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bakubo
Known Participant
September 27, 2020
Question

Book module Auto Layout automatic photo rotate?

  • September 27, 2020
  • 1 reply
  • 899 views

I am working on a Blurb book in LrC.  I have made many books in the past using LrC and Blurb, but I can't figure out how to do something a bit different this time.  I would like Auto Layout to automatically rotate photos in order to maximize the use of the page.  In other words, a vertical/portrait photo would automatically be rotated to horizontal/landscape when put in a landscape book.  Or a horizontal/landscape photo would automatically be rotated to vertical/portrait when put in a portrait book.

 

I realize that I can go through all the photos prior to making the book and manually rotate photos, but that is not what I want.  Is there a way for the Auto Layout function do it automatically ONLY when it inserts them in the book.  I don't want the actual photos in my catalog to be rotated.

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    1 reply

    Rob_Cullen
    Community Expert
    Rob_CullenCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 28, 2020

    No. But it is a good idea to suggest at the Feedback forum! Photoshop Lightroom Family 

    My work-around would be-

    1) Select Photos for the Book

    2) Create a Standard Collection with [Make new Virtual Copies]

    3) In the Collection- Select all (or specific photos) - Rotate the Virtual Copies.

    4) Use these VCs for the Book.

    This will not rotate the 'Master' previews.

    The only 'downside' is that you now have two previews in the Library (Master & Virtual Copy). No drive space is used by VCs- they only exist in the Catalog.

    The advantages are that you can also Develop and Crop the VCs specifically to suit Book printing.

     

     

    Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.3, Photoshop 27.5, ACR 18.3, Lightroom 9.3, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.3 .
    B
    bakuboAuthor
    Known Participant
    September 28, 2020

    Thank you for your reply. That is what I figured I would have to do. I love virtual copies and use them a lot. In this case to make more virtual copies just so I can rotate some of them for a book is far from ideal. For this particular book all the photos are B&W. What I typically do for B&W is shoot in raw and then if I want a B&W photo I make a virtual copy. The original raw is left in color and the virtual copy is B&W. So now all the photos for the book will be the original, the B&W virtual copy, and yet another virtual copy for the rotated photos. At the moment that seems like what I must do though. Actually, I have several more books planned out and they will all have the same or similar issues. It is going to mean hundreds and hundreds (maybe over a thousand) of additional virtual copies just for the rotation. 😞

     

    Typically when I make a virtual copy for B&W or for any other reason, I first try to work on the original doing the stuff that I want in all virtual copies. Usually that is stuff such as cropping, rotation, fixing dust spots, using the adjustment brush, graduated filter, sharpening, noise reduction, etc. Then I make the virtual copy and if it is to be turned into B&W I start working on that. Naturally, what often happens, maybe not long after I finish or sometimes weeks, months, or years later I see something I missed or want to change to both copies such as using an adjustment brush. That means I have to make the same changes to the original and the virtual copy. I have not found a way to sync up just the changes I want in both, but maybe there is a way. Having 3 virtual copies makes all that even more difficult. Of course, I don't want all them to be automatically synced for those sorts of things with no control because sometimes I want to have different crops, etc.

     

    When I click on Create Saved Book one of the options is Make new virtual copies. I have never used this option. I suppose the virtual copies it creates are just the same as the normal virtual copies that I can create manually and they will appear alongside the other copies and the original in the catalog?

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