, such as to support older plug-ins that don’t work with the latest version.

Once the latest version is installed, you’ll have access to all the new and updated features that had been added to various intermediate versions in between.

Today’s Question: I took video in a 16×9 aspect ratio with the long side horizontal, as one would expect. Oddly, some of them show up in Lightroom as horizontal and some show up as vertical. Unlike a photo, the little rotate arrows don’t appear in the Grid View. Any idea how I can rotate these things 90 degrees to look like they should?

Tim’s Quick Answer: I would first confirm that the source videos really are in the wrong orientation. If so, you can use the free Handbrake (https://handbrake.fr) utility to rotate the videos.

More Detail: Lightroom Classic does not include an option for rotating videos. However, I have seen situations where the video appears in the wrong orientation relative to what the actual video contains. I therefore recommend first confirming whether the video truly needs to be rotated. To do so, right-click on the thumbnail for the video and choose “Show in Finder” on Macintosh or “Show in Explorer” on Windows. Double-click on the video file to open it in the default player application and determine if the video orientation is correct.

If the orientation of the video is indeed wrong, you can use software outside Lightroom Classic to rotate the video. I recommend the free video transcoder Handbrake (https://handbrake.fr) for this purpose.

In Handbrake you can first open the source video. On the Preset tab in Handbrake, you can select an option for the overall video rendering settings. For the best quality I recommend choosing the Production category on the Preset popup and then selecting “Production Max” as the preset. This will retain the existing video settings such as resolution, while ensuring maximum output quality. You can also choose different options if you prefer.

The key setting in this case will be the video rotation option. In the Orientation & Cropping section you can click the Rotation popup and choose the necessary degree of rotation, which is available in 90-degree increments.

At the bottom of the Handbrake dialog, you can adjust the filename and location for the output file that will be rendered. Then click the Start button on the toolbar at the top of the Handbrake interface to start rendering.

Because you are creating a new file with this process, you’ll need to import this updated version into Lightroom Classic. You may, of course, want to delete the original capture that had the wrong orientation set.

Today’s Question: Is there a feature or procedure to easily move thumbnail within the Grid mode [in Lightroom Classic]? I often have 200 or more images to place in a custom order for slideshow presentation. Dragging the thumbnails is a bit tedious. Appreciate any suggestions.

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can use the Label field associated with the color label feature to sort images based on values you enter into that field. This enables you to define the image sort order by typing in values rather than dragging with the mouse.

More Detail: You can define your own custom sort order for images in the grid view in Lightroom Classic in a couple of ways. One is to drag the thumbnails into the desired order within the grid view display. As noted in today’s question, however, this can be a little bit tedious.

Another option is to use a metadata field that is available as an option on the Sort popup on the toolbar below the grid view. In the context of defining a custom sort order I think the Label Text option is the best choice. When you select this option the images will be sorted alphabetically based on the value in the Label field in metadata.

The Label field is associated with the Color Label feature. By default, for example, if you assign a red color label the word “Red” is added to the Label field. If you were to make use of all the available color labels, and then select the Label Text sort option, the photos would sort in order based on the value in metadata, so that those with a blue color label would appear first, followed by green, purple, red, and yellow, since that represents the alphabetical order for those color label values.

You can also, however, update the Label field with any text you’d like. You can find the Label field by selecting “EXIF and IPTC” from the popup to the left of the Metadata label on the right panel in the Library module. You can then add a numeric value to the Label field for the images based on the intended sort order.

For example, if you have 200 images for a slideshow you could start with “001” (including the leading zeroes to ensure the correct sort order) all the way up to “200” for the last image. Then select Label Text from the Sort popup, and the photos will be sorted in the order you defined based on the numbering scheme.

Doing this data entry isn’t necessarily less tedious than dragging the images around, but it does provide a flexible way for you to define the sort order for the photos. Another option that might be helpful would be to cluster images together, and then drag and drop. You could, for example, assign color labels to photos based on groupings, and then only drag and drop within those groupings, making the task a little less tedious.

Today’s Question: I am using Photoshop and Adobe Bridge. The Image Processor feature I have used in the past has disappeared. Any suggestions to get the option back on the menu?

Tim’s Quick Answer: To get the Image Processor option available in Adobe Bridge you need to make sure both Adobe Bridge and Photoshop have been updated to the same major release, and that the Photoshop startup script is enabled in Bridge.

More Detail: The Image Processor tool can be incredibly helpful for batch processing images. With the Image Processor you can select a group of photos and then generate new images based on the originals. You can specify the file format(s) you want to convert to as well as the pixel dimensions for the derivative images, among other options.

The Image Processor is actually a feature of Photoshop, not Adobe Bridge. It is available by default on the Tools menu in Adobe Bridge, however, which makes it easy to select a large group of images for processing. The feature requires that Photoshop and Bridge are properly connected.

The first requirement is that Photoshop and Bridge be updated to the same major release. For example, the current versions of each are the 2023 versions. So, if you had Adobe Bridge 2022 installed along with Photoshop 2023, the menu commands would not be available under the Photoshop submenu on the Tools menu in Bridge.

In addition, you need to make sure the Photoshop startup script is enabled in Bridge. From within Bridge go to the menu and choose Edit > Preferences on Windows or Adobe Bridge > Settings on Macintosh. Go to the Startup Scripts tab of the Preferences dialog and make sure the “Adobe Photoshop” checkboxes are turned on. I recommend turning on the checkboxes for any other Adobe applications you might use in conjunction with Bridge. Click the OK button to close the Preferences dialog.

You should then quit Bridge and launch it again, at which point you should see the Image Processor option under Tools > Photoshop on the menu in Bridge.

Today’s Question: Is there a way to get rid of the Photoshop Home screen (the one with all the thumbnails) so that the program will just open to a blank workspace?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can prevent the Home Screen from showing up by default by turning off the “Auto show the Home Screen” checkbox in Preferences.

More Detail: By default, when you launch Photoshop you’ll see the Home Screen workspace, which presents thumbnails of recently opened images, links to common sources of files, buttons for creating a new file or opening an existing image, and more. I do find this screen distracting, and so I prefer to disable the option to have it appear by default.

You can disable (or enable) the Home Screen display in Preferences. Start by choosing Edit > Preferences > General from the menu on Windows, or Photoshop > Settings > General on Macintosh. On the General tab of the Preferences dialog turn off the “Auto show the Home Screen” checkbox, which is found among a group of checkboxes in the Options section.

If you later decide you want the Home Screen to appear automatically, you can turn on the checkbox instead. Click the OK button to apply the change.

Whether or not you have disabled the automatic display in Preferences, you can bring up the Home Screen on demand at any time by clicking the home button (it is an icon that looks like a small house) at the far left of the Options bar within Photoshop. The Options bar is the context-sensitive toolbar that by default appears at the top of the Photoshop interface, just below the menu or title bar.

Today’s Question: I have Lightroom Classic and am watching your how-to videos. When you go to the top of Lightroom Classic a blue menu pops down with things to click on. Mine doesn’t do that. Have a Mac. Am I missing something?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The behavior you’re referring to is available when you are in the full screen display mode without the menu. In this display mode you can move your mouse pointer all the way up to the top of the screen and the menu will appear.

More Detail: You can cycle through the display modes in Lightroom Classic by holding the Shift key while pressing the “F” key. There are three modes you can cycle through, with the mode changing each time you press Shift+F. The first mode is normal window mode, with a floating window that includes the menu bar at the top. This window can be resized by dragging at a corner or edge of the window.

The next mode is full screen with a menu bar, so that Lightroom Classic will fill the entire available display area, with the menu at the top of the interface. This can be a convenient option, since the Lightroom Classic interface will take up as much space as possible, but with the menu bar visible and available at any time at the top of the screen.

My personal preference is to use the full screen display mode but with the menu bar hidden. This is the third option when you switch modes using the Shift+F keyboard shortcut. With this option enabled the Lightroom Classic interface will take up the entire screen, with no menu bar visible. To access the menu, simply move the mouse pointer to the very top of the screen and the menu will pop down. When you move the mouse away from the menu it will be hidden again.

If you press the Shift+F keyboard shortcut while in the full screen display with the menu hidden, you will cycle back to having Lightroom Classic in a window. Simply press Shift+F as needed to switch between display modes to the option you prefer.