We’ve all seen it in our images: that uneven grainy look that makes even otherwise outstanding photos look unappealing. But how can you avoid noise? And, in cases where it’s unavoidable, how do you reduce noise in photos?

Fortunately, dealing with noise is easier than you might realize, even if you don’t own a $5000+ camera with breathtaking low-light capabilities. In this article, I’m going to share plenty of tips and tricks for both preventing and removing noise, including:

• What causes image noise
• Five simple ways to stop noise from ever appearing in your images
• A noise reduction workflow you can use to reduce noise in Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw

Sound good? Let’s dive right in, starting with the important first question:

What is noise?

In the context of digital photography, noise is aberrant pixels that appear in your image files.

In other words, noise is made up of pixels not correctly representing the color or exposure of the scene. If you photograph a dark blue wall, and in certain portions of the file, you can see speckles of white, red, or green, noise is probably the culprit!

You’re likely familiar with another type of noise: the static that you sometimes hear when you’re tuning a radio or watching TV. That static is caused by signal distortion or interference; it’s not deliberately included as part of the broadcast but is instead a result of the broadcasting process.

Technically, almost every image file contains some level of noise, even if it’s invisible to the naked eye. If you open an apparently noise-free photo and zoom in to 400%, for instance, you’ll probably start to see aberrations in the pixels, even if they’re slight. However, in this article, I’ve focused my discussion on significant noise (i.e., noise that’s visible or that threatens to become visible with small adjustments in post-processing).

Why does noise happen?

Noise is introduced when you shoot a long-exposure image or use a high ISO setting on your camera.

(What counts as a high ISO setting? That depends on your camera model, but these days, most cameras start producing noisy files around ISO 1600 or 3200.)

Does that mean you should never do long exposures or go over ISO 100? No! There are times you may need – or even want – to use long exposures or raise the ISO. Landscape photographers, event photographers, and wildlife photographers shoot in low light all the time, which requires long exposures and/or a high ISO.

At the same time, there are simple ways to avoid too much noise in your photos, even when using the above techniques, which I’ll discuss in the next section:

5 ways to reduce noise in-camera

Below, I share the five methods for minimizing noise while out shooting.

Not every method will apply to every situation, which is why it pays to be familiar with all of them – and to carefully choose the right method for your particular shot.

1. Shoot at lower ISO settings

Yes, we’re starting with the most obvious method. But photographers often push their ISO too high, too fast, leading to bad image quality.

Now, if your camera includes relatively new sensor technology, the ISO functionality will be great. You shouldn’t see too much noise creeping into your images, even up to ISO 3200. However, there might still be some noise at the higher ISO numbers, such as ISO 6400, ISO 12800, and beyond.

So don’t raise your ISO with abandon. Instead, be aware of your exposure, and recognize that shooting at a high ISO will produce more noise in your images. Boost your ISO if necessary, but consider other options before dialing in ISO 12800.

Here are a few items to think about before increasing the ISO:

• Open your aperture to its widest setting (e.g., f/2.8)
• If you are shooting in low light, use a tripod and drop your shutter speed
• If you are shooting a smaller subject (e.g., a person), use a flash

Each of these strategies will help you get a nice, bright exposure – without unnecessarily raising the ISO.

Of course, if your shots are still turning out dark, then you will need to push the ISO up higher. I’d recommend doing some test shots to find out your camera’s ISO capabilities and at what point the ISO settings start to really degrade image quality.

For many years, I shot on a Nikon D80, and I knew that anything above ISO 500 was really difficult to use. Noise at ISO 640 and beyond became difficult to remove. And if I was able to successfully remove it, the whole image looked like a watercolor painting thanks to the noise reduction process. So I worked within my constraints.

2. Shoot in RAW format

Does the idea of shooting in RAW intimidate you? It shouldn’t! RAW is a great way to get the best out of your images, so be sure to use it.

You don’t have to shoot RAW all the time. But when you notice that the light is becoming a little too dark, switch over to RAW.

Why is this so important?

JPEGs come with compression – a process during which noise becomes baked into your images. So removing noise in post-production becomes really tough (as does increasing exposure, which is often important in high-ISO situations).

3. Expose correctly from the start

Boosting a too-dark exposure will reveal noise – which is why it’s essential that you get your exposures right from the very beginning.

When out shooting, I highly recommend checking your camera’s LCD – including the histogram – to make sure you’ve nailed the exposure.

And don’t be afraid to take several shots at different exposures, especially if you’re dealing with a tricky scene; better to be safe than sorry!

Also, the higher your ISO, the more unforgiving the file. In other words: If you’re using a high ISO, you had better get the exposure right, because boosting an underexposed high-ISO image will result in a noisy mess.

(Of course, don’t overexpose, either. While overexposure won’t cause problems with noise, it will obliterate detail, which is never a good thing.)

4. Be careful when doing long exposures

Long exposures produce some of the most dramatic images.

But if the exposure is too long, the camera sensor may heat up, causing unwanted noise.

Don’t let this stop you from doing long exposures – if you love long exposures, then do long exposures – just be aware of how your camera handles the long exposure time.

In fact, you might consider shooting a series of long exposures, then checking each file on your computer for noise.

Then, once you’ve determined your camera’s limitations, make sure you don’t set your shutter speed for longer than your camera can handle.

The key point here is to know the limits of your gear and to shoot within those limits. You’ll end up with great images and have an easy time when editing.

5. Use in-camera noise reduction

Most cameras offer a function called Long Exposure Noise Reduction, and if you’re doing long exposures, it’s a good idea to turn it on.

Why?

Well, as discussed above, long exposure photos are especially prone to noise. A long exposure noise reduction option is designed to counteract this issue – by taking a second shot after the first, then using the noise profile of the second image to subtract noise from the first.

Long exposure noise reduction comes with a serious drawback, though: it takes time, usually as long as the original exposure. So if you use a 30-second shutter speed, the camera will take an additional 30 seconds to get rid of the noise. And if you shoot for an hour, you’ll need another hour to reduce the noise, which is an annoyingly long time to wait!

So yes, it may be impractical if you are doing 10-minute shots. But for medium-length long exposures, it’s often worth doing.

(And if you do have the timed, do it on the very long exposures too, as it can dramatically improve the image quality.)

Reducing noise in Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw

Even with the best techniques, you’ll still end up with noise in your photos – at least on occasion.

This is where post-processing noise reduction techniques come in handy!

Different software offers different noise reduction options, and I’m going to focus on two popular (and near-identical) programs from Adobe: Lightroom Classic and Adobe Camera Raw.

Below, I share my recommended workflow, but as you follow along, note that you’ll be able to use very similar methods in other programs!

Also note that you’ll generally want to complete all your other edits before reducing noise. This is because exposure adjustments, as well as sharpening adjustments, can make noise more visible. If you start by reducing noise and then apply a series of edits that amplify any existing noise, you’ll be forced to reduce noise a second time. This is inefficient, and it can also degrade image quality (since the noise reduction process does involve some loss of detail). So once you’ve done your basic edits, here’s how to proceed:

Step 1: Open your image and view it at 100 percent

Start by opening your image in Lightroom or Photoshop.

Note that RAW images opened in Photoshop will first go through Adobe Camera Raw, which is what you want. Again, remember that the controls in Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom are almost identical, so most of the instructions are applicable to both ACR and Lightroom users.

I recommend viewing your image full screen, then zooming into 100 percent. The goal is to look for noise; after all, not all images require noise reduction.

If you don’t see any noise, then there’s no need to apply any noise reduction. However, if you do notice some noise, and you feel it’s harming the image quality, proceed with the next step:

Step 1.5: Try the Denoise button (optional)

Adobe recently added an AI-powered denoise feature to Lightroom. It works by analyzing your selected image for noise; then it creates a DNG copy of your file that has been tweaked to remove noise while retaining detail.

Importantly, the Denoise button is only available in Lightroom, not Adobe Camera Raw. So if you’re an ACR user, you’ll want to skip straight to the next step. If you’re a Lightroom user, however, you’ll find the AI Denoise option in the Detail panel:

If you’re looking to reduce noise in your photos and you don’t mind waiting around, hitting the Denoise button can often do the trick. Once you press the button, you’ll see this dialog box, which includes a few basic settings:

I like to leave the Denoise Amount slider at its default value, though if the zoomed-in preview on the left looks either too noisy or too smooth, I’ll adjust the slider accordingly.

In Lightroom, I also recommend making sure the Create Stack option is checked. This tells the program to group the noise-reduced file with the original file for easy reference later.

Finally, hit Enhance, and wait for Lightroom’s AI to process your file.

In my experience, this approach does a reasonably good job of reducing noise, but it comes with a huge downside:

It takes forever to run (unless you own a state-of-the-art computer, at least).

If you look carefully at the screenshot I included above, Lightroom estimates that the noise reduction process will take a whopping 13 minutes to complete. For some folks, that won’t be a problem, but for others – such as those who edit high volumes of photos for clients – it’s just not worth the wait.

Regardless, you can always proceed with the manual noise reduction steps I discuss below:

Step 2: Adjust the Luminance slider

The Luminance slider reduces luminance noise (i.e., noise resulting from over- or underexposed pixels).

And many, many high-ISO images suffer from excessive luminance noise.

So zoom in to 100 percent, then boost the Luminance slider until the noise starts to disappear.

Don’t go too far, however,

Step 3: Fine-tune your result with the Luminance Detail and Luminance Contrast sliders

The Luminance Detail and Luminance Contrast sliders control the amount of detail and contrast preserved in your photos following luminance noise reduction.

You see, noise reduction smooths out noisy pixels, which automatically reduces detail and contrast. But by boosting these sliders, you’ll retain detail and contrast.

As you’d expect, the sliders do come with a drawback:

When you increase the values, you decrease the strength of the noise reduction. So while you’ll end up with a sharper image, you’ll also see more noise.

Step 4: Adjust the Color slider

The Color slider reduces color noise – which is the second type of noise you’ll find in your photos (often in the underexposed shadow areas).

So boost the Color noise slider, and zoom into 100 percent to see its effects.

Step 5: Fine-tune your result with the Color Detail and Color Smoothness sliders

As with luminance noise reduction (above), you can further adjust your image with the Color Detail and Color Smoothness sliders.

Want more detail in your photo? Boost the Color Detail slider. Higher values will protect thin, detailed color edges, but can also result in color speckles. Lower values remove color speckles but can result in color bleeding.

Want to keep colors nice and smooth? Boost the Color Smoothness slider.

And you’re done!

A final note on noise reduction

While I wish I could give you standard, one-size-fits-all settings for noise reduction, it just doesn’t work that way. Every image is different, so you’ll need to slide each adjustment around until you get your desired result.

I tend to increase Luminance and Color to about 50, then work from there. I slide each option up and down, carefully watching how it affects the image while zoomed in to 100 percent.

Then, after each adjustment, I zoom out to see the effect it has on the overall image. And if I’m happy with an adjustment, I move onto the next slider.

Is the process a little tedious? Sure. But if done properly, you’ll eliminate most of the unsightly noise in just about any image.

Practice is also important here, so try this on as many images as you can. Pretty soon, you’ll be able to predict the effect of each change.

How to avoid and reduce noise in your photos: final words

Now that you’ve finished this article, you know that avoiding and reducing noise shouldn’t be too complicated. Just follow the steps I’ve given, and your images will turn out great!

While it’s best to avoid noise from the get-go, reducing noise during post-processing is definitely a solid option. So focus on a two-pronged approach: do your best to avoid noise, and then clean up any remaining noise with software.

Now over to you:

Do you have any other tips for noise reduction and removal? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post How to Avoid and Reduce Noise in Your Photos (A Practical Guide) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Barry J Brady.

A few winters back, I was photographing on a high mountain pass. Low clouds and scattered sun danced across the snow-covered slopes, blown by a chill wind from the north. The view below came and went as fog blew past, opening and closing the scene like curtains. Enthralled, I snapped photos of the stark mountains, the pale sun, the glowing patches of light on the snow.

These shots are going to be awesome, I thought to myself.

A few hours later, I opened my computer and downloaded the images. I could see right away that they were indeed awesome! I sat and stared, certain that these were some of the best shots of the trip. The way the light played across the mountains, the storm light on the rock and snow slopes; yeah, it was great.

But a week later, as I was putting together images from the trip, I revisited those photos. Huh, I thought, I could have sworn those shots were better. I mean, they’re decent, but they’re not extraordinary. What happened?

I soon realized that the difference had to do with emotional distance. My initial assessment of the photos was clouded by the intensity of my feelings – but after spending time away from the files, I could separate myself emotionally from the experience of making them.

In other words, after a week, I could view those shots almost as though someone else had made them. As a result, many more of the photos ended up in the “delete” pile than I would have originally expected.

What I’m getting at here is that culling your photos is hard. Getting that emotional distance, thinking about what makes one photo great and another photo lackluster, determining how to reject some of your hard-won images – it’s a struggle for practically all photographers, including seasoned professionals.

Fortunately, there are certain steps you can take while reviewing your images to ensure that you keep (and reject) the relevant photos, which is what I discuss in this article. So without further ado, here are the five steps to follow as you cull and assess your images.

Step 1: Check the technical details

After importing the photos of a recent shoot into my Lightroom Catalog, I like to look at each image quickly – at full-screen size – and assess each for any technical faults.

I ask myself a series of questions:

Is the image out of focus (I check this at 100% or 1:1 view)? Is the composition obviously wonky? What about exposure; is the exposure so wrong that I can’t correct it?

If the answer is “Yes” to any of these questions, I immediately delete the image (or flag it as a reject by hitting X) and move on to the next file.

I encourage you to do the same here. Give each file a full-screen look, and do a technical assessment.

The trick in this first step is not to go beyond the technical details. This is not the time to try and gauge overall image quality. It’s just about deleting the obvious screw-ups.

Step 2: Do a second pass

If I’m eager to spend some time with my photos or I’ve got a deadline, I’ll do a quick second pass, where I go through the shots again soon after completing Step 1. Lightroom and many other image-organization programs offer the ability to flag images with different colors and/or rating codes, and I like to use this to give my files a more detailed evaluation.

Scrolling through my images, I color-code the good and bad standouts. Images that I like get coded green, purple, or blue (the color relates to my personal filing system). Images that I don’t particularly like, for one reason or another, get flagged red.

Some images do not get flagged at all. These are usually images about which I’m ambivalent. They are good enough not to get the dreaded red flag but not so good that I want to highlight them immediately.

At this point, I’ll start post-processing my favorite shots, but I won’t delete anything – that comes later!

I think this second pass is important for identifying the really solid photos from the mediocre and unimpressive shots, but I’ll also note that you can push this step until after Step 3 or Step 4, depending on the scenario and what works for you.

(One more tip: The color coding I do doesn’t need to match your own color coding! You can use a red-green-uncoded system if you like, or you can add in additional colors for more nuanced coding, or you can work with a flag/no flag/reject flag approach. The important thing is that you’re evaluating your images a second time and identifying files based on more than basic technical quality.)

Step 3: Let your photos rest

As I mentioned in the introduction, immediately following a shoot, we get emotionally caught up in our images, for better or for worse. If a shoot goes well – like my experience on the mountain – you may have the feeling that your images are better than they actually are. If a shoot goes poorly, on the other hand, you may feel like all your images suck (when, in fact, they may not!).

The solution is to give the images some space. Pull back for a few days, don’t look at them, don’t edit them. Put your new photos out of sight, and give yourself some emotional distance from the experience of making your images.

After a few days, a week, or even longer, you can continue with Step 4 (or Step 2, if you haven’t yet done your second pass).

Step 4: Consider how your images will be used

Now it’s time for your next pass. You’ve had some time away from your photos, and you’re ready to look at them with fresh eyes.

As you dive back into your collection, review each shot – but with a focus on how the image will be put to use. If you are shooting for a client, then you may already have a good idea of the kind of images you need to deliver.

For example, the conservation groups I work for usually provide me with a brief on the project. In that document, they will note specific types of images or video they need. As I’m pulling selections for them, I’ll consider their requirements and put special effort into finding and editing images that match.

Usually, however, I don’t have clients telling me which images are best, or which images I need to deliber. Without anyone guiding me, I lean toward variety.

When I first started shooting seriously, I saved almost every image. I was too attached to each one. Later, as my image catalog and hard drives began to swell, I became heartless with images, deleting all but one or two from a series, even good alternatives to my selects. Now I’ve settled somewhere in between because I don’t always know how an image will be put to use, so I like to have some variety available.

Magazine editors will often be looking for images with big areas of negative space that can accommodate text. Big wall prints require images that are immaculately sharp and high resolution. Illustrative shots, often sold for stock or for small use in publications, need to be tight with only the bare minimum of room around the subject.

While editing, I plan for these eventualities. I like to select four or five images featuring a variety of compositions from any given scene, but not more.

As an example, below are my five selects from an encounter with a brown bear in Southeast Alaska. Each of the five images has been published in national magazines, and each time, the editor wanted the image for a different layout – some involving text, some as a simple stamp-size illustration.

The bottom line is you never know what is going to appeal to different viewers, so it’s important to keep a group of images with some diversity. Don’t just pick the one photo you think is best and then reject the rest.

Again, don’t get caught up on what you see as the best image from a series. Rather, give thought to how you might want to use images from the shoot in the future. Red code (or however you tag your images) the faulty ones, or near-duplicates, but retain some variety in the greens/selects pile.

Step 5: Do one final check

By this time, your collection of images will be a checkerboard of red and green. The red images are flagged for deletion, and the greens (and other colors) are set aside as keepers.

If you are like me, you’ve created enough duplicate, failure, and screw-up files that the reds wildly outnumber the greens and unlabeled images.

Before I hit “delete,” I give each image one more look – just to make sure I’m not cutting something that I might want to keep. Sometimes if an image is unique, even if it’s not what I think of as “good,” I’ll hold onto it.

More than once, I’ve scrolled back through my Lightroom catalog and stumbled on an image that, for one reason or another, I never gave a close look. At the time I created it, I must have considered it unremarkable but didn’t consider it bad enough to delete. Years later, I’ve found some gems in those un-flagged images.

How to cull your photos: final words

Selecting keepers from a series of images is not always as straightforward as it seems!

What is “good” and what is “bad” is subjective, and it can change depending on your emotional distance and the purposes for which an image might be put to use. Consider each image carefully and use your delete key as needed, but don’t get too enthusiastic pushing that button. Deleted images can never be recovered, after all!

Now over to you:

How do you approach image culling? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post How to (Effectively) Cull Your Photos: 5 Steps to Follow Before You Hit “Delete” appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by David Shaw.

Vintage fades and washes have recently become quite popular. Perhaps since modern DSLRs, mirrorless cameras, and even smartphones can capture such high-quality, color-neutral images, there’s more of a desire to reach toward the past with these vintage effects. Or perhaps vintage effects offer viewers a sense of nostalgia, which is very much in vogue.

Regardless of the reason you want to add a vintage effect to your images, I’m happy to report that it’s a relatively easy look to achieve. In Photoshop, I like to create vintage washes by cross-processing with Curves, and that’s what I’ll explain today. It’s also important to realize that you can get similar results using Curves in other post-processing programs (such as Lightroom); plus, there’s more than one way to get the look you’re after, so once you understand the basics, feel free to experiment with other post-processing tools!

Oh, and the best part? This technique will take you less than one minute to do manually, and only seconds if you turn it into a Photoshop Action.

Let’s dive right in!

What is a vintage look?

Before we get into creating the effect, I want to briefly discuss what we are trying to achieve. In vintage photos, colors fade over time. The first color to typically begin fading is usually the blues in the highlights of the image. Because of this, the reds and greens of an image become more prevalent in the highlights.

However, the reds and greens fade in the shadows, thus revealing more of the blues in the darker portions of vintage photos.

In other words, for a vintage effect, you want to remove blues in the highlights, while removing the reds and greens in the shadows (and vice versa).

This process is exactly what we are going to mimic in Photoshop using Curves. What’s cool about Photoshop’s Curves tool is that it lets you target different color channels individually by tweaking the relevant graph; not only does this allow for a lot of precision, but it also helps you visualize the necessary adjustments.

Below is our standard color-corrected image to which we will apply our effect:

By the end of the tutorial, the image will look far less modern and give off those nostalgic, vintage vibes!

How to apply the vintage look in Photoshop

As I explained above, adding a vintage look is easy, and you can do it in under a minute. Here’s my step-by-step approach (and I encourage you to follow along with an image of your own):

Step 1: Open your image and create a Curves adjustment layer

To start, you’ll want to pick an image that will look nice when given the vintage treatment. This is somewhat subjective, but it might make sense to work with a photo that contains relatively timeless subjects. In other words, it’s perhaps a good idea to vintage-edit a photo of a classic car rather than a photo of last year’s Chevy SUV. (On the other hand, it can be interesting to contrast a vintage look with a modern subject…so don’t take my thoughts here too seriously!)

Make sure that your image is already color-corrected (you can do this in Adobe Camera Raw or Adobe Lightroom Classic) so it’s ready for the vintage treatment.

And finally, with the image open in Photoshop, add a Curves adjustment layer:

You can click on the Adjustment Layer icon, as shown above; alternatively, you can select Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Curves in the main Photoshop menu.

You’ll then see a box like this one:

Step 2: Adjust the Red channel

As we mentioned, vintage photos fade so the reds are pumped up in the highlights and dropped in the shadows to reveal the blues.

We are going to do just that by selecting the Red Channel in our Curves dialog box:

Next, add a point on the line near the highlights (around three-fourths of the way into the graph) and drag the curve upward. Then add a point near the shadows (around one-fourth of the way into the graph) and drag downward. You should see an S shape like this:

Just bear in mind that the amount you drag the curve will depend on the intensity of the effect you want. The more you push and pull the curve, the more intense the vintage look will ultimately appear. Fortunately, since we’re using adjustment layers, we can always go back and make further tweaks later on!

Step 3: Adjust the Green channel

Now we are going to do the exact same thing with the Green channel.

Select the Green Channel and create the exact same effect by pulling up in the highlights and down in the shadows:

Just a quick tip: I usually like to inflate the reds slightly more than the greens, as you’ll see if you compare the graph displayed in the previous step to the graph displayed in this step. That way, the image gets slightly warmer highlights and slightly cooler shadows.

Once this step is complete, it’s time to work on the final channel:

Step 4: Adjust the Blue Channel

Earlier in this article, I talked about how vintage images typically lose blues in the highlights while the blues become more revealed in the shadows because of the loss of greens/reds. We’ve already pushed our image in that direction by tweaking the Red and Green channels; now let’s do it with the Blue channel.

This time, instead of creating a conventional S-curve, we’re going to produce an inverted S by pulling down the highlights and pulling up the shadows, like so:

And that’s basically it! By pulling up the shadows, we’ve increased the intensity of the blues in the darker parts of the image – and by pulling down the highlights, we’ve effectively made them warmer (i.e., more yellow).

Add finishing touches, then share your vintage-style photo!

Look over your edited image and see what you think. It can also be helpful to compare the edited version to the original by turning on and off the Curves layer in the Layers panel (just click the Eye icon next to the relevant layer).

If you feel like the effect is too strong or doesn’t look quite right, you have a few options. You can simply drop the opacity on your Curves adjustment layer, which will reduce the vintage look across the board. Or you can double-click on your Curves layer to open the Curves dialog box, then tweak the channel graphs until you get a better result.

Once you’re done, you should see something like this:

Which you should then share on social media, or at least in the comments below!

The post How to Create a Vintage Effect in Photoshop (1-Minute Tutorial) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Post Production Pye.

This article was updated in July 2024 with contributions from Ana Mireles and Jaymes Dempsey.

I use Lightroom presets for a huge percentage of my photo editing, and I know that many other photographers do the same.

In fact, if you’re a Lightroom user and you’re not yet taking advantage of presets, then you’re missing out. Presets come with so many benefits: they save time, they’re ridiculously easy to use, and they can make your photos look amazing.

But if you’ve ever tried editing with presets, you’ll know that your results can vary dramatically depending on the quality of the presets themselves. That’s why it’s important that you choose the right presets to use!

Fortunately, if you’re looking for the best Lightroom presets, you’ve come to the right place. Given the number of available options, it’s easy to get overwhelmed – or even worse, buy a pack of presets that you’ll never use.

To help you navigate the wide market of Lightroom presets, we’ve put together a selection of the best quality packs (to fit many different needs). So read on to discover our favorite presets, including both free and paid options.

Here we go!

1. Landscape and Travel Photography Presets

If you’re a landscape or nature shooter, then this preset bundle should be at the top of your list. Fine art photographer Jan Erik Waider offers a set of eight Lightroom preset packs, designed for different shooting scenarios. Some target physical locations, such as polar or forest landscapes. Others offer a specific aesthetic, such as cinematic or dark and dramatic.

In my experience, it’s important to exercise restraint when editing nature scenes, but I think these presets do a great job of keeping things natural while also adding some extra pop to your photos. And since the package includes so many presets, it gives you an opportunity to experiment with different looks until you find what works best for your images. As Waider notes, these professional presets allow customization so you can “develop a repeatable personal style.”

In addition to the eight preset packs, the bundle includes a surprise pack and will give you access to all future preset releases. Of course, if you’re not interested in the entire bundle, you can also purchase the packs individually – though the bundle does offer great value!

2. Clean Edit Portrait Workflow Presets

There are literally thousands of portrait preset packs available, but we think that the Clean Edit Portrait Workflow presets, created by Pretty Presets, rise to the top. With a collection of 35 presets and some fantastic bonuses like portrait brushes, this package goes beyond your basic paid preset pack to offer an entire workflow system that guarantees professional-looking results.

And for those who are looking for straightforward presets to enhance your portrait images, you’ll enjoy the Clean Edit Portrait Workflow pack, too. No matter what type of portrait you’re working with, these presets can help. They bring out vibrant colors while maintaining a natural and realistic look. Whether you’re shooting on a cloudy day or during golden hour, the Clean Edit Portrait Workflow presets will make your portraits look amazing!

3. Dark & Moody

Instagram is full of dark and moody images, many of which rely heavily on Lightroom edits. But recreating a refined moody look can be difficult, even for more experienced photographers, and that’s where the Dark & Moody pack – created by Flourish Presets – comes in handy.

The pack only comes with 7 presets, but each one packs a serious punch, creating that cinematic moody vibe that adds depth and emotion to your images. I like these presets for all kinds of images, including portraits, weddings, landscapes, or even street photography, but they’re especially stunning when applied to travel shots (to my eye, anyway!).

I’ll also note that Flourish Presets sells a handful of additional moody-style presets, so if this pack doesn’t fit your tastes, you can always try a different pack, such as this warmer, portrait-focused option, instead.

4. Golden Hour Presets

These Golden Hour Lightroom presets are perfect for portrait photographers who organize outdoor sessions. We all know that golden hour offers beautiful light for your photos. Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to schedule your clients around that time.

KatherineDream offers 15 Lightroom presets for mobile and desktop that will give your photos those beautiful, warm, golden-hour tones. And on her Etsy shop, KatherineDream offers multiple other packs (and often puts her presets on sale!).

5. Zion Presets

I’m a fan of warm-toned edits, myself, which is why I absolutely love the Zion Presets pack by Meridian. Each preset effortlessly adds a touch of warmth and faded tones to your photos – and while the price is on the higher side, you do get 16 stunning presets that will instantly elevate the look of your portrait and wedding shots.

What sets the Zion Presets apart is their ability to create a sense of instant refinement. The warm colors and faded tones they produce give your images a cinematic quality, making them look like stills from a movie.

Whether you’re a professional photographer or an avid enthusiast, the Zion Presets will take your photos to new heights. With just a few clicks, you can transform your ordinary shots into breathtaking masterpieces that evoke a sense of nostalgia and charm!

6. All-In-One Lightroom Preset Bundle

In general, I like to recommend themed preset packs. All-in-one bundles tend to offer a lot of breadth without much depth, and that can result in a lot of wasted money. Fortunately, the All-In-One Lightroom Preset Bundle bucks the trend, and I think it’s perfect for beginner photographers. If you don’t have a field of specialization and you’re still figuring out your style, you’ll find 90 helpful presets to choose from.

The Bundle includes presets for everything: beach shooting, indoor photography, food photos, portrait photos, black and white photos, and moody photos. In other words, the All In One Bundle offers everything a beginner could need – and it even comes with a handy how-to guide!

7. Adventure Everyday Lightroom Desktop Presets

If you’re craving that warm, nostalgic feel in your photos, look no further than the Adventure Everyday presets by Mastin Labs. While this pack may seem small – it only includes three presets – trust me when I say that they pack a punch.

These presets are designed to give your portraits, landscapes, and travel shots a captivating, filmic look. They effortlessly transform your images into inviting and cozy scenes that you won’t be able to resist. Once you start using these presets, you’ll find yourself constantly reaching for them to enhance your everyday adventures.

8. Boho Style

If you’re a professional portrait photographer, then you know how important it is to have an automated workflow that delivers consistent results.

This Boho Style preset bundle offers 20 one-click presets; they’re easy to adjust, and they look amazing on a variety of portraits, from wedding candids to engagement sessions to family photos and more.

Each preset creates a creamy warm tone that improves the overall ambiance of your pictures. Plus, the price is outstanding (and the pack is often on sale, so if you buy at the right time, you can get the pack for just over a dollar).

9. Winter Wonderland Preset Collection

Most winter presets only add a cool tone to your images – but the Winter Wonderland Preset Collection offers a uniquely well-rounded solution for a winter look.

This bundle offers 32 presets and 5 brushes to create snowy and winter images, no matter the weather forecast. All the presets are customizable, and an instruction guide and video tutorial are included in the download.

10. The Crush Pack

Unlike other presets that are based on subject matter or mood, the Crush Pack is designed for light. Each preset is tailored to a specific lighting scenario so that you always know which to apply.

Whether for soft or hard light, backlight or flash, there’s a preset to improve your picture, delivering a “bold and vivid style that maintains the skin tone.” You can buy the Crush Pack on its own, or bundled with the Retouching Toolkit for a special discounted price.

11. The Free Lightroom Presets pack

If you’re looking for a nice free starter preset pack, this bundle from BeArt Presets is a great choice. It includes 5 presets that can be applied to all types of photographs, from food to portraits, and it’ll certainly help you get a sense of whether presets will fit nicely into your workflow.

The download includes two sets of presets: one set for mobile and one set for desktop. And once you determine which preset styles you’re after, there’s a shop with more specialized presets for sale.

12. Color Pop

If you’re looking for a pack of Lightroom presets to make your images stand out, the Color Pop presets are exactly what you need. You get 20 different presets designed to boost the color of any photograph and make your images look vibrant and fresh.

The files come in three different formats for maximum compatibility. And if you’re impressed and you want more, PhotographyPla.net also offers a bundle with all 1000 of their presets.

13. Portra 400 Preset Collection

Looking to add a touch of nostalgia and timeless beauty to your photos? The Portra 400 Preset Collection, created by Lou & Marks, is here to make your images shine. With 10 high-quality presets – designed to emulate the look of Portra 400 color film – your photos will exude warmth and a hint of summer in the 1980s.

These presets are perfect for enhancing portrait shots, giving them a touch of vintage elegance. But don’t limit yourself! Feel free to experiment and apply these presets to your travel images for a nostalgic effect. And if you like the Portra 400 pack, you should definitely check out other film-style presets by Lou & Marks, such as this fantastic collection of Fujifilm presets!

14. Nathan Elson’s Lightroom Presets

Nathan Elson is a professional photographer who specializes in portrait, fashion, commercial, and architecture photography; his very defined style inspired this preset collection. (As he notes on the sales page, “These are the same styles that I use to grade my photographs for both client as well as personal work.”)

While we previously recommended Elson’s 2020 preset pack, it’s been replaced by the 2022 collection, which is even better than before. It includes 12 presets – 5 for color edits and 7 for black and white – and the range is impressive. We’re also impressed by the modern look of the edits, and the monochromatic effects are absolutely beautiful. If you’re a portrait or fashion photographer in search of a refined yet modern look, this pack is a must-have.

15. Prolost Graduated Presets

Designed for complete beginners, the Prolost preset pack includes over 600 presets for you to choose from.

Each effect comes in different intensities; that way, you only need to hover over each preset to preview different results. If you like an effect, you click to apply. And because the pack already comes with plenty of variations, no customization is required.

16. Artisan B&W Lightroom Presets

If you’re passionate about black and white photography, you’ll be thrilled with the Artisan B&W Lightroom presets from Mastin Labs. These presets are a game-changer when it comes to creating stunning monochrome images that stand the test of time.

With just three carefully crafted presets, you’ll be able to transform your black-and-white photos into masterpieces. The presets work their magic on portraits, landscapes, and even street photos, giving each image a timeless and captivating appeal.

Whether you want to add depth and drama to your subjects or bring out the intricate details in your landscapes, the Artisan B&W presets have got you covered. They’re designed to enhance contrast, highlight textures, and bring out the essence of black-and-white photography.

How do you pick the right presets?

There isn’t one perfect preset that will fit every photograph. There are, however, presets that will be more fitting for your workflow. So given the many choices available on the market, how do you choose?

First of all, look at the quality of the work from the creator and what they’re offering. Any adjustment can technically be turned into a preset, so you’ll run into a lot of useless downloads. Some websites or blogs offer a freebie to get you on their mailing list or make you subscribe, but all you receive is a single preset that moves a slider slightly to one side.

So make sure you get your presets from a professional and check that they offer something more complex than what would be achievable by a beginner.

Another thing that you should consider is the type of photography you do. Make sure it matches the “before” image from the preset preview. This will ensure you get results similar to what you’re expecting. Otherwise, the effect might look great on the sample picture but won’t work on your own shots.

Finally, try to find presets that are customizable. This will allow you to create your own style instead of just replicating someone else’s. It will also make your presets more versatile, so you can use them on a wider variety of pictures.

Are presets worth it?

In my opinion, yes. Because they automate a part of your work, presets will save you a lot of time. Also, presets are a good way to keep your style consistent. This is very important for gaining followers, and it lets your clients know what they can expect from you far in advance.

Also, remember: If you want the benefits of presets but feel like none of the presets I’ve suggested fit your vision, you don’t have to use third-party presets. You can always make presets of your own!

The best Lightroom presets: final words

Now you know some of the best Lightroom presets available in 2024! These powerful tools can take your images from ordinary to extraordinary with just a few clicks, giving them that extra pop, mood, and timeless charm.

Whether you’re a portrait aficionado, a wedding wizard, or a landscape lover, there’s a preset pack for you. From the Clean Edit Portrait Workflow presets, which bring out colors while keeping things looking natural, to the Dark & Moody presets that add atmosphere and mood to any shot, these presets offer endless possibilities.

Make sure you get the presets that will fit your type of photography and style – and have fun!

Now over to you:

Have you tried presets in the past? Do you have a favorite preset or preset pack? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Best Lightroom presets FAQ

The post The Best Lightroom Presets in 2024 appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

Do you buy your camera based on its megapixel count? Have you encountered problems sharing your photos online due to large file sizes? Do your prints appear low quality even though they look stunning on your screen?

These are common issues that arise from confusion between pixels and bytes, image size and file size, and the like. In today’s digital age, understanding the nuances of image size, resolution, and file formats is essential for anyone dealing with photos, whether you’re a seasoned professional or a casual hobbyist.

I want to emphasize that mastering these concepts is not just about gaining technical knowledge; it’s about improving your workflow and ensuring your images are optimized for their intended use. Whether you’re uploading photos to social media, printing large-format posters, or simply organizing your digital photo library, understanding the basics of pixels and resolution will make your tasks easier and more efficient.

So let me explain how to make your life simpler, your workflow more effective, and your images the correct size for the intended usage!

Is resolution the same as size?

One of the biggest misunderstandings comes from the concept of resolution. If it’s something you struggle with, believe me, you’re not alone.

The problem is that resolution can refer to many things, two of which relate to the problem at hand. I’ll explain these two resolution concepts further, but they have one thing in common that I need to clarify first: They both have to do with pixels.

You’ve probably heard a lot about pixels, at least when you bought your camera. It’s one of the most advertised and valued specs on the market, so I’ll start there.

What is a pixel?

A digital photo is not one indivisible entity. If you zoom in far enough, you’ll see that your image is like a mosaic formed by small tiles, which in photography are called pixels.

The number of these pixels and the way they are distributed are the two factors you need to consider to understand resolution.

Pixel count

The first kind of resolution refers to the pixel count, which is the number of pixels that form your photo.

To calculate this resolution, you use the same formula you would for the area of any rectangle: multiply the length by the height.

For example, if you have a photo with 4,500 pixels on the horizontal side and 3,000 on the vertical side, multiply those two numbers to reach a total of 13,500,000 pixels.

Because this number is impractical to use, you can divide it by a million to convert it into megapixels. So 13,500,000/1,000,000=13.5 megapixels.

Pixel density

The other kind of resolution is about how you distribute the total amount of pixels you have. This is commonly referred to as pixel density.

Resolution is expressed in dpi (dots per inch) or ppi (pixels per inch). If you come across an image with 72 dpi, it means that the image has 72 dots per inch; if you see an image displayed at 300 ppi, it means the image has 300 pixels per inch.

The final size of your image depends on the resolution you choose. If an image is 4500×3000 pixels, it will print at 15×10 inches if you set the resolution to 300 dpi, but it will print at 62.5 x 41.6 inches at 72 dpi.

Here, while the size of your print changes, you are not resizing your image file; you are just redistributing the existing pixels across the space.

Imagine a rubber band; you can stretch it or shrink it, but you’re not changing the composition of the band. You’re not adding or cutting any of the rubber.

To summarize: resolution is not the same as size, but they are related.

Does quantity equal quality?

Because of the correlation between size and resolution, many people think that more megapixels result in higher-quality files.

In a sense, this is true; the more pixels you have, the higher the pixel density will be for a given area.

However, you should also consider the depth of the pixels, which determines the number of tonal values in your image. This depth translates to the number of colors per pixel. For example, a 2-bit depth pixel can store only black, white, and two shades of grey. More commonly, 8-bit depth pixels are used.

The values grow exponentially, so with an 8-bit photo (2^8=256), you’ll have 256 tones of green, 256 tones of blue, and 256 tones of red, amounting to about 16 million colors.

This is already more than the eye can distinguish, meaning that 16-bit or 32-bit images will look relatively similar to us. However, a higher bit depth makes your image file heavier, even if the size is the same, because each pixel contains more information. This is why quality and quantity are not necessarily the same.

Quantity helps, but the size and depth of each pixel also determine quality. This is why you should consider all the specs of a camera and its sensor, not just the number of megapixels. After all, there’s a limit to the size you can print or view your image; beyond that, you’ll only increase the file size (megabytes) without improving the image size (megapixels) or quality.

How to choose and control image size and file size

First, you need to consider where your photo will be displayed. The image output will dramatically affect the ideal image size.

For instance, newspapers are often printed at 72 dpi; therefore, if your image will be displayed in a newspaper, it often makes sense to send a file with 72 dpi. (The exception is when the paper uses a higher dpi count, in which case you should increase the image size accordingly!)

This is too low for fine-art printing, however – for “proper” prints, you generally need 300 dpi for high-quality results. Again, however, this depends on the printer in question; some printers can print at much higher dpi, while others are limited to a lower density.

You should also think about the way the image will ultimately be viewed. A 200 dpi print might look bad when viewed up close at 8×10, but at 40×60, the viewer will likely be standing farther away, and 200 dpi will look great!

Once you’ve determined the ideal density, you can calculate the necessary image dimensions for a specific print size. For example, if you want to print your photo at 8×10 inches, you need your image to have 300 dpi x 8″ = 2400 pixels by 300 dpi x 10″ = 3000 pixels (so 2400×3000 pixels to print an 8×10 at 300 dpi).

How to resize an image in Photoshop

Now it’s time to cover the practical stuff: actually resizing your images in Photoshop to match your desired output.

Start by opening the Image option in the main menu. Select Image Size, and in the popup window, tick the Resample Image box. (If you don’t activate resampling, you will only be redistributing the pixels, as explained earlier.)

At the top of the window, you’ll also see how the file size changes. This uncompressed version of your image directly relates to what was explained earlier: fewer pixels mean less information.

If you still want to change the file size without resizing, you need to do so when you save the image. Before saving, you can choose the format:

If you don’t want to lose any information, save in an uncompressed format. The most common and easiest to share is TIFF.

If you don’t mind losing some information for a lighter file, opt for JPEG and choose the desired compression level. The smaller you set it, the more information you lose. Fortunately, there’s a preview button to see the impact of your compression.

Print and resize your photos with confidence!

Understanding the intricacies of image quality, quantity, size, and resolution is crucial for anyone working with digital photos, whether for professional purposes or personal enjoyment. Pixels, the fundamental building blocks of digital images, play a pivotal role in determining these factors. By grasping how pixel count and pixel density interact, you can make informed decisions about your images, ensuring they meet your needs for both digital and print formats.

Now that you have a comprehensive understanding of these elements, you are well-equipped to make the best choices for printing, sharing, and saving your photos. Whether you are a professional photographer, a hobbyist, or someone who simply enjoys capturing moments, this knowledge will empower you to achieve the best possible results with your digital images!

Now over to you:

Do you struggle to understand these concepts? Do you have any tips or advice for others? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post Understanding Pixels and Resolution (+ How to Resize Images in Photoshop) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

Your camera has several color profiles that you can enable to change the look of your photos while shooting. (On most cameras, these have names like “Standard,” “Portrait,” and “Landscape;” the names are fairly self-explanatory and tell you what each profile is designed to be used for.)

But while color profiles are generally easy to apply in-camera – you simply find the right menu item, then toggle between your options – what if you want to experiment with color profiles during post-processing? Alternatively, what if you apply an in-camera color profile that doesn’t turn out great and you want to apply a different profile later on?

Fortunately, Adobe Lightroom Classic offers a handy Profile Browser. Not only does this allow you to try different profiles after the fact, but it also provides additional profiles for you to choose from so you can further enhance your photos. Below, I explain how to use camera color profiles in Lightroom, and I share my method for creating profiles of your very own.

Let’s dive right in!

Why do cameras have color profiles?

Back before digital photography, when everybody used film, it was common practice to select a film that suited the subject being photographed. A landscape photographer might use Fujifilm Velvia, a slide film that produces high-contrast, deeply saturated images perfect for landscape photography. A portrait photographer, on the other hand, might use a film like Kodak Portra to create portraits with softer, more subtle colors.

When digital cameras first became available, the colors rendered by a camera all looked the same. You could adjust parameters like contrast and saturation if you knew your camera menus well, but it certainly wasn’t straightforward, and there weren’t a whole lot of options.

Then manufacturers started adding color profiles to their cameras. I’m using the term “color profile” because every manufacturer has a different name for it. Here are some common ones:

• Canon: Picture Style
• Nikon: Picture Control
• Fujifilm: Film Simulation Mode
• Sony: Creative Style
• Pentax: Custom Image
• Olympus: Picture Mode

(Fujifilm’s approach is interesting because they have named their profiles after genuine film types. As a result, Fuji color profiles are more nuanced and subtle than those made by the other manufacturers. This approach to color profiles is one of the features that sets Fujifilm cameras apart from the competition.)

How to use color profiles

You can apply color profiles both in-camera and in Lightroom.

Note that in-camera color profiles are designed primarily for JPEG users. If you use the JPEG format, it’s important to choose the most appropriate profile as you cannot change it afterward in Lightroom.

On the other hand, if you shoot in RAW, then it ultimately doesn’t matter which color profile you select as you can change it later in Lightroom.

That said, even if you photograph exclusively in RAW, there is one benefit of adjusting color profiles in-camera: they’ll be applied to your image previews. So if you want to see how a shot will look with a certain profile applied, you can set the profile, take the image, and then preview the image on your LCD.

Even cooler: If you own a mirrorless camera with an electronic viewfinder, the color profiles will be applied to the EVF screen, which allows you to see the world with the profile overlayed. When looking through the viewfinder, you can view a scene in sepia, in black and white, with high contrast, and more!

Color profiles in Lightroom

If you go to the Develop module in Lightroom and look at the top of the Basic panel, you’ll see the Profile option. Here, you can click on the current profile to see a list of several Adobe profile options:

If you click Browse, you’ll be taken to the Profile Browser, which contains a slew of additional profiles to choose from:

The options you get depend on your camera model, but under the Camera Matching option, you’ll see the profiles that Lightroom recognizes as native to your camera:

To apply a profile, simply click on one of the options. Lightroom will adjust your image accordingly, and you can get on with your editing!

Now, you might be wondering: When is the ideal time to apply a color profile? Should I do it at the beginning of my editing workflow? Or at the end?

Since the color profile is one of the most important settings in Lightroom, I recommend that you apply it before you do anything else.

To see why, select a portrait in Lightroom, go to Profile Browser, and select the Portrait profile (Fujifilm users can use the Camera Pro Neg. Hi setting). Take a good look at the skin tones. Now change the profile to Landscape (or Velvia for Fujifilm). See the difference that makes to the skin tones? Which looks more natural? This is why it’s so important to set the profile first, and then proceed with additional edits as needed.

Monochrome color profiles

Most cameras have several black-and-white (or monochrome) color profiles. Again, these are designed for JPEG shooters and are not much practical use for RAW users, except for previewing B&W effects in the field. In my view, the best way to convert a photo to black and white in Lightroom is to go to the Basic Panel and manually set the Treatment to B&W.

I’ll add, however, that Lightroom has recently added a slew of black-and-white color profiles, each with slightly different looks. If you’re thinking of converting a file to monochrome, these can be a great starting point!

Color profiles and white balance

Color profiles work together with the White Balance setting on your camera to control the colors in your photos. For example, if you are shooting portraits you could set the profile to Portrait and White Balance to Cloudy to give your portraits a pleasing warm color cast.

As with color profiles, if you use the RAW format, you can easily change the White Balance in Lightroom. This lets you decide how cool or warm you want your photos to be at the development stage.

How to create custom color profiles in Lightroom

Most cameras have less than ten color profiles. This doesn’t seem like a lot, especially compared to the wide variety of film types available to photographers 20 years ago.

So what if you want more profile options? It’s possible to create your own customized color profiles using Lightroom. The way to do this is to create a Develop preset.

Let’s say that you like your camera’s Portrait color profile but would prefer the colors to be less saturated. In this case, you could edit a portrait in Lightroom, using negative Vibrance or Saturation settings to reduce the intensity of the colors. You could also adjust the saturation settings in the HSL/Color Mixer panel.

Once you’re satisfied, you could create a new Develop preset that saves those settings. Simply click the Plus icon in the Presets panel (on the left-hand side of the Develop module):

Give your preset a name, like “Portrait Preset,” and make sure the relevant editing boxes are checked. Then click Create:

Now you can apply that preset to any photo you like by going to the Presets panel in the Develop module and clicking on it. For example, I edited the following portrait by making adjustments to the Color Mixer and Tone Curve panels:

Once you are competent at using Lightroom’s Tone Curve and Color Mixer panels to control color, you can create some very beautiful presets that you can use on your photos. Alternatively, you can take advantage of the knowledge of other photographers and buy presets that somebody else has created.

Enhance your photos with color profiles!

The usefulness of color profiles depends very much on your personal workflow. If you use the JPEG format, then both color profile and White Balance settings determine the way the colors in your photos come out. It’s really important to get both settings right when you take the photo.

But if you are like most photographers and you shoot in RAW, you can leave that decision until the post-processing stage. And you can even go further by using Lightroom’s color control tools to alter the colors in your photos.

Now over to you:

How do you like to use in-camera color profiles? How about Lightroom profiles? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Are you a fan of the natural/vintage look in portraits? Then check out my Vintage Portrait Presets for Lightroom. There are over 30 presets to help you create beautiful portraits in Lightroom!

The post How to (Effectively) Use Color Profiles in Lightroom appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Andrew S. Gibson.

Have you ever tried to photograph lightning? That’s what it often feels like when taking pictures at a hockey game. Every play is a blur. You can feel the game’s speed and intensity right up until the final whistle. Emotion and sweat mix on the faces of players who battle and fight for every inch, and the arena shakes with a thunderous ovation from the spectators.

In short, it’s a whole lot of fun to capture hockey with a camera. But after the crowds are gone and your ears have stopped ringing, it’s time to head home, load your images up on the computer, and do some editing.

Regardless of what camera you use, all hockey images will benefit from some attention in Adobe Lightroom before you share them on social media or in a local publication. And despite the thrills of the sport, the arena is a tough place for a photographer. You have to deal with low or inconsistent light, high ISO settings and low shutter speeds, scuffed-up glass, and more. Learning the technique to get decent shots in the first place is half the battle – but that’s a story for another time. Today, it’s time to head into the editing room.

Below, I share my best tips for editing hockey photos using Lightroom. If you’re a hockey parent or a budding sports photographer, read on to discover how to make your photos of players on the ice stand out!

(Note: Even though this guide specifically addresses features in Adobe Lightroom, the same concepts can be used in any photo editing program with similar controls!)

1. Shoot in RAW

First off, if you’re serious about getting the best hockey pictures possible, then it’s a good idea to shoot in RAW. Sure, the files are a lot larger, but this is because more data is preserved for each shot. When you’re editing, you’ll be thankful for all the extra leeway you can get with a RAW file over a JPEG.

That’s not to say that you’re doomed if you shoot in JPEG. It just means you’ll need to be extra careful to get the settings right in the camera, since you won’t have nearly as much flexibility when editing later.

The choice is yours.

2. Cull aggressively

Culling is the process of reviewing your files from a photoshoot, then removing (and maybe also deleting) the photos that don’t make the cut.

Not every image is a keeper. This is especially true in sports photography, where you’ll frequently end up with images that are out of focus, poorly composed, or simply not very interesting. If your goal is to edit every single hockey photo you take, you’ll never make it past your first photoshoot!

Choose the best of the best to focus your time and energy on. Edit those, and put the rest aside.

3. Crop and straighten your shots

It’s rare to nail the best possible composition in-camera. Sure, it happens from time to time, but given the speed of the action and the unpredictability, it’s more likely that your pictures will benefit from a bit of cropping and straightening in Lightroom.

Consider what’s important in the frame. You want to have a nice balanced composition that fills the image. Think in terms of simplicity: if you crop out a stick or skate that appears in the corner of the image, it will help your final picture feel more clean and professional.

It might not be possible to do a tight crop of a shot and maintain the image quality, depending on how your camera handles high ISO settings. If you find that your images are always just a little too zoomed out, keep that in mind the next time you photograph a game, and make a significant effort to either use a longer focal length or get closer to the action.

Straightening out your images is a big help as well. As you track the play through the viewfinder, it’s easy to start tilting the camera. Now, I’ll admit: there are times when a crazy tilt gives a sense of action and energy to a picture.

More often than not, however, a crooked shot just looks like the players are about to tumble out of one side of the image.

Take the time to straighten your pictures. They’ll look much more professional and balanced as a result.

4. Apply white balance corrections

Cameras process color differently than our eyes do. Under tricky lighting conditions, cameras can render unpleasant color casts, resulting in photos that are unnaturally warm (yellow) or unnaturally cool (blue).

Since it’s hard to appreciate an image that looks too blue or too yellow, correcting the white balance is an important part of your final edit. If you shoot in RAW, you can adjust the white balance without difficulty. If you shoot in JPEG, you can still make minor adjustments, but don’t count on being able to apply radical white balance corrections.

If you have a shot that needs to be fixed, Lightroom’s eyedropper tool can be useful for getting you fairly close to the mark. Select the dropper, then click on something in the shot that should be a neutral white or gray, such as the boards or the ice. From there, go ahead and make tweaks with the Temp slider. Pay close attention to skin tones and always remember that the ice should be white.

Finding the right white balance can be tricky, especially since different display screens can have subtle differences. But with a bit of practice, correcting the white balance in your shots will become a piece of cake.

5. Apply contrast adjustments

Your approach to editing is going to be very different depending on whether or not you have to shoot through the glass. In the NHL, photographers either shot through a small hole in the corners or from higher angles where they can see above the glass. But you may not have that luxury.

Shooting through thick glass usually robs a picture of a lot of its contrast. But contrast plays an important role in giving an image depth and making it “pop.” So you’ll need to add that back in the final edit.

Lightroom offers a couple of sliders that can manage this:

• Contrast: This slider will make dark midtones darker and light mid-ones lighter. When used in moderation, it can make a picture appear richer, but be careful not to overdo it and create surreal tones.
• Blacks: This slider influences the darkest tones of the image. This can be useful for fixing hockey pants, sticks, and skates so that they are black rather than a faded dark gray.
• Shadows: This slider affects the mid-to-dark tones of the image. Typically, this slider plays a big role in determining the brightness of the crowd and the players’ faces.
• Dehaze: The Dehaze slider tries to interpret how light has been lost and scattered in the image. It works well with foggy images and is actually a good fit when shooting through hockey glass, as well.

If you’re lucky enough to get the chance to shoot without a pane of glass between you and the players, these contrast sliders will still be an important part of your final edit.

There is no “right” amount of contrast to use; just adjust the sliders to taste and make sure the final image is full and rich.

6. Keep your Whites white

The ice at a hockey rink is white. That means that it should be white in your final image as well. This can be a tricky process, especially since cameras don’t “see” the same way that your eyes do.

If you overexpose an image, the ice might turn into a uniform blob of white. If you underexpose, the ice becomes a murky gray. It’s a delicate balancing act.

Once again, shooting in RAW gives you a bit of leeway. With RAW, you can get good results by correcting the exposure by a few stops. With JPEG, a missed exposure could mean that the picture needs to go into the trash.

When editing, you’ll want to pay attention to your histogram and clipping warnings. If the ice is overexposed, it will show as a line right up against the right side of your histogram. Your final image should have bright ice but without clipping, represented in the histogram like this:

The histogram displayed above is typical for a well-exposed hockey photo. The mountain far to the right represents the white of the ice. If it was all the way to the right, we’d start losing detail in the highlights.

In Lightroom, you can adjust the overall exposure with the Exposure slider, or you can target the ice surface more precisely by adjusting the Highlights or Whites sliders.

If you want to use the latter approach, start by adjusting the Whites slider, as this controls the brightest point of the image. Once this is set, you can also adjust the Highlights slider, which affects a range of the brightest tones.

The goal should be to bring out a bit of the texture in the ice made from snow and grooves carved into the surface.

7. Add some local adjustments

Now let’s dig into some of the incredible local adjustment tools in Adobe Lightroom. (Note that local adjustments, unlike global adjustments, are targeted to a specific part of the image, such as the edges, the center, the players’ masks, etc.)

This is the point where your friends will wonder what kind of wizardry you’ve conjured up to make your pictures look so good.

Lightroom’s local adjustment tools are all located in the Masking panel, and they can be used to apply many of Lightroom’s editing sliders to specific portions of your shot.

The Brush tool, for instance, gives you precise control over selected areas of a picture. In other words, you can simply use your cursor to “brush” edits into specific portions of the shot. This is perfect for when you’ve got your whole image to a good point, but there are a few more details that you want to adjust.

In the example below, I can use a Brush to brighten up one of the players, who was a bit too dark in the finished image:

Above are the settings I applied using my Brush. I’m raising the shadows to make the player brighter, but I’m also adding contrast so that the adjustment doesn’t look unnatural. Here’s the result:

If you’re a hockey photographer in the big leagues, chances are you’ll be shooting at arenas with top-of-the-line lighting. But most of us aren’t there yet. You’re probably more familiar with an old rink that has flickering lights, sections of the ice that are darker, or even the dreaded mixture of color temperatures. Find yourself in this situation and it’s going to take some fancy local editing to save your image.

Linear Gradients, formerly known as Graduated Filters, are fantastic for tackling uneven light or color shifts, as they can be applied to large swathes of the image in a gradual fashion.

The image below stood out for its strong composition and a good view of the players’ faces, but it doesn’t get much worse than the uneven light:

As you can see in the second image displayed above, I’ve applied a Linear Gradient to the bottom portion of the shot. Here are the exact settings that I used to give the bottom of the frame a bump in exposure as well as some heavy white balance corrections:

And here’s the final image:

Lastly, Lightroom also offers a Radial Gradient, formerly known as the Radial Filter, which can be used to create effects similar to a vignette. This is a useful tool for subtly drawing attention to a certain player.

8. Adjust the colors

Hockey sweaters are typically bright and vibrant with color. However, high ISOs, poor lighting, and dirty glass can often cause those colors to appear faded and drab in your shots.

Fortunately, Lightroom offers Vibrance and Saturation sliders, which can both play an important role in bringing the colors in your images back to life! If you notice that the colors seem underwhelming and not true to life, go ahead and give both those sliders a boost.

For more precise control over colors, you can also turn to the HSL sliders (located in the Lightroom Color Mixer panel). HSL stands for Hue, Saturation, and Luminance, and these sliders allow you to modify individual colors in your images.

Is the home team wearing yellow? You can make their shirt colors pop by adding a saturation boost via the Yellow Saturation slider. Just be careful not to ruin the balance in the rest of the image!

If you’re looking for a more advanced application of the HSL sliders, try using them to eliminate unwanted colors from your image.

The image below is a bit too colorful. All the spectators in the back, plus the yellow on the goaltender’s glove, don’t really suit the color palette:

Fortunately, we can go in and start reducing the saturation of those colors that don’t fit in the image, giving a more professional and cohesive final shot. Here is the edited version:

And here are the exact adjustments that I made:

The HSL sliders are also an invaluable tool for controlling unwanted color casts in your final image. If you can’t quite seem to find the right white balance and there’s an overly blue or yellow tone lingering in your image, you can always reduce the saturation for that specific color. (This might be necessary when shooting in arenas that have uneven lighting or that use a variety of types of light, as discussed elsewhere in this article!)

9. Add some grit

Hockey isn’t a soft game. Play can get rough and gritty in a hurry – so you might want to add a bit of that gritty flavor in your edit. For this, you can turn to the Clarity slider.

The Clarity slider controls edge contrast. And adding a pinch of Clarity can really help bring out textures and lend a gritty feel to the image. Let me show you what I mean:

Be aware of how stylized you want your image. If you’re trying to edit the image to reflect reality, the Clarity slider should be used in moderation (like with the first edit above). But if you’re looking to let loose and create a bold, loud image, consider using the Clarity slider more heavily (like in the second edit above).

10. Reduce noise and apply sharpening

We’re getting close to the finished product, but we’re not quite there yet; the combination of fast-paced action and high ISO settings means that you’ll need to think about noise reduction and sharpening. Lightroom offers a few powerful tools to do this, all of which are located in the Detail panel.

First, while modern cameras have vastly improved how much grain is produced at high ISOs, you’ll still likely want to add some noise reduction. In Lightroom, you can now just hit the Denoise button, which will use AI to analyze your file and remove noise while preserving details. Alternatively, you can use the Manual Noise Reduction sliders for finer control.

One tip: Don’t panic about the amount of grain while viewing the image at 400% zoom. Some grain is okay – in fact, it will be barely noticeable at all when viewing the picture under normal circumstances.

Also, remember that noise reduction should be beneficial to the image. Too much noise reduction will cause an unnatural smoothing effect, so if you notice that details start to lose definition, then you’ve overdone it.

Sharpening can also be added according to taste. Just remember that oversharpening can make the image look metallic and fake, so try to find the right balance.

Export and share your edited hockey photos!

At this point, your hockey photos should be looking great – free of color casts, compositionally strong, tonally stunning, and featuring beautiful colors.

Now it’s time to hit the Export button and share your shots with the world!

Maybe you’ve grabbed some awesome shots for a friend or family member, or maybe you’ve set a goal to become a professional photographer for the NHL. Either way, you’re sure to have learned a few more tricks, and you’ll be able to apply that newfound knowledge to the photoshoot you capture and edit!

Good luck!

Now over to you:

How do you plan to edit your hockey photos? Do you have any tips that we missed? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post How to Edit Hockey Photos in Lightroom Like a Pro appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Frank Myrland.

Picture this: You are about halfway through post-processing a beautiful urban landscape in Photoshop. You’ve already put hours into the edit when you suddenly notice that a small area of the image doesn’t add up. A wall you were working on has accidentally been cloned to look as if it were hanging at an unnatural angle. As a result, it just feels wrong.

After repeatedly hitting the Undo button, you discover that Photoshop can only remember so much, and you are stuck with this disastrous-looking edit. All you can do now is waste more time trying to fix the problem or close the program and start from the beginning. If only there were some way of editing your files in Photoshop so that each new adjustment was completely reversible…

Enter non-destructive editing in Photoshop! Below, I explain how you can use Photoshop non-destructively, making it easy to revert to earlier editing stages as needed – and saving you from headaches and intense frustration.

What is non-destructive editing?

Non-destructive editing (also known as “NDE”) is a method of processing files in Photoshop that allows you to make changes without overwriting the original image data. Using non-destructive methods, you will always be able to backtrack on adjustments made to an image, retaining flexibility and keeping the resolution of the original image intact.

In fact, you may have already encountered non-destructive editing while following online Photoshop tutorials that instruct you to use a particular adjustment layer to make modifications rather than applying adjustments directly.

Note that non-destructive editing is not one single technique. You can perform it in numerous ways in Photoshop depending on the desired outcome of an image. For this article, I’ll walk you through some of the most basic methods used by photographers for doing NDE in Photoshop.

1. Duplicate the background layer

No matter what image you have opened in Photoshop, you should always start by duplicating the background layer. If you do happen to make an adjustment directly onto the image, the background layer will remain untouched. Then you can start afresh with all your adjustment layers intact!

How do you duplicate the background layer? First, open an image in Photoshop. Move the cursor to the thumbnail image in the Layers panel, and click on the shaded area that says Background:

Select the Duplicate Layer option, then select OK when prompted:

A new layer will appear above the Background layer in the Layers panel, labeled Background Copy:

2. Work with adjustment layers

Simply put, adjustment layers apply color and tonal adjustments to an image without permanently changing any pixel values – while the standard Image>Adjustments tools bake each new adjustment into the file.

To get started using layers, you’ll need to make sure the Adjustment Layers panel is active. Just select Window>Adjustments:

This will bring up a panel with lots of adjustment layer options such as Hue/Saturation, Curves, Levels, Color Balance, and Black & White. This should be your go-to panel for digital editing, and in most cases, it will provide all the editing tools you will need.

Select one of the adjustment layers by clicking on one of your options:

In this example, I have chosen Curves to adjust the contrast in my photograph. When I click the icon, the Curves panel pops up and shows me the available settings:

Notice that there is now a new layer in the Layers panel; this is your adjustment layer, and it should be sitting above the layer called Background, as well as Background Copy. This means that any layers below the Curves layer will be affected by this adjustment.

To limit the effect of an adjustment to a single layer, right-click on the adjustment layer and select Create Clipping Mask. A small arrow pointing downward will appear, indicating that the adjustment layer will only affect the layer sitting directly underneath it:

3. Use Smart Filters

Photoshop filters come in handy if you want to sharpen your photos, apply distortion correction, and more. By default, however, they’re applied destructively, and they’re not available as layers, either.

Fortunately, adding a filter to an image can be done non-destructively, which will allow you to undo the effects of it later if you change your mind.

Click on the layer to which you would like to apply a filter, and click on the Filter drop-down menu located in the main toolbar. Select Convert for Smart Filters:

A pop-up should appear, saying that you must turn the selected layer into a Smart Object. Hit OK, and a tiny, document-shaped icon will appear in the bottom left-hand corner of the selected layer thumbnail image:

After you select a filter and apply it to the image, you will see two new items beneath the selected layer. Clicking on the Eye icon next to the layer in the Layers panel will toggle the filter on and off, and double-clicking near the Filter Gallery text will open the Filter Gallery adjustments. Right-clicking on the Filter Gallery Layer will bring up a menu. If you want to remove a filter altogether, select Delete, and the filter will disappear without degrading your image.

4. Use layer masks instead of the Eraser tool

If you want to remove or hide a portion of your image, one option is to use the Eraser tool. Unfortunately, as with Photoshop’s standard adjustments, the Eraser tool is fully destructive.

So instead of using the Eraser tool, I recommend masking.

Masking is one of the more common tools in the Photoshop master’s kit. Using a layer mask allows you to hide – or mask – parts of an image without actually removing the pixels. 

To apply a layer mask, select the layer you want to edit, and click on the circular frame icon at the bottom of the Layers panel:

A mask will appear next to the selected layer, and you’ll see a small chain icon between the thumbnail and the mask. As long as you select the image thumbnail, your editing effects will apply as normal. However, if you select the mask thumbnail, you will find that painting on it with a black brush hides parts of that layer.

Also, if any black portion of the mask is painted over with white, the corresponding portions of the image will be visible again. (And if you then delete the mask, all the hidden areas will reappear.)

5. Dodge and burn non-destructively

The Dodge and Burn tools are used to lighten and darken areas of an image, but applying these effects directly to an image is destructive and will prevent you from being able to edit the changes later.

To dodge and burn non-destructively, start by opening up your photo. Duplicate the background layer, then select Layer>New>Layer from the top menu bar:

A dialog box will pop up; make sure your settings are the same as those shown below, then hit OK: 

A new layer will be created, one filled with gray and with a Soft Light blend mod to make it effective for dodging and burning.

You can give this layer a nickname to help you remember what it is doing. (You can always add it later if you forget – just double-click on the layer name, then type in “dodge/burn.”

Now simply select either the Dodge or Burn tool and apply any adjustments to this new layer. Though you are now editing one layer above the actual image, you have adjusted the blend mode so that the gray Dodge/Burn layer is completely transparent, and any changes you make to this layer now appear to only adjust the image without impacting the quality of the original pixels.

6. Use the Clone Stamp tool non-destructively

The Clone Stamp is another great tool used to remove bits and pieces you may not want in an image. Normally it works by moving pixels in the original image around but – you guessed it! – that is a very destructive technique.

To use the Clone Stamp Tool non-destructively, simply create a new layer as before. Next, select the Clone Stamp tool, and in the Sample drop-down menu, select the Current & Below option:

Now the Clone Stamp tool will sample everything in the image but only apply any changes to the topmost layer.

Edit without ruining your images!

There are plenty of other methods to edit non-destructively in Photoshop – but as this article hopefully showed, non-destructive editing is mostly about using new layers that are placed above the original image rather than adjusting the original image itself.

It may seem clunky at first, but it will soon become an automatic part of your workflow. The next time you find yourself with an awkward edit, you’ll be glad that you can simply turn a layer off rather than starting all over again!

Now over to you:

Do you edit non-destructively in Photoshop? Do you plan to? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post How to Edit Non-Destructively in Photoshop appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Megan Kennedy.

Back in the early days of photography, the cyanotype process was a popular way to create images with an appealing, beautiful cyan-colored tone. You can still produce cyanotypes today – in fact, there’s been a resurgence in cameraless-cyanotype processes among fine-art photographers – but it requires darkroom chemicals. (In fact, we have a comprehensive guide to creating physical cyanotypes right here!)

Fortunately, if you’re interested in creating the cyanotype look, you don’t have to go back to the darkroom or become a chemist and waste tons of material along the way. You can create a digital cyanotype using Photoshop, and that’s what I’ll show you today.

Note: Because photographers achieved a cyanotype by applying light-sensitive emulsion onto the paper (or surface) on which they wanted to print, the first thing you need is a background that mimics this effect. If you’re feeling crafty, you can buy a brush and some blue paint and physically create your background. Then scan it and make it the size and resolution that best fits the image you want to use.

That said, you can create your background digitally. And because I promised you a digital cyanotype technique, I’ll include the background-creation process in my tutorial!

Here’s what you do:

Step 1: Create your cyanotype background

You’ll want to start by opening Photoshop. Create a new file with a blank white canvas.

Go ahead and select the Brush tool on the left-hand side of the screen, and pick the size and type of brush. From the Options Bar, choose your brush features; I recommend picking a brush with a wide tip, like a fan, so that the effect emulates paint brushstrokes and not a pen or a marker.

The brush size will depend on the size of your document, but you’ll want to keep it relatively big to create a “brushed-on” effect:

In terms of the brush color, use black because the blue tone will be applied later.

Then go ahead and cover much of the canvas with your brush. The goal isn’t to paint the entire thing black, but to simulate a piece of paper with a light-sensitive emulsion painted on, like this:

It’s okay to make the brushstrokes uneven. Remember, the original method used hand-made techniques, so uneven brushing strokes will result in a nice unique look.

Step 2: Add your image

Now it’s time to bring in the image you want to give the cyanotype treatment. In my experience, any photo with a black or dark background blends nicely with the cyanotype background. However, it’s possible to use any image. (If you’re not sure which image to pick, remember that this is a fairly quick process, so you can always try it out on several!)

Open the image as a new Photoshop document and desaturate it. To achieve this, select Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation in the main menu. Then move the Saturation slider all the way down to the left:

Now that you have a monochrome image, go ahead and drag it into the canvas where you created the brushstroke background. It’ll get pasted as a new layer in that document.

Reposition it so that it fits nicely on the “painted” portion of the background. If you need to resize the photo, press Ctrl/Cmd+T and drag the corners until it looks good. Click on the check mark to apply.

You should now have an image looking something like this:

Step 3: Lighten the background

At this point, we’re going to lighten our brushstrokes to blend more nicely with the image.

Make sure that your brushstroke layer is selected and not the image layer. Then click on the Adjustment Layer icon and choose Levels:

This will create a layer that sits between the image layer and the “canvas” background layer, which means that it will only affect the brushstrokes and not the photo.

You can do a lot with a Levels adjustment, but like I said, our goal is to lighten the brushstroke background. Grab the Midtones slider and drag it slightly downward (see the screenshot above for guidance!). Then grab the Blacks slider and bring it subtly upward so the black becomes a dark gray.

Step 4: Create the blue effect

Cyanotypes are supposed to look blue, but we’re currently dealing with a black-and-white image on a gray canvas.

So here’s what we need to do:

First, make sure the top layer (i.e., the one with your image) is selected. Click the Adjustment Layer icon, then add a Color Balance layer:

By tweaking the sliders, you can create a nice blue tone. Feel free to experiment, but as a starting point, try my settings: Cyan -62, Magenta 0, and Blue +95.

Once you’re satisfied with the color of your image, you can continue on with the next step, or you can choose to make it less intense by adding another adjustment layer.

(Remember to always keep the layer on top selected so that the new adjustment layer affects all the layers!)

Specifically, you can add a Hue/Saturation layer, then move the Saturation slider a little bit to the left:

This will subtly desaturate the image and reduce the intensity of the blues. Just be careful not to add too much desaturation; otherwise, your image will no longer resemble a cyanotype.

Step 5: Blend the image and the background

If you can still see the borders of the image on your brushstroke background, the balance isn’t quite right. We want to ensure that the image and the background blend together seamlessly, as a real cyanotype would.

Fortunately, this is easy to fix. You just need to adjust the layer blend mode! Simply select the image (not the background) layer, then open the Blend Mode menu. I recommend choosing either Lighten or Screen for the best results:

That should take care of most blending issues. However, in my example image, it’s still possible to see the border when I zoom in:

If that’s the case for you, choose the Eraser tool from the tool panel on the left-hand side. Choose a brush with soft borders, and lower the opacity to around 30%. Carefully brush over the visible border edges to create a smoother transition.

Share your finished cyanotype!

Well, that’s basically all you need to do. At this point, you should have a very nice digital cyanotype! Here’s mine:

If you like the effect, I encourage you to try it on a few different photos. Then export your favorite and share it in the comments below!

The post How to Create a Cyanotype Effect in Photoshop (Step By Step) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

This article was updated in June 2024 with contributions from Andrew S Gibson, Post Production Pye, and Helen Bradley.

Imagine that you have just processed a color image and you are happy with the result, but you’d also like to experiment a little. Perhaps you’re curious to see how the file will look if you convert it to black and white. Maybe you’d like to apply a Develop Preset or two, or crop to the square format, or even all three.

Fortunately, in Lightroom Classic, this kind of experimentation is really, really easy. All you have to do is make a Virtual Copy.

And in this article, I explain everything you need to know, including what Virtual Copies are, how to create them, and five ways you can use Virtual Copies to improve your Lightroom workflow.

Let’s dive right in!

What is a Lightroom Virtual Copy?

Virtual Copies are not copies of the original RAW file (that’s actually what makes them so awesome to begin with). Instead, a virtual copy is only a copy of the Develop settings, represented as a new image within the Lightroom catalog.

In other words, a Virtual Copy is a replica of the original photo, including all edits made in Lightroom. Once you have made a Virtual Copy, you can process it any way you like without affecting the original.

Virtual Copies are a fantastic tool because they let you make multiple copies of a single image while using very little hard drive space (it only makes a new thumbnail rather than duplicating your image file). You can try out different techniques, and keep all the results. Each Virtual Copy exists as a set of text commands in the Lightroom Catalog, an addition measured in kilobytes rather than megabytes.

How to create a Virtual Copy in Lightroom

There are four ways to create a Virtual Copy. Start in Grid View in the Library module (press the G key to go there from any part of Lightroom). Select the image (or images) you want to make Virtual Copies of.

1. Choose Photo>Create Virtual Copy. Lightroom creates the Virtual Copies and places them in the same Collection as the original images.

2. Use the keyboard shortcut. If you’re using Windows, press Ctrl+’; on a Mac press Cmd+’.

3. Right-click on a selected photo and choose Create Virtual Copy from the dropdown menu.

4. Choose Library>New Collection. The Create Collection window opens. Under Options, tick the Include selected photos and Make new virtual copies boxes. Lightroom creates a new Collection (with the name you give it) and adds Virtual Copies of the selected images.

How to use Virtual Copies for the best results

Now you know how to create Virtual Copies, let’s look at some ways you can use them better in Lightroom.

1. Process multiple versions of the same photo

This is the main reason that you would want to create Virtual Copies: so you can process the same photo several different ways. The photo shown below is a great example.

I created a color version first, then made a Virtual Copy and converted it to black and white. Then I made some more Virtual Copies and experimented with different Develop Presets and split tones. I ended up with 22 different versions in a mixture of color and black and white.

2. Stack your Virtual Copies

When you create Virtual Copies, your Lightroom interface might start to feel a little cluttered – but you can use Stacks to simplify the thumbnails displayed in Grid View. In this example, I’m going to create two Stacks of my Virtual Copies: one containing color photos, and the other containing black-and-white images.

First, select the photos you want to place in the same stack. Click and drag thumbnails to rearrange them in Grid View if you need to. Here, I grouped all the color photos together:

Go to Photo>Stacking>Group into Stack. (You can also find this option by right-clicking a thumbnail.) Or use the keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl+G (Windows) or Cmd+G (Mac).

Lightroom then places the photos into a Stack. The first photo in the selection is used as the cover image. The Stack icon is displayed in the top left corner of the thumbnail (see the arrow in the image below!). The number inside tells you how many photos are in the Stack.

If you want to group other Virtual Copies into another stack, you can always select a new set of images, and then repeat. Below, you can see that I’ve also stacked the black-and-white versions:

To view the photos in a Stack, click the Stack icon in the thumbnail. Then click it again to hide the stacked photos.

3. Use Virtual Copies with plug-ins and Photoshop

If you want to send a photo to a plug-in or Photoshop, my recommended approach is to process it in Lightroom first (applying at least basic settings, such as Camera Calibration, Lens Corrections, and tonal adjustments in the Basic panel).

Then, before the export, make a Virtual Copy and send the Virtual Copy to the plug-in or Photoshop. That way, when you return to Lightroom, you can compare the two versions. You can also make more Virtual Copies from the original to send to other plug-ins or to work on in Lightroom.

4. Set up View Options to show which images are Virtual Copies

In the screenshot below, you can see that the image on the right is a Virtual Copy, as it is labeled “Copy 22.” The image on the left is the original and just has the file name.

You can set this up in the View Options dialog (View>View Options or Ctrl/Cmd+J). Tick the Show Grid Extras and Top Label boxes (marked below). Set Show Grid Extras to Expanded Cells and set Top Label to File Base Name and Copy Name (the other options in the same section do a similar thing).

That way, it’s easy to see whether you’re dealing with a Virtual Copy or an original!

5. Filter by Virtual Copy

At times, it might be beneficial to view all the Virtual Copies within our Lightroom catalog. To aid us, we can actually filter by Virtual Copies in Lightroom.

First, you need to bring up your Filter menu. To do this, head to the Library module. Once there, make sure that Filters are enabled (hit Ctrl/Cmd+L), then select Attribute:

On the far right, you’ll see three little box icons. To specifically filter by Virtual Copies, click on the middle box:

And you’ll see all the Virtual Copies in your selected folder or Collection!

Filtering by Virtual Copies is very handy if, for instance, you wish to clear out all of the Virtual Copies in your catalog. I also like to filter by Virtual Copies when I want to create presets from the Develop settings for all of my Virtual Copies.

Virtual Copies vs Snapshots

I’m often asked about the difference between a Snapshot and a Virtual Copy. Given that both functions are used to save different looks for an image, these can seem similar. However, in reality, these two functions are very different, particularly when it comes to exporting.

When you create different looks via Snapshots, only the “active” or selected Snapshot Develop settings will be exported to the final image. Let’s illustrate with an example.

Let’s say we have an image with 3 different looks created with Snapshots, and another image with 3 different looks created with Virtual Copies.

When we export the image with the three different Snapshots, Lightroom will create one exported image with the Develop settings from the active snapshot.

When we export the image with the three different Virtual Copies, Lightroom will actually create three separate exported images using the Develop settings from each Virtual Copy.

To keep it simple: Virtual Copies will create additional exported images while Snapshots will not.

Lightroom Virtual Copies: final words

Now that you’ve finished this article, you know all about Virtual Copies in Lightroom – what they are, how to create them, and most importantly, how to use them for the best Lightroom workflow.

My advice is to head over to Lightroom and test out the Virtual Copy function. Create a few Copies and have fun experimenting with different edits. Pretty soon, creating Virtual Copies will be second nature (and if you’re anything like me, you’ll want to use them all the time!).

Now over to you:

How do you plan to use Virtual Copies in your workflow? Do you have any tips that I missed? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post Lightroom Virtual Copies: The Ultimate Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Andrew S. Gibson.