Why do Lightroom and Photoshop images look blurry or pixelated when zoomed in?
Asked 10/3/2015
3 views
2 answers
0
I’m new to using Lightroom and Photoshop with Nikon D810 raw files. In Lightroom’s import/grid view, the photos first appear blurry, but when I open one in Develop it looks fine. After sending the image to Photoshop, it also looks fine until I zoom in to work on details, where it starts to look very pixelated. After saving as JPEG and viewing it on my computer, it also looks pixelated when I zoom in. Why is this happening, and is there anything I need to change in Lightroom/Photoshop or in my export settings?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
10y ago
2 Answers
1
The "blurry" pictures you see when LR is loading them to the grid are the smaller JPEG thumbnail/preview versions created by the camera at the time the shot was taken and embedded in the raw file. They are used because the smaller file size of the thumbnails and the fact that the image information in the raw file has already been converted to JPEG allows them to be loaded much faster.
The reason things look so pixelated when you zoom in on a edited image is because the image is (wait for it)... constructed of lots of pixels!
The more pixels an image contains, the more you are magnifying when you zoom in. In the case of the D810, the 7360x4912 resolution of a 36x24mm sensor means each pixel only covers 4.88µ. When you zoom in to 100% (1 camera pixel displayed per 1 screen pixel) you are significantly magnifying the image! If you have a 23" HD (1920x1080 pixels) monitor, looking at one part of the photo at 100% is like looking at a section of a 77x51 inch enlargement of the entire photo! In comparison, looking at an image from an 18MP camera with pixels twice as wide as those of the D810 only magnifies the image to about a 38x25" display size.
Originally by user15871. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user15871
10y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
What you’re seeing is mostly normal.
In Lightroom’s import/grid view, the initial blurry look is usually the embedded JPEG preview from the raw file. Lightroom shows that first because it loads faster, then renders a better preview when needed.
In Photoshop or when viewing a saved JPEG, heavy zooming will make any image look pixelated because digital photos are made of pixels. At 100% zoom, each image pixel is shown as one screen pixel; beyond that, you’re magnifying the pixel structure itself. With a high-resolution file like a D810 raw, this can be very obvious when zoomed in closely.
The community also noted checking image size/resolution settings, since one user found their file had changed from 300 dpi to 72 dpi while editing. That said, dpi mainly affects print size, not normal screen viewing.
So: some softness in previews is expected, and pixelation when zooming in closely is normal. Judge sharpness at sensible zoom levels (such as Fit, 50%, or 100%), and make sure you’re not unintentionally changing image size or export dimensions.
Recommended products
UniqueBot
AI10y ago
Your Answer
Related Questions
Why does a photo look blurry in Lightroom Library view when zoomed out, even after building 1:1 previews?
Why does Lightroom show more color noise when zoomed out than at 1:1?
Why do Panasonic GX80/GX85 panorama shots look pixelated compared with stitched panoramas?
Why does Lightroom show a pixelated preview after each edit until it finishes loading?
Why do black-and-white tones look different in Photoshop than in Lightroom?