Ask Tim Grey

Today’s Question: In Lightroom Classic I create a folder for the current month. I then create a subfolder representing the date and a brief description or location of the project. I import into and process images, then export selected JPEGs using the “Same folder as original photo” option. This process has served me well for years. However, some time recently the subfolders for exported images stopped showing up in Lightroom Classic. Thanks for any help you can offer.

Tim’s Quick Answer: The folders being created for exported photos aren’t showing up in Lightroom Classic because you have the “Add to This Catalog” checkbox turned off in the Export dialog.

More Detail: By default, when you export photos from Lightroom Classic the exported copies are not added to the catalog. To me this is the preferred approach, because I view the exported copies as just “extra” copies of my original photos being used for sharing in some way. When I want to share a photo again, I’ll simply go back to my original (which I may have further adjusted in the meantime) and export another copy.

If you prefer to have exported copies of photos added to the Lightroom Classic catalog you can simply turn on the “Add to This Catalog” checkbox, which is found in the Export Location section at the top of the Export dialog. This will cause the exported copies of photos to be added to the catalog. If you’re creating a new folder as part of the process of exporting those photos, that folder will also be added to the catalog so you’ll see it on the Folders list on the left panel in the Library module.

Turning on the “Add to This Catalog” checkbox for future exports won’t solve the issue for the folders that are “missing” in this context, since they had already been exported without the checkbox turned on. To resolve that issue I recommend using the “Synchronize Folder” command.

You can simply right-click on a parent folder that is missing the subfolder with the exported JPEGs, and choose “Synchronize Folder” from the popup menu. This will bring up a dialog that after a little processing will indicate how many photos were found in that folder structure that are not currently in Lightroom Classic. Then, with the “Import new photos” checkbox turned on you can click the Synchronize button and the photos from the selected folder and any subfolders will be imported, and therefore the subfolder that had been missing will display on the Folders list.

Today’s Question: In the Post-Crop Vignetting controls for Lightroom Classic [and Adobe Camera Raw] there is a Highlights slider. When I adjust this slider nothing seems to happen. What is it supposed to do?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The Highlights slider for Post-Crop Vignetting in Lightroom Classic or Adobe Camera Raw enables you to have very bright areas such as the sun in the sky overpower the vignette effect for a more realistic result.

More Detail: The Post-Crop Vignetting effect is obviously intended to provide the ability to simulate a lens vignetting effect where the edges of the frame are a bit darkened. This is a rather common behavior for wide-angle lenses, for example. In addition, you can add a more creative border effect by using stronger adjustments for the vignette controls.

As long as you’ve selected either “Highlight Priority” or “Color Priority” from the Style popup, and you have used a negative value for the Amount slider to darken the edges of the photo, the Highlights slider will be available.

If the edges of the photo don’t have any very bright areas such as lights, reflections, or the sun in the frame, then you might not see any effect when increasing the value for Highlights. However, if there is a bright area near the edge, you can create a more realistic vignette effect by increasing the value for Highlights.

For example, let’s assume you’re working on a photo with the sun in the corner of the frame. When you darken the edges of the image with the Post-Crop Vignetting controls the sun would also be dimmed down a little bit. As you increase the value for the Highlights slider, you’ll notice that the sun is “burning through” the vignette effect, overpowering the darkening in that area of the image.

By increasing the brightness for bright areas that had been darkened by the vignette, the result will look like a more natural effect. For example, when photographing a scene with a wide-angle lens that tends to produce a relatively strong vignetting effect, if you position the sun in the corner of the frame that very bright light source will overpower the vignette in that area of the frame.

Today’s Question: Is there a way to browse all the photos in more than one folder in Lightroom Classic, such as when I want to review photos from multiple trips to the same location?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can select multiple folders (or collections) in Lightroom Classic to browse all photos within all selected sources.

More Detail: Lightroom Classic enables you to select multiple folders (or collections) so you can browse the contents of all the selected sources at the same time. This functions the same way as selecting multiple files or folders within the operating system.

If you want to select a sequence of folders all in a row you can click on the first folder you want to select within the Folders list on the left panel in the Library module, and then hold the Shift key on the keyboard while clicking on the last folder in the range. This will cause all folders in between to also be selected.

If you want to select folders that are not all in a row you can toggle the selection of folders on or off as needed. Hold the Ctrl key on Windows or the Command key on Macintosh while clicking on a folder to toggle the folder as being selected or not selected.

These commands work the same for both folders and collections, and in fact you can even select folders and collections at the same time. For example, if you select a folder on the Folders list and then hold the Ctrl/Command key while clicking on a collection in the Collections list, both the folder and the collection will be selected so that you’re browsing all photos from both.

These options give you considerable flexibility in terms of which photos are currently being browsed. While you’re browsing multiple folders or collections you can of course use the Library Filter bar to apply filter criteria so you’re only seeing photos that match specific settings, such as those with a particular star rating.

Also keep in mind that you can perform a very broad search within Lightroom Classic by selecting the “All Photographs” collection in the Catalog section of the left panel in the Library module. This will cause you to browse your entire catalog of photos, which you can of course then apply filters to so you can track down specific photos.

Today’s Question: Is there a way in Lightroom Classic to find photos where I used the flash? I’m assuming there must be, but I can’t find it!

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can filter photos based on those where the flash fired (or did not fire) using the Flash State column on the Metadata tab of the Library Filter bar.

More Detail: I often say that whatever details you can remember about a photo you’re looking for can probably be used to locate that photo in Lightroom Classic. That is certainly true when it comes to finding photos where the flash fired (or where the flash did not fire). This is made possible by the Flash State column on the Metadata tab of the Library Filter bar.

First, in the Library module, make sure the Library Filter bar is visible above the grid view display. If the Library Filter bar isn’t there, you can press the backslash key (\) on the keyboard or go to the menu and select View > Show Filter Bar. Make sure you’re browsing the folder or collection you want to locate photos within.

On the Library Filter bar go to the Metadata tab. If there are other criteria you want to use for your search, such as the date of capture or the camera that was used, you can specify those among the columns of metadata available. To search by whether the flash fired click the heading for one of the columns and choose “Flash State” from the popup. This column will now show options based on the attributes of the photos you’re currently browsing. If there are photos in the current location for which the flash fired, you’ll see a “Did fire” option in the Flash State column, with a number to the right indicating how many photos match the criteria. If there are photos where the flash was not used, you’ll also see a “Did not fire” option with a count for the number of photos to the right.

Simply click the desired option to filter the current photos to those where the flash did fire (by selecting “Did fire”) or where flash wasn’t used (by selecting “Did not fire”).

Keep in mind that you can also add other metadata options for the overall filter, such as by including the Attribute tab as part of your search. You may, for example, want to filter photos that have a particular star rating as well as where the flash fired, to track down your favorite photos captured with flash.

Today’s Question: The new adaptive presets in Lightroom Classic have caught my interest, but I find that many of the available adjustments don’t suit my needs. Is it possible to create your own adaptive presets with custom adjustments?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can indeed create your own adaptive presets by including the mask along with the adjustments when saving a preset.

More Detail: The new adaptive presets in Lightroom Classic 12 provide automatic adjustments that only affect specific areas of a photo, including people, the sky, or the key subject. When you apply one of these presets the image is analyzed so that the adjustment only affects the designated area of the image.

You can also create your own adaptive presets based on one of the automated masking features, so that a preset can apply to the background, the key subject, the sky, or specific features of the people who appear in your photos. While you use a specific photo to create a mask for the targeted adjustment, when you save a preset with those adjustments the effect will be customized based on the photo the preset is applied to.

Start by selecting a representative image in Lightroom Classic. Then, in the Develop module, use the Masking feature to apply a targeted adjustment using one (or more) of the automated mask options. Adjust the settings for any adjustments you want to apply to the area defined by the mask.

You can then click the plus (+) button to the right of the Presets heading on the left panel and choose “Create Preset” from the popup menu. In the New Develop Preset dialog enter a descriptive name for the preset in the Preset Name field and choose which group you want to save the preset in from the Group popup.

You can then turn on the checkboxes for only the adjustments you want to include in the new preset. For a targeted adjustment be sure to turn on the “Masking” checkbox, which is the key to creating an adaptive preset based on an automated masking feature. Click the Create button to save the preset.

You can then apply that preset to other images, and the targeted adjustment will be customized based on the contents of the image.

I have covered the process of creating adaptive presets in the first episode of my new “Tim Talks Weekly” video course, which will feature a new episode every week. You can learn more about this course, including how you can get it for half price in celebration of the 21st anniversary of the Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter, on the GreyLearning website here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/tim-talks-weekly

Today’s Question: The Crop tool in Photoshop is driving me crazy. When I try to zoom in to make sure I’m cropping well at the edges and corners the image moves so that I’m not looking at the area of the image I zoomed in on. Is this a bug or is there a way to fix this annoying behavior?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The behavior you’re describing for the Crop tool in Photoshop can be disabled by turning off the “Auto Center Preview” checkbox.

More Detail: By default, Photoshop will center the image automatically when working with the crop tool. If you drag to define the area of the image you want to retain when cropping, that area will shift to the center. While this behavior can be helpful, it can also be quite frustrating when you’re trying to zoom in on a corner or edge of the photo you’re cropping.

To disable this automatic centering, select the Crop tool from the toolbar and then click the gear icon on the Options bar to bring up a settings popup. On that popup turn off the “Auto Center Preview” checkbox. The image will no longer center automatically to the cropped area, enabling you to zoom in to check the specific positioning of the crop edge without having to pan around after the image centers itself.

Note, by the way, that you can zoom in on a specific area of the image while using the Crop tool without the need to switch to a different tool. If you hold the Ctrl+Spacebar keys on Windows or the Command+Spacebar keys on Macintosh, you’ll have access to the Zoom tool without actually switching to the tool. You can then click-and-drag on the area of the image you want to take a closer look at, and the image will be zoomed in on that area when you release the mouse. With the “Auto Center Preview” checkbox turned off you’ll actually be seeing that area, rather than having the image pan so that you’re looking at the center rather than the area you wanted to get a closer look at.

Today’s Question: Is there a smartphone app you can recommend for calculating the new shutter speed to use when adding a solid neutral density filter after determining the exposure without the filter?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, I recommend the PhotoPills app, which includes an Exposure feature you can use to calculate equivalent exposure settings, including when using a solid neutral density filter.

More Detail: I use and recommend the PhotoPills app as a powerful tool for planning various details related to photography. I often use the app for planning photos that incorporate the sun or moon, but there are many other features included as well. That includes the ability to calculate equivalent exposure settings with the Exposure “pill” in PhotoPills.

Within the PhotoPills app navigate to the Exposure pill. Set the Calculate option to the exposure setting you want to adjust, which in the case of adding a solid neutral density filter would typically mean adjusting the shutter speed.

You can then enter in the known-good exposure settings in the “Test settings” section. In the “Equivalent settings” section you can adjust the “other” exposure settings based on how you intend to change the settings. For example, when calculating a new shutter speed you might opt for different lens aperture and ISO settings.

At the right side of the “Equivalent settings” section you’ll also find an option to specify a solid neutral density filter you’ll use. Set the number of stops for the filter you’ll use, and the exposure settings will update accordingly.

Based on the updated settings you’ve selected, and the exposure setting you’re calculating for, the new setting will appear below the “Equivalent settings” section. For example, if you’re calculating a new shutter speed you’ll see that value shown based on the known-good test settings and taking into account the equivalent exposure settings you’ve established.

You can find the PhotoPills app for iOS and Android mobile devices here:

Apple iTunes Store (iOS devices): https://timgrey.me/photopills

Google Play Store (Android devices): https://timgrey.me/androidpills

To learn more about using PhotoPills, check out my comprehensive video course available through my GreyLearning website here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/photopills

Today’s Question: You referred to a badge on thumbnails on the filmstrip indicating photos that had been adjusted in the Develop module. I see those badges in the grid display of thumbnails, but not on the filmstrip. Should they also appear on the filmstrip, and if so how do I get them back?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can enable (or disable) badges for thumbnails on the filmstrip in Lightroom Classic using the “Show badges” checkbox in Preferences.

More Detail: Lightroom Classic uses small icons called badges to indicate various status options for images. That includes a badge that indicates an image has been adjusted in the Develop module.

The badges on the filmstrip are controlled by the “Show badges” checkbox in Preferences. To adjust the setting start by choosing Edit > Preferences on Windows or Lightroom Classic > Preferences on Macintosh. Go to the Interface tab in the Preferences dialog, where you’ll find the “Show badges” checkbox in the Filmstrip section. Turn the checkbox on if you want the badges displayed, or off if you want the badges hidden.

There are separate settings that relate to the display of badges in the grid view. To adjust those settings go to the Library module and choose View > View Options from the menu. On the Grid View tab you can then configure the overall display of the grid view, and choose whether you want the badges to appear on thumbnails. The badges in this case are controlled by the “Thumbnail Badges” checkbox found in the Cell Icons section of the Grid View tab.

Note that you can learn about the meaning of the individual thumbnail badges for Lightroom Classic in an article on the GreyLearning blog here:

https://greylearningblog.com/meaning-of-thumbnail-badge-icons-in-lightroom-classic/