Digital Photographer - UK (2020-01)

Pro case study

Photographer and

image retoucher

Dan Mold is an

Adobe Certified

Associate

What is the best time-saving cheat you

can give us to shorten edits in Lightroom?

Syncing images together has to be the best

way to save time when editing your images

in Lightroom. Whether you’re copying

exposure settings or duplicating keywords, it

all helps to shave off the hours when you’re

editing similar pictures. Click on an image

in the filmstrip to make it active, then Cmd/

Ctrl+click on other images you want to

sync to. Click Sync Metadata in the Library

module, or sync in the Develop module to

sync the develop settings.

Syncing settings will give you the exact

settings from the image you’re syncing it

to and won’t take into account variations

in exposure. So for this, a good trick is to

select an image with the correct exposure

to make it active, then select the other

images in the filmstrip you want to sync up

to and go to Photo>Develop Settings>Match

Tone Exposures. The exposure will then be

matched according to the tonal value of your

image and not according to the value of the

Exposure slider.

What are the first steps when setting up

an image database?

Lightroom Classic CC has a brilliant feature

called Virtual Copies. You can create these by

right-clicking on an image in the filmstrip and

choosing Create Virtual Copy. This gives you

an additional thumbnail to work on, so you

can create multiple edits of the same picture;

mono, split-toned, etc. As it’s not duplicating

the RAW file it doesn’t take up any extra

space on your hard drive either.

Can you work on images if you don’t have

the hard drive they’re stored on with you?

If Lightroom is accessing images on an

external hard drive you’ll no longer be able to

work on them when the drive is disconnected.

But you can select the picture you want

to edit in the filmstrip, click the icon under

the histogram where it says Original Photo,

then click Build Smart Preview in the panel

that appears. This creates a smaller file that

you can still work on while the hard drive is

disconnected, and Lightroom will sync the

settings back up to the hi-res RAW when the

hard drive is connected once again. This is

a really useful tip if you travel a lot and your

images are stored on numerous hard drives.

What do you think is the best hidden

feature in Lightroom Classic CC?

Unlike in Photoshop CC, where all of the tools

can be found in the toolbar, many of the tools

in Lightroom are found within panels – only

the main six tools actually sit in the toolbar

underneath the histogram. You’ll find the

White Balance tool in the Basic panel and the

Targeted Adjustment tool in the Tone Curve

panel. Both are very handy to have in your

arsenal and can speed up edits.

My advice would be to really explore the

panels to find these hidden gems. Another

brilliant feature that’s a bit tucked away is

the ability to create HDR panoramas from a

series of pictures. To do this you can select

all of the images in the filmstrip, ri ght-click

on the selection and then choose Photo

Merge>HDR Panorama.

ao e ages e s p, g cc

on the selection and then choose Photo

Merge>HDR Panorama.

“Syncing images together has to be the

best way to save time when editing your

images in Lightroom”

TECHNIQUES

Procase study

Photographerand

imageretoucher

DanMoldis an

AdobeCertified

Associate

Whatisthebesttime-savingcheatyou
cangiveustoshorteneditsinLightroom?
Syncingimagestogetherhastobethebest
waytosavetimewheneditingyourimages
inLightroom.Whetheryou’recopying
exposuresettingsorduplicatingkeywords,it
allhelpstoshaveoffthehourswhenyou’re
editingsimilarpictures.Clickonanimage
inthefilmstriptomakeit active,thenCmd/
Ctrl+clickonotherimagesyouwantto
syncto.ClickSyncMetadataintheLibrary
module,orsyncintheDevelopmoduleto
syncthedevelopsettings.
Syncingsettingswillgiveyoutheexact
settingsfromtheimageyou’resyncingit
toandwon’ttakeintoaccountvariations
inexposure.Soforthis,a goodtrickisto

selectanimagewiththecorrectexposure

tomakeit active,thenselecttheother

imagesinthefilmstripyouwanttosyncup

toandgotoPhoto>DevelopSettings>Match

ToneExposures.Theexposurewillthenbe

matchedaccordingtothetonalvalueofyour

imageandnotaccordingtothevalueofthe

Exposureslider.

Whatarethefirststepswhensettingup

animagedatabase?

LightroomClassicCChasa brilliantfeature

calledVirtualCopies.Youcancreatetheseby

right-clickingonanimageinthefilmstripand

choosingCreateVirtualCopy.Thisgivesyou

anadditionalthumbnailtoworkon,soyou

cancreatemultipleeditsofthesamepicture;

mono,split-toned,etc.Asit’snotduplicating

theRAWfileit doesn’ttakeupanyextra

spaceonyourharddriveeither.

Canyouworkonimagesif youdon’thave

theharddrivethey’restoredonwithyou?

If Lightroomisaccessingimagesonan

externalharddriveyou’llnolongerbeableto

work on them when the drive is disconnected.

But you can select the picture you want

to edit in the filmstrip, click the icon under

the histogram where it says Original Photo,

then click Build Smart Preview in the panel

that appears. This creates a smaller file that

you can still work on while the hard drive is

disconnected, and Lightroom will sync the

settings back up to the hi-res RAW when the

hard drive is connected once again. This is

a really useful tip if you travel a lot and your

images are stored on numerous hard drives.

What do you think is the best hidden

feature in Lightroom Classic CC?

Unlike in Photoshop CC, where all of the tools

can be found in the toolbar, many of the tools

in Lightroom are found within panels – only

the main six tools actually sit in the toolbar

underneath the histogram. You’ll find the

White Balance tool in the Basic panel and the

Targeted Adjustment tool in the Tone Curve

panel. Both are very handy to have in your

arsenal and can speed up edits.

My advice would be to really explore the

panels to find these hidden gems. Another

brilliant feature that’s a bit tucked away is

theabilitytocreateHDRpanoramasfroma

seriesofpictures.Todothisyoucanselect

allao e agesoftheimagesintheefilmstrip,s p, g ccri ht-click

on theselectionandthenchoose Photo

Merge>HDRPanorama.

“Syncing images together has to be the

best way to save time when editing your

images in Lightroom”

TECHNIQUES