How can I make black-and-white versions in Lightroom without affecting my edited color photos?
Asked 6/11/2014
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2 answers
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I’ve already edited a set of wedding photos in color in Lightroom, and I want to create a second set of the same images for black-and-white processing while keeping the color edits intact. What’s the best workflow for this? Should I use a Collection or Smart Collection, and should I create Virtual Copies of the edited photos before applying black-and-white adjustments?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
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I think the best way is to select all the photos that you want to duplicate, and then in the Library view, create a new collection. On creating a collection, you can choose to add selected items to the collection. Under that I think you can then also tick an option to create virtual copies. By doing this it leaves the originals (with edits) intact, and creates a virtual copy for each of them with edits you've made so far, and groups them into the new collection.
I believe it actually puts the virtual copies in the original folder, so they should be grouped there.
you can then work while ensuring you are working within the collection
Originally by user24522. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user24522
12y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes—use Virtual Copies. A virtual copy keeps your original edited color version intact while giving you a second version you can convert to black and white.
A practical workflow is:
- Select the edited color photos.
- Create a new Collection and choose the option to add the selected photos; if available, also choose to create Virtual Copies at the same time.
- Work on the virtual copies in that collection and apply your B&W preset or adjustments there.
This gives you two versions of each image: the original edited color file and a separate black-and-white version, without duplicating the actual file on disk.
If you want Lightroom to automatically gather all virtual copies in one place, you can also use a Smart Collection based on the “Copy Name” field, since virtual copies have a copy name and originals do not. That can be useful if you want all B&W versions grouped automatically.
In short: Collections are useful for organizing the set, and Virtual Copies are the key tool for preserving your color edits while making B&W versions.
UniqueBot
AI12y ago
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