Little Known Lightroom Tool Saves HOURS: Auto Exposure In 1 Click

[@SignatureEdits]

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[@JerodBeeson]

People claim to teach something "nobody knows about" or "secret setting" all over KZbin...I have truly never seen or heard of this trick in nearly a decade using the program. Thank you!🎉

[@SignatureEdits]

100% agree! I stumbled across it myself today and was like "huh - can't believe I've never seen this before" haha. Glad to hear it wasn't just me!

[@JochenStrobel]

Quick Develop is underrated, you can also apply presets (one after another), but the big thing for me is that you can batch editing proportional to the existing values. For exemple you can adjust white balance or exposure to multiple photos and they all change in relation to the existing values, whereas in the development section the absolute value is synchronised between multiple images when batch processing or copying adjustments.

[@kkc552]

Wow!! Game Changer Tip!!!

[@kkc552]

The only downside is that there is no hotkey for increasing or decreasing exposure/WB etc. when you are in Quick Develop. You have to use the mouse and do the clicking instead of typing.

[@SignatureEdits]

Great points Jochen! I totally agree. Wish I'd thought to mention this inside the video!!

[@SignatureEdits]

True! This would be so much better, if you could have exposure hotkey as +/- and then WB hotkey as {} or something directly under on the keyboard. It would make quick develop MUCH better

[@masonresnick5105]

Nice! I've generally stayed away from grid view & Quick Develop, but now I'm going to add this to my workflow.

[@SignatureEdits]

Awesome! Glad it gave you something new to try Mason. Thanks for watching!

[@Coatsey007]

Really appreciate the video, excellent. The only thing I will add is I'm not really sure and what you're doing with the photo selection and then the highlight the one that you want it to match. This is quite a tricky thing, because obviously when you click on one or the others, then unselected, so there's something that you're doing there that wasn't clear in the video. I think it would be really helpful for your fans and viewers too slow that part down and explain it. I hope this is taken warmly and constructively.

[@lorihannah5285]

I noticed that too!

[@Coatsey007]

@@lorihannah5285 I figure out that when you choose the photos, one can be highlighted by clicking on it once you have it selected as one of the many. I hope that makes sense. If you click on a photo that is not in the highlighted, then all the other photos become unhighlighted so it has to be a photo within the group that you've already selected. That way the rest are not unselected

[@SignatureEdits]

So glad you got it figured Coatsey! Apologies for not being more specific on this step - To tell you the truth, sometimes this method works for me and sometimes it doesn't, which is why I didn't specifically teach it in the video... Still, I should have mentioned it! Thanks for watching and sharing this tip

[@DigitalImageStudio]

On your film strip you can of course select images using first and last image in a series whilst holding shift and also use the Ctrl key to select/deselect discrete images in the strip. To highlight the focus or source image for copying settings etc. without holding any other key just click on the thumbnail image, not the frame otherwise the selection will be lost.

[@liverpoolpictorial]

This one tip is worth using Lightroom alone! You can do something similar (not the process, the end result) in ACR, but your tip is far more simpler and faster. Thank you so much.

[@SignatureEdits]

So glad to hear it! Interesting to hear the LR version is easier than ACR!

[@niallfeatherstone]

Another tog told me about this tip a while back but using the complicated shortcut and I forgot it, thanks for the video as this shown me another way to get to it, going to map it too my loupedeck now

[@t0st]

Not exposure but whitebalance would be better to nail correctly.. is there a good way to do that?

[@training7574]

Very useful for a lazy amateur like me, thanks! I don't aim for perfection, good enough is enough!

[@martinstaffa8555]

Wow! Thank you so much!

[@SignatureEdits]

You're welcome! Glad it was helpful :)

[@shortie8512]

I think it might have been worth explaining to people exactly how this feature works and why it does and doesn't work in certain situations. This tool does not analyse the histogram or do anything fancy with AI - I would love Adobe to bring something like this to LR as CaptureOne has something like this. LR looks at the exposure settings of the target image i.e. shutter speed, aperture, ISO plus the exposure adjustment in LR, and then adjusts the exposure value in LR for images being matched to the target on basis of the shutter speed, aperture and ISO on a per image basis i.e. if there's +1 stop in difference to the target for an image then LR sets the exposure adjustment value to -1 e.g. if the target was shot at 1/125, f4, ISO200 and no exposure adjustment in LR, then for an image shot at 1/125, f4, ISO100 (i.e. 1 stop under exposed in comparison) then the exposure setting would be set to +1.0 for the image.

[@timk8258]

Yeah, he obviously doesn't even really understand what Match Total Exposure is doing or what it's for. Basically if you shoot in Aperture Priority and you want to make all of the shots in a specific lighting scenario match after the fact (as though you had shot them in manual mode with fixed settings) that's what it does. But if the light is changing or if you're changing your shooting angle (such as the getting ready shots by the window where some are totally backlit / silhouettes and some are showing the direct window light on people's faces, you wouldn't be shooting every shot with the same manual settings anyway and thus this tool is not going to help you.

[@SignatureEdits]

Awesome explanation! I find adobe in general is VERY sparse on their explanations of how things work 😂 I definitely don't know it all, just sharing things as I find them out myself! Thanks for the watch + insights!

[@SignatureEdits]

This is so interesting! Appreciate you taking the time to explain it more deeply. You're right, I didn't know exactly what it was doing or how. That said, I don't quite understand how someone in Aperture Priority using this to correct would be any different than someone shooting in manual and adjusting shutter manually between images using this to correct... In general, wouldn't you get the same exact results, given that most people in manual will leave their aperture setting unchanged most of the time, and just adjust shutter speed (assuming you don't need to adjust it that for low light, more in focus etc etc) If you're not changing scenes / lighting between images, why would aperture priority even be changing your settings anyways? (Or are you assuming same scene, different skin tones etc.. in which case, then I get where you're going!)

[@timk8258]

@@SignatureEdits Aperture priority will often change the exposure slightly from shot to shot even as your composition changes because of the way it averages the tones in a scene and tries to balance it all out to 50% gray (obviously it's more complex that that with face priority metering, etc but that's the basic concept of what it's doing). So even if the light doesn't change your exposure will vary based on getting more or less of the background in the frame, or as you mentioned people with different skin tones or wearing darker or lighter clothing. So if you know that the light was the same and you were shooting from basically the same angle, thus the exposure should be identical for each shot, you can use Match Total Exposure to fix that easily.

[@SignatureEdits]

Fair enough! Good explanation :) @@timk8258

[@bryan67thomas]

I never realized you could do those sort of batch edits

[@vascofmdc]

where's the "what? nooo way" guy when you need him... thank you. I learned something new today.

[@SignatureEdits]

😂 Love it. Thanks so much!

[@Keith-n7b]

Thank you for helping me improve in my photography journey.

[@SignatureEdits]

Happy to help! Hope it makes a difference for you :)

[@etuoyo]

Wow I have always wished Lightroom would add this function. Had no idea it already did. Thanks

[@SignatureEdits]

Right?! Me too haha

[@anasmhimd4902]

Amazing trick bro!!! 😍😍😍

[@SignatureEdits]

Thanks ✌️😍

[@ehtishamhaider2624]

Really it save my time alot❤❤❤

[@lolol8552]

What’s the difference between the 4th and 5th exercises?

[@eriktorres6953]

Thank you

[@SignatureEdits]

Welcome!

[@daygeckoarthawaii1360]

Match Total Exposure isn't auto exposure. It only looks at the settings and adjusts the photos to match your target. For example if all settings are the same and ISO is 100 on the target, and 200 on the others, it will just make the others darker. If there are different light levels it won't adjust for that

[@paulm8157]

Clever tips, prudently tempered caviates - nice. Does effectiveness depend on having images the same format, like RAW? BTW, effective use of zooming pic in pic - not seen that often.

[@SignatureEdits]

Thanks Paul! I don't think file format is what determines effectiveness... It's got to be something to do with the way LR is reading the images. I noticed sometimes it does a great job, but when images are too different it sometimes does the opposite of what you'd want... Making photos even more dark when they should be brighter etc. My assumption is that LR is trying to adjust the overall pixel average brightness in the photo to medium grey. So a dark, underexposed photo with a blown out sky might in LRs eyes still be too bright and thus it gets even darker... I have no idea though!

[@sutv6754]

Hello, I was looking and liking the LR course you offer but it does not say anywhere how much content there is. Like is it 2 hour course or 5 hours of videos or what?

[@josediazh3890]

Muchas gracoas.

[@SignatureEdits]

Thanks for watching!

[@royceahr]

After trying this on several sets of photos I am not pleased with the results. Like you said it works on some but not all which means on those that it does not work on you have to go back and fix them or hit reset which just adds to the workload. In my case I even had an error message pop up saying the it could not complete the task for some unknown reason. Then I had an instance where I selected 20 photos found one for a reference and then got an error saying that the process could not do them all but the ones that it did work on were really really dark...another failure taking more time to fix them or reset. In my opinion using user presets in quick develop works very well and in fact found that using Auto tone does what you describe after analyzing each photo.

[@SignatureEdits]

100%! This is one feature I think has sooooo much potential if adobe would just update to work better. Atm Im finding certain uses it is VERY helpful (scenes that are static it works great) But using auto tone then applying presets sounds like a great idea

[@veselinvasilev9362]

Thank you!

[@SignatureEdits]

You're welcome! Thanks for the watch + comment :)

[@emperor.augustus]

Hi . And how do you select the photo you wanna use as the one with the correct exposure if you have already selected the photos you want to exposure correct? How do you highlight it? Thanks a lot.

[@SignatureEdits]

Good question! Lightroom is super weird on this and I couldn't even figure out why sometimes when you select images it lets you click one and highlight it, and other times it deselects everything.... So in my case, I've found it works best when you select all the images and then click on the target photo without much delay. The longer you wait, the more often it feels like LR decides you're making a new selection and not selecting the target photo. But tbh I couldn't tell you... if you find out what's happening let me know!

[@emperor.augustus]

thank you very much bro@@SignatureEdits

[@truthsayers8725]

ive got LrC (version 13) and i dont have 'Develop Settings' under any of the pull down tabs. it looks like in your example, it should be just below Set Keyword and Add Keywords. this version does not have those options either. under Set Flag, Set Rating, Set Color Label, Auto Advance (as shown in your pull down) i have Set Flag, Set Rating, Set Color Label and then a new 'group' that has Set Metadata to File, Read Metadata from File and then a 'grayed out' Update DNG Preview and Metadata. this looks like it would be a nice feature to have but for some reason its not in my version

[@SignatureEdits]

I bet you're on a PC! I didn't realize until hearing comments like this that on PC the develop tab is in a different place in the menu! Once you have all of your photos selected, select “Settings” from the top bar in Lightroom, then select “Match Total Exposure” from that drop-down menu. Give that a try :)

[@boruchlen]

Very cool! Is there a setting like this in camera raw?

[@SignatureEdits]

Greay question! I'm not sure - If you find it let me know!!

[@peteesposito6633]

I am using the latest lr classic on a pc and do not have this in my lr.

[@SignatureEdits]

Weird! I just googled - Looks like it's in a different menu location on PC (Adobe, why you gotta be that way?) Once you have all of your photos selected, select “Settings” from the top bar in Lightroom, then select “Match Total Exposure” from that drop-down menu. Lmk if this works!

[@peteesposito6633]

@@SignatureEdits thank you. I speciation your looking into this

[@PatrikSkiffardFoto]

Does this work in Lightroom Mobile?

[@stelioskritikakis]

I'd wish adobe camera raw had this feature too

[@ytuberization]

How does this compare to Radiant Photo?

[@SignatureEdits]

I don't think they're really very similar. I've never used Radiant so I can't tell you for sure, but the AI editors actually adjust EVERYTHING in your photo for you... Whereas this is just adjusting the exposure, and even that job it doesn't do as consistently as it should... So for AI auto editing, I'd use one of the dedicated programs!

[@PackShotVideoPro-kl3fh]

Nice)))

[@viezure10]

I'm a bit confused. Why do this, if afterwards i'll apply a preset that also modifies the exposure and other tonal settings? Or is this useful when the presets doesn't cover such things?

[@jensgaethje8555]

it only adjusts the exposure setting. It mathces the overall average exposure value of all pixels in the photo combined to the selected one. It only makes sense to use when your exposure is all oevr the place for some reason. It can also easily screw things up, when you have varying brightness values in your subjects for example, you'll see the background brightness varying as it tries to level the complete photographs....

[@JochenStrobel]

I would avoid any preset that changes exposure settings, if it is in the preset I would remove it and keep the rest of the preset.

[@ziasportsphotos1.0]

Now that’s a helpful tip! I’ve tried matching exposure with subpar results, probably because I didn’t know about selecting a specific photo to base the exposure on. I’ll have to see if the feature yields better results with your advice. Thank you!

[@SignatureEdits]

100%

[@SignatureEdits]

Give it a shot! As I said, I get mixed results. It's most handy for shoots / parts of your shoot that have very similar framing / context. Let me know how it goes :)

[@DROCKIMAGING]

Great tip, but I want to know how you quickly selected so many photos so quickly without clicking each photo!

[@SignatureEdits]

oh, shoot, I should’ve mentioned! Select the top photo you want to select, then hold shift on your keyboard and click the bottom photo you want to select. It will select everything in between :)

[@torowazup1]

👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👌🏼😎

[@SignatureEdits]

🙏🏻💯🛹

[@videoart-studio7193]

The method he discusses in the video doesn’t solve the problem for photographers using flash

[@billmeador215]

Almost got it, but have issues...............1) According to Adobe you have to be the Develop Module for this to work............but you seem to be in the Library Module. 2) I can't see a way to pick one photo from the middle of a group of selected to be the source photo.............seems you have to make that the first one selected, then pick all the rest. 3) Bottom line, potentially great information, but explanation on how the selections are made would be extremely helpful for those of us new to Lightroom Classic.

[@SignatureEdits]

Hey Bill! I totally agree, I messed up by not being more specific! I bet you're on a PC by the sounds of it - I didn't realize until hearing comments like this that on PC the match total exposure is in a different place in the menu! Once you have all of your photos selected, select “Settings” from the top bar in Lightroom, then select “Match Total Exposure” from that drop-down menu. Give that a try :)

[@billmeador215]

Well, that is off too..............there is no "Setting" menu choice on the PC LRC menu bar......you have to choose Photo>Develop Settings>Match Total Exposure. And, you cannot select a range of photos using Shift and then pick one in the middle of the grouping to be the source photo.....you have to choose the source photo first, then use Shift Click if all the rest of the photos to change are adjacent to the first one selected, or Cntrl Click for photos on either side of it to get it to work properly. Anyway, found the information useful just took a few tries to get it to work as desired. Thanks..........

[@markedel6771]

You talk to fast

[@EdBareff]

You don't need to do all that stuff if you learn how to do photography. The raws look like the beginner took everything on auto.

[@SignatureEdits]

😂😂😂 #1 - More extreme example to see the effects more obviously #2 - You're not wrong, the better you dial in your settings in camera the less you'll need this! #3 - Regardless of how good you are or how experienced you get, there are still always going to be differences in the light as you move around, shoot with / against the sun etc. Still handy to have, even if you don't need as drastic of a change!