Upgrading from the Lightroom 4 book? So you can easily see what’s new, I’ve noted the changes in the second column, and added a clickable index in the back of the PDF version.
- New Questions weren’t in the Lightroom 4 version of the book, and may be new Lightroom 5 features or additional questions on existing features.
- Change of Behavior means existing questions have been edited because the behavior has changed in Lightroom 5.
- Updated means that I’ve added additional information for features that were already in earlier Lightroom versions, including some questions that have been completely rewritten.
- Small Changes are minor changes, for example, an odd line of extra information about existing features.
- Questions that don’t have changes marked in the last column may be identical to the Lightroom 4 book, or may have minor changes, such as updated version numbers.
Table of Contents | Updated |
Table of Contents… in Detail | Updated |
Acknowledgments | Updated |
Introduction | Updated |
The Book Format | Updated |
Windows or Mac? | |
Register your book for additional benefits | Small Changes |
Why is the paperback in black & white print? | Small Changes |
Talk to me! | |
Quick Start Essentials | New Question |
Before you start… | New Question |
Where will you store your catalog? | New Question |
Where will you store your photos? | New Question |
How will you organize your photos into folders? | New Question |
How will you name your photos? | New Question |
Basic Lightroom Workflow | |
Installing Lightroom | |
Minimum System Requirements | New Question |
Installing Lightroom on a Windows PC | New Question |
Installing Lightroom on your Mac | New Question |
Opening Lightroom for the First Time | New Question |
Getting Photos into Lightroom | New Question |
Importing from a Memory Card | New Question |
Adding your Existing Photos | New Question |
Backing up Lightroom | New Question |
Back up your catalog | New Question |
Back up your photos | New Question |
Back up the Extras | New Question |
The Lightroom Workspace | New Question |
Viewing your Photos in Lightroom | New Question |
Viewing your Photos in Grid View | New Question |
Selections | New Question |
Viewing your Photos in More Detail | New Question |
Viewing your Photos in Loupe View | New Question |
Viewing your Photos in Survey View | New Question |
Viewing your Photos in Compare View | New Question |
Viewing Folders in Lightroom and on the Hard Drive | New Question |
Selecting the Best Photos | New Question |
Rating your Photos | New Question |
Deleting fuzzy photos | New Question |
Grouping Similar Photos using Stacks | New Question |
Collections | New Question |
Adding Metadata to your Best Photos | New Question |
Title & Caption | New Question |
Keywords | New Question |
Map Locations | New Question |
Finding and Filtering your Photos | New Question |
Changing the Sort Order | New Question |
Using Filters | New Question |
Using Smart Collections | New Question |
Editing the Best Photos | New Question |
Basic Adjustments | New Question |
Undoing Experiments | New Question |
Before/After Preview | New Question |
Virtual Copies | New Question |
Cropping & Straightening | New Question |
Sharpening | New Question |
Fixing Noisy Photos | New Question |
Fixing Distortion | New Question |
Converting Photos to Black & White | New Question |
Copying Settings to Similar Photos | New Question |
Saving Settings to Apply to Other Photos | New Question |
Removing Dust Spots | New Question |
Making Local Adjustments | New Question |
Further Editing in Other Programs | New Question |
Integration with Photoshop | New Question |
Integration with Photoshop Elements | New Question |
Opening Photos in Other Editors | New Question |
Your Finished Photos | New Question |
‘Save As’ a copy on the Hard Drive | New Question |
Emailing your Photos | New Question |
Printing your Photos | New Question |
Import | Small Changes |
Shooting Raw, sRAW or JPEG | |
Can I use Lightroom on JPEG files as well as raw files? | Updated |
If I can use all of Lightroom’s controls on JPEG files, why would I want to shoot in my camera’s raw file format? | |
If I shoot raw, can Lightroom understand the camera settings? | |
If I shoot sRAW format, can Lightroom apply all the usual adjustments? | |
The Import Dialog | |
What’s the difference between the compact Import dialog and the expanded Import dialog and how do I switch? | |
What’s the difference between the options at the top of the Import dialog—Copy as DNG, Copy, Move, and Add? | Small Changes |
Selecting Folders & Files for Import | |
How do I import my existing photos into Lightroom? | Updated |
How do I import multiple folders in one go? | |
Is it possible to import from multiple card readers at the same time? | |
Why do the folders keep jumping around and what is Docking? | |
Can I use the operating system dialog to navigate to a folder instead of using Lightroom’s Source panel? | |
Can I save favorite import folders? | |
How do I select only certain photos to import? | |
How do I select photos from a specific date? | |
How do I select specific file types to import? | |
Which file formats can I import? | New Question |
Why are some photos unavailable or dimmed in the Import dialog? | |
Can I see larger previews of the files before importing? | Small Changes |
Import Options | |
Why do I have to create previews? Why can’t I just look at the photos? | Change of Behavior |
What does ‘Don’t Import Suspected Duplicates’ do? | Updated |
What does the ‘Make a Second Copy’ option do? | Small Changes |
What Develop settings, metadata and keywords should I apply in the Import dialog? | Updated |
How do I apply different settings to different photos while importing? | |
Renaming | |
How do I rename the files while importing? | |
Why is there no File Renaming section in my Import dialog? | |
What’s the difference between Import#, Image#, Sequence# and Total#? | |
Can Lightroom continue my number sequence from my previous import? | |
How do I pad the numbers to get Img001.jpg instead of Img1.jpg? | |
Can I have more than 5 digit numbers? | |
Destination Folders | |
I’ve chosen Copy or Move—how do I organize the photos into a folder structure that will suit me? | |
Why are some of the Destination folders in italics? | |
How should I organize my photos on my hard drive? | |
Can I create a different dated folder structure automatically? | |
Can I leave Lightroom to manage my photos like iTunes moves my music files? | |
Import Presets | |
How do I create Import presets, and what do they include? | |
Proprietary Raw vs. DNG | |
Should I convert to DNG? | Change of Behavior |
Do I lose quality when converting to DNG? | |
Should I convert to Lossy DNG? | Change of Behavior |
Why do some files get bigger when converting to DNG? | |
Should I use Lossy DNG instead of sRAW? | |
Do you convert to DNG? | Change of Behavior |
If I convert to DNG, can I convert back to the proprietary raw file format again? | |
Which preferences should I choose when converting to DNG? | |
How do I convert to DNG? | |
How do I update DNG files to take advantage of newer specifications? | Updated |
Can I replace my full size proprietary raw or DNG files with smaller ones? | |
Should I convert other formats like JPEG or TIFF to DNG? | |
How do I update my embedded preview? | |
How do I change my embedded preview size? | |
How do I find more information about the type of DNG file? | |
I embedded the proprietary raw file—how do I extract it to use it? | |
I embedded the proprietary raw file—is there any way to remove it? | |
How do I use the DNG Validation? | New Question |
How often should I run DNG Validation? | New Question |
Some of my DNG files were marked as invalid—what does that mean? | New Question |
Why doesn’t DNG Validation work on all of my DNG files? | New Question |
Other Import Questions | |
Why does Lightroom load or open the Import dialog every time I insert a memory card or device? | |
I can’t see thumbnails in the Import dialog, I just see grey squares. How do I fix it? | |
Can I set Lightroom to delete the photos from the memory card once they’ve uploaded? | |
Can I prevent Lightroom automatically switching to Previous Import when it finishes importing photos? | New Question |
It says: ‘Some import operations were not performed. Could not copy a file to the requested location.’ | |
It says: ‘Some import operations were not performed. The files could not be read.’ | New Question |
It says: ‘Some Import operations were not performed. The files already exist in the catalog.’ | New Question |
It says: ‘Some import operations were not performed. The file is from a camera which isn’t recognized by the raw format support in Lightroom.’ | |
It says: ‘Some import operations were not performed. The files use an unsupported color mode.’ | |
It says: ‘Some import operations were not performed. The file is too big.’ | |
It says: ‘Some import operations were not performed. The files could not be read. Please reopen the file and save with ‘Maximize Compatibility’ preference enabled.’ | |
It says: ‘Some import operations were not performed. The file appears to be unsupported or damaged.’ | Updated |
Lightroom appears to be corrupting my photos—how do I stop it? | |
Why is Lightroom changing the colors of my photos? | |
I shot Raw+JPEG in camera—why have the JPEGs not imported? | |
Tethered Shooting & Watched Folders | |
Which cameras are supported by the built-in Tethered Capture? | |
How do I set Lightroom up to use Tethered Capture? | Small Changes |
Crops can’t be saved in presets, so how do I get it to apply a crop to my Tethered photos? | |
Can I convert to DNG while tethering? | |
How do I set Lightroom up to use a watched folder? | Small Changes |
Is there a way to have Apple’s Photo Stream automatically import into Lightroom? | |
Workspace | |
The Main Workspace | |
Menu bar, Title bar and screen modes | Change of Behavior |
Module Picker, Identity Plate and Activity Viewer | Updated |
Panel Groups & Panels | Change of Behavior |
Panel Auto Hide & Show | |
Filmstrip | |
Preview Area | New Question |
Status Overlay | Small Changes |
Toolbar | |
Grid View & Filter Bar | |
Thumbnails | |
Thumbnail (1) | |
Cell Border (2) | Change of Behavior |
Index Number (3) | |
Top Label (4) | |
Flag (5) | |
Metadata Status Icon (6) | |
Quick Collection Marker (7) | |
Badges (8) | |
Video Icon (9) | |
Rotation (10) | |
Bottom Label (11) | |
Selections | New Question |
What’s the difference between the selection shades of grey? | |
Why don’t the rest of my photos deselect when I click on a single photo? | |
How do I select multiple photos? | |
I have multiple photos selected—why is my action only applying to a single photo? | |
How does Auto Sync work? | Small Changes |
Viewing & Comparing Photos | |
Grid View | |
Compare View | |
Survey View | |
Loupe View | |
Info Overlay | Updated |
Zooming using the Navigator panel | Change of Behavior |
Can I see a Layout Overlay, to preview the positioning of my photo in its final layout? | Change of Behavior |
Lights Out | |
Previews | Change of Behavior |
What’s the difference between Minimal, Embedded & Sidecar, Standard and 1:1 previews? | |
How do I build previews after importing the photos? | |
What size and quality should I set for Standard-Sized Previews? | Change of Behavior |
When I choose Build 1:1 Previews from the Library menu, does it apply to the entire catalog or just the selected photos? | |
The previews are slightly different between Library and Develop and Fit and 1:1 views—why is that? | |
If I delete a photo, is the preview deleted too? | |
The previews folder is huge—can I delete it? | |
I’ve discarded 1:1 previews—why hasn’t the file/folder size shrunk? | |
Can I move the previews onto another drive? | |
Working with Sliders & Panel Icons | |
Moving Sliders | |
Resetting Sliders | |
Disclosure Triangles | |
Panel Switches | |
Working with Dialogs | |
Saving Presets in Pop-Up Menus | |
Renaming, Updating and Deleting Presets in Pop-Up Menus | |
Using Tokens in Dialogs | |
Secondary Display | |
Which views are available on the Secondary Display? How are they useful? | |
Why do shortcuts and menu commands only apply to a single photo even though I have multiple photos selected on the Secondary Display Grid? | |
Why does the Secondary Display switch from Grid to Loupe when I change the Main Screen to Grid? | |
What does ‘Show Second Monitor Preview’ do? | |
How do I move the Library Filter bar to the Secondary Display? | |
Frequent Workspace Questions | |
My Toolbar’s disappeared—where’s it gone? | |
How do I stop the panels opening every time I float near the edge of the screen? | |
Where have my panels gone? | |
Can I detach the panels and rearrange them? | |
My eyesight isn’t very good—can I change Lightroom’s UI? | |
Where have the Minimize, Maximize and Close Window buttons gone? | Change of Behavior |
It’s all gone black! How do I change the view back to normal? | Change of Behavior |
I can see Badges in Grid view, but not in my Filmstrip. Where have they gone? | |
How do I turn off the overlay which says Loading? | |
Is it possible to see camera setting information while in Develop module, rather than constantly switching back to the Metadata panel? | |
How do I bring back the warning dialogs I’ve hidden? | |
Why won’t Lightroom show a dialog, such as the Export dialog? | |
Library Module | |
Folders | |
Can I change the way the folders are displayed? | Small Changes |
Why does my folder say it contains 0 photos? Or, can I view the photos directly in the folder, instead of a composite view of its subfolders? | |
I have a long list of folders—can I change it to show the folder hierarchy? | |
Why aren’t ‘Show Parent Folder’ and ‘Hide This Parent’ showing in my context-sensitive menu? | |
Why are some folders not slotting into their correct place in the hierarchy? | |
How do I expand or collapse all of a folder’s subfolders in one go? | |
How do I find out where a photo is stored on my hard drive? | |
How do I move folders into other folders or drives? | |
I’ve added new photos to one of Lightroom’s folders—why don’t they show in my catalog? | |
How does the Synchronize Folder command work? | |
Collections | New Question |
How are Collections different from Folders? | |
How are Books, Slideshows, Prints and Web Galleries different to standard collections? | |
How do I create a collection and add photos to it? | |
How do I organize my collections into collection sets? | |
What are the Quick Collection and Target Collection? | |
How do I see which collections a photo belongs to? | |
Stacking | |
How do I stack photos? | |
Why are the stacking menu options disabled? | |
How do I move a photo to the top of the stack? | |
How do I apply metadata to multiple photos in a stack? | |
I’ve placed retouched derivatives into the same folder as the originals and I’d like them stacked in pairs. Can I do it automatically? | |
When I create a virtual copy, it should automatically stack them, but it hasn’t—why not? | |
Ratings & Labeling | |
Which rating or labeling system should I use? | |
How do I apply ratings and labels quickly? | |
How do I use the Painter tool to quickly add metadata? | |
Is it possible to view flag/rating/color labels status when in other modules? | |
Since flags are no longer local, how do I access my old local flags? | |
I gave my photos stars or color labels in Lightroom—why can’t I see them in Bridge? | |
I gave my photos different color labels in Lightroom—why are they all white in Bridge? Or I labeled my photos in Bridge—why isn’t Lightroom showing my color labels? | |
Lightroom’s not quick enough to sort through a large shoot—is there anything I can do to speed it up? | |
Renaming, Moving & Deleting | |
How do I rename one or more photos? | |
How do I rename photos back to their original filename? | |
Can I do more complex batch renaming, perhaps replacing part of a filename? | |
How do I move or copy photos between folders? | |
When I delete photos, am I deleting them only from Lightroom, or from the hard drive too? | |
Why can’t I delete photos from the hard drive when I’m viewing a collection? | |
I’m deleting photos in Lightroom, set to send to Recycle Bin/Trash, so why isn’t it deleting them? | |
Why did Lightroom delete all of my photos? | |
Viewing & Editing Metadata | |
How do I add or change metadata for multiple photos at once? | Updated |
How do I create a Metadata preset? | |
How do I edit an existing Metadata preset? | New Question |
How do I select which metadata to view in the Metadata panel? | |
Why are the Location fields dimmed or italic? | |
Can I import and listen to my camera’s audio annotations? | |
Why do some files say CR2+JPEG and some just say CR2? | |
Some of my lenses are listed twice in the Metadata filters, for example 24.0-105.0 mm and also as EF24-105 IS USM. Why? | Updated |
Can I add extra notes to my photos? | New Question |
Keywording | |
How should I keyword my photos? | Updated |
How do I create new keywords? | New Question |
Can I download a ready-made keyword list or controlled vocabulary? | New Question |
How do I change my long list of keywords into a hierarchy? Or change the existing hierarchy? | |
How many keywords can I have? | |
How can I keep certain keywords at the top of the list? | |
Is there a quick way of finding a particular keyword in my long list? | |
What do the symbols in the Keyword panels mean? | |
Why are new keywords being placed inside an existing keyword? | New Question |
Is there an easier way to apply lots of keywords in one go, other than typing or dragging them all? | |
Why are there only 9 keywords in the Keywords panel? | |
I mistyped a keyword and now Lightroom keeps suggesting it—how do I clear the autofill? | |
How do I remove a keyword from a photo without deleting it everywhere? | |
Is it possible to display all of the photos in a catalog that aren’t already keyworded? | |
I use multiple catalogs, but I’d like to keep my keyword list identical and current across all of the catalogs—is there an easy way? | |
How do I import my keywords from Bridge? | |
If I can import keywords from Bridge using a text file, does that mean I can create my keywords manually using a text file and then import them into Lightroom? | Updated |
How do I sort out or clear any existing keywords while importing? | New Question |
Editing the Capture Time | |
What do the different options in the Edit Capture Time dialog do? | |
The time on my camera was incorrect—how do I change it? | |
How do I sync the times on two or more cameras? | |
How do I change the date and time for scans? | |
Managing & Editing Videos | |
How do I play videos in Lightroom? | |
How do I trim videos? | |
What do Capture Frame and Set Poster Frame do? | |
How do I select a specific frame without constantly sliding the position marker back and forth? | |
I’m selecting Capture Frame—why isn’t it working? | |
Can I view video metadata such as Frame Rate? | |
Can I edit my videos in the Develop module? | |
How do I open my video in an External Editor? | |
Why does Lightroom keep asking me to install QuickTime? | |
Why doesn’t my video play? Or why doesn’t the audio on my video play? | New Question |
Sorting, Filtering & Finding Photos | |
How do I change my sort order? | |
Can I set a default sort order regardless of folder? | |
How do I sort my entire catalog from earliest to latest, regardless of their folders? | |
Why can’t I drag and drop into a custom sort order or User Order? | |
Why does Lightroom add new photos to the end of the sort order when editing in Photoshop? | |
Why does my filter disappear when I switch folders? | |
What does the Filter Lock icon in the Filter bar do? | |
How do I filter my photos to show photos fitting certain criteria? | |
Can I save the filters I use regularly as presets? | |
How can I view all of the photos tagged with a specific keyword or keyword combination? | |
How do I view only the photos with the parent keyword directly applied, without seeing the child keywords? | |
How do I filter my photos to show… just one flag/color label/rating? | |
Can I select all photos with a specific flag, color label or rating without changing the filtering? | |
How can I use the Text filters to do AND or OR filters? | |
How do I change the Metadata filter columns? | |
How do I select multiple options within the Metadata filter columns? | |
Can I combine Text filters, Attribute filters, and Metadata filters? | |
How do I search for a specific filename? | |
Smart Collections | Change of Behavior |
Why would I use smart collections instead of standard collections or filters? | Updated |
How do I create smart collections? | Updated |
How do I find empty metadata fields which don’t have an “is empty” option? | |
How do I duplicate a smart collection? | Small Changes |
How do I transfer smart collection criteria between catalogs? | |
How do I automatically add my smart collections to new catalogs? | |
Quick Develop | |
Why is the Quick Develop panel so useful? | |
Why am I missing some Quick Develop buttons? | |
Why doesn’t my Quick Develop panel match the screenshots? | |
Why are some of the Quick Develop buttons unavailable? | |
Can I adjust any other sliders using Quick Develop? | |
Missing Files | Change of Behavior |
Lightroom thinks my photos are missing—how do I fix it? | Small Changes |
Why does Lightroom keep changing my drive letters and losing my files? | |
How do I reassign a drive letter on Windows? | |
How do I prevent missing files? | |
How do I filter for all of the missing files in my catalog? | |
I’ve renamed the files outside of Lightroom and now Lightroom thinks the photos are missing. Is it possible to recover them? | |
I’ve deleted some renamed photos. I do have backups but they have the original filenames, so Lightroom won’t recognize them. Is it possible to relink them? | |
I accidentally deleted my photos from my hard drive and I don’t have backups! Can I create JPEGs from Lightroom’s previews? | Updated |
If the original files have been lost or damaged, can I upgrade the Smart Previews to Master files? | New Question |
Map Module | |
Navigating the Map | |
How do I zoom in or out? | |
How do I switch between different map styles? | |
I closed the marker key—how do I bring it back? | |
What do the icons mean? | |
What’s the difference between a group and a cluster of photos? | |
Why are the map markers bouncing? | |
How do I avoid accidentally moving a marker? | |
Why would I want to turn the marker lock on? | |
Why are there circles on my map? | |
How do I show or hide the Location Name overlay? | |
How do I view the photos attached to each location marker? | |
How do I find a location on the map? | |
Why isn’t my location search finding the correct location when I search by name? | |
Adding Location Metadata Using the Map | |
How do I mark photos on the map? | |
How do I add photos to an existing location? | Change of Behavior |
How do I use the Map Filter bar? | |
How do I find photos that have no location metadata? | |
What’s the quickest way to add location information to my existing photos? | Change of Behavior |
Adding Location Metadata Using Tracklogs | |
Where do I get a tracklog from? | |
Which tracklog formats can Lightroom understand? | |
How do I import my tracklog? | |
How do I match the tracklog with my photos? | |
How do I apply a timezone offset? | |
My camera time doesn’t quite match the tracklog—how do I fix it? | |
Changing Location Metadata | |
How do I move a photo or group of photos to a different location? | |
Why can’t I move a group marker? | |
How do I change the location for a single photo which is currently grouped with other photos? | |
How do I delete location information? | |
Using Saved Locations | |
How do I create a saved location? | |
How do I change a saved location? | |
What does the lock icon on the central spot mean? | |
Can I have saved locations within other saved locations? | |
How do I return to a saved location? | |
Searching For Photos Using Location Metadata | |
How do I find a photo on the map? | |
How do I see which way I was facing when I took the photo? | New Question |
Is a Google Map link available for a GPS location of a photo? | |
How do I change the unit of measurement for the GPS altitude? | New Question |
How do I filter for all of the photos at a specific location? | |
Reverse Geocoding | |
Should I turn on reverse geocoding in Catalog Settings? | |
Will reverse geocoding overwrite my existing location data? | |
I’ve just turned on reverse geocoding—how do I trigger the reverse geocoding for existing photos? | |
What happens if I turn off reverse geocoding and then turn it on later? | |
Why is reverse geocoding not working? | |
How do I wipe existing location metadata as a batch to replace it with reverse geocoded data? | |
Is it possible to connect certain IPTC fields or keywords with each GPS location, so adding images would automatically populate that data? | |
How do I make the reverse geocoded data permanent? | |
Saving Location Metadata to the Files | |
Can I save my location metadata in the files? | |
Can I prevent location metadata being included in exported files? | |
Troubleshooting the Map Module | |
What limitations does the Map module have? | |
Why can’t I import my tracklog? | |
Why does it say “We have no imagery here” or “Map is Offline”? | |
Working with Catalogs | |
Managing Catalogs | |
How do I create a new catalog and switch between catalogs? | |
How do I find my catalog on the hard drive? | |
Why do I have a few different files for my catalog? | Change of Behavior |
How much space will Lightroom’s catalog take up on my hard drive? | New Question |
What does the catalog contain? | |
Is there a maximum number of photos a catalog can hold? | Small Changes |
Is there a maximum number of photos before Lightroom’s performance starts to degrade? | Small Changes |
Is there a maximum image size that Lightroom can catalog? | |
Can I rename my catalog? | Small Changes |
How do I set or change my default catalog? | |
How can I remove everything I’ve done and start again? | |
What general maintenance will keep my catalogs in good shape? | |
Single or Multiple Catalogs | |
Should I use one big catalog, or multiple smaller catalogs? | Small Changes |
Can I search across multiple catalogs? | |
How do I set default Catalog Settings to use for all new catalogs? | |
I seem to have 2 catalogs. I only use 1, so can I delete the other? | |
How do I merge multiple catalogs into one larger catalog? | |
How do I split my catalog into multiple smaller catalogs? | |
How do I transfer photos between catalogs? | |
I have multiple catalogs with duplicate photos and I’ve been working in all of them—how do I untangle the mess? | Small Changes |
Making and Restoring Backups | Small Changes |
I run my own backup system—do I have to let Lightroom run backups too? | |
Does Lightroom back up the photos as well as the catalog? | Small Changes |
How do I back up Lightroom? | |
I back up photos using the Import dialog—isn’t that enough? | |
How often should I back up my catalog? | |
How do I run a catalog backup on demand? | |
Where does Lightroom save the backups? | |
How do I change the backup location? | |
Should I turn on ‘Test integrity’ and ‘Optimize catalog’ each time I back up? | |
Can I delete the oldest backups? | |
Is it safe to have Time Machine back up the catalog? | |
I’m worried about keeping all changes in one catalog—are there any other options? | |
I haven’t got time to back up now—can I postpone the backup? | |
How can I quickly back up recent changes without waiting for my huge catalog to back up? | |
Why does Lightroom say it’s unable to backup? | |
How do I restore a catalog backup? | |
How do I restore everything from backups? | |
If I’m restoring from backups, does the catalog or the XMP data take priority? | |
Smart Previews | New Question |
What’s the difference between Previews and Smart Previews? | New Question |
How do I build Smart Previews? | New Question |
Where are Smart Previews stored? | New Question |
How do I check which photos have Smart Previews? | New Question |
How can I tell whether I’m using an original photo or a Smart Preview? | New Question |
What can I use Smart Previews for? | New Question |
What are the limitations of Smart Previews? | New Question |
Working with Multiple Machines | Small Changes |
I need to work on my photos on my desktop and my laptop—what are my options? | Change of Behavior |
How does Export as Catalog work? | Change of Behavior |
What are the limitations of offline files? | Change of Behavior |
How does Import from Catalog work? | |
Are there any limitations when importing and exporting catalogs? | |
How can I use my presets on both computers? | |
How do I use symbolic links with Dropbox to keep my presets synchronized? | Small Changes |
How do I use a portable catalog with originals, for example, the whole catalog on an external drive with the photos? | |
How do I use a portable catalog without originals, for example, the whole catalog copied without the photos? | |
Can I share my catalog between 2 computers using Dropbox? | |
How do I upload and start editing on my laptop, and then transfer that back to the main catalog? | |
How do I export part of my catalog to another computer and then merge the changes back later? | |
Can I synchronize two computers? | |
Can I share my catalog with multiple users on the same machine? | |
Is it possible to have the catalog stored on a Network Accessible Storage unit (NAS) but open it on a single machine? | Updated |
Can one catalog be opened simultaneously by several workstations across a network? | |
XMP | |
Why would I want settings written to XMP? | |
Which of Lightroom’s data isn’t stored in XMP? | |
Where are the XMP files for my JPEG/TIFF/PSD/DNG files? | |
How do I write settings to XMP? | |
Should I turn on ‘Automatically write changes into XMP’? | Updated |
What’s the difference between ‘Save Metadata to Files’ and ‘Update DNG Preview & Metadata’? | |
Should I check or uncheck ‘Include Develop settings in metadata inside JPEG, TIFF, and PSD files’? | |
How do XMP files relate to the catalog? | |
Can I view the content of my XMP sidecar files? | |
XMP has been updated on another program or computer. Why don’t the changes show in Lightroom? | |
When resolving metadata conflicts, is there a way to preview what will happen? | Updated |
Lightroom says it can’t write to XMP—how do I fix it? | |
Is it possible to use XMP files to allow some degree of sharing across the network? | |
When I used ACR I only kept the XMP files archived—can’t I just do that? | |
Moving Lightroom | Updated |
How do I move only my catalog to another hard drive, leaving the photos where they are? | |
How do I move only my photos to another hard drive, leaving the catalog where it is? | |
How do I archive photos to offline hard drives? | Updated |
How do I archive photos to CD/DVD/Blu-Ray? | |
How do I move my complete catalog & photos to another hard drive on the same computer? | Small Changes |
How do I move my catalog, photos and other Lightroom files to a new computer? | Updated |
How do I move my catalog & photos from Windows to Mac or vice versa? | Small Changes |
Develop Module | |
Raw File Rendering | |
Why do my raw photos change color? When the first preview appears, it looks just like it did on the camera—how do I stop it changing? | |
I set my camera to black & white. Why is Lightroom changing them back to color? | |
How do other programs like iView, PhotoMechanic, Apple’s Preview, Windows Explorer, Breezebrowser, etc., get it right? | |
There are some hot pixels on my sensor in other programs, but I can’t see them in Lightroom. Where have they gone? | |
Process Versions | Small Changes |
Which settings are affected by the process version? | |
Where has the process version exclamation mark gone? | New Question |
Which process version should I use? | |
How do I switch between process versions? | Change of Behavior |
Should I update all of my photos to PV2012? Or, why has updating my photos to PV2012 spoiled their appearance? | Updated |
How do I find photos set to older process versions? | Small Changes |
Why are my new imports set to PV2003 or PV2010 instead of the most recent process version? | |
White Balance | |
Where should I be clicking with the White Balance Eyedropper? | |
The White Balance Eyedropper disappears every time I click anything—how do I keep it turned on? | |
Why don’t the Temp and Tint sliders have the proper white balance scale when I’m working on JPEGs? | |
Where have the other White Balance presets gone, such as Cloudy and Flash? | |
Why is Lightroom showing different Kelvin values than I set in my camera custom white balance? | |
Can I change the eyedropper averaging? | |
How do I adjust for an extreme white balance, under 2000k or over 50000k? | |
Basic Adjustments | New Question |
I’m upgrading from a previous Lightroom version and I’m in a hurry—can you summarize the changes to the Basic panel? | |
What does the Exposure slider do? | |
How do I decide where to set the Exposure slider? | |
What does the Contrast slider do? | |
What does the Highlights slider do? | |
What does the Shadows slider do? | |
Why doesn’t the Highlights or Shadows slider seem to do much? | |
What do the Whites and Blacks sliders do? | |
I’ve heard that the new sliders are ‘adaptive’—what does that mean? | |
Why are the sliders in the wrong order? | |
Why is Lightroom showing me the old Develop sliders instead of the new ones? | |
How do the new sliders behave with raw vs. rendered photos? | |
How do I turn off the auto highlight recovery to blow a white background? | |
What does the Clarity slider do? | |
What’s the difference between Vibrance and Saturation? | Updated |
Working with Sliders & Targeted Adjustment Tool | |
The slider movements are too coarse—how can I adjust them? | Small Changes |
How do I apply Auto settings to individual sliders? | |
Does it matter in which order I apply sliders? | Updated |
How do I use the TAT, or Targeted Adjustment tool? | |
Why are some slider values dimmed? | |
Tone Curves | |
How do I use the standard Parametric Tone Curve? | |
What do the three triangular sliders docked at the base of the Tone Curve do? | |
How do I use the Point Curve? | Small Changes |
Where have the Tone Curve sliders gone? | |
Which PV2012 Point Curve is the equivalent of Strong Contrast in PV2010 for raw photos? | |
HSL, Color, B&W & Split Toning | |
What is the HSL panel used for? | |
What’s the difference between the HSL and Color panels? | |
How do I create a Black & White photo? | |
How do I use the Split Tone panel? | |
How do I create a Sepia photo? | |
Why is Lightroom adding a colored tint to my Black & White photo? | |
How do I create a B&W photo with some areas in color? | New Question |
Adjusting Multiple Photos | |
How do I copy or synchronize my settings with other photos? | |
Why won’t my white balance sync? | |
What does ‘Match Total Exposures’ in the Settings menu do? | |
Can I make relative adjustments, for example, brighten all selected photos by 1 stop? | |
Before / After Views | |
Can I see a Before / After preview? | |
How do I select a different history state for the Before view? | |
Can I turn off the effect of a whole panel’s settings, to see the preview with and without those settings? | |
Histogram & RGB Values | |
Is it possible to see clipping warnings? Or, why are there red and blue areas on my photos? | |
Why does the Histogram look different when I open the exported sRGB photo in Photoshop? Why are my highlights clipping in Photoshop but not in Lightroom? | |
Can I view RGB values using a normal 0-255 scale? | |
Can I change the RGB values to L*a*b*? | New Question |
Soft-Proofing | |
I don’t have a printer—is soft proofing useful to me? | |
How do I turn on soft proofing? | |
How do I select the profile for soft proofing? | |
How do I add additional profiles for soft proofing? | |
Why can’t Lightroom find my profile? | |
Should I select Perceptual or Relative Colorimetric? | |
Should I check ‘Simulate Paper & Ink’ when viewing my soft proof? | |
Can I change the background color surrounding the photo while soft proofing? | |
What’s the difference between Destination Gamut and Monitor Gamut warnings? | |
What should I do if some colors are out of gamut? | |
How should I adjust the photo while viewing the soft proof? | |
How do I compare my proof adjusted photo with the original? | Small Changes |
What is ‘Saved State’ when using Before/After preview with soft proofing? | |
How do I save my photo after adjusting it for a specific profile? | |
How can I tell which profile I used for a particular photo? | Change of Behavior |
Can I export a soft proof adjusted version with a note to say which profile I was using? | |
How do I find all my soft proof copies? | |
Presets | |
Where can I download Develop presets? | |
How do I install Develop presets? | |
How do I preview and apply presets to my photos? | |
How do I create my own Develop Presets? | |
How can I organize my presets into folders or groups? | |
How do I rename Develop presets? | |
How do I remove the default Develop presets? | |
How do I uninstall Develop presets? | |
Where have my presets gone? | |
Can I apply multiple presets to the same photo, layering the effects? | |
I have some Develop presets that I use in ACR in CS5—can I use them in Lightroom? | |
Why do my presets look wrong when used on JPEG/TIFF/PSD files, even though they work on raw files? | |
How are presets affected by the process version? Or, why aren’t my presets working properly? | |
Is there a way to add a keyboard shortcut to a preset? | |
Can I fade the effect of a preset? | |
Defaults | |
Why would I change the default settings instead of using a preset? | |
How do I change the default settings? | Updated |
How do I set defaults that will work correctly for PV2010 and PV2012? | |
Why would I want different defaults for each ISO and serial number combination? | |
Which settings should I use as the defaults? | |
Snapshots & Virtual Copies | |
Why would I want to use virtual copies? | Updated |
How can I quickly identify virtual copies? | |
When would I use a snapshot instead of a virtual copy? | |
Can I rename virtual copies? | |
Can I convert virtual copies into snapshots and vice versa? | |
Can I swap virtual copies for masters and vice versa? | |
What do Sync Copies and Sync Snapshots do? | |
History & Reset | |
How do I reset a single slider or panel section to its default setting? | |
How do I reset photos back to their default settings? | |
If I don’t like the last adjustment I made, can I just undo that step, rather than resetting everything? | |
How long do the adjustments stay in the History panel? | |
What does the X or Clear History button on the History panel do? | New Question |
Detail—Sharpening & Noise Reduction | |
Why are my pictures softer and noisier than in other programs? | |
What is multiple pass sharpening? | |
How do the sharpening sliders interact? | Updated |
How do I use the different Noise Reduction sliders? | |
Can I apply or remove sharpening or noise reduction selectively? | |
Lens & Perspective Corrections | Change of Behavior |
How do I apply automated lens and perspective corrections to my photo? | New Question |
How do I select the right profile for my lens? | Updated |
Why is the lens profile not selected automatically? | |
How do I set a default lens profile? | |
In the Setup pop-up menu, what’s the difference between Default, Auto & Custom? | |
How do the Amount sliders interact with the profile? | |
Can I use the profiled lens corrections to correct the vignette without removing the distortion, or vice versa? | |
Can I turn on the lens corrections by default? | |
What are my options if my lens profile isn’t available? | |
How do I use the Lens Profile Downloader? | Small Changes |
Why is the lens profile available for some photos and not others, all from the same camera? | Small Changes |
How do I create a Lens Profile using the Lens Profile Creator? | |
Does it matter which camera body is used when creating a lens profile? | Small Changes |
Why can’t Lightroom find my custom profiles? | |
How do I fix Chromatic Aberration or colored fringes? | Change of Behavior |
What is Upright? | New Question |
What do the different Upright buttons do? Which one should I use? | New Question |
Why doesn’t Upright move the Manual perspective sliders? | New Question |
When do I need to press Reanalyze? | New Question |
How do I stop Upright clearing my crop? | New Question |
How do I reduce the effect of the Upright correction? | New Question |
What do the Manual Transform Lens Corrections sliders do? | Change of Behavior |
How do I turn off the grid overlay? | Small Changes |
How is the Rotate slider different from Straighten in the Crop options? | Small Changes |
How is the Scale slider different to cropping? | |
What does the ‘Constrain Crop’ checkbox do? | Change of Behavior |
Why doesn’t the Lens Correction Vignette adjust to the Crop boundaries? | |
Can I save Manual lens corrections as defaults for lenses? | |
What’s the difference between syncing Upright Mode vs. Upright Transforms? | Updated |
Effects—Post-Crop Vignette & Grain | |
What’s the difference between Highlight Priority, Color Priority and Paint Overlay? | |
How do the Post-Crop Vignette sliders interact? | |
How do the Grain sliders interact? | |
Why does my grain not always look exactly the same in the exported file as in the Develop preview? | |
Can I do an off-center vignette? | New Question |
Calibration Profiles & Styles | |
How do I install and use the profiles? | |
Which are the profiles for my camera? | |
Why does my Nikon D300 have D2X profiles? | |
Why does the profile pop-up menu just say ‘Embedded’? | |
Why do I only have Matrix listed? | |
The ACR version number in the Calibration section is an old version—how do I update it? | |
DNG Profile Editor | |
Why is the DNG Profile Editor better than the Calibration sliders? | |
Can I use the profiles on proprietary raw files, not just DNG? | |
Why doesn’t it use ICC profiles? | |
Where do I download the DNG Profile Editor? | |
How do I use the DNG Profile Editor? It looks complicated! | |
Is there a simpler way of creating a DNG Profile for my camera? | |
Cropping | |
Why does the crop go in the wrong direction when I try and move the grid around? | |
How do I crop a vertical portion from a horizontal photo? | |
Can I zoom while cropping? | Updated |
How do I change the crop ratio? | New Question |
How do I set a custom crop aspect ratio? | |
How do I delete a custom crop aspect ratio? | |
Can I set a default crop ratio? | Small Changes |
How do I fix my crop ratio so it doesn’t change when I resize it? | |
How do I view or clear my in-camera crop? | New Question |
How do I change the Crop Overlay? | Change of Behavior |
Is it possible to change the Crop Overlay color? | |
How do I straighten or rotate a photo? | |
Can a crop be saved in a preset? | |
Is there a way to see what the new pixel dimensions will be without interpolation? | |
Spot Removal—Clone & Heal Tools | Change of Behavior |
How do I retouch a circular spot? | Change of Behavior |
How do I retouch a line or other non-circular shape? | New Question |
How do I adjust the brush size or the size of an existing spot? | Change of Behavior |
How do I adjust the opacity of an existing spot? | |
How do I move or delete an existing spot? | Change of Behavior |
Can I copy or synchronize the clone/heal spots? | Updated |
What’s the difference between Clone mode and Heal mode? | Updated |
How do I use Visualize Spots to quickly find dust spots? | New Question |
What are the limitations of the Lightroom’s Spot Removal tools? | New Question |
Red Eye Correction Tool | |
How do I work the Red Eye Correction tool? | |
Lightroom’s Red Eye Correction tool can’t lock on to the red eye—is there anything I can do to help it? | |
Why doesn’t the Red Eye Correction tool work properly on my dog’s green eyes? | Updated |
Local Adjustments—Gradients & Brushes | Small Changes |
What does the Adjustment Brush do? | New Question |
Why would I use the Adjustment Brush rather than editing a photo in Photoshop? | Small Changes |
How do I create a new brush mask? | Updated |
How do I choose the size and softness of my brush? | Updated |
What’s the difference between Flow & Density? | |
How do I use a Wacom tablet with Lightroom’s adjustment brush? | |
How do I erase brush strokes? | New Question |
What does Auto Mask do? | |
Why are there speckles in the brushed area? | |
Why is nothing happening when I brush over the photo? | |
What’s the difference between a Graduated Filter and a Radial Filter? | New Question |
How do I create a new Graduated Filter mask? | Updated |
How do I adjust a Graduated Filter? | Updated |
How do I create a new Radial Filter? | New Question |
Why is the Radial Filter affecting the outside of the circle instead of the inside? | New Question |
How do I adjust a Radial Filter? | New Question |
How do I control the blending or feathering for Graduated and Radial Filters? | New Question |
Where have my mask pins gone? | |
How can I tell whether I’m creating a new mask or editing an existing mask? | Small Changes |
How do I reselect and edit an existing mask? | |
How do I show the mask I’ve created? | |
How do I fade the effect of an existing mask? | |
Can I change the color of the mask overlay? | |
Can I layer the effect of multiple masks? | |
Can I duplicate a mask? | New Question |
Can I invert the mask? | Change of Behavior |
Can I synchronize my settings with other photos? | |
How do I set default slider settings? | New Question |
How do I save sets of slider settings as a preset? | New Question |
Can I save brush strokes or gradients as presets? | Updated |
How can I tell if I’m applying a color tint when using the Adjustment Brush? | |
Can I select a color tint from the photo itself? | |
How do I paint with black or white using the adjustment brush? | New Question |
Can I brush on a lens blur effect? | Updated |
If I apply sharpening using the Adjustment Brush, where do I adjust the Radius, Detail and Masking? | |
How do I fix Moiré? | |
Why does a negative Noise brush add more noise? And why would you want to add moiré? | |
Editing in Other Programs | |
Using External Editors | Small Changes |
How do I send a photo to an External Editor? | New Question |
How do I change my Edit In file settings? | Updated |
In the Edit in options, should I choose TIFF or PSD? | Updated |
How do I set up an Additional External Editor? Can I have more than one? | Updated |
Can I change other External Editor settings, such as a custom subfolder and a different filename for each editor, or a different file format? | |
Where does Edit In save the edited file? | Updated |
When in my workflow should I use Edit in Photoshop or other External Editors? | |
Can I open the raw file into another raw processor? | |
Editing in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements | New Question |
Lightroom can’t find Photoshop to use Edit in Photoshop—how do I fix it? | |
Lightroom can’t find Photoshop Elements to use Edit in Photoshop—how do I fix it? | New Question |
How do I get Lightroom to use a different version of Photoshop? | Small Changes |
Why isn’t Lightroom opening my photo as a TIFF or PSD file according to my preferences? | Small Changes |
What’s the difference between Edit Original, Edit a Copy, or Edit a Copy with Lightroom Adjustments? | Small Changes |
How do I open my layered file back into Photoshop without flattening it? | |
What do the other options in the Edit In menu do? | Small Changes |
Adobe Camera Raw Compatibility for Photoshop | |
How do I check which Lightroom and ACR versions I have installed? | |
Which ACR version do I need for the settings to be fully compatible? | Change of Behavior |
What happens if I’m still using an older version of ACR and Photoshop? | Change of Behavior |
What’s the difference between Render Using Lightroom and Open Anyway in the ACR mismatch dialog? | |
Can I open a raw file directly into the ACR dialog? | |
If I use ACR to convert, having saved the settings to XMP, will the result be identical to Lightroom? | |
I’d prefer to let Bridge run the conversion to JPEG using Image Processor to run an action. Is it possible? | |
Why is Bridge not seeing the raw adjustments I’ve made in Lightroom? | |
Merging Photos for HDR or Panorama | New Question |
How do I create a 32-bit HDR file for tone-mapping in Lightroom? | New Question |
How do I use Develop for 32-bit tone mapping? | New Question |
How do I create a panoramic photo? | New Question |
Rendered Files (JPEG/PSD/TIFF) | |
Raw Files | |
Export | |
Export Locations & File Naming | |
Can I set Lightroom to automatically export back to the same folder as the original? | |
Can I set Lightroom to automatically re-import the exported files? | |
Why is the ‘Add to Stack’ checkbox unavailable? | |
Can I set Lightroom to overwrite the original when exporting? | |
Can I stop Lightroom asking me what to do when it finds an existing file with the same name? | |
How do I burn the exported files to CD or DVD? | |
How do I change the filename while exporting? | |
Video & File Settings | |
How do I export or save my edited videos? | |
What’s the equivalent of JPEG quality…? | |
How do I set Lightroom to a JPEG level 0-12 so that Photoshop doesn’t ask me every time I save? | |
Why won’t Photoshop allow me to save my Lightroom file as a JPEG? | |
Should I choose 8-bit or 16-bit? | |
I am a high volume photographer (weddings, sports, etc.)—do I have to convert to PSD or TIFF for light retouching, or can I use JPEG? | |
Color Space | |
Which color space should I use? | |
Why do my photos look different in Photoshop? | |
Why do my photographs look different in Windows Explorer or on the Web? | Small Changes |
Can I export with a custom ICC profile? | |
Image Sizing & Resolution | |
What’s the difference between Width & Height, Dimensions, Longest Edge, Shortest Edge & Megapixels? | |
When I enter 4×6 as my output size, why do the vertical photos become 4×6 but the horizontal photos become 2.5×4? | |
What does the ‘Don’t Enlarge’ checkbox do? | |
What PPI setting should I enter in the Export dialog? | |
When I crop to 8×10 in Lightroom and then open in Photoshop, why is it not 8”x10”? | |
Is it better to upsize in Lightroom or in Photoshop? | Updated |
Can I export to a specific file size? | Small Changes |
Output Sharpening | |
Why does the Export Sharpening only have a few options? How can I control it? | |
Which Export Sharpening setting applies more sharpening—screen, matte or glossy? | |
Protecting your Copyright with Watermarking | |
Can I strip the metadata from my files, like Save for Web in Photoshop? | |
What is ‘Simple Copyright Watermark’ in the watermark menu? | |
How do I create a decorative text or graphical watermark? | |
Are the watermarks intelligent for vertical and horizontal images? | |
Which file formats can I use for the graphical watermark? | |
Can I overwrite an existing watermark? | |
Where can I use my watermarks? | |
How do I change the watermark placement for each photo? | |
Can I create more complex watermarks, such as text and a graphic? | |
Post-Processing Actions & Droplets | |
Can I run a Photoshop action from Lightroom? | |
The droplet runs, but it doesn’t save—what have I done wrong? | |
The droplet runs, but it keeps asking what JPEG compression to use—what have I done wrong? | |
The droplet doesn’t run at all—why not? | |
The droplet only works on some of the photos and then stops—what’s wrong? | |
In my droplet I used a ‘Save for Web’ instead of a standard ‘Save As’—why won’t it overwrite the original file? | |
Emailing Photos | |
How do I email my photos from Lightroom via my desktop email software? | |
How do I set up my email account within Lightroom? | |
What SMTP settings do I need for my email host? | |
How do I email my photos from Lightroom directly? | |
How do I select which email address to send from? | |
How do I set the size of the photos I want to email? | |
Can I save a custom Email preset including extra settings, such as a watermark or a different file format? | |
Can I access my main email address book? | |
How do I use Lightroom’s address book? | |
Why doesn’t it have space for me to type an email message? | |
Will a copy of my sent email appear in my normal email program? | |
Why does it say my email information is incomplete? | Small Changes |
Plug-ins | |
What plug-ins are currently available? | Small Changes |
How do I install Lightroom plug-ins? | |
Where should I store my plug-ins? | |
Why can’t I remove this Lightroom plug-in? | |
How do I use Lightroom plug-ins? | |
Can I export directly to an FTP server? | |
Other Export Questions & Troubleshooting | |
Can I save my Export settings as a preset? | |
Do I have to use the Export dialog every time I export? | |
Why can’t CS2 save as JPEG when I’ve used Local Adjustments on the photo? | |
It gives an error message—‘Some export operations were not performed. The file could not be written.’ or ‘The file could not be found.’ What went wrong? | |
The files appear in the export folder and then disappear again. Why is Lightroom deleting them? | |
Why are my adjustments not being applied to my exported file? | |
How can I tell whether a photo has been exported? | |
Publish Services | |
Getting Started with Publish Services | Change of Behavior |
Where’s my favorite photo sharing website? | Small Changes |
What is Behance? | New Question |
What can I use the Hard Drive option for? | |
Setting Up your Publish Service Accounts | |
How do I set up my Flickr or Facebook Publish Services account? | Small Changes |
Flickr | |
Can I choose the size of the photos to upload? | |
How do I prevent it uploading a particular version of a photo? | |
How do I control which keywords are visible on my published photos? | |
Which settings should I use for Flickr’s Privacy & Safety? | |
Can I have more than one account for each service connected to my catalog? | |
Can I have the same account connected to multiple catalogs? | |
How do I disconnect Lightroom from my account? | |
Creating Collections, Photosets & Albums | |
Can I divide my photos into different collections? | |
How do I add photos into a photoset that already exists on Flickr? | |
How do I add photos into an album that already exists on Facebook? | |
Synchronizing Changes | |
How do I publish my photos? | |
Does it automatically publish changes I make to my photos? | |
How do I update my service with the changes I’ve made to my photos? | |
How do I mark photos as already published, so they don’t upload again? | |
How do I remove photos from the service? | |
How do I remove photos from my Lightroom catalog without removing them from the website? | |
I didn’t mean to remove a photo from a collection—how do I restore it? | |
I deleted a photo on the web interface—how do I upload it again? | |
What happens if I rename a photo and then republish it? | |
Flickr Account Questions | |
What are the limitations of the Free vs. Pro Flickr accounts? | |
I’ve switched to a Flickr Pro account—how do I tell Lightroom? | |
What does ‘Flickr API returned an error message (function upload, message Not a Pro Account)’ mean? | |
Publish Services Troubleshooting | |
I accidentally revoked the authorization on the Flickr or Facebook website—how do I fix it? | |
Can I use Export as Catalog to transfer my Publish collections between catalogs? | Small Changes |
Why is the Comments panel unavailable? | |
Book Module | |
The Book Workspace | |
How I do zoom in on book pages? | |
What is Page Bleed? | |
What is Text Safe Area? | |
Why are there numbers on the photos in the Filmstrip? | |
Working with Pages & Templates | |
How do I start a clean book? | |
How do I select a book size and type? | |
How do I add a new page? | |
What’s the difference between Add Page and Add Blank Page? | |
How many pages can I have in my book? | |
How do I put multiple photos on a page, or create a double-page spread? | |
What’s the difference between the grey cells and the white ones with grey lines? | |
What’s the difference between the Clean, Creative, Portfolio, Travel & Wedding sets? | |
How do I select a page without moving its contents? | |
How do I change the template for an existing page? | |
How do I rearrange the page order? | |
How do I insert a page between existing pages? | |
How do I delete pages? | |
Why can’t I delete the last page? | |
Can I duplicate a page? Or can I copy the layout from a previous page? | |
Can I change the size of the photo or text cells? | |
Can I link opposite cell padding sliders, to move multiple sliders in one go? | |
Favorite & Custom Templates | Change of Behavior |
How do I create a favorite template? | Change of Behavior |
How do I save custom page templates? | New Question |
How do I reuse my favorite or custom templates? | Small Changes |
How do I remove a template from my favorites or custom pages? | Updated |
Auto Layout | |
How do I use Auto Layout? | |
How do I create my own Auto Layout preset? | |
What does ‘Match Long Edges’ do? | |
How do I control which metadata is used for Photo Captions when using Auto Layout? | |
Why does Auto Layout say I don’t have any favorites? | |
Why isn’t Auto Layout doing anything? | |
Working with Photos | |
How do I add a photo to a page? | |
How do I add all of the visible photos to my book in one go? | |
How do I rearrange or swap the photos? | |
How do I zoom into a photo? | Updated |
If the photo doesn’t fill the cell, how do I adjust the position? | |
If I’ve changed the zoom, how do I change it back to Fill automatically? | |
Can I set it to automatically fit the photos to the cells, rather than filling the cell? | |
How do I remove a photos? | |
How can I tell which photos I’ve used so far? | |
Can I filter to see which photos are currently used in my book? | Small Changes |
Do I have to fill all of the cells on the page? | |
What does the exclamation mark on the photo mean? | |
When I’ve finished designing the book, can I go back and apply further Develop changes? | |
Page Styles & Settings | |
How do I change the background color of my pages? | |
How do I add a photo as a page background? | |
How do I add automatic page numbers? | New Question |
Adding Text to Your Book | Small Changes |
What’s the difference between Page Text, Photo Text and text cells on page templates? | Change of Behavior |
How do I add basic text to a page? | Change of Behavior |
How do I automatically enter text based on metadata? | Change of Behavior |
Why is the text field not updating when I change the related photo? | |
I’ve changed the metadata—how do I update the text in the book to match? | |
How do I change the default text? | |
How do I remove text captions? | |
Can Lightroom check my spelling? | |
Can I zoom in closer to read the text? | |
How do I remove the placeholder text? | |
How do I see where the text cells are? | |
How do I position the text on the page? | Change of Behavior |
What’s the red square marker with a cross in the middle? | |
Text Formatting | |
How do I change the text color? | |
I’m adjusting Type sliders—why is nothing changing? | |
How do I adjust the line height? | |
What are Tracking, Baseline, Leading and Kerning? | |
How do I use the Text Targeted Adjustment Tool? | |
How do I adjust the horizontal and vertical alignment? | |
What is the gutter? | |
How do I change the text style on multiple text cells? | |
Can I save my text style to apply to other cells? | |
Why doesn’t selecting the ‘Title-Sans Serif’ preset fill in the photo Title metadata? | |
Designing the Cover | |
How do I add spine text? | |
How do I change the spine or cover color? | |
How do I wrap a photo around the cover, including across the spine? | |
Saving Books | |
How do I save my book? | |
What’s the difference between a saved book and an unsaved book? | |
How do I edit my saved book? | |
How do I create a snapshot of my book, in case I make changes and want to go back to a previous version? | |
How do I save my book layout as a template for use on other photos? | |
Exporting & Printing Books | |
Who are Blurb? | |
Why are other vendors not available for printing books? | |
How do I save my book as a PDF? | |
What’s the difference between a PDF and a Blurb PDF? | |
What quality, color profile, resolution and sharpening settings should I select for my PDF book or JPEGs? | Small Changes |
How do I save my book as JPEGs? | New Question |
How do I select quality, color profile, resolution and sharpening for a Blurb book? | |
Can I view a soft proof of my Blurb book? | |
Which cover style and paper should I select? | Change of Behavior |
If I want to change paper after uploading, do I have to upload the whole book again? | New Question |
How much will my Blurb book cost? | |
What is the Logo Page? | |
How do I send my book to Blurb? | |
Slideshow Module | |
Styles & Settings | |
How do I create my first slideshow? | Change of Behavior |
How do I add my Identity Plate to my slideshow? | |
How do I adjust the anchor point? | |
How do I add captions to the slides? | |
How do I change the font on my text overlays? | |
How do I remove the quotation marks when a caption is blank? | |
How do I change the background? | |
What does Zoom to Fill Frame do? | |
Can I add Intro and Ending slides? | |
Can I advance the slides manually, but still have them fade from one to the next? | |
Can I rate photos while a slideshow is running? | |
How do I make the slideshow display on my second screen? | Small Changes |
Music | |
How do I select or change the music track? | Small Changes |
Which music formats can Lightroom play? | |
How do I choose whether to play the video soundtrack or the slideshow music? | New Question |
How do I adjust the slide timings to fit the length of the music track? | |
How do I work around the lack of individual slide durations? | |
Why can’t Lightroom find my iTunes playlists? | |
How do I play multiple different music tracks during my slideshow? | |
Saving Slideshows | |
How do I save my slideshow? | |
How do I edit my saved slideshow? | |
How do I save my slideshow settings as a template for use on other photos? | |
How do I select which template will be used for an Impromptu Slideshow? | |
Exporting Slideshows | |
Can I export my slideshow to run in a DVD player? | |
Can I export my slideshow for viewing on the web? | |
Can I export the slideshow with the music? | |
Where has the Export to JPEG option gone? | |
I exported to PDF, but it doesn’t automatically start the slideshow when I open the PDF. Why not? | |
Which movie size option should I choose? | |
Errors | |
Why does it stall part way through the slideshow or go much slower than the times I’d chosen? | |
Everything appears to be running correctly, then the screen just goes plain grey or black when I try to run the slideshow. Why? | |
Print Module | |
Laying Out your Photos | |
How do I set up a single borderless print, for example, a 4×6 snapshot? | Small Changes |
How do I set up for a simple print, for example, a 5” x 7” print on 8” x 10” paper? | New Question |
Why won’t my photo print without adding white borders along 2 edges or cutting off some of the photo? | New Question |
How do I change the page size and paper orientation? | |
How do I create a contact sheet? | |
How do I select which photos to include in my contact sheet? | |
How can I change the order of contact sheet photos? | |
How do I use Picture Package? | |
What does the exclamation mark in the top right corner mean? | |
How do I create a Custom Package? | |
What’s a pinned or anchored cell? | |
How do I replace a photo in an existing cell? | |
How do I see the cell size? | |
How can I stop the photos being cropped by the cells? | |
How do I rotate a photo within a cell? | |
How do I move a photo within a cell? | |
How do I scroll through custom package pages? | |
Styles & Settings | |
How do I add the filename and watermark to my contact sheet? | |
Is it possible to personalize my print by changing the background color? | |
With 1 photo on a sheet, I can place the Identity Plate anywhere on the photo. Is that possible for multiple photos? | |
Saving Prints | |
How do I save my print? | |
How do I edit my saved print? | |
How do I save my print settings as a template for use on other photos? | |
Printing | |
Why do Page Setup, Print Settings and Printer buttons show the same dialog? | Small Changes |
What’s the difference between the Print and Printer… buttons? | New Question |
Which Print Sharpening option do I choose? | |
When should I turn on 16-bit printing? | |
What Print Resolution should I use in the Print module? | New Question |
What is ‘Draft Mode Printing’? | |
How do I set up my printer to match the preview I see on screen? | |
Why do Lightroom’s prints not match the preview on screen? | |
How do I compensate for prints that are too light, too dark or too flat? | |
How do I print to a file such as a JPEG to send to my lab? | |
How do I get Lightroom to see my custom printer profile? | |
Why does my custom ICC printer profile not show in Lightroom’s list of profiles? | |
Web Module | |
Styles & Settings | |
How do I create my first web gallery? | Small Changes |
The default Flash gallery appears to be capped at 500 photos—how do I increase the number of photos it can hold? | |
Is it possible to add music to the galleries? | |
Additional Galleries | |
Where can I download additional web galleries? | |
Are there any web galleries with download links or an integrated shopping cart such as PayPal? | |
How do I install new web galleries? | |
Saving Web Galleries | |
How do I save my web gallery? | |
How do I edit my saved web gallery? | |
How do I save my settings as a template for use on other photos? | |
Exporting & Uploading | |
How do I upload my gallery? | |
I changed an existing gallery—why hasn’t it changed on the website? | New Question |
Why doesn’t the FTP upload work—it says ‘Remote Disc Error’? | |
Why are my FTP settings not saved in the templates? | |
Can I have multiple galleries on my website? | |
Is it possible to embed a web gallery into an existing website or web page? | |
Designing Your Workflow | |
Why is workflow important? | |
How should I design my workflow? | |
Now it’s time to start building your own workflow… | |
My Personal Workflow | Change of Behavior |
Stages of The Average Workflow | |
Example Workflow—Selecting Your Best Photos | |
Example Workflow—Developing Your Photos | Updated |
Example Workflow—Travel | |
Example Workflow—Taking Files Offsite | Updated |
Example Workflow—Wedding Photography | |
Troubleshooting & Performance | |
Troubleshooting Steps | |
I have a problem with Lightroom—are there any troubleshooting steps I can try? | Small Changes |
How do I reset the preferences to default? | Small Changes |
What is deleted when I delete my Preferences file? | |
I installed Lightroom, but it says ‘An error occurred while attempting to change modules’. How do I fix it? | |
Catalog Corruption | |
Why can’t I open my catalog? | |
Why can’t Lightroom open my catalog named IMG_4584.jpg.lrcat or something similar? | New Question |
How do catalogs become corrupted? | Small Changes |
How can I keep my catalogs healthy and prevent corruption? | |
Lightroom says that my catalog is corrupted—can I fix it? | |
Image & Preview Problems | |
Why do I just get grey boxes instead of previews? | |
Everything in Lightroom is a funny color, but the original photos look perfect in other programs, and the exported photos don’t look like they do in Lightroom either. What could be wrong? | |
How do I change my monitor profile to check whether it’s corrupted? | Updated |
How should I calibrate my monitor? | |
My photos have imported incorrectly rotated and distorted—how do I fix it? | |
It says ‘There was an error working with the photo’ or there’s an exclamation mark in the corner of the thumbnail and a small fuzzy preview. What’s wrong? | |
Lightroom says my preview cache is corrupted—how do I fix it? | |
Improving Performance | Small Changes |
How can I get Lightroom to import faster? | Small Changes |
How can I speed up browsing in the Library module? | Small Changes |
How can I speed up opening photos in the Develop module? | Change of Behavior |
There are so many different kinds of previews & caches—which ones do I need? | New Question |
Preview Loading Logic in the Library module | New Question |
Preview Loading Logic in the Develop module | New Question |
How do I get the most benefit from the Camera Raw Cache, aka the ACR Cache? | Updated |
Which Develop slider order is best for performance? | New Question |
How can I speed up moving files between folders? | |
It’s taking forever to delete photos—should it really take this long? | |
How can I make Lightroom export faster? | New Question |
Are there any other Lightroom tweaks to make it run faster? | Small Changes |
Are there any hardware or operating system tweaks to make Lightroom faster? | Small Changes |
Installation & Useful Information 493 | Small Changes |
Initial Installation | |
Should I buy the download or the boxed version? | |
Do I have to install the 5.0 version from my DVD before installing updates? | |
Why won’t Lightroom 5 install on my computer? | Updated |
64-bit | |
How do I install the 64-bit version? | |
How can I check whether I’m running the 32-bit or 64-bit version? | |
Upgrading from Earlier Versions | Small Changes |
How do I upgrade Lightroom? | |
Do I have to install Lightroom 1, 2, 3 or 4 if I purchased an upgrade version? | |
If I install Lightroom 5, will it overwrite my current Lightroom 4 or earlier version? | Change of Behavior |
Which catalog versions will upgrade to Lightroom 5? | |
How do I upgrade my catalog from version 4 to version 5? | |
If I upgrade, can I go back to Lightroom 4? | |
Do I have to upgrade a catalog before I can import it into version 5 using Import from Catalog? | |
What happens if I try to upgrade a catalog that I’ve already upgraded? | |
Can I uninstall or delete my previous installations? | |
Dot Releases | |
How do I check which update I’m currently running? | |
How do I find out whether my new camera is supported yet? | |
How do I update Lightroom with the latest version of ACR? | |
How do I update to a newer Lightroom dot release? | |
How do I downgrade to an earlier Lightroom dot release in the case of problems? | |
Languages | |
How do I switch language? | |
Some of the shortcuts don’t work with my language version or non-English keyboard—can I fix it? | |
Licensing Information | |
I’m switching from PC to Mac—how do I switch my Lightroom license? | |
How many machines can I install Lightroom on? | |
How do I deactivate Lightroom to move it to another machine? | |
Default File & Menu Locations | |
The default location of the Lightroom catalog is… | |
The default location of the Preferences is… | |
How do I show hidden files to find my preferences and presets? | |
The default location of the Presets is… | |
Your Develop Defaults, Lens Defaults and Custom Point Curves are stored at… | |
The default location of the Camera Raw Cache is… | |
Your custom Camera Raw & Lens Profiles should be installed to the User folders… | |
Preferences & Settings Menu Locations | |
Final Words… | |
Where else can I go to find solutions to my problems that aren’t covered here? | Small Changes |
I’ve got a great idea, or I’ve found a repeatable bug—how do I tell Adobe? | |
Register your book for additional benefits | |
Keyboard Shortcuts | Change of Behavior |
Standard Modifier Keys | |
Index | |
Appendices (PDF only) | |
Appendix 1—What’s New in Lightroom 5? | New Question |
Appendix 2—What’s Changed Since the Lightroom 4 Book? | New Question |