Skip to main content
TheRat1956
TheRat1956
Participating Frequently
December 15, 2017

P: Auto Tone of a batch of photos gives different results than if you do them one at a time

  • December 15, 2017
  • 18 replies
  • 1021 views

If you apply auto tone to a batch of photos, then select each one individually, the auto tone button is active and clicking it changes the settings slightly.  This happens with newly imported raw files with no other processing applied.  How can I eliminate this problem?  I notice similar questions raised some time ago but I haven't seen any answers!  The new Auto Tone does an excellent job, but going through thousands of photos one by one is a pain.

    18 replies

    TheDigitalDog
    TheDigitalDog
    Inspiring
    September 22, 2020

    I tried one image. So I'd expect with one image in Library and the same image in Develop, I'd see identical results. The differences are small but differences none the less. For a batch, I'd expect differences from one image to the other. 

    Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management/pluralsight"
    johnrellis
    johnrellis
    Genius
    September 22, 2020

    According to Adobe employee Simon Chen, applying Auto Settings to a batch of photos (via Quick Develop, right-clicking multiple selected photos, or Sync) gives different results from Develop > Auto Settings because, to speed up performance, batch Auto uses lower-resolution "negatives" from the camera raw cache.

     

    Larger-scale testing indicates that, while usually the differences are negligible, about 6% of the time they are quite noticeably visually. A number of us have requested an option that would tell LR to always use the full-resolution negatives when computing batch Auto Settings:

    https://feedback.photoshop.com/conversations/lightroom-classic/lightroom-desktop-classic-option-to-batch-apply-auto-settings-with-fullresolution-image-data/5f5f46074b561a3d426f39fc

     

    Please add your constructive opinion and upvote to that feature request, making it a little bit more likely Adobe might implement it.

    TheDigitalDog
    TheDigitalDog
    Inspiring
    September 22, 2020

    When I toggle ON Auto in Library, then go to Develop, I do see the edits. 

    I also see the Auto button in Develop look different than if I reset (it's darker). So on this end, it works as expected. I'm using the latest release on Mac OS. 

    No yes, IF I set Auto in Library, then go to Develop, in this one example, I see Exposure set to +122 but I get a different value for that slider if I do the Auto directly in Develop but the values are pretty small in the differences. Could be a bug, I'll report it. 

     

    Develop: 

     
     
    Library:

     

    Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management/pluralsight"
    PhotoCitizen
    PhotoCitizen
    Inspiring
    September 22, 2020

    Here's a puzzler.

    • I apply AUTO TONE in the Library Module.
    • Then I go to the Develop Module.
    • I notice that the Auto button is lit up which usually indicates that Auto Tone has not already been applied. So, I click it and many of the sliders in the Basic panel change slightly. Also, the Auto button becomes grayed out.
    • The same thing happens in reverse: if I apply Auto tone first in the Develop Module and then apply it again in the Library module, I get the exact same results.

    The panel on the left shows the settings after I applied Auto Tone in the Library module and, then, went to the Develop module. On the right, I've clicked the Auto button in the Develop module. The changed settings are highlighted in pink.

     

    Shouldn't Auto Tone be applied the same way no matter whether it's done in Library or Develop? The differences are not large, but why are there any differences at all?

     

    Windows 10 Build 19041

    Lightroom Classic 9.4

    J
    Jim 185
    Inspiring
    June 8, 2019


    In LR Classic: Using the Auto Adjust in the Quick Develop of the LIBRARY MODULE seems to give slightly different results than using AUTO ADJUST in the DEVELOP Module. It is not not a big deal for me, but depending on how one processes their images, others might feel differently
    johnrellis
    johnrellis
    Genius
    June 8, 2019
    Vote for this feature request for an option allowing users to choose quality over speed when applying Auto to multiple photos: 

    https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/option-to-batch-apply-auto-settings-with-full-resolution-image-data

    In that topic, I report on my measurements of the degradation in quality of batch Auto. It's significant -- at least 6% of photos (1 of 17) are noticeably different when processed with Develop > Auto instead of Quick Develop > Auto or Auto applied during Import.
    S
    Adobe Employee
    simonsaith
    Adobe Employee
    April 2, 2019



    The import employs the same Sensei technology. The difference is that in the import (library module case), Sensei auto loads a lower resolution negative and works auto off that. Develop works off from the full resolution negative. Ideally the auto would generate exactly the same auto results for both cases, but it is not. The hope is that the two results would be the same/close enough for most cases. There is a big performance hit if Lr tries to load the full resolution negative just to compute auto during import.

    Rikk Flohr_Photography
    Community Manager
    Rikk Flohr_PhotographyCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    April 2, 2019



    This is a known issue and we do have a bug logged for it.  Thanks for your report.

    Rikk Flohr: Adobe Photography Org
    F
    FeedbackCommunityMember
    Inspiring
    April 2, 2019


    Adobe recently updated the “Auto” adjustment to make use of Adobe Sensei, which is their artificial intelligence (AI) technology for performing a variety of tasks, including applying adjustments to photos. In Lightroom Classic CC the “Auto” adjustment affects the values for the Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, Blacks, Vibrance, and Saturation adjustments.

    In the context of the Develop module in Lightroom, you will always get the same result when clicking the “Auto” button, which is found to the right of the “Tone” heading in the Basic section of the right panel. In other words, if you click “Auto” and then reset or revise the applicable adjustments, clicking the Auto button again will produce the exact same adjustment settings as you got the first time you clicked Auto.

    Furthermore, if you save “Auto Settings” as part of a preset and then apply that preset in the Develop module, you will get the exact same results for a given photo that you would have if you clicked the Auto button. However, if you use the same preset while importing photos into your Lightroom catalog, you’ll get a different result.

    I’m not sure if this difference represents a glitch in Lightroom Classic CC, or if Adobe intentionally doesn’t employ the Adobe Sensei technology during the import process. I’ve not been able to locate any information about this discrepancy. In any event, there is a difference in the behavior, which is why the “Auto” button is still enabled in the Basic section of the right panel in the Develop module even for images that have had the “Auto” adjustment applied during import.
    B
    bob frost
    Inspiring
    January 4, 2019

    I apply a preset to batches in Library's Quick Develop that includes Auto (Latest LR Classic). But I don't see any difference between applying it to a batch of files that way, and applying it individually in Develop.  Thinking about this, I suspect this is because I don't use the ACR cache in LR. Yes, I have one set, but I have also set it to Read Only and it is empty (deliberately). I have a pretty fast computer and don't think using the ACR cache produces any noticeable speed-up for me, so I prefer to remove that unnecessary task from LR (it already has far too much to do IMO).

     

    So I presume that applying my preset with Auto in Library (with Quick Develop) makes LR render a full preview for each file as it does not have a half-baked one in the ACR cache. Am I right in my thinking or have I missed something?

     

    Bob Frost
    Show more replies
    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
    Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices