7

Get Them All Out of Lightroom – Exporting for Work and Leisure

You did all the hard work to capture the images, edit them, and develop them to perfection. Now it's time to share them with the world and to do that, we need to get them out of Lightroom.

Figure 7.1 – Export dialog

There are many different requirements placed on photographers regarding the final file format. Press photographers will look for different settings from fine art photographers; Instagram has optimal file requirements, and all competition submissions have file requirements. Do you want your clients to know what camera and settings you used or not? Do you want the print house to receive optimized files for that large canvas print? This chapter will deal with all of these questions and a few more.

In this chapter, we will cover each of the nine tabs plus one additional menu, followed by a section on the presets:

• Exporting images
• The Export Location tab
• File naming
• Video
• File settings
• Image sizing
• Output sharpening
• Metadata
• Watermarking
• Post-processing
• Watermark editor
• Creating presets

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to comfortably export your photographs into desired formats and adhere to any requirements given by external services, clients, or even friends and family.

Exporting images

To learn about exporting, we must go back to the Library Module. When we learned about it in Chapter 3, Tools Available Within the Library Module, and Chapter 4, Folders and Collections, we skipped the Export button to come back to it later.

Figure 7.2 – Export button

As you can imagine, using the Export button at the bottom of the left panel is not the only way to access the Export dialog. We can open it by right-clicking on a photograph or group of pictures in the ever-present filmstrip.

Figure 7.3 – Right-click the Export menu

The Export button will open a new window with all export-related settings. Right-clicking on a picture will allow us to either open the Export dialog, use the settings we used during our previous export (Export with Previous), or use one of the presets. We will return to it once we know more about the different export options. Lastly, we can use the keyboard shortcut "Shift⌘E".

The Export dialog is split into two panels. The left panel lists all available presets, from the few default ones that come with Lightroom (listed under Lightroom Presets) to our personal ones, which we will learn to create towards the end of this chapter.

Figure 7.4 – Export dialog

The right panel divides into nine tabs with all the necessary options. We will start from the top and look at them from top to bottom.

The Export Location tab

Let's delve into the Export To and Existing Files menus inside the Export Location tab.

Export To

Depending on your workflow and preferences, there are a few different paths we can take when we choose where we want to export our images.

Figure 7.5 – Export To menu

Here, we can specify the export of images to a predefined and existing location or create a new one. The Export To menu is where we can choose between the main three options.

Specific folder

Firstly, we can export to Specific folder – this will enable the Folder function with a drop-down list populated with the most recently used locations. Next to that menu with recent locations, we are offered to Choose… any location on the hard drive. Keep in mind that if you choose your desktop as the final destination, without creating or choosing any specific folders on it, Lightroom will export all files directly onto your desktop. This will cause a mess, especially if it is a few hundred photographs. The option Put in Subfolder just below the Folder menu is a great way to mitigate that potential problem and, most of all, is a way to keep things tidy.

Figure 7.6 – Specific folder

By checking the box and typing anything, Lightroom will create a folder with the name "anything" in the chosen location.

Figure 7.7 – In this example, Lightroom will create a folder named "Book Test" on the desktop and export selected photographs into it

Same folder as original photo

The next option in the Export To menu is Same folder as original photo. Using this function will export all images into the exact location where the original photographs we are exporting are located. Just as with the first option, we have a chance to not only specify the destination folder but also to create a new folder with a specified name inside it. I personally never use this option as I like to have a clear separation between "negatives" and "prints," but I think it will strongly depend on everyone's personal preferences and approach to "housekeeping." Choosing Same folder as original photo also gives us an opportunity to Add to This Catalog, which will reimport created images into their original catalog in Lightroom. By checking the Add to Stack option, Lightroom will add them to the original exported images in the form of a stack. We have a choice to add them Above Original or Below Original, which translates to before and after in the filmstrip.

Choose folder later (useful for presets)

The third and last option in the Export To: menu is Choose folder later (useful for presets). If we choose this option, Lightroom will ask us where to export files. We will be able to select locations via our computer's operating system dialog (via Finder on Mac). As the actual description says, it is a good choice for presets. When we precisely set all of the options available below and finally commit to Export, Lightroom will ask us where we want to save our newly created files. Choosing this option will gray out the option to create a subfolder, which we can do on the operating system level.

The remaining few choices located under the thin line in the Export To menu are standard system folders that will slightly differ depending on the operating system you are using. Choosing one of these locations will allow us to create subfolders, which might be handy for quick exports.

Existing Files

The last remaining option of the Export Location tab is labeled Existing Files. This relates to exporting files with the exact same name already present in the location we chose for the export. As the default, this option is set to Ask what to do, which means that instead of choosing specific behavior straight away, we will have a chance to do it after clicking the Export button. The choices we will be given match the three options in the Existing Files menu.

These three choices are as follows:

• Choose a new name for the exported file: It will append our chosen filename with a number. If it's the first copy, it will append the name with -2, the next one -3, and so on.
• Overwrite WITHOUT WARNING: Just the capitalization of this warning signals that we need to be careful when using this option, especially if your workflow includes exporting to Same folder as original photo. Choosing this option might overwrite our originals, which will be forever lost!
• Skip: If you choose this option, the export will not include files with the same name as already existing ones in the location of the export. It's a safe choice option, but you will face a little nightmare if this happens for a small number of files randomly distributed in a more extensive export, and you will have to manually compare the contents of your export folder with the final selection in Lightroom Library. It happened to me; I do not recommend this experience.

Figure 7.8 – Existing Files

I always have the Existing Files function set to Ask what to do – it potentially adds a choice. In 99% of cases, I will pick Choose a new name for the exported file. This way, I don't have to worry about anything being lost or overwritten.

File Naming

The first choice we need to make is simple: Rename To or not.

If we choose not to rename the exported files, they will have the same name as our source files. The remaining functions in this tab will be unavailable, and the only choice we can make will be between the uppercase and lowercase extensions. You might have your reasons to change from the default lowercase to uppercase, but I always leave it as is. It is one of those Lightroom options I have never changed since I first used it.

Suppose we, however, choose the Rename To function. In that case, we are not only welcomed with a great selection of renaming presets but also a fully customizable File Template Editor. Once we click on the list of options, we will see seven presets: four that will use our set Custom Name and three that will use the original filename. I usually choose Desktop and the same name for Put in Subfolder and Custom Text when exporting images. This way, I can keep track of what goes where to easily keep track of exported photographs and later distribute them to other locations.

The example (Example) on the bottom of this tab will always show us how the chosen name will look after the export depending on the Rename To option and Custom Text we choose.

Figure 7.9 A

Figure 7.9 B – Seven presets and the File Naming menu

If we need more options, so the names are more specific, we need to choose Custom Settings or Edit… to open Filename Template Editor.

Figure 7.10 – Filename Template Editor

File Template Editor has two sections: a blue framed window where we can type in the custom text, including symbols, and four blocks: Image Name, Sequence and Date, Metadata, and Custom.

Once we choose any options from the drop-down menus, they will immediately appear in the blue framed editor's window. We can move things around by click-dragging them to create the desired name. We can also add symbols such as an underscore and so on. Depending on our needs, we can create something very basic or really elaborate, including camera settings and more. Once we have what we need, we can either click Done or click the Preset menu at the top of this menu and choose Save Current Settings as a New Preset.

Figure 7.11 – Filename Template Editor example

Next, we will look into the Video menu.

Video

Lightroom offers us minimal Video Export options, but what's on offer is enough for any photographer who might sporadically need access to this type of functionality.

Figure 7.12 – Video

Starting with the first checkbox, we can choose whether Lightroom should include video files in the export or not. If we decide to include video files, we will have two short pull-down lists to specify Video Format and Quality of the imported video.

The Video Format options are very straightforward and allow us to choose between the following:

• DPX: The preferred, lossless format for further editing
• H.264: Probably the best-known video compression standard for video
• Original, Unedited File

For DPX, we can choose between three different frame rates. H.264 offers only four vague options, from Max to Low, described in more detail once we choose any particular option. Original, Unedited File doesn't provide any further options.

Let's dive into the file settings now.

File Settings

We have a choice of exporting our photos in seven different file formats. With format changes, the available options also change. I'll describe each format separately.

Figure 7.13 – File Settings tab

JPEG is the most widely used image format in the world. If you've ever wondered what it means, it's an abbreviation of Joint Photographic Experts Group – a committee of experts who created and maintain JPEG and related formats. JPG is the format that photographers use most often – whether preparing images for portfolio, print, or social media, .jpg will be the "go-to" format. You probably noticed that we used JPEG, JPG, and .jpg as alternatives to name the same thing. This is because they all describe the same thing and can be used alternately.

Quality is a rather vague measurement, but there is a massive difference in quality and file size between the original and files exported at various settings. For example, 60 MB files with Quality set to 100, without any resizing, and at 72 dpi will be compressed to about 10 MB. The same file set to 80 will have a size of about 5 MB, and with Quality set to 0, its size will be about 500 KB. When viewed in screen size, we will notice practically no difference, but zooming in to 100% will reveal a lot of artifacts and pixelation. I suggest always exporting at the "highest possible" quality, which will differ from application to application. For printing, it's always 100, but for social media and websites, we can easily use the setting of 80-90 and sometimes even less – you will have to be the judge of it yourself. Compare results side by side and choose settings that work for you.

The next available choice is Color Space. For anything internet-related, always use sRGB. In fact, use sRGB for anything else as well. The sRGB option is the most widely used color space and unless you know why you want to use any other color space, don't. You risk getting washed out, bland, and less saturated images that don't match what you saw while developing them in Lightroom. The internet can't read the full spectrum of colors that Adobe RGB can potentially represent. As for ProPhoto RGB, there are no monitors (yet?) that can display such a wide gamut of colors. You have a choice, though, and I encourage you to experiment, but for 99.99% of applications, sRGB is the right choice for everyone.

Figure 7.14 – Color Space

Limit File Size To is a great option when we need to work with file size limitations. Instead of trying to hit the right mark with the Quality slider, we can set the maximum required size and Lightroom will compress files to match our requirements.

PSD is the native Adobe format (Photoshop Document), and you should only use it for that. Most applications won't even be able to read it. Only use this format if you need the file to contain all the possible raw information, and you know that someone will work on it in graphics software such as Photoshop. Other than that, I would avoid it. If you must export to PSD, then you will know the difference between 8-bit and 16-bit images. 8-bit images use and work within a color space of 16,777,216 colors while 16-bit images contain 281,474,976,710,656 – this is just trivia, but if you must work outside of Lightroom and will be using PSD format, always use 16-bit images to avoid nasty surprises.

TIFF aka Tagged Image File Format – for Color Space and Bit Depth, please see the previous notes. Regarding compression, we choose between lossless ZIP and LZW formats; please note that the LZW format is only available for 8-bit exports.

If we want to save transparency within the file instead of filling it with white color, we must check the Save Transparency box. Save Transparency will only apply to previously imported PSD or PNG files with transparent pixels. It will also work with files such as Lightroom stitched panoramas where transparent pixels are visible around the realigned images.

PNG is great for exporting an image for web use using lossless compression. The PNG format supports transparency, and I use it primarily for logos and graphics. However, we don't have control over the quality of the PNG file (lossless), and we will get a rather large exported file. For example, the same 60 MB photograph I mentioned with JPEG settings, when exported as PNG, will be about 100 MB.

DNG is short for Digital Negative Image. DNG is a highly compatible raw image format, meaning an unprocessed photo directly from the camera's sensor. Unless you are using external editing software that doesn't recognize the raw format straight off your camera, I don't see a reason to export images as DNG, but please let me know if you think differently. With Compatibility, we can choose which Camera Raw version will be able to read our exported DNGs, set by default to the latest release, but if you intend to work with an older version, you can, at the time of writing this book, go as far back as Camera Raw 2.4 released back in 2005. JPEG Preview is where we choose between Full Size, Medium Size, and None. This will be especially useful if we plan to reimport the DNG file back into Lightroom later. Lastly, we have a choice of three boxes to check:

• Embed Fast Load Data: This will slightly increase the created file size, but the Develop module will open images faster.
• Next, we have Use Lossy Compression, which will significantly reduce the created file's size but also decrease its quality.
• Lastly, we can choose Embed Original Raw File, which will save the original raw data of our image embedded into the DNG information.

Figure 7.15 – DNG settings

Original will export a copy of the original file accompanied by a sidecar .xmp file containing information about any and all changes we have made so far to our photo in Lightroom.

Now that we decided on our export format, let's work on the exports' final size.

Image Sizing

Different applications work best with different formats. From submission pages requesting images within a specific MP size to alleviating too much Facebook or other social media compression by exporting in their native sizes.

Figure 7.16 – Image Sizing

Resize to Fit offers great flexibility, and we can set the size of exported photographs with very specific rules:

• Width & Height: Here, we can set the maximum width and height of the exported image without changing the original aspect ratio. If we, for example, set this to W:1500XH:1000, Lightroom will export the image, making sure that the whole picture can fit within these dimensions and so the image will have a max height of 1000 and a max width of 1500. Imagine a box with set dimensions into which Lightroom will fit our image without rotating or cropping it.
• Dimensions: When we use this setting, Lightroom will apply a higher value to the longer edge and a lower value to the shorter edge. Compared to the Width & Height setting, it will fit the image into a box with set dimensions, rotating it if necessary for the best fit.
• Long Edge: With this setting, we can specify the length of the longer edge of the exported photograph. Lightroom will calculate the shorter edge's length using the exported photograph's aspect ratio.
• Short Edge: Similar to the Long Edge, we can specify the length of the shorter edge of the exported photograph. Lightroom will calculate the longer edge's length using the exported photograph's aspect ratio.
• Megapixels: MP (short for megapixel) count is simply the image's width in pixels multiplied by its height and divided by 1 million, rounded to the nearest number (that is, 7,264x5,440=39,516,160, 39,516,160/1,000,000=39.51616, =40 MP). When we set this to a required MP size, Lightroom will calculate the width and height, keeping the original aspect ratio.
• Percentage: This will export an image resized to a percentage we set, that is, if we set 10% for a 4,000x5,000 image, the resulting export will be 400x500.

Please notice the Don't Enlarge option – not having this box checked means that we can export images larger than our original photograph.

Lastly, we can set the print Resolution of exported images in pixels per inch (ppi) or cm per inch. Even though I'm a born and bred metric system user, because most print applications use ppi, I use it as well. When exporting images set for online, computer screens, and so on, I keep this at 72 ppi but for print, I usually set it to 360 (the reason for this will be explained in Chapter 8, Get them All Out – Using the Print and Book Modules). Some print providers might request 300 or even different values – it's always best to check what the requirements are on a print-by-print basis.

Output Sharpening

This option will provide additional sharpening to anything we already applied in the Develop process. Depending on the file's final destination, we can choose between Sharpen For: Screen, Matte Paper, or Glossy Paper, all with three different Amount settings: Low, Standard, and High.

Figure 7.17 – Output Sharpening

Of course, final results will differ depending on other settings we chose, and Low screen sharpening will be much more prominent on a 1,080-pixel-wide export than High sharpening on a full resolution export. It's worth experimenting with various settings from time to time as different types of images will behave differently at various sizes and outputs, but as a rule of thumb, I keep it set to Standard for most types of exports.

Now it's time to explore Metadata.

Metadata

This tab will help us to hide or display anything we don't want to share, and I find it most important for images intended for digital, work-related distribution. Whether they are destined for websites or magazine print, we can control aspects from copyright notice to camera settings.

Figure 7.18 – Metadata

Diving into the Include menu, starting from the top of the list, we can export just the IPTC Copyright only metadata. This option is followed by Copyright & Contact Info Only. Next is my most often used setting, titled All Except Camera and Camera Raw Info. This setting will export Copyright & Contact along with every other bit of information, including keywords and captions, except information about the camera used to create the photographs and without the camera settings used. The setting directly above – All Except Camera & Camera Raw Info – is a bit confusing; that's why I initially skipped it. I think that, in theory, it was supposed to leave the info about the camera and discard used settings, but as far as I have checked – and I checked RAW files from all major manufacturers – it leaves all camera settings used to create the photo in the metadata. Anyway, please check it for yourself and let me know if you get different results. Lastly, we can export All Metadata.

In addition to the sets of info we pick from the Include list, we can control three other aspects of exported information: Remove Person Info (this applies to People Keywords), Remove Location Info (GPS coordinates), and Write Keywords as Lightroom Hierarchy, which is to use the "|" character to separate the parent|child keyword relationships within the metadata.

Next is the Watermarking menu.

Watermarking

After all this dry info regarding sizes, ppi, and metadata, we can finally play around with something more visual.

Figure 7.19 – Watermarking

Watermarking offers us three ways to approach watermarking our photographs:

• Simple Copyright Watermark
• Text Watermark
• Graphic Watermark

The first and quickest way to use the Watermarking feature is Simple Copyright Watermark. There are no settings associated with this option. It will place the watermark only if we have copyright information populated in the picture's metadata. Whatever we have in the Copyright field will be placed as a watermark in the bottom-left corner of the exported photograph using default settings. If copyright information is too long, Lightroom will cut it short.

Figure 7.20 – Simple Copyright Watermark example

If we don't like the watermarks created using Simple Copyright Watermark, we must choose the Edit Watermarks… option. This will open a "hidden" Watermark Editor menu.

Figure 7.21 – Watermark Editor menu

Our choice is to use the Text or Graphic watermark style, and we will start with options available to tweak the Text version first.

First, we need the text we want to appear as a watermark. We can write it in the window just below the photograph, at the bottom of the Watermark Editor screen. Once we decide on that, let's move to the top-right corner within the same menu. Here, we can choose Font, its Style (if available), Alignment, and Color. Once we decide all of that, we can determine whether our text will cast a shadow. If we use the shadow, we will be able to adjust its Opacity, Offset, Radius (spread and feather), and Angle. Once we are happy with it, we can move to the Watermark Effects tab below. Firstly, we can change the opacity. When deciding on the size, we can choose Proportional, which could also read Adjust the size. We also select Fit, which will fit the text to the photo's width, and Fill, which will try to fill the whole height and width (this might be limited by the available sizes of the font we're using). Inset will create an invisible margin around our watermark. Next, we can choose where we would like the watermark to be placed with Anchor. Finally, we can Rotate the watermark in 90-degree increments.

Figure 7.22 A

Figure 7.22 B

Figure 7.22 C – Text watermark examples with their settings visible on the right

If we would prefer to use a graphic image instead of text, we need to go back to the top of the editor and choose the Graphic option for Watermark Style. This will open our system window, where we can select the file we want to use. We have a choice of using either JPG or PNG formats, but since PNG supports transparency (JPG will replace transparency with white color), it is the preferred aesthetic choice. Once we pick the appropriate image, we can adjust its size, opacity, and so on, to our liking in the Watermark Effects tab.

Figure 7.23 A

Figure 7.23 B – Graphic watermark example PNG and JPG

Whether we create a text or graphic watermark, we can check how it looks on different photographs we selected for export by clicking the left and right arrows at the top of the Watermark Editor window.

Once we have everything set to our liking, we need to click Save and pick a name for our newly created settings. This will be saved as a preset and available later as a shortcut from within the Export module as well as directly from the Library module when we right-click Export | Preset.

After some time, we might want to rename, update, or delete certain presets. We can do this from within the Watermark Effects window. We need to click on the pop-up menu, which contains all of our presets, in the top-right corner, and choose the appropriate action.

Figure 7.24 – Edit watermark presets menu

Now that we have set where to export our images and what their size and appearance will be, we can also choose if we want to follow up the export with another action.

Post-Processing

By default, this function is set to Do nothing and will play our chosen system sound once the export is completed. In addition to the export, we can also choose to show exported files in Finder (Show in Finder), Open in Photoshop, or even Open in Another Application, which we will be able to choose directly from our App folder.

Figure 7.25 – Post-Processing

Lastly, we can use Go to Export Actions Folder Now and, inside it, place shortcuts to applications that we want to be opened after pictures finish exporting. If you are an advanced enough user, you can even place executable files in that folder. Anything we save in the Export Actions folder will be accessible to us from the Post-Processing list as a shortcut.

In the next section, we will learn how to save our settings as presets that can be reused whenever we need them, without the need to set up everything from scratch once more.

Creating presets

Having all of the details set up in the desired way, we can save them as a preset, which Lightroom will add to the right-side panel of the Export menu. To create a preset, we need to click Add in the bottom-left corner, and in the New Preset popup, choose the name and location folder of this new preset. We can either select an already existing folder, which by default is User Presets or select New Folder.... Once we have some presets available, we will be able to check the small boxes on the leftmost side of the presets, which will simultaneously export images at the chosen presets. If we want to change anything in the presets, we choose the one we want to change by clicking on its name, making all the changes to settings, and then right-clicking on it. This right-click will open an additional menu. Now we can choose Update with Current Settings, which will change our preset settings to reflect the changes we just made.

Figure 7.26 A

Figure 7.26 B – Adding a new preset, naming the new preset, and choosing a location folder for the new preset

Figure 7.27 – Right-click menu to update our preset

With that, we are done with yet another chapter of this book!

Summary

What would be the point of all our complex work editing and developing photographs if we couldn't have a reliable and straightforward solution to share them. The export function within Lightroom gives us tremendous and entirely predictable results each time we click the Export button. Whether it's an edit from a wedding, a few pictures to print at the local shop for our mom, or unique reportage images from an event only we saw, Lightroom is there to help. It provides us with a highly personalized set of tools to export images into formats that will be easily recognizable by any machine with a screen.

In the next chapter, we will look at printing our images and designing a book.