P: Ability to lock photos to prevent further editing

A lock feature to prevent deletion is a great idea and not just for beginners. The Photosafe plugin by Jeffrey Fried is really nice, but it should be added as a simple feature standard in Lightroom... I like using snapshots to save a version of a photo, essentially locking it from future edits... But of course; that does not prevent accidental edits of the image (which can lead to trouble); it only locks the snapshot.

A lock feature to prevent deletion is a great idea and not just for beginners. The Photosafe plugin by Jeffrey Fried is really nice, but it should be added as a simple feature standard in Lightroom... I like using snapshots to save a version of a photo, esentially locking it from future edits.

Very related 'Idea': Mark a photo as final

Yes - This sounds like another good option. I wouldn't want it to replace the other options, but in addition to, it would be great!...

Did you see my "digital negative" idea above?
It could make you a version copy of the locked file.

Partly, its an assurance thing.

Its comforting to know that if a photo is locked, it hasn't changed since it was locked, period.

I would keep all my photos locked all the time (after initial editing). Unlock to edit some more, or approve prompt to accept changes despite the lock. That way you can bump exposure in quick develop even when locked, without too much fuss... (for example). Maybe a prompt like:

"Increase exposure by .1 on 3 locked photos? - Are you sure?...

In other words, the point is to protect from inadvertent changes, but not make it inconvenient to make changes on purpose - even if photo is locked.

R

Auto-sync is a biggie, but its not an only. And, having an "in-your-face" indication when its on, and maybe auto turnoff, would go a long way in alleviating the auto-sync problem.

I dont know how I do it, but another inadvertent edit I constantly make is "Exposure Matching", I dont think I'm issueing the keystrokes to do it, but it happens.

There are other keyboard initiated edits too that happen from time to time. And also, for me, there's... - sorry, I lost my train of thought. Maybe I was going to say DevAdjust - my relative preset and adjustment plugin.

Oh yeah, ratings - I use the ']' key constantly, to adjust brush size, but it increases ratings when you dont have an active brush. I realize that one would not be able to brush unless unlocked, but this points more to the ability to lock different things, which I'd also like. Maybe as coarse as Unlock/lock for:

- Develop Settings and/or
- Metadata.

Then it could be unlocked for a quick tweak to develop settings, without inadvertently changing ratings or whatever, or unlocked for a metadata change, whilst assuring no inadvertent develop setting changes.

Yeah, in general I'm not a fan of things turning on and off automatically, but this may be a case where it is entirely appropriate - and predictable, and immediate...

Workflow:
1. select images.
2. turn on auto-sync if desired.
3. adjust images.
(rinse, and repeat...)

- I like it!

No I do Graphic Design work and once I get a photo to the point where it is used in a project I want to be able to LOCK it so I don't accidentally do anything more to it. If it was locked the only thing Lightroom would let me do is offer to make a copy for me that way it's like the idea of the "Digital Negative" except for my project files which would be GREAT!

In which situations exactly did you run across the problem of accidentally changing photos?

It only happens to me when I use "Auto Sync" and forget to switch it off after I'm done. Next time when I happen to have multiple photos selected but of course only edit one in the Develop module, I sometimes don't notice the still active "Auto Sync" and then unintentionally apply changes to all selected photos.

I'm not sure whether I should just discipline myself better or if the Auto Sync button should change colour to make that mode more noticeable or whether there should be some feedback showing that "Auto Syncing" is happening. When the filmstrip is open, there is such feedback, but when it's closed I'm not aware of "Auto Syncing" going on.

Locking won't help me with this problem because I would not have locked the images I didn't want to have synced.

If anyone ran into such "Auto Sync" problems as well and thinks it is hard to discipline oneself to always switch it off after having used it then I'd be happy to make a feature request. The simplest solution would be to let "Auto Sync" automatically revert to "off" after a change of image selection but surely some would not regard that as a good idea.