Ask Tim Grey

Today’s Question: Today I clicked on All Photographs [in the Catalog section of the left panel in the Library module in Lightroom Classic] to look at my map and saw that I had 231 images set as rejected. I would like to review those to be sure before deleting from disk. How do I do so?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can review all photos with a Reject flag by simply setting a filter based on the Reject flag attribute while browsing the source folder or collection that contains the photos you want to review.

More Detail: When you are reviewing photos in Lightroom Classic to determine which are your favorites and which should be deleted, I recommend assigning a Reject flag to the images you want to delete, rather than deleting them immediately. This helps to maintain a more streamlined workflow and provides an opportunity to review the photos to confirm you really want to delete them.

When you’re ready to review rejected photos, first navigate to the folder or collection that includes the photos you want to review. This can include selecting the “All Photographs” collection in the Catalog section of the left panel in the Library module if you want to review all photos in your entire catalog.

You can then set a filter for only photos with a Reject flag, such as by using the Library Filter bar above the grid view display (choose View > Show Filter Bar from the menu if the Library Filter bar isn’t visible). Go to the Attribute tab and turn on the option for the Reject flag, which is the third icon to the right of the Flag label. Make sure all other filters are disabled so you’re seeing photos with a Reject flag assigned without any other options set.

You can then review the rejected photos to determine if you want to delete them. If there are rejected photos you don’t want to delete, you could change the Flag status to Pick (press “P” on the keyboard) or Unpick (press “U” on the keyboard). When you’ve reviewed all the photos you can select all those that still have a reject flag and choose Photo > Remove Photos from the menu. In the confirmation dialog I recommend choosing the “Delete from Disk” option so the selected photos will both be removed from your Lightroom Classic catalog and deleted from the hard drive.

Today’s Question: I have been using Lightroom Classic on a desktop since its inception. I always convert my CR2 [Canon raw] files to DNG on import. I have recently acquired an Android tablet and installed the Lightroom mobile app. I don’t see any option to convert to DNG. Is it possible?

Tim’s Quick Answer: No, there isn’t an option to convert to DNG with the mobile (or web) versions of Lightroom, and the desktop version of Lightroom only provides an option to create a DNG file when exporting a photo.

More Detail: I don’t actually recommend converting original raw captures to the Adobe DNG format. But if you do want to convert to DNG, you’ll likely find it best to either use Lightroom Classic for this conversion, or to use the free Adobe DNG Converter software (https://helpx.adobe.com/camera-raw/using/adobe-dng-converter.html).

The mobile versions (for iOS and Android) of Lightroom do not provide an option to convert to DNG. The web-based version of Lightroom (https://lightroom.adobe.com) similarly does not include this feature. The Lightroom desktop application (non-Classic version) enables you to create a DNG by exporting a copy of an image. Lightroom Classic, on the other hand, includes the option to convert to DNG both during import and for any photos in the catalog.

Since you’re already using Lightroom Classic in your workflow, if you want to convert your photos to DNG I would do so in Lightroom Classic. If you want those photos available in Lightroom mobile, you can add them to a collection in Lightroom Classic that has synchronization enabled.

If you are adding raw captures directly into Lightroom mobile, those images will appear within Lightroom Classic, so you could convert them at that point. Just note that if you add photos via a cloud-based version of Lightroom you may want to be sure to remove those photos from cloud storage after you’ve transitioned them into your folder-based workflow in Lightroom Classic.

Today’s Question: After reading your newsletter today [Monday], I looked in my Pictures folder to find the files [for the Lightroom Classic catalog] you referred to. While I found those, I also noticed a “Lightroom Library.lrlibrary” folder that I had never seen before. Can you tell me why it’s there? Can I safely delete it?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The “Lightroom Library.lrlibrary” folder represents the equivalent of a catalog for the cloud-focused version of Lightroom (the non-Classic version). This file is a local cache for Lightroom, and can be deleted especially if you’re not using the cloud-focused version of Lightroom.

More Detail: Lightroom Classic is known as the version of Lightroom that uses a catalog, while the non-Classic version is known as revolving primarily around cloud-based storage. But in a way both applications use a catalog.

The difference for the cloud-focused version of Lightroom is that the catalog simply represents a local cache of your cloud-based data, rather than the primary store of data related to your photos. As such, you can safely delete the “Lightroom Library.lrlibrary” folder, especially if you’re not using the cloud-focused version of Lightroom.

The presence of this folder indicates that you have installed and used the cloud-focused version of Lightroom on your computer. If that was not intentional, you can uninstall that version using the Creative Cloud application, so you won’t be confused by the “other” version of Lightroom being installed.

Note, by the way, that while it is entirely possible to adopt a workflow that involves using both the Classic and non-Classic versions of Lightroom on the same computer, I do not recommend doing so. In my view trying to use both Lightroom desktop applications can lead to confusion. Having said that, even if you’re using Lightroom Classic I do recommend that you consider making use of the cloud-based Lightroom ecosystem to provide greater flexibility and utility in your workflow.

Today’s Question: I sometimes get kicked out of Lightroom Classic for no apparent reason. When I try to reopen, I get a screen that says the catalog can’t be reopened because another application already has it opened. But if Lightroom Classic has for sure been closed, how can the catalog be open in another application? Any suggestions?

Tim’s Quick Answer: This issue is most likely the result of a “lock” file being left behind alongside the catalog. Removing that file should enable you to open the catalog in Lightroom Classic again.

More Detail: When you open a catalog in Lightroom Classic, a set of three temporary files are created, one of which is used to indicate that the catalog is in use. The other two are files related to the database the catalog represents. The files should be cleaned up when you quit Lightroom Classic, but they can be left behind if the software crashes. That can lead to an issue where the catalog can’t be opened because Lightroom Classic thinks it is already in use.

In this scenario, you’ll likely find three files in the same folder as the catalog. They’ll have the same base filename as the catalog, with filename extensions of “lrcat-shm”, “lrcat-wal”, and “lrcat.lock”. The last of these is the “lock” file, and its presence will generally prevent you from being able to open your catalog.

Fortunately, you can simply remove this file from the folder with your catalog, and you should then be able to launch Lightroom Classic normally with your catalog. Once that’s the case, you can permanently delete the “lrcat.lock” file that you moved.

Note that the default location for the Lightroom Classic catalog is in a folder called “Lightroom” within the Pictures folder for the operating system. So as long as you’ve left the catalog in its default location you can find it there, but otherwise you can navigate to whatever location you’ve saved your catalog so you can remove the “lock” file.

Today’s Question: I have changed my import workflow to add a yellow label to new imports to remind me I need to rank them. I use the Auto Advance feature to move to the next image after I give it a flag rating. Is there a way to also automatically remove the label color?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Lightroom Classic doesn’t include a feature that enables you to have a color label removed automatically when you apply a star rating, but there are a couple of approaches you could use that can streamline this process.

More Detail: In my own workflow I assign a red color label to all photos upon import using a metadata preset, which I use as a marker for photos I need to review to identify favorites and outtakes. After assigning star ratings to favorite photos and a reject flag to outtakes, I remove the red color label from the photos.

While Lightroom Classic doesn’t include a feature for removing the color label automatically in this scenario, you could simply select all the images you’ve just reviewed and then remove the color label. For example, if you’ve only reviewed some of the photos in a folder, you could leave the last image you reviewed selected and then hold the Shift key while selecting the first image. If you had already reviewed all the images in the folder, you could use the Select All command to select them all. You can then go to the menu and choose Photo > Set Color Label > None to remove the color label from the selected photos.

If you want to make sure you haven’t forgotten to remove a color label from images you’ve assigned a star rating to, you could use a smart collection to locate those images. One shortcoming of this approach is that it would only catch photos that you have assigned a star rating to but forgot to remove the color label. In other words, images you skipped over as not being a favorite or that you marked for deletion with a Reject flag would not be included in the smart collection.

To create a smart collection, click the plus (+) button to the right of the Collections heading on the left panel in the Library module, and choose Create Smart Collection from the popup menu. In the Smart Collection dialog enter a meaningful name for the smart collection in the Name field. Set the Match popup to “all” and then create just two rules in the section below. One rule can be for the Rating to be equal or greater than one star, and the other can be for images where the Label field matches the color you’ve used for this purpose. Once you create this smart collection, it will automatically contain all photos from your catalog that have a star rating assigned but still have the color label that you use to identify images that haven’t been reviewed yet. You can then remove the color label from images within the smart collection as noted above.

Of course, while Lightroom Classic doesn’t include the ability to automatically remove one metadata attribute when you apply another, it is possible to create this type of capability with custom programming. For the more technically minded, you could create a custom plugin with the scripting language that is built into Lightroom Classic. You can learn more about that option on the Adobe website here:

https://developer.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/

Today’s Question: I have two desktop computers in different locations. Both have Lightroom Classic installed, and both have the same folder structure and photos on the E drive synchronized via the cloud. Whenever I close Lightroom Classic on computer 1, I make a backup of the catalog. Is it now sufficient to call up the backup on computer 2 and continue working? Are all presets and mask presets, etc. saved in the backup?

Tim’s Quick Answer: No, the catalog backup does not include any of the presets or settings, and so this approach would not be optimal. I recommend keeping the catalog and photos on an external hard drive that you move between computers, although cloud-based synchronization could theoretically provide a solution as well.

More Detail: When you back up the Lightroom Classic catalog, only the catalog (lrcat) and catalog data (lrcat-data) files are backed up. The previews and other helper files, presets, settings, and any other files associated with Lightroom Classic are not backed up. As such, the built-in catalog backup feature does not provide a solution for using the same catalog on two different computers.

Therefore, the only option is to ensure all catalog files are available on both computers as needed. One option is to keep the catalog and related files on an external hard drive, along with the photos. You can then move the hard drive to the computer you want to work on and access the catalog directly on the external hard drive.

It is also possible to synchronize the catalog and related files via cloud-based storage. However, out of an abundance of caution I don’t recommend this approach. By synchronizing the catalog files via the cloud, there is a risk that you might work with a copy of the catalog that hasn’t yet been updated by synchronization, leading to a risk of data loss.

Note that with either of these approaches you will want to enable the option to “Store presets with this catalog”, found on the Presets tab of the Preferences dialog in Lightroom Classic. However, it is also important to note that enabling this option will not move existing presets to the location where the catalog is stored. You will therefore need to manually move existing presets to the catalog location after enabling the option. New presets you import or create will be saved in the same location as the catalog after you’ve turned on the checkbox.

Needless to say, Lightroom Classic was not designed for the catalog to be accessible from more than one computer. If this is an important issue for you, and you don’t want to move an external hard drive between computers, I would recommend looking at software that doesn’t involve the catalog (such as Adobe Bridge) or a solution that is built around cloud-based synchronization (such as the non-Classic version of Lightroom).

Today’s Question: You said you recommend using raw capture for “basically all photos”, which sounds like there are some situations where you would use JPEG instead of raw. Is that the case, and if so when would you shoot JPEG instead of raw?

Tim’s Quick Answer: In my view JPEG capture should only be used for situations where you are more concerned about file size than image quality. For example, I think it makes perfectly good sense to use JPEG capture for “casual” photos such as those you might capture with a basic point-and-shoot camera or a smartphone.

More Detail: A colleague of mine long ago was fond of saying, “If something is worth doing, it is worth doing right”. A similar notion in photography that resonates with me would be, “If a photo is worth capturing, it is worth capturing with optimal quality”.

There are, of course, many factors that can impact the quality of a photo, from the performance of camera gear, the specific exposure settings used, and photographer technique, among others. Among these many factors is the file format used to record the photo at the time of initial capture.

While JPEG captures can certainly provide an image of very good quality, they also represent a compromise in quality due to the effects of compression artifacts.

The primary advantages of a JPEG capture are relatively small file size and broad compatibility. It is quite common for a JPEG capture to have a file size that is about 90% smaller than a raw capture, for example, which can be quite significant in terms of the cumulative storage requirements for photos.

However, JPEG captures also represent a compromise in image quality. This primarily relates to visual artifacts of the compression applied to JPEG captures, but there is also an impact on overall tonal range and color fidelity.

For casual “snapshot” photos where you aren’t particularly concerned about optimal image quality, it is perfectly reasonable to use JPEG capture. However, for photos that you want to ensure will represent the best quality possible, I highly recommend using raw capture, even though doing so will increase the amount of storage space required for your photos.

Today’s Question: When stitching JPEG images together to make a panorama, does the resultant full panoramic image suffer from the multiple saving JPEG resolution reduction? If so, is it better to shoot raw and use those as the basis for the panorama?

Tim’s Quick Answer: I recommend using raw capture for composite panoramas (and basically all photos) to avoid JPEG compression artifacts. If you do assemble a composite panorama from JPEG captures, saving the resulting image in a format other than JPEG will avoid compounding the JPEG compression issue.

More Detail: JPEG images employ “lossy” compression, meaning that the compression causes a loss of fidelity and quality in the image. Even at a high setting for quality, it is possible that compression artifacts will be visible in a JPEG image. If an image is modified and re-saved as a JPEG, there is a compounding of the loss of quality due to the compression.

Therefore, I recommend opting for raw capture whenever you want to ensure maximum image quality. This includes capturing a series of photos with the intent of assembling a composite panorama.

To be sure, depending on the content of the image and how the image is shared, in many cases the artifacts of JPEG compression may not stand out very well. But once you are familiar with how those artifacts create a bit of a grid pattern texture in the image, it can be difficult not to notice the effect in a JPEG image, or an image created from JPEG originals.

The bottom line is that if image quality is a concern, I would always opt for raw capture rather than JPEG, even though the files will be considerably larger.

Today’s Question: Can you ask Adobe to add this: Set the up and down arrows for flag and unflag (like BreezeBrowser) so we can scroll through images and flag with one hand?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can already reassign keyboard shortcuts in Lightroom Classic using a plug-in, though I do think it would be great if Adobe added this option natively.

More Detail: While you can change keyboard shortcut assignments in Photoshop, doing so is currently not a feature in Lightroom Classic. However, you can use the Any Shortcut plugin (https://johnrellis.com/lightroom/anyshortcut.htm) for Lightroom Classic to change any of the keyboard shortcuts, including the ability to assign the up-arrow key to the Pick flag and the down-arrow key to “Unpick” (or Reject if you prefer). You could similarly change other keyboard shortcuts to better suit your workflow.

The Any Shortcut plugin makes it possible to change any existing keyboard shortcut, and it is relatively easy to use. This provides a great improvement over the process of mapping keyboard shortcuts through the operating system, and is a huge improvement over the process of manually making changes to the TranslatedStrings file that stores keyboard shortcuts for Lightroom Classic.

There is a 30-day free trial available for Any Shortcut, and if you like the plugin, you can buy a license for US$9.99. Learn more about the details of Any Shortcut (and how to install and use it) on the developer’s website here:

https://johnrellis.com/lightroom/anyshortcut.htm