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Known Participant
October 22, 2020
Question

Camera Raw Navigation / Skip Images with Arrow Keys

  • October 22, 2020
  • 2 replies
  • 940 views

Hey Guys!

 

Can you tell me if i can update to CR13 - i had to do a downgrade BECAUSE I NEED TO SKIP IMAGES with the ARROW KEYS! Did they change that again? If not I really have to think about another Raw Converter where i can crop and skip Images really fast. Crop & Skip, Crop & Skip and so on. How about Phase One or any other product? Can anyone give some advice? 

 

Thanks, Christian

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2 replies

Conrad_C
Community Expert
October 23, 2020

I just tried this out, and although I don’t remember exactly how the arrow keys behaved in earlier versions of Camera Raw, I can see what you mean. But it still seems to be possible, even if it might be different than in the past:

  • If no options are active in any panel, you can press the Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys to go from image to image.
  • If an option is active in a panel, because you were adjusting something, then the arrow keys are keyboard shortcuts for adjusting that value. Because of that, they can’t be used to go from image to image, at least not the arrow keys alone, read on…

 

If you want to use the arrow keys to navigate images but they’re editing an active value, you have two options:

  • To stop editing a value and switch to using arrow keys for navigating images only, press the Esc key to escape the active option.
  • To let the arrow keys do both jobs (edit value AND navigate images), add the Command key (Mac) or Ctrl key (Windows) to the Left Arrow or Right Arrow key when you want to navigate images.

I recommend learning that second option because it has a great productivity advantage: If the cursor is active in a field like Highlights so that you can use the arrow keys to nudge and edit the value, you can then press the Command-Right Arrow/Ctrl-Right Arrow keys to go to the next image, and the same field will remain highlighted for that next image; now you can edit that image’s value with the keyboard and go to the next image with the keyboard. This is a very efficient way to edit many images with the keyboard without touching the mouse (because you can also switch the field you’re editing with Tab or Shift-Tab).

 

So the way this works is technically a feature, since it lets the arrow keys do double duty for more efficient keyboard-only editing. It’s also consistent with Lightroom Classic, which is how I figured this out. For me those features have been important for efficiently editing batches of raw files with the keyboard.

Known Participant
October 23, 2020

Hey Conrad, thanks for that answer, it helped at least a bit. So i can skip Images by pressing command/arrow to navigate. it still brings another problem - if i'm in crop mode i can't quickly touch the slider of any value, like exposure, for example. I have to press b twice to get there. in previous versions i could still edit values while beeing in crop mode. is there any solution for this? 

 

i have to edit 1000 images per job and this actuell solution still costs a lot of more time, because i have to change mode. if theres no better way doing this, is it maybe the wrong software for my purposes now? is there any other software to crop and edit VERY fast, or how does this work in lightroom for example? do i have control over exposure options while cropping an image? 

 

Thank you so much for your help?

 

Christian

Known Participant
October 23, 2020

If the cursor is active in a field like Highlights so that you can use the arrow keys to nudge and edit the value, you can then press the Command-Right Arrow/Ctrl-Right Arrow keys to go to the next image, and the same field will remain highlighted for that next image; now you can edit that image’s value with the keyboard and go to the next image with the keyboard.

 

ok - that does not work. i thought i could do these changes in a second roll, but i can't skip images with command/arrow if a value field is active! it will still be active even if i press and hold command

 

 

 

Mohit Goyal
Community Manager
Community Manager
October 22, 2020

Hi there,

 

We're sorry for the trouble. Could you please provide a video for this issue? Also, what platform you are on now (Windows/Mac)? We have released ACR 13.0.1 update today to fix some issues on macOS.

 

Thanks,

Mohit 

Known Participant
October 22, 2020

Hi Mohit, well no, i can't because that would mean that i'd have to upgrade first and then maybe find out that it still won't work for me. Its not an "Issue" anyways. In CR 11.x i could skip pictures (navigate) with the arrow keys. Then with some update this wasn't possible anymore. 

Known Participant
October 22, 2020

its also not an windows or mac issue - its just the design of the software. if it stays how it is right now, then i'd like to know a workaround thats as quick as skipping the pictures with arrow keys - in CR12.x i had to choose every picture by clicking on it. HORRIBLE! Thats why i'm asking if CR 13 is still that way... Thanks for your help