Ask Tim Grey

Today’s Question: About half the time when I go to save an image in Photoshop, I see a dialog asking if I want to enable “Maximize Compatibility” for the image. Should I just choose “Don’t Show Again”? Do I want “Maximize Compatibility” at all?

Tim’s Quick Answer: If you are ever likely to want to import these Photoshop PSD files into Lightroom Classic, you must enable the “Maximize Compatibility” option. If you will never need to import the images into Lightroom Classic it isn’t really necessary to enable this option, which enables you to avoid the significant increase in file size that results when the option is enabled.

More Detail: When you save an image with layers or other features that are specific to Photoshop, you have the option of enabling the “Maximize Compatibility” option for that file. This will cause an additional flattened copy of the overall image to be embedded within the file, which among other things enables software such as Lightroom Classic to generate a preview of the image without actually interpreting the Photoshop-based layers.

In general, the only scenario where I consider enabling “Maximize Compatibility” to be mandatory is if you will ever import those PSD files into Lightroom Classic. It is not possible to import PSD files into Lightroom Classic unless “Maximize Compatibility” had been enabled. So, if there’s any chance you’ll want to import the images into Lightroom Classic later, I recommend enabling “Maximize Compatibility”.

Otherwise, I think it is perfectly fine to leave “Maximize Compatibility” turned off. This will help reduce file size, since with the “Maximize Compatibility” option turned on you are increasing the file size by an amount equal to the equivalent of a flattened copy of the image. This can be quite significant when saving a large number of PSD files.

The dialog about the “Maximize Compatibility” feature will only appear if the “Ask” option is selected for the “Maximize PSD and PSB File Compatibility” popup in the File Compatibility section of the File Handling tab in the Preferences dialog in Photoshop. You can select “Always” from this popup if you want the “Maximize Compatibility” enabled for all PSD files, or choose “Never” if you don’t want the feature enabled for any PSD files.

Today’s Question: Like you I began my photography career by shooting film of all kinds. In the early days of digital we were scanning our images and working with them in Photoshop. Part of that workflow involved saving copies that had been flattened, sized, and sharpened at either smaller or larger dimensions than the originals. And there was also the master copy with layers of adjustments. Do you have any suggestions for dealing with duplicate files from an old Photoshop workflow?

Tim’s Quick Answer: In general, in the context of images from an older Photoshop-based workflow I recommend only retaining the master layered image, discarding derivative copies unless you have a specific reason to retain some of them. In large part this can be accomplished by filtering based on file type and perhaps considering overall file size.

More Detail: In the context of a workflow that now revolves around Lightroom Classic, a master photo would often be the original raw capture or a derivative Photoshop PSD or TIFF file that was created by sending the raw capture to Lightroom Classic. Beyond that, additional derivative images might be created by exporting additional copies of photos to share in various ways.

In this context, I recommend only retaining the original raw capture and the primary version of a PSD or TIFF file created as part of a workflow for optimizing the photo using Photoshop. Additional derivative copies can generally be discarded.

It can be a little bit labor-intensive to sort through these duplicate images to ensure you’re only deleting copies of photos that you don’t really need. Some of this depends on your overall workflow approach.

For example, in the earlier days of Photoshop it wasn’t possible to save TIFF images with layers and other Photoshop-specific features included. For this reason I was in the habit of only saving my layered master image as a Photoshop PSD file. Derivative photos that had been flattened and resized for sharing would be saved as a TIFF image. Therefore, I knew that TIFF images were derivative copies and the master image was the Photoshop PSD file.

Of course, more recently it became possible to save TIFF images with layers intact, so you may have a mix of both PSD and TIFF files that could very well represent a master image you want to keep. I do think, however, that it makes sense to spend some time sorting through these photos to clear out the clutter of multiple derivative copies of photos. In addition, these PSD and TIFF images are going to be among the largest file sizes in your catalog, and so clearing out unnecessary copies can help free up considerable hard drive space.

Today’s Question: Do you recommend folks with a lot of effort invested in editing their photos in Lightroom Classic export all their raw images as JPEG images to have for family members some day?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, I do think it is a good idea to create an archive of your photos for posterity in a way that is more accessible to family members who may not know the first thing about Lightroom Classic.

More Detail: Managing your photo library with Lightroom Classic involves a bit of a learning curve for photographers, so it is perhaps easy to appreciate that a family member who has never used Lightroom Classic would not be able to access your photos without assistance.

Therefore, it can be a good idea to maintain a more accessible archive of photos in a format that is easier to review.

For many photographers their library of photos includes a large number of proprietary raw captures, which to some extent requires special software to make use of. It can therefore be helpful to maintain an archive in a more widely supported image format, such as JPEG images.

To create this type of archive from Lightroom Classic you can export the source photos as JPEG images. I recommend exporting at full resolution to maintain the option to produce reasonably large prints from the photos.

It is also worth considering that you may not want to export copies of every single photo within your Lightroom Classic catalog. You may want to export only photos above a particular star rating, for example, and even export selectively from only the photos that contain photos of the greatest interest.

Lightroom Classic doesn’t provide an easy way to export JPEG copies of photos while maintaining your existing folder structure, so you may want to work with individual folders at a time, selecting which photos in a particular folder should be exported, and then exporting copies of those images. As part of that process you can customize a folder structure for the exported copies that will be most helpful for others, such as by using date-based folders. You could also add text to the filename of photos upon export, though I recommend retaining the existing filename as part of the new filenames so that, if necessary, the original source photos could be referenced later.

Today’s Question: I have an image [in Photoshop] where I had added an adjustment layer based on a selection that I had already applied feathering to. Now that I’ve saved and closed the layered image, is there any way to reduce (or remove) the feathering for the layer mask? The feathered mask is causing too much blending along the edges of my adjustment.

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can compensate for too much feathering in a layer mask using the Contrast slider in the Select and Mask workspace.

More Detail: Feathering is a selection or layer mask provides a transition along the edges, which enables a targeted adjustment or element of a composite image to blend into the surrounding image, creating a more realistic look. However, while feathering can be very important, too much can be a problem.

Naturally, if you realize that the setting for the Feather slider on the Properties panel is too high, you can simply reduce that value. But if you had feathered the selection that the layer mask was based on it will be too late to simply reduce the setting for feathering. Instead, you’ll need to add contrast to the feathered layer mask.

First, make sure that the layer mask in question is active, which you can do by simply clicking on the thumbnail for the layer mask on the Layers panel. Then, on the Masks tab of the Properties panel click the “Select and Mask” button. That will bring up the Select and Mask workspace, where you can increase the value for the Contrast slider to tighten up the transition for the layer mask.

Feathering, by the way, is the exact same thing as blurring a layer mask. Increasing the value for the Contrast slider for a layer mask can be thought of as essentially sharpening the edge of the layer mask, enhancing contrast so the transition will occur over a smaller distance. The result isn’t quite as smooth as if you had not applied too much feathering in the first place, but the adjustment can still be very effective.

Today’s Question: I want to take a series of photographs of the lunar eclipse and stitch them together to show the phases. Most specifically I want to know if cropped photos can be successfully stitched.

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can assemble these images, including if they are cropped, into a composite image. However, you will need to assemble the images manually rather than through an automated approach such as that used to assemble a composite panorama.

More Detail: The weather in my location did not cooperate for the recent total lunar eclipse, so I’m glad that some readers were able to get out and photograph this event. For those who captured images at various times throughout the progress of the eclipse, you can assemble a composite image showing those phases together.

Because of the nature of the images, however, you won’t be able to assemble them the way you could assemble a composite panorama. Instead, you’ll need to take a more manual approach to assemble these images, for which I recommend using Photoshop.

You would start off by opening the images as layers in Photoshop. If you’re using Lightroom Classic you can select the images and then from the menu choose Photo > Edit In > Open as Layers in Photoshop. If you’re not using Lightroom Classic you could select the photos in Adobe Bridge and then from the menu choose Tools > Photoshop > Load Files into Photoshop Layers.

The result will be a layered image in Photoshop, and you can then go about assembling those layers into a blended composite. This would involve selecting individual layers and using the Move tool to move each layer into the appropriate position. Along the way you will need to drag an image outside of the existing canvas area to put it into the right position, essentially dragging that layer out of view. You can expand the canvas after each of these moves by choosing Image > Reveal All from the menu.

With the layers arranged in the right positions, you can add a black (or very dark) background. I would add a Solid Color adjustment layer for this purpose. Click on the “Add Adjustment Layer” button (the half-black/half-white circle icon) at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Solid Color from the popup. Select the color you want to use that will best blend in with the sky around the moon and click OK in the Color Picker dialog. You can then drag the thumbnail for this adjustment layer to the bottom of the order on the Layers panel.

Finally, you’ll need to mask the individual moon photos so they will better blend into the background. I would use the Elliptical Marquee selection tool to create a loose selection around the moon one layer at a time. With a selection for a given frame of the moon make sure the appropriate layer is active on the Layers panel and click the “Add Layer Mask” button (the circle-inside-a-rectangle icon) at the bottom of the Layers panel. On the Properties panel go to the Masks tab and increase the value for the Feather slider so that the masked moon image blends smoothly into the background.

With this basic approach you can adjust the position of each image, blend each of those images into a background, and otherwise refine the result. You could even use the Free Transform command found on the Edit menu to resize individual frames of the composite as needed. The result can be a nice composite showing the transition of the total lunar eclipse.

Today’s Question: What is “docking” for folders in Lightroom Classic, and is it only available in the Import dialog?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Docking a folder in Lightroom Classic will cause other folders at the same level to be hidden, making it easier to navigate among a complex folder structure. This feature is only available in the Import dialog within Lightroom Classic.

More Detail: The Import dialog in Lightroom Classic includes an option to “dock” a folder within the Source section of the left panel as well as the Destination section on the right panel. When a folder is docked, all other folders at the same level to be hidden from view. This feature is not available outside the Import dialog.

To dock a folder within the Source or Destination section you can double-click on the folder or right-click on the folder and choose “Dock Folder” from the popup menu. For example, let’s assume you had top-level folders for “Photos”, “Scans”, and “Smartphone”. If you double-click on the “Scans” folder the “Photos” and “Smartphone” folders would be temporarily hidden.

You can undock a folder by double-clicking on the folder again, or by right-clicking and choosing “Dock Folder” again to turn the feature off.

The idea is that you may find it easier to navigate among a complex folder structure using this docking feature. By docking a parent folder, for example, you’ll only see that folder and the subfolders within it, making it a little easier to select only the folder you want to work with.

I don’t personally find this feature very helpful, in large part because most of the time when I’m importing photos into my Lightroom Classic catalog I am doing so from a media card taken out of my camera. In other words, I am not working with a complex folder structure most of the time when importing photos into my catalog. Even if I am importing existing photos from a hard drive rather than a memory card, I don’t generally find docking folders to be especially helpful, since I tend to use a relatively streamlined folder structure to begin with.

Today’s Question: Thank you for letting us know about the total lunar eclipse. I was able to capture some nice photos thanks to that. I was reading that a total lunar eclipse only occurs during a full moon. Why is that?

Tim’s Quick Answer: A total lunar eclipse can only occur during a full moon because an eclipse requires an alignment of the sun, earth, and moon.

More Detail: A total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes through the shadow of the earth. That requires that the moon is directly opposite the earth relative to the sun. In other words, the sun, earth, and moon line up, with the earth in between the sun and moon. This causes the shadow of the earth to fall on the moon.

By definition, if the earth is in between the sun and the moon, the moon will appear as a full moon from the perspective of the earth because the sun will be illuminating the entirety of the moon that is visible from earth.

If, on the other hand, the moon is not aligned with the sun and earth, it will not appear full from the perspective of earth. For example, if the moon is in a position that extends from a 90-degree angle relative to the alignment of the sun and earth, the moon will appear half full because in terms of the illumination of the sun we are viewing the moon from the side.

Similarly, when the moon is full it will rise or set around the same time as sunset or sunrise, because of the alignment of the sun, earth, and moon at the time of a full moon.

So, the alignment that enables the moon to pass through the shadow of the earth for a lunar eclipse also results in a full moon from the perspective of earth.

Today’s Question: Twice recently I have tried to import photos from a card and when it showed in the Import panel there were two copies of each photo, and one set was all out of order! I found that if you select your source from the Devices menu at top, you get that weirdness. But if you select from Files, you do not. Is that true? If so, is there a way to have the Devices options not show?

Tim’s Quick Answer: This is the current behavior in the Import dialog in Lightroom Classic, which I consider to be a very weird bug that shockingly hasn’t been fixed yet. You can’t remove the Devices section, so the only solution is to always make sure you select the source from the Files section, not from Devices.

More Detail: One of the key options you need to set in the Import dialog in Lightroom Classic is the source of photos you want to import. For most photographers in most cases, that means selecting a removable device such as a media card in a card reader in the Source section of the left panel. However, because of the odd behavior of Lightroom Classic I strongly recommend selecting your source from the Files section.

If you select your source from the Devices section, you will most likely see two copies of every photo. If you have the “Don’t Import Suspected Duplicates” checkbox turned on as I recommend, the duplicates among these photos will be disabled for import. Regardless, this is a very confusing display in the Import dialog and a weird and frustrating bug in Lightroom Classic as far as I’m concerned.

To avoid this issue, simply be sure to select the source of photos from the Files section. Any devices that appear in the Devices section, such as media cards or connected mobile devices, will also show as the equivalent of a storage device in the Files section. Simply choose the top-level folder from the applicable device, and you’ll be able to import all photos from the device without the duplication in the display.

From what I understand, selecting the source from the Files section will also cause the import to be a little faster, for whatever reason. Regardless, hopefully Adobe will resolve this issue by simply removing the Devices section on the left panel in import or otherwise fixing this odd bug.

Today’s Question: My new camera allows me to shoot at 20 frames per second. Following a few birds recently, I quickly amassed over 700 images. In Lightroom Classic, can I select just my favorite few for import and discard the rest, while not overburdening my hard drive capacity?

Tim’s Quick Answer: It is possible to selectively import only certain photos from a memory card into Lightroom Classic. However, in general I recommend importing all photos and then reviewing them and deleting the unwanted outtakes.

More Detail: As a rule, I strongly recommend importing all photos from a memory card into Lightroom Classic as one overall process, rather than importing only some photos from a media card. You can then delete outtakes, adjust folder structure, or otherwise manage those photos. This approach helps to streamline your overall workflow and helps to ensure you photos are backed up and you don’t overlook any photos for eventual import.

Having said that, you most certainly can choose to import only some of the photos on a media card or other source of photos as part of the import process. The basic idea is that only photos that have the checkbox turned on at the top-left of the thumbnail when in the grid view display for the Import dialog will actually be imported.

Therefore, you can simply turn off the checkbox for photos you don’t want to import. If you only want to import a small portion of the photos in the selected source, you can click the “Uncheck All” button at the bottom-left of the Import dialog to turn off the checkbox for all photos. You could then turn on the checkbox at the top-left of each thumbnail only for those photos you want to import.

You could also select ranges of photos and turn off (or on) the checkbox for all selected photos at once. You can click on the first thumbnail in the range you want to turn off (or on) the checkbox for, then hold the Shift key on the keyboard while clicking on the last photo in the range. That will select all the photos in that range, and you can then click the checkbox for any of the selected photos to toggle the checkbox for all of the selected photos.

The point is that there are a variety of ways you can ensure that the checkbox is only turned on for the photos you want to import, with the checkbox turned off for the photos you don’t want to import. Adjust all other import settings as desired, and when you click the Import button at the bottom-right of the Import dialog only the images with their checkbox turned on will actually be imported into your catalog.

If you import only a portion of the photos on a media card and then reformat the card, you will have deleted all photos from the card without ever having imported some of the photos from that card into your Lightroom Classic catalog.