Pixology Magazine June 2023

The June 2023 issue of Pixology magazine is now available, featuring the following articles:

  • Gradient Map Creativity: Learn how you can use a Gradient Map adjustment in Photoshop for creative effects such as black and white, duotone, split toning, and more.
  • Top Ten Keywording Tips: Get tips on making the most of keywords to help you find photos fast and get reminded of the contents of an image.
  • AI Noise Reduction: Discover the new feature of Camera Raw (for Photoshop) and Lightroom Classic that leverages artificial intelligence for noise reduction.
  • Extending the Frame: Learn techniques for extending the frame of a photo in Photoshop, such as when a subject is too close to the edge of the frame.
  • Photo Story: Shadows and Stairs: Get the story behind a somewhat abstract photo captured in a “hidden” corner of Rome, Italy, not too far from some of the most popular attractions.

Pixology magazine is included in the GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle, and is also available as a standalone subscription here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/pixology-magazine

Meaning of Thumbnail Badge Icons in Lightroom Classic

In Lightroom Classic you may have noticed that some photos display one or more tiny icons at the bottom-right corner of the thumbnail. These “badges” can be displayed on thumbnails in the grid view display or on the filmstrip on the bottom panel. The options for hiding or revealing these badges can be found on the menu under View > View Options for the grid view display, or on the Interface tab of the Preferences dialog for the filmstrip.

But what do these badge icons actually mean?

There are six of these badge icons, and the meaning for each is as follows:

The enhance badge indicates that the image has been processed with one of the Enhance features in Lightroom Classic, which includes Denoise, Raw Details, and Super Resolution.

The keyword tag badge indicates that one or more keywords have been added to the metadata for a photo. If you are in any module other than the Library module you can click on this badge for an image on the filmstrip to be taken directly to the Library module.

The map pushpin icon indicates that GPS coordinates are included in metadata for a photo. This could be because you used a camera with a built-in GPS receiver to capture the photo, or that GPS coordinates were added to a photo later such as by dragging the photo onto the map in the Map module. Clicking on this map pushpin badge will take you to the Map module showing the location on the map where the photo was captured.

The collections badge indicates that an image is included in one or more collections. You can click on this badge to see a popup showing the collection(s) the image has been added to, and you can click a name of a collection on that popup list to navigate directly to that collection.

The crop badge indicates that the image has been cropped in the Develop module. Clicking on this badge will take you to the Develop module with the crop tool view enabled.

The adjustment badge indicates that any adjustments have been applied in the Develop module. In other words, at least some adjustment settings have been changed from their default values.

The embedded preview badge indicates that you are only seeing the embedded preview from the source image, not a standard or 1:1 preview. I always recommend building at least the standard previews when importing photos into Lightroom Classic, in which case you would not see this badge. Note, by the way, that unlike the other badges listed above, the embedded preview badge will appear at the top-left rather than the bottom-right of the image thumbnails.

Keep in mind that these badges will only appear on photos that meet the criteria for each badge. Some photos might not have any badges associated with them at all, some might have one or two badges, and some photos could show all six of the badge options.

Note: This article has been updated from the original post to add the new badge associated with the Enhance features in Lightroom Classic.

Pixology Magazine May 2023

The May 2023 issue of Pixology magazine is now available, featuring the following articles:

  • Blend Modes in Photoshop: Explore adjustments and creative possibilities using layer interactions.
  • Guided Upright for Perspective: Learn how you can solve a common perspective problem with remarkable ease.
  • Spot Metering: Learn to leverage the benefits of setting exposure based on a small area of a scene.
  • Photo Versions in Lightroom Classic: Learn about different options fr exploring different possibilities for a photo.
  • Photo Story: Wet Feet: Sometimes you have to get your feet wet to find the best light.

Pixology magazine is included in the GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle, and is also available as a standalone subscription here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/pixology-magazine

Online Workshop: Organizing Photos in Lightroom Classic (June 2023)

I’m happy to announce that I will be teaching an online workshop soon, focused on helping photographers get organized in Adobe Lightroom Classic. Photographers who participate in this online workshop will have the opportunity to get their questions answered directly from me both during the live online class sessions and via follow-up email.

The workshop will include six live online sessions of about two hours each, running from June 5th through the 16th. All sessions will be recorded so they can be reviewed at any time. If you’d like to improve your organizational workflow in Lightroom Classic so you’ll have the confidence of being able to find any photo quickly, you can register to join me for this online workshop here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/online-workshop-organizing-photos-in-lightroom-classic-june-2023

GreyLearning Ultimate Event: Backing Up Your Photos

Registration is now open for my next live online GreyLearning Ultimate Events, focused on “Backing Up Your Photos”. The live online event will be on Wednesday, May 17th, from 1pm to 5pm Eastern Time.

What’s so “ultimate” about the “GreyLearning Ultimate Events”? Well, to start with they’re free to photographers who subscribe to my GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle (http://timgrey.me/atg99bundle). Recordings of all presentations will also available, so you can watch even if you can’t attend live, or review the presentations at any time. Importantly, these events leverage my extensive experience in photography, digital imaging, and more, to provide in-depth information to help you master the subject matter presented.If you’re not a GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle subscriber, that’s OK! Non-subscribers can attend the live online event and access recordings of all presentations for just $20.

You can get all the details of this upcoming live online event here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/greylearning-ultimate-event-backing-up-your-photos-may-2023

I look forward to helping photographers ensure their photos are backed up securely with this upcoming GreyLearning Ultimate Event!

Pixology Magazine April 2023

The April 2023 issue of Pixology magazine is now available, featuring the following articles:

  • Masking in Camera Raw: Learn to leverage the power of targeted adjustments in Camera Raw for Photoshop.
  • Soft Proofing in Lightroom Classic: Learn to simulate the appearance of a printed photo on your monitor display in Lightroom Classic.
  • Creative Blur Techniques: Get tips on fun techniques for blur effects in photography.
  • Using Collections: Go beyond folders by leveraging collections in Lightroom Classic.
  • Photo Story: Il Cielo Sopra Roma: Sometimes the best photo is in a direction you forgot to look.

Pixology magazine is included in the GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle, and is also available as a standalone subscription here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/pixology-magazine

Today is World Backup Day

As photographers our photos are important to us, and so it is important that we protect them. I continue to be surprised at how often I consult with photographers and find out that they don’t back up their photos. If you are one of those photographers today, being World Backup Day, is a great day to implement a backup solution!

In today’s edition of my Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter I shared an overview of the workflow I use for backing up my photos, at the request of a reader. Here is the question and answer as published in the newsletter:

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Today’s Question: I’ve decided I am long overdue to create a system to better back up my photos. Can you provide an overview of the workflow you recommend?

Tim’s Quick Answer: My primary local backups are created using GoodSync (http://timgrey.me/greybackup) to synchronize each primary storage drive to two backup drives. I also use Backblaze (https://timgrey.me/onlinebackup) as an online backup solution, which provides an offsite copy of my data.

More Detail: I was asked this question a couple weeks ago, but since today is World Backup Day I decided to hold the question for today’s newsletter.

My primary method of backing up my photos is to create exact copies of my primary hard drives used for photo storage to at least two other backup drives. By synchronizing photos to other drives, the backup drives represent an exact copy of the primary drive. I use GoodSync software (http://timgrey.me/greybackup) for this purpose, but there are other solutions available as well.

That means that when a primary drive fails it is very easy to recover. You basically just need to connect the backup drive in place of the failed drive, and the data structure will be the same. This is especially helpful when it comes to managing photos with Lightroom Classic, because it ensures the catalog won’t be confused by a different storage structure for your photos on the backup drive.

While I always maintain at least two backup drives (and often more) for my primary drives, I also want to have an offsite backup so I can still recover even if all my drives were lost at once in a disaster. I prefer to use an online backup service for this purpose rather than having to move hard drives back and forth to a remote location myself, and I have been very happy with the online backup provided by Backblaze (https://timgrey.me/onlinebackup) for this purpose.

As a side note, because I’m a Macintosh user, I employ the Time Machine backup for the internal drive on my computer, backing up to at least two external hard drives for this purpose. This doesn’t relate to my photo storage, since I store my photos on external hard drives, but Time Machine does make it remarkably easy to recover the internal hard drive if there is a failure.

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Regardless of the specific workflow you use, the critical thing is to be sure that your photos and other important data are backed up, so that when a hard drive fails it is merely an inconvenience rather than a crisis.

GreyLearning Ultimate Event: Planning a Photo Trip

Registration is now open for the first in a series of live online GreyLearning Ultimate Events. The first event will be on the subject of “Planning a Photo Trip”, and will be presented live online on Wednesday, April 19th, from 1pm to 5pm Eastern Time.
What’s so “ultimate” about the “GreyLearning Ultimate Events”? Well, to start with they’re free to photographers who subscribe to my GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle (http://timgrey.me/atg99bundle). Recordings of all presentations will also available, so you can watch even if you can’t attend live, or review the presentations at any time. Importantly, these events leverage my extensive experience in photography, digital imaging, and more, to provide in-depth information to help you master the subject matter presented.
If you’re not a GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle subscriber, that’s OK! Non-subscribers can attend the live online event and access recordings of all presentations for just $20.
You can get all the details of this upcoming live online event here:
I look forward to helping photographers plan for fantastic photo trips with the first GreyLearning Ultimate Event, and I hope you’ll join me for this and future events.

Online Workshop: Mastering Targeted Adjustments in Lightroom Classic

In April I’ll be teaching an online workshop focused on helping you master the craft of applying targeted adjustments to your photos in Lightroom Classic, with the opportunity to get your questions answered directly from me both during the live online class sessions and via follow-up email.

The workshop will include four live online sessions of about two hours each, running from April 4th through the 13th (Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12pm to 2pm Eastern Time). All sessions will be recorded so they can be reviewed at any time. If you’d like to learn to master the craft of optimizing your photos with targeted adjustments in Lightroom Classic, you can register to join me for this online workshop here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/online-workshop-mastering-targeted-adjustments-in-lightroom-classic

Pixology Magazine March 2023

The March 2023 issue of Pixology magazine is now available, featuring the following articles:

  • Star Rating Strategy: Get tips on the benefits of defining star ratings for your photos in a way other than the “obvious” approach.
  • Understanding Process Versions: Learn about process versions in Camera Raw and Lightroom Classic, and how to ensure you have access to the latest adjustment features for your photos.
  • Choosing a Color Space: Learn what a working space color profile is, and how to make sure you’re using the right one for optimizing your photos.
  • Survey and Compare: See how you can compare photos quickly using the helpful survey and compare view options in Lightroom Classic.
  • Photo Story: Tricolor: Tips from a local in the Palouse helped me find a canola field with unique terrain, which led to an interesting photo.

Pixology magazine is included in the GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle, and is also available as a standalone subscription here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/pixology-magazine