Shortcuts Archives - Sleeklens - Tools and Training for Photographers

Knowing some key shortcuts makes one’s job a lot easier and faster. It makes your work process faster and your job a lot more comfortable. In our previous article, we had discussed some key shortcuts to know while working in the Library module of Lightroom. So naturally, this article will focus on the next module- the one with a lot of action- the develop module of Lightroom. So, what is the Develop module? It is the part of Lightroom that lets you, literally, develop your image into one that looks magical and enticing. It is the part of Lightroom that allows you to process your image into something much better. So, knowing a few key shortcuts for this module will help you a lot in the long run.

View All Lightroom Develop Module Shortcuts

Like in the Library module, “Ctrl + Alt + /” on the Windows or “Command + Alt + /” on the Mac will take you to a window that shows all the shortcuts applicable for the Develop module only. This is helpful when you quickly want to refer the shortcut for a particular process.

Display Options

Some people don’t like the hindrance of a hundred panels on the left and right, while processing an image. So, is there a way to hide all those panels from view? Yes. TAB

: Press the Tab key on your keyboard to hide the side panels from view. Press the Tab key again to view the panels.

F : Press the F key to enter full-screen mode. Now, work without any disturbance!

L : While working on the image, press the L key to dim the lights surrounding the image. This highlights the image area and helps you to view your progress better. Press the L key again to remove light completely from the surrounding area. And press the L key again, to bring the lights back on.

Dim lights . These settings can also be changed in Preferences.

Adjustment shortcuts for Basic Panel

If you are in the habit of using your keyboard in Develop module, then you should know some of these keys to control the entire basic correction panel only.
1. Press period (.) or comma (,) for selecting a slider (e.g., Exposure)
2. Then press plus (+) to increase the value and press minus (-) to decrease the value of the same.
3. Now press period (.) to go to the next.

Tip:

You can save any of the local adjustment tool settings as a preset which can be used for any of the tools. For example, if you are a portrait retoucher, you may want to save your favorite skin-softening settings as a preset. You can do that by clicking “Save as a preset” at the bottom of the local correction tool set. Likewise you can save any kind of settings which you may use often.

Auto Tone & Auto White Balance

Most of the time, you start with and finish with the Auto Tone in Lightroom specially if the photos are family or friends photo or even vacation documentation collections. When you don’t want to spend a lot of time setting your WB and retouching:

To set Auto WB:”Ctrl + Shift + U” on Windows ; “Command + Shift + U “ on Mac
To set Auto Tone:”Ctrl + U” on Windows ; “Command + U “ on Mac

Cropping And Straightening

The Straighten Tool within Crop tool can be used to straighten out a photo by drawing a line across the horizon that should be a straight. The crop will automatically adjust itself so this line. This is useful if the horizon line is not leveled or you want to straighten against a pillar or vertical line. If you have many photos that need leveling or straightening, you can speed up the process by using this shortcut: Just press R to go to the crop tool. Now to straighten with the keyboard rather than accessing the Straighten Tool by clicking on the icon in the panel, just hold down the Command (Mac) / Control (Win) key and the straighten tool will appear. From there just draw the line and the crop will adjust. This is a quick way to straighten a photo without needing to click on the tool itself.

Tip:

O : Show Cycle Crop grid overlay.

Shift + O : Show Cycle Crop grid overlay orientation.

Create Virtual Copies

For those of you aren’t aware of what virtual copies are, read our previous article on the significance of virtual copies in Lightroom, to know more about their uses. Now, for those of you use virtual copies regularly, did you know that “Ctrl + ‘ “ on Windows or “ Command + ‘ “ on Mac will create a new virtual copy? Yup, it’s that easy. You don’t have to right click the image and select “Create Virtual Copy” every time. Make work faster, use the shortcut!

Paste Settings from one image to another

Shortcut: “Ctrl + Alt + V” for Windows or “Command + Option + V” for Mac. Transfers all the adjustment settings from the selected photo onto the current photo. When you have images that require similar processing, this is the most valuable and time-saving shortcut!

Screenshot 2016-06-27 16.57.28 — Paste settings from one image to another.

Export your Image

So, the easiest way to export your image is to press “Ctrl + Shift + E” for Windows or “Command + Shift + E” for the Mac.You can export photos using the same settings from the most recent export session that was set manually, including modified presets. Use “Ctrl + Alt + Shift + E” or “Command + Option + Shift + E” and export the image with the previous settings saved. Easy!

Now, need to mail the image to the client for approval? Need to show your boss before printing? What do you do? Use “Ctrl + Shift + M” or “Command + Shift + M” to email the image directly from Lightroom to the recipient.

We hope this article was helpful to you. Please share your comments below and let us know if we have missed out on any other interesting shortcut.

One of the simplest and most important ways to speed up your photo editing is by using shortcuts. Lightroom has hundreds of shortcuts, and it would be nearly impossible to memorize them all. But by learning a key few, you will be able to save hours over the course of your lifetime.We are going to focus on some key shortcuts that every photographer/image processor should know while working on the Library module in Lightroom.

View All Shortcuts

Lightroom provides us with a number of shortcuts to make our jobs a lot easier and less time-consuming. But what most people do not know is the pop-up window that gives you a list of all these existing shortcuts for your reference.

Ctrl + / on the windows or Command + / on the mac will take you to the shortcut window. Not all of us can remember the keys and codes for all processes, so this one is handy for those of us who need to refer to the shortcuts guide once in a while to brush up our memory. More specifically, using the keys “Ctrl + Alt + /” or “Command + Alt + /” while in a particular module will show you the shortcuts window for that particular window that you’re operating on.
For example, using the keys “Ctrl + Alt + /” or “Command + Alt + /” while in the Library module will show me the shortcuts applicable for the library module only.

While in the library module, use Ctrl+Alt+/ or Command+Alt+/ to view the shortcuts applicable for library module.

Rotating Images

Sometimes, we’d like to rotate images to view them from a different perspective – either portrait or landscape. But do we always have to open up the image in Loupe view to rotate it clockwise or anticlockwise, or do we have to press the little rotate icon every time? No. To rotate your images to the left, hit “Ctrl + [”. To rotate your images to the right, hit “Ctrl + ]”

To rotate multiple images at once, go to the Grid View (“G”). Once you are in the Grid View, select your images by holding down “Ctrl” while clicking on your images and rotate by using the same shortcuts.

An image thumbnail showing the clockwise and anticlockwise rotate icons.

Flagging, Unflagging And Rating

P: For picking images to be flagged.

X: For rejecting images that are already flagged.
U: For unflagging images.
Numbers 1 – 5: For star rating
Numbers 6 – 9: For color labelingTip: If you want to delete all the rejected images from Lightroom, use “Ctrl + backspace” or “Command + backspace”. A separate dialogue box will pop asking if you want to either delete it from Library or from harddisk itself. A dialogue box pops up upon deletion of a rejected image.

Caps Lock For Auto-Advance

Whether you use stars, flags, or colors, rating your photos is an important step in Lightroom workflow. Going through and rating every photo accounts for a significant amount of time. You can cut down on some of that time by using the Caps Lock Auto Advance. Within the Library Module, turn on the CAPS LOCK key (or go to Photo -> Auto Advance). After rating a photo, rather than using the arrow key to advance to the next photo, Lightroom will automatically do it for you. This trick works for stars, flags, and color labels.

Use the auto-advance feature to complete your flagging and rating process in a jiffy!

To Toggle Between Different Modules

There is a total of 7 Modules in Lightroom and each corresponds with numbers from 1 – 7. To switch to a Module, hit “Ctrl + Alt + 1-7” or “Command + Option + 1-7

“.“1” is the Library Module, “2” is the Develop Module, “3” is the Map Module, and so on. For example, if you want to go to the Develop Module, hit “Ctrl + Alt + 2.”

Alternatively, press the key D on your keyboard while in the Library module to move to the Develop module quickly. Saves time and works best.

The different Lightroom modules.

Stacking

Stacking is an important tool that all photographers use to maintain an organised and neat workspace. If you don’t already know about stacking, read our article on the significance of stacking in lightroom.For those who already know about stacking, here are some shortcuts to help you out.

Group into stack :Ctrl + G / Command + G
Unstack : Ctrl + Shift + G / Command + Shift + G
Collapse / Expand Stack: S key
Move to top of stack: Shift + S
Move up in stack: Shift + [
Move down in stack: Shift + ]

Image stacking in Library Module

Import / Export Files

To import images into Lightroom, hit “Ctrl + Shift + I”. This will bring up the Import Dialogue Box. Hit “Ctrl + Shift + E” to bring up the Export Dialogue Box to export your images out of Lightroom

We hope these shortcuts prove helpful to you. Let us know in the comments below if we’ve missed you out on any other interesting shortcut, so we can make our jobs a lot easier too.

Tag: Shortcuts

Shortcuts for Lightroom’s Develop Module